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But my wife was right. That was an expensive bottle, and I never questioned that.
“Did she know it was Don Giordano’s favorite? Wait, that wasn’t a question.” She held her hand up. “Lucia did know and probably ordered it so you’d be all vulnerable in front of her.” Elysa shook her head, exasperated. “This is the woman you think is going to make you a better wife? She’s the one you want to replace me with?”
“Never.”
“I heard you say it.”
“It was a stupid thing to say.”
“Butyou said it.”
I crouched in front of her and took her hands in mine. “I fucked up. I was drunk and sad and feeling stupid and confused. And…really, I’ve got no proper fucking excuse.”
“Gee, that makes me feel so special.” She pulled her hands away from mine. “But good thing you have Lucia because I don’t know how to tie a knot around a man’s neck.”
And that was another fucking lie Lucia had told. I wore the tie because I wanted to honor Nonno when I went for a board meeting—my first withouthim.
“She didn’t tie it. She just…fixed it.” I sat back down beside her.
“Oh, you mean like a wife does for a husband in the movies? Did she then go on tiptoes and kiss you? They do that in the movies, too.”
If it were just jealousy-fueled ranting, that would be one thing. But it wasn’t.
Her pain was palpable, woven into every word, every sharp glance, and it hit me with unsettling clarity—I had been so damn ignorant. How had I not seen it before? Her claim on me had always been there. I had just been too stupid, too arrogant, too unwilling to acknowledge it.
“I’m going to sort this out,” I vowed.
“Whatever.”
“What are you, fifteen?” I muttered.
“Well, you did say I was a kid.” She made a face and stuck her tongue out.
“Can we get past that stupid dumb mistake I made?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“No.”
I was going to say something about her being stubborn, but the words disappeared when I saw the tears swimming in her eyes.
“Elysa,” I gasped.
“It crushed me to hear you say those things, Dante.” She wasn’t being snarky. She was being honest now. “You made me feel like I was less. If you’d justcome to me and said,hey, it’s over, pack your bags and get going—that would have been better than….”
I cupped her cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
She blinked back tears. “Me too. I…had hoped we could have had a proper marriage.”
We can, I wanted to say. But she wouldn’t believe me. Hell,Iwouldn’t believe me. If she’d overheard what I said to Dean in isolation, I could overcome it. But it was combined with a year of her trying to be a wife and me beingunidiota.
I took her hands in mine. This time, she didn’t pull away; she let me touch her and comfort her as best I could.
“I felt coerced into marrying you.”
“I know.”
“I resented you,andI was a little pissed that you made a deal with Nonno about the vineyard.”
“But I told you that?—”