Taken by the Highest Bidder

Weeks earlier the invitations had been hand delivered by a courier, the red and white striped envelopes with red and gold card stock inviting the children and their parents to Gabriela Bartolo’s fifth birthday party. Sam had feared many children wouldn’t drive from Monte Carlo to the villa in Cap Ferrat for the party, but there was only one regret and that was a last minute cancellation when a little girl came down sick.

The event planner didn’t forget anything. He brought in food stalls to offer guests everything from cotton candy to croque monsieur and croque madame, hired a half dozen of the best clowns in Europe and even imported a small antique carousel the children could ride amid flashing, swirling lights.

The circus party was a gigantic hit. Gabby stood with Sam and Cristiano in front of the soaring white tent as guests arrived, greeting each of her friends from school with delight. As the children and their parents followed the red carpet into the tent, through the entrance’s black and white striped poles, Gabby could hardly contain herself.

Once the guests had all arrived the circus began with a welcome from the circus’ ringmaster, a short stout gentleman wearing a red coat, black pants and boots. He wore a top hat and carried a whip but promised the children he wouldn’t use it if they were good, which elicited squeals from the children and then fresh squeals when a white-faced clown with a hat many sizes too small ran out into the ring chasing a small dog. The dog jumped into the ringmaster’s startled arms and then jumped out and barking frantically dashed in and out of the stands before disappearing again.

And that was just the beginning.

There were acrobats, trapeze artists, white Austrian horses and Spanish dancers. Clowns chased each other into the stands, tumbled out of miniature cars, sprayed one another with water and tried to get pigs to dance and dogs to talk and by the time the ringmaster reappeared at the end to thank the children for coming, and to invite them into the center ring for cake, Gabby was speechless with awe.

After the cake was cut and eaten, the children and parents began to depart. Within a half hour nearly everyone was gone and the cleanup crew began breaking down the tent. “I loved my circus,” Gabby said wistfully, as the canvas tent was peeled off the poles.

“It was a good party,” Sam agreed.

Nodding, Gabby yawned and leaned against Sam’s leg. Cristiano saw the yawn, too, and he stooped to pick up Gabby. He straightened and turned toward the house, but not before Sam had seen him wince. He was in pain again.

“I can take her,” Sam offered and Cristiano shot her a hard glance.

“I have her,” he said.

They set off for the villa, Gabby’s head on Cristiano’s shoulder, her eyes half-closed. Cristiano wasn’t walking slower than usual but he was certainly favoring his right leg a little more but Sam said nothing to him about it knowing it would only irritate him. He never discussed the injury, never talked about pain, either, but she knew he felt it, lived with it, and there were times she wished she could do something for him—more for him—but Cristiano was proud. There were things, like his accident, he just wouldn’t share.

Gabby fell asleep early that night worn-out from the big day, and Sam and Cristiano had dinner in their room, and watched the evening news from their bed.

As the news program moved from world news to local news, and economic and current events to sports and entertainment, the announcer mentioned a tragic loss in the sporting world: thirty-one-year-old Nils Hiukka, two-time Indy 500 winner died in Phoenix, Arizona, that morning after a tire failure during a practice run sent him into a concrete wall.

Cristiano reached for the remote control and abruptly turned the television off before tossing the control onto the nightstand.

Sam looked at Cristiano. “You knew him?”

“Yes.”

She waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. He simply stood, headed for the bathroom where he stripped off his clothes and stepped into the shower.

Sam was already in bed with the lights out when Cristiano returned. She heard him flip the covers back on his side, felt the mattress give beneath his weight, and then he was behind her, pulling her toward him.

“You’re upset,” she murmured.