Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Blinking down at his hands then up at his face, I mutter in astonishment, “It is you.”
“No other alike me,” he teases.
I glance between Signor Falco and Julius, and probe, “But, how?” Oh shit. I’m so confused. “I don’t understand.”
Julius scowls at the other man. “You didn’t tell me you knew her.”
Signor Falco throws him a look. “You didn’t ask the right questions.” Then he turns back to me and sighs. “My dear, you’ve managed to get yourself into quite a mess, haven’t you?”
At that blunt statement, I snatch my hands away from his and rush backward, my hand coming up to cover my throat. My heart begins to beat faster, and suddenly I’m gasping for breath. No matter how much air I inhale, it does little to satisfy my lungs. “Oh God,” I whisper hoarsely. My voice cracks when I say, “What you must think of me…”
I try to move farther away, but a wall has unexpectedly appeared at my back, holding me steadily by the shoulders. Then his lips touch the shell of my ear, and he mutters, “Breathe. Just breathe, baby.”
Then Signor Falco is there, right in front of me, his face stern. “Now, listen to me, young lady. I have always thought of you as a kind, even-tempered girl who has had to put up with far too much in her young life. I do not think poorly of you, not now, not ever. My daughter has had a lot to say about you in this past week, defending you to no end, and after listening to my Manda, I have to tell you, Alejandra, it makes me feel stupid to have not seen it before.” His expression turns desolate. “I know.” He says this in a way that makes my body tremble.
My mouth is suddenly parched, and I lick my dry lips nervously. “Wh-what do you know?”
“All of it.” The father of my best friend, my doctor, my biggest supporter—Dr. Manda Rossi—straightens, his face severe but his tone soft. “Manda told me everything.” He pauses a moment before he repeats with meaning, “Everything.”
We hold each other’s eyes for a long while before I feel Julius squeeze my shoulders in silent support. “This reunion is just dandy, but I need to know how you two know each other.”
I swallow hard and attempt to speak. “Manda…” But my jaw is slack, and my mouth just won’t cooperate.
Signor Falco turns his eyes up to Julius and explains on my behalf, “My daughter, Manda, is a close friend of Alejandra’s. She’s also her doctor.”
Julius sounds staggered. “You have children. Other children.”
“Yes,” Signor Falco returns in a solemn hush. “I also have a son, Giuseppe. We call him Zep. Believe it or not, he and Antonio were born only days apart.”
What does that mean, other children? Who is Antonio?
I find my voice, but it’s weak. “Antonio?”
Signor Falco smiles down at me, taking my hand and leading me to the dining table. “Once, a very long time ago, I was in love with two very different women from two very different ends of the scale.” He holds a chair out for me, and I sit. He does not go on until he finds his own seat. “One of those women, I was engaged to marry. Her name was Angela Rossi.” He inclines his head to me. “Zep and Manda’s mother. She came from a good family, an Italian family who knew the life. She was beautiful, but her eyes…” He waves a hand over his eyes. “They were bitter. Bitter and sad. Most of the time we were together, she spent telling me how much she despised me, and I felt I would never win her affections.” He sighs long and low. “The other woman was Lucia DeMartino, a no-nonsense waitress at a casino I would frequent with my boys. She was Italian too, but in the eyes of my father, she was nobody. She was a serial flirt and was so fun to be around that she made me forget about all my responsibilities. She made me crave a normal life. Every moment I spent with her was filled with laughter and passion, and we loved each other very much.”
Signor Falco seems lost in his own head, when he admits, “It was difficult to love a woman who didn’t return the affection. Angela was stubborn. I could see she was beginning to feel something for me, but she never let herself admit it. So whenever Angela rejected me, I would go find my Lucia. And there she would be, in her small apartment with no furniture, with only a small double bed dressed with sterile white sheets. And she welcomed me, no matter the hour. She just wanted to be with me, even if it meant living a half life with the man she loved.”