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“Not really. I’m still a jumble of emotions—exhausted, ecstatic, triumphant. So many things all wrapped up in one.”
She seems like her old self today. On the way to LA, we took a nap in the bedroom on the plane—something that made neither Rafael nor Marco all that happy. It might be the only time they found common ground. While we were lying in bed, Valentina told me about the “soul-destroying” anxiety.
She couldn’t explain why she hadn’t confided in me before. Marco thought she should keep it between them so that nothing got out before the launch. He suggested that her father or Rafael might decide it was too much for her and pull her off the project. Rafael might have added people to her team or pressured her to delegate more, but there’s no way he would have forced her off, and he wouldn’t have allowed Antonio to do it either. But Marco sees only what’s on the surface—he can’t see beyond that—or he doesn’t want to.
The whole thing is a little strange, since he was the one who told me about the meds. I’ve spent a lot of time around Marco, especially before they were married, and I don’t remember ever getting a weird vibe from him until recently. Maybe I’m more in tune to it now that Valentina has confided in me about their problems, or I’ve picked up on it because Rafael is such a bastard about all things Marco.
“The only thing that bothers me,” she adds, “is the party planner. I think about Julia a lot. We’d been in touch for a year, weekly, and then in the last six weeks, almost every day. I find it hard to believe she took a bribe and disappeared. I worry something happened to her.”
Not even Rafael is willing to guess if she’s a culprit paid handsomely by a competitor or a victim of foul play. Although if I pressed him on it, I’m quite certain he’d say the latter. Cristiano checked her place, and I saw the exchange between Rafael and Antonio when they learned that the apartment wasn’t disturbed and her things appeared to be all there.
“They’re still looking for her. Hopefully it won’t be long until they find her, and you can stop worrying.” Although I have a terrible feeling she’s going to turn up dead.
“Are you up for another whirlwind trip?” I ask, changing the subject.
“It’s a challenging way to roll out a new product.” She laughs. “It would have been less exhausting to do the entire East Coast or West Coast and then the middle of the country—three separate trips. But this way we didn’t have to pick favorites, and I think the frenzy adds to the youthful vibe. Unlike those awful tablecloths Mrs. Bancroft tried to stick us with.”
“Awful? How dare you! That’s the color of their brand.”
“You know,” Valentina says, “what she did was terrible and mean-spirited, and it nearly pushed me over the edge, but part of me understands how awful it would be to watch your family business—one that had been around for almost a century—become irrelevant.”
“I agree. But it’s been on a death slide. You guys didn’t destroy their company.”
“No. But their ciders and wine coolers were what was keeping them afloat, and they’re going to lose the market share now.”
Bancroft Spirits is the least of Premier’s problems. Valentina knows it too. “The Bancrofts aren’t the only enemy—someone else went to a lot of trouble to embarrass Premier.”
“Premier’s success makes it a target.” She sighs. “Huntsman dealt with these types of things forever, because they’ve been on top for so long. The only reason no one ever pulls this kind of shit on them anymore is because my father would make an example of the culprits. When I say example, I mean parade them through the streets of Porto before executing them in the public square.”
We both snicker, because as much as Antonio would love to put on that little display, he would never do anything quite so public. Although the end would be brutal for them, just away from public scrutiny. When Rafael finds out what happened in Boston, it won’t be much fun for the culprits either. I have no sympathy.
“How about you? Did you have fun?”
“It made my heart full to watch you and Rafael together. You guys are such an amazing team.”
They were so great together doing interviews. Rafael spoke from the heart when he talked about how special it is to share a dream with Valentina. And Valentina’s love for him shined through when she explained how he gave her the opportunity to take the lead in an industry still dominated by men. I couldn’t get enough of them together.
“I never thought I’d say this, but you and Rafa make a pretty great team too.”
An excellent team. My mind drifts to the very special goodbye we enjoyed before he left for Sirena.
“What are you smiling about?” she asks. “You’re thinking about him naked, aren’t you?” She whips a cushion at me. “Eww.”
I laugh.
“I’m only grateful that you have your own room here, because otherwise I’d be so grossed out, I’d have to buy a new bed.”
I almost tell her about the massage candle on the island, but I wouldn’t want Rafael sharing any dirty details with Zé, so I keep my mouth shut.
“Do you want a glass of wine?” she asks, getting up.
“Sure.”
I want to ask her about her relationship with Marco, but even though I’m not probing for dirty details—not those kind of dirty details—it feels too nosy right now. Although I’d like to know more about how he treats her when they’re alone.
Our grandmother Lydia often said, It’s hard to know what goes on in someone else’s marriage from the outside, no matter how close you are.
It might be true, but I have a feeling Valentina and Marco are still struggling. She’s not crying anymore, at least not to me, or maybe it’s the meds making her feel more in control. Although she told me on the plane that she doesn’t like the way they make her feel, so she doesn’t take them every day. It’s all unsettling.
