by Alexie Aaron
“Yes, that is true,” Marco confirmed.
“We think, either she had followed Cin or was in Preston’s employ at the time. She was there when Kyle was killed. She was there when Kyle killed Cin.”
“Nasty critter. Oops, sorry, Marco,” I said.
His face was dark, but he wasn’t angry at me.
“Back to the party…” I prodded Harry.
“The principals came in. Antonia was introduced to Buslowski by Carlos. She took him upstairs for a talk. She was instructed to get Buslowski to make love to her. She had to keep him in her dressing room until Preston wanted him released. Cin, in the meanwhile, was approached by Kyle. Marco, you intervened, but the train was already set up and running. It was going to happen. Preston managed to rile Kyle up. When Cin walked away from Marco, Carlos said Preston told Kyle that he should take Cin before Marco sullied her. Ryan unknowingly escorted Cin to an isolated part of the room. Pello, for a moment, was your saving grace. But he was too drunk, and Kyle took you away.”
“Preston and Carlos made sure there was no way you would be able to navigate that hallway to your freedom. It wasn’t only that door that was chained, but all of the exits. All but one office and the workroom were locked. Carlos said that he was watching Kyle and you in the office. When you bit Kyle and escaped, it was he who took your handkerchief and blotted Kyle’s wound. Your phone rang. I bet you didn’t know that. Kyle grabbed the purse and saw that it was me calling you. Carlos said, it was at that moment Kyle decided to kill you. He said, ‘I’ll take her, kill her, and lay her body at the feet of her lover, and then I’ll kill him.’” Harry turned to me, “Cin, I’m the one who got you killed.”
“Nonsense, I was dead the moment I stepped on that stage,” I said and meant it.
“Carlos and Kyle left the office. Leora ran down the hall and told them where you were. She had seen you go in. She also told Kyle that you were, excuse me for being crude, ‘wet and waiting for him to master you.’”
“It wasn’t until my hypnosis that I found out that someone else was in that room while Kyle brutalized me,” I told the D’Amore men. “I heard too many footsteps. I saw Carlos and someone else watching from the shadows. I smelled Leora’s perfume. I saw some male in a hat and one glove standing over us and laughing. He picked up something off the floor – that, we would later find out was Leora’s cell phone - and placed it on the table before he left.”
“Antonia received a call on her cell phone. She told Buslowski that Preston was in a panic. You were missing, and you were last seen with Kyle. Dave admitted to me that he thought you had gone off with Kyle on your own volition. Antonia and Preston had fed him so much information that it seemed to be credible. He didn’t know you were in danger until he saw the condition of the office, in particular, the blood on your purse. Meanwhile, Carlos went back to warn Kyle that your lover was looking for you. That is when Carlos found you both dead. His love was dead, and he was hysterical.”
“I was drifting above my body when Dave came in. I was dying, but my body had not let me go yet,” I explained. “Kyle, in the throes of death, kept choking me to keep me with him. I think that is why I still see him. He’s in my mind. I can’t get him out. The only time I was free of him was when I was with you, Marco. You kept the demons away.”
“So they did all of this, why?” Max asked Harry.
“To flush out Eldora Capella. And I think they did.”
“God help us,” Marco said.
I turned to him and asked, “Why?”
Marco looked at Max. “Son, you may not want to hear this.”
“Have I ever disappointed you or not understood you, Papa?”
“No.”
“Then trust me now.”
I held Marco’s hand. He ran his thumb over my fingers for a bit. He took a deep breath and began, “I met Eldora Capella when I was here on my father’s business. He had amongst his holdings a construction company. He sent me here to be his eyes when he was back home. It suited me well. He and I never got along, so we were never in the same country at the same time.” He continued, “I love music. If I had been born into a different family, I would have played the piano or violin. My voice is not good, but I loved the opera. It was a place where I could escape into the beauty of the voices, the drama played out onstage, and the powerful music. It was my haven.”
I released his hand, sensing he needed to express himself better. Marco used his hands when he talked.
“The best opera group was in Miami at that time. Miami was a thriving city and had the money to support the arts. Palm Beach didn’t really come into their own until the last twenty years,” he explained. “I fell in with a group of people who frequented the opera regularly. Tom Richards and his bride, Susan, were one such couple. They introduced me to many of the performers. Tom had just started managing musicians and singers, and this gave him access to the opera house. I ran into him one day. We had lunch, and then he took me over to see a rehearsal. There was Eldora, pushing her vocal weight around the stage. She was fierce and beautiful. I fell for her instantly. Tom introduced us, and soon we were dating. She took me to her bed and taught me how to properly love a woman. I didn’t know I was one of many. I just thought that, when we were together, I was Eldora’s only lover.”
