He’d been gone most of the day, and by the time he walked in, I was already missing him.
Our eyes met across the room. His cheeks were warm, having been out in the cold. It was snowing again. This winter felt like it might never pass. I couldn’t imagine spring finally arriving, but it would. It always did. The silence felt still between us, like an untouched pond. I didn’t know how to back down on my anger. I didn’t know how to take back the things I’d said before. I wasn’t sure where to start. Earlier he’d made it clear he still expected me to go to Florence. So... I should go... except I didn’t want to anymore. I didn’t want to be apart from him, or Tatiana or Turin. I finally felt at home, after so long.
“Have you eaten?” Massimo asked, breaking the silence.
I nodded. “We all ate a little while ago.”
Massimo walked into the room, coming close to where I was sitting. He pulled out the chair opposite me and sat down, taking a small, rectangular-shaped package out of his pocket and placing it on the table.
“I meant what I said. I’m sorry about everything... all of it. About your mother, and the wedding... I should have given you the choice.”
Emotion clutched my throat, making it hard to swallow. I didn’t want to cry again today.
“I’ve never loved anyone like I love you, and... maybe it made me crazy.” He grinned at me, making me smile back.
“I know what that’s like.”
“But I never want you to feel like you don’t have free will. Like you’re locked up... imprisoned. So go to Florence, and take your time. Leave me in the dark and make me pay for being a pushy asshole. Make me wait by the phone, and give me sleepless, lonely nights... I deserve it.” His hand surrounded mine and squeezed. His dark eyes stayed on mine, unwavering. “But then, when you’re done... come home. Come home, and I’ll be waiting.”
Those damn tears that had been threatening to overcome me all day started to spill when he pulled the necklace with the dog tags and crucifix from his pocket.
“One day, come home to me. I’ll wait patiently and happily in purgatory until you do.” He slipped the chain over my head, returning it to its rightful place. It felt right as it settled around my neck. Next, he pulled the ring from his pocket. The one he’d slipped on and never once told me was anything important.
He slipped it onto my ring finger. The ruby flashed in the kitchen lights, warm and beautiful.
He took my hand and kissed the ring. It felt like an unbreakable vow. A blood bond, like the one we’d sworn that dark night in Hallow Hall. The tension in my chest loosened, and all the heavy things I’d endured in the last three years felt lighter, suddenly, all at once. I was happy, I was loved, I was with family. Somehow, I had gotten everything I’d dreamed of, when I’d least expected it.
I should tell him that I’d decided to stay. I should say something, but the lightness in my chest urged me not to. Instead, I just nodded.
He looked disappointed in my lack of response but rallied when Tatiana came into the kitchen. He’d bought her bags full oftoys and gadgets that she’d never had before, and she was going through them like it was Christmas.
I watched them play for a while until Paolo came through, and Massimo stood up.
“I have to go out,” he announced, and my heart dropped.
“Why? You just got back.”
He nodded, watching Tatiana and Paolo looking for snacks.
“I might be ready to let you go, angel, but I can’t watch you leave. Even I don’t hate myself enough for that.” He met my eyes for one searing moment, and then turned away.
“Kat! Do you want to finish the movie with us?” Tatiana was there, climbing onto my lap. I watched Massimo go, taking in the defeated line of his broad shoulders and the tension filling his body. He was really suffering. It was real. He was letting me go, but it was costing him a lot.
“Kat! Are you listening?”
“Sure, of course I am.” I focused on Tatiana, a wicked little plan forming in my mind.
45
MASSIMO
“If there was anyone I didn’t expect to see here, it was you, old friend,” Vittorio said, sinking into the pew next to me. His small chapel was a warm refuge from the storm outside. It had been snowing all day. Maybe the trains would all get canceled? A man could only dream.
“No need for holy water, I won’t stay long,” I reassured him.
He chuckled. “I think we both know you’re safe from heavenly retribution. You’re not half as terrible as you think you are.”
“Tell that to my wife.”