Bella, still as white as milk, sat silently, stunned.
“Are you okay, Mama? Can I get you something?”
“Sambuca . . . make it a double.” She wasn’t smiling in her usual jocular fashion. She was serious.
“Si, Mama.”
I watched as Joe and Antonio spoke. Neither one of them looked particularly comfortable. I went over to the bar and ordered two double Sambucas—I too was badly in need of liquid courage.
“Here you go, Mama.” Bella took the drink from me and downed it. Wow, you go girl.
My mother came over to see what all the excitement was about. She sat down beside Bella and took her hand.
“What’s happened, Bella? Is there anything I can do to help?”
Bella’s eyes were glistening. She was fighting back tears, and I thought she was being ridiculously brave. I’d have lost my shit for sure if that had happened to me.
I left Bella and my mother to talk. The poor woman had been violated enough—she needed someone her own age to confide in. My mother was just the woman for the job. Alicia had a way of bringing calm and reason to an otherwise chaotic situation. My mother had studied psychology as a young woman, but she gave it up when I’d come on the scene. She insisted that raising a child was akin to psychoanalyzing a room full of nutjobs. She wasn’t wrong.
My father was talking with Joe and Antonio. I waited patiently for Joe to come back to me. I had no idea what I would say to him. My poor husband. My heart ached for him. The wedding guests were laughing and drinking, making merriment, but the Coli family had just been lowered into the bowels of hell.
***
“Are you ok, my love? What’s going on?” I looked up at Joe who looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“It’s a fucking mess is what it is. I have a brother, Ella, a brother!”
“Are you telling me you didn’t know?” I hadn’t considered that possibility.
“I had absolutely no clue. Neither did my parents, obviously.”
“How is that even possible? And why wait until now to drop the bomb on your family?”
“Abriana has a score to settle, I guess, and what better timing than on the day of Antonio Coli’s ‘only’ son’s wedding. The bitch has been planning this for years. How’s my mother holding up?”
“She’s taking it pretty hard. I can only imagine what she must be feeling. My mother is with her now. She’ll take care of her; don’t worry about your mother. Bella is a strong woman. She’ll recover from this. It’s not like your father betrayed her. He seemed just as shocked as the rest of us. How’s your father?”
“Apart from super pissed, he’s stunned. Poor Mama, she must be devastated.”
“We’ll get through it. Are you okay, my love? This is not exactly what we saw happening when we set out today, is it?”
I wrapped my arms around him. I could feel his rigid body relax as I held him tightly. My poor, beautiful Joe. I was furious with Abriana for not only upstaging our wedding—but for being so cruel as to hurt Antonio and Bella on their son’s special day.
“I don’t want to seem insensitive about your family’s pain, my love, but I think you and I should get back to our guests. Are you up to it? I refuse to give Abriana the satisfaction of ruining our day completely. We deserve to squeeze as much joy from this day as possible. I don’t want us to look back one day and only remember the bad.”
“You’re right, gorgeous. I’m so sorry that this happened to you on your big day. How are you, my love?” He took my face into his hands and looked into my eyes as I spoke.
“Don’t worry about that now, Joe. My dreams have all come true. I just married my soulmate; how can I be anything but elated? Sure, I wish Abriana hadn’t spoiled it for you and your family today, of all days, but I’m fine.”
Joe and I returned to our guests and tried to forget the chaos for a moment. Antonio’s friends and close associates showered us with envelopes, as is the tradition, with more cash in them than I’d ever seen. The single ladies gave their fallen hunk a last hug and eyelash batting, and pretty soon, it was time for Joe and me to leave. We were more than ready to be alone.
“I’m so happy I found you, Ella. You are a rare jewel, my gorgeous woman.”
If I had known what was to come, I would have been less joyous and more careful. But life doesn’t always work out the way we plan.
JOE
I promised myself that I’d put the disastrous day out of my mind as Ella and I left on our honeymoon. I hadn’t explored my Italy since I was a child traveling with my parents. I wanted to share her rare beauty with my rare beauty, Ella. We traveled along the Amalfi Coast to Naples, Rome, Florence, Tuscany, and Venice. It was perfect. Ella was perfect.
Our days were filled with good food, laughter, and sightseeing, but the nights were my favorite. A mere touch of Ella’s skin on mine sent me soaring. Her salty olive skin shone in the moonlight as we lay naked, hungry for each other each night. Her breasts, round and hard, boasted pink nipples erect at my touch. She’d moan as I explored every inch of the body with my fingers and my tongue. When she arched her back as she climaxed, I would spill into her with utter abandonment. Our dance of love was rhythmic and perfectly in sync. How I loved this woman.
The three weeks flew by, and soon,