Marco frowned for a moment. “I was young. She came to me and told me she was pregnant. I assumed it was my child. That’s where that one picture came from. One night, when she was taking her bows, I jumped onstage and proposed to her. She accepted me. I told my father, and he said that she should come and stay with the family, and after the birth, we would talk marriage. Preston was her dresser at the time, and he was in the room when I told her. He said this showed that my family didn’t trust her, and he and I got into a fight. I was ejected from the room. Later, Preston, who I did not know was her lover, beat her up, and she lost the baby. I still wanted to marry her. I visited her in the hospital, and she looked at me as if I were dirt. She said the child wasn’t even mine, and I should go back to Roma to suckle at my mother’s tit. I was a big disappointment to her.”
“I’m sorry, Marco,” I said, rubbing his thigh. “That had to be crushing.”
“I went home. My parents took this opportunity to make an arrangement with Max’s mother’s family that I would take their wayward, poet-chasing daughter off their hands. We were wed. Marie didn’t talk to me. She didn’t like me. She allowed me in her bed, and as soon as I was finished, I was asked to leave. You see, Marie was in love with someone else and, like me, was forced to marry. So sad. I spent most of my time here, allowing her to have her affairs. Max isn’t even my child, but I would never admit that to anyone.”
I looked at Max, and he smiled. “I know this. Marco is sterile. All my brothers and sisters, he welcomed with open arms, but they aren’t his. He knew but still loved us as if we were his. He and my mother made an arrangement, and it seems to have suited them both. Mother never told me who my father was.” He looked over at Marco.
Marco just raised his hands. “Does it really matter? Bella loves Harry like he is her own. I loved you the moment I saw you.”
“Thank you, Papa.”
“I’ve lived the life of a womanizer. Never taking a woman for long. No one has understood my relationship with Marie. No one but you, Bella.”
I smiled. “It may be that I understand it or I can just accept who you are. I knew that, when I decided to walk into that alcove with you, I may not ever see you again. But I was going to enjoy you. And I did.”
“Okay, off track here, and ew,” Harry said. “Marco, why is Eldora dangerous?”
“She thinks she is entitled to everything.”
“Tom said that too,” I confirmed.
“Her son is up for a very high position in the European Union. There can be no scandal. She has to shut down anyone that knows of her affairs. There are many Catholic countries that would shun her son, and her, if they knew about the illegitimate baby.”
“So,
in your opinion, Papa, you think she is behind your killing?”
“She is capable. If she befriended Leora, then she would have known about my memoir.”
“Is Tom in danger?” I asked.
“Most certainly,” Marco answered.
I looked at Harry. He excused himself and walked out onto the patio to call Tony.
I got up and asked if anyone wanted anything to eat or drink. Max nodded, and Marco just put his hand out, palm up. I looked over at Max amused. He winked at me.
“Can you give me a hint of what you would like?” I asked as nicely as I could.
Marco didn’t talk. Max said, “Bring us a bourbon on the rocks, Cin.”
I walked over to the refrigerator and found ice in the freezer, highball glasses in the cupboard over the sink, and then I pantomimed, pointing every which way at different cabinets, behind Marco’s back. Max smiled and nodded his head in the direction of the spirits cupboard. By that time, I needed a drink too. I found a beer in the refrigerator for Harry.
Harry came back in. “Tony said they moved Tom. He’s in a halfway house. Tony is going there now to talk to him in person.”
“Thank you, Harry,” I said.
“What is Tom to you, Bella?” Marco asked acidly.
It was at that moment when I knew that this free love thing would only be on Marco’s side of the equation. I kissed the estate goodbye in my head before I spoke, “Tom is a dear friend.”
“How dear?”
“Buck to doe dear.”
Marco got up and left the room.
I downed my drink and went after him.
Harry said that, during my and Marco’s fight, Max confided in Harry that he wished that Marco and I had found each other before we were both so jaded.
“Cin was devastated and afraid,” Harry said. “She wanted Buslowski, who was her boyfriend, to bring her through the trauma, but he was tied up in Antonia. We were visiting Tom, and at some time during those conversations, Cin decided that she wanted Tom to make love to her, that somehow he would understand what she needed. She came out of that building a new woman. She would have never had the confidence to go out with Marco otherwise. I think she wished that it was Marco, but you can’t change things that have already happened.”
“How does she feel about Tom?”
“She likes him. She loves Marco,” Harry told him.
I stood there looking at a shut door.
“Are you really going to hide in the bathroom like a debutante?” I screamed at him. I sat down and put my back to the door. “You have to come out sometime. You can crap in there, but you’re going to get hungry.”
The door opened in, and I fell backwards. I looked