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“Your grandfather must’ve been happy to see you settled,” Theo said after he got a glass of wine from Alfredo. “You told me his mission in life was to see you married.”
“Si, he was…content when he passed.”
I remembered how Nonno had beamed with quiet pride as he watched Elysa and I say our vows. It should’ve been a hopeful beginning, but eventhen, Iknew I couldn’t make this work. Elysa had been a simple but beautiful bride, her dress unembellished, her smile steady. But instead of seeing her for who she was, I had seen only who she wasn’t. She wasn’t polished, wasn’t part of my world, and wasn’t the kind of woman I thought would fit by my side. And that, I realized now, had been an inauspicious start to a marriage I had never truly given a chance.
“So, what kind of trouble are you getting yourself into these days?” he asked casually.
I laughed dryly, signaling the bartender for another drink. “Trouble doesn’t begin to cover it.”
He raised an eyebrow. “That bad, huh? Let me guess, work or women?”
“Both,” I admitted, and he chuckled, clinking his glass against mine.
As we caught up, I found myself telling him everything. About Elysa, the divorce, Lucia, and how I was finally starting to realize just how badly I’d screwed everything up. Theo listened quietly, his expression thoughtful as he sipped his drink.
“You know, I met Elysa once,” he reminded me when I finished. “Briefly. At that party at the U.S. Embassy’s Fourth of July Gala.”
“Si.” I had forgotten about that.
“She’s good for you,” he said simply.
I frowned, unsure how to respond. “What makes you say that? You barely know her.”
Theo shrugged. “I know you. And I know that youneed someone who’s going to challenge you, push you, and remind you there’s more to life than work. Elysa strikes me as that kind of person. You think you need a woman who’s like you—but that will just be two people driving themselves to the edge with ambition.”
I stared at him, taken aback.
“You bury yourself in your work so you don’t have to feel things…that’s always been your style. Your parents were assholes! And they did some damage.” He raised his glass and shrugged. “Am I stepping over your lines?
I had known Theo well in business school, but since then, I’d only met him maybe a couple of times a year. His insight into me was surprisingly accurate.
“Not at all. I think…sometimes it helps to speak to someone who can be objective.”
“Then I’ll add, you made work and ambition your friends because you can control that—you can’t control a person.”
“Are you also a shrink now?” I teased as the bartender set Theo’s steak in front of him.
“I’m a sports agent; literally every client of mine is a professional diva…trust me, it comes with the job.” He picked up his glass of wine. “Salut, Dante.”
I clinked my glass to his.
“She thinks I was sleeping with Lucia.”
“This is the lawyer you just fired?”
“Let go as part of a corporate restructuring,” I corrected drolly. “She knows I’d never cheat and yet….”
He chuckled. “Maybe she’s afraid too, and thinking that you stepped out on your marriage helps her keep her distance from you.”
Cazzo! And if that wasn’t the truth.
“How much do you charge by the hour?” I pulled out my wallet and jokingly put it between us.
“For this time, a steak dinner will do.” Theo set his fork and knife down and picked up his wine.
I looked at my drink, feeling fucking forlorn. “I think I’ve lost her and…merda, I don’t know how to win her back.”
“You know what I admired about you in business school?” Theo speared a piece of succulent steak.