Dishonorable

We slid to the floor together, Raphael cradling me in his arms, holding me to him, my head resting against his chest. Our breathing slowed down in time, but when I tried to move, he wouldn’t let me. He just held me to him, and I clung tight, closed my eyes, and turned my face into his chest.

“Was that clear enough that I want you?” he asked eventually.

“Was it clear enough that I want you?” I asked in turn.

He carried me upstairs and into my old bedroom, where he’d been sleeping. There, he laid me on the bed and lay down beside me, holding me to him like he had the first night we’d slept together, just slept together after I’d found him in that cellar. He held me like he couldn’t let me go, and I knew I would never be able to let him go.

Epilogue

Raphael

Spring, One Year Later

* * *

She never did sign those annulment papers. My stubborn, beautiful wife.

I stood drinking coffee at the kitchen window, watching Sofia talk to one of the workers. Charlie, full grown and weighing eighty pounds, never left her side.

We’d come back to Tuscany a few days after the bank took possession of the house in Philadelphia. Lina had come with us and would be starting her final year at a school in Florence geared toward gifted musicians.

Thanks to their grandfather’s greed, Sofia and Lina had lost everything. Guardia Winery no longer existed, except as an example of corruption and destruction.

Lina never spoke about any of it. She rarely mentioned her grandfather at all. Sofia worried, but Italy was a good move for her. It got her away from everything, the past, the publicity, gave her anonymity again, and hopefully would give her a fresh start.

I finished my coffee and set the mug in the sink before walking outside. Sofia waved when she saw me approach.

We’d replanted the vineyard. The ground was rich after the fire, and although it would take a few years before the vines yielded grapes for wine, they would come. We’d reestablish the Villa Bellini Winery as it was before my mother’s time. I’d already ordered and hung the new sign over the gates, and, for the first time in a very long time, felt excited. Felt like I had something to look forward to. A future.

Sofia met me halfway, Charlie on her heels.

“You snuck out of bed early,” I said, drawing her in for a hug and kissing her. That was another thing. I could sleep again. And it felt like I was making up for lost years.

“It’s you who sleeps like the dead these days.”

“It’s Saturday. I thought we could spend the morning in bed.”

“You want to spend every morning in bed.”

“That’s your fault, sweetheart,” I said, grabbing her ass.

We walked toward the chapel, Sofia growing a little quieter.

“You okay?” I had a feeling I knew what was coming.

“Lina’s decided to go back to the States after graduation, but she wants to take a year off before continuing her education.”

“That’s fine. She’s young. And she probably needs the space, honestly.”

“She’s not even going to the audition, Raphael.”

I knew that. She’d told me before she’d told Sofia, knowing her sister would be disappointed.

“She’ll get another one.” With a recommendation from her piano teacher, she’d secured an audition at a prestigious music school.

“She’s going to miss her opportunity. This is a full scholarship.”

“Give her space. She’ll be fine.”

She stopped as we neared the chapel. “You knew, didn’t you?”

I looked at her. Truth. Always truth. I wouldn’t lie to her ever again. “Yes.”

She dropped my hand and walked away, shaking her head.

“Sofia.” I followed her inside.

“She trusts you more than me.”

I caught up with her and turned her to face me. “No. She’s just using me as a sounding board before coming to you.”

I followed her gaze around the chapel, which Damon and I had almost completely restored. Damon. That was another thing. He’d grown more distant in the last year.

“Am I that bad?” she asked, sitting down in the last pew.

“You’re that good. She loves you and doesn’t want to hurt you, but this is her life, and you need to let her go. Remember what you said to me once.”

“If you let the past go, maybe it will let you go. Will those words ever stop haunting me?”

“Maybe that’s what she needs now. Her guilt at turning over evidence—”

“She shouldn’t feel guilty. Grandfather is the only one who should have any remorse.”

“Well, life isn’t fair, is it? I thought you got that by now.”

She shrugged a shoulder.

“I have something for you.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small box.

She looked at it, then reached out to touch it tentatively. “What is it?”

Her eyes were already misty when she met mine. She knew.

“Our wedding, although beautiful, it wasn’t right.”