“You are just as beautiful—more beautiful—than the day I first saw you outside the window of the farmhouse.”
She touched my cheek with the tip of her index finger. “You are beautiful too, Mylos.”
“Beautiful? There’s so much more to a man than his beauty, Pia.”
She laughed as I repeated the words she’d said to me when we met in the village near Valentini.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”
“Sì?”
“Why is it called Antica Cascina dei Conti di Valentini when your last name is Deltetto?”
“Valentini was handed down from my mother’s side of the family. She is the Countess Valentini.”
“Wow. I had no idea. Is that unusual?”
“As you said, you have no idea.”
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“What’s wrong, Pia?”
“I don’t know how to act around you.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw my sister watching us.
“Why did you come to my room earlier? Which, by the way, is why I was late. When I followed you, I locked myself out.”
I slowly closed my eyes and opened them. “I’m sorry.”
“What happened next bothered me more.”
I leaned back to look into her eyes. “What happened?”
“I was standing in the hotel lobby, barefoot like a zingara—gypsy—and ran into Paolo.”
“Paolo? I’d forgotten all about him.”
“Yes, well, I had the good fortune to meet his fiancée, who was not so thrilled to meet me.”
“Any woman would be jealous of you, Pia.”
“I could understand why: me with no shoes on, very threatening.”
I smiled when she did. “I am sorry you had to experience someone unpleasant because of me.”
She tapped my shoulder with her hand. “I appreciate your apology, Mylos, but I would much prefer an answer to my question.”
“It’s not an easy thing to explain.”
She was quiet as I continued to move her around the dance floor.
“We didn’t get much of a chance to talk when you arrived at my parents’ place. There was more I wanted to say.”
“Say it now.”
“I want you to understand I don’t want your pity, Pia. Now or then.”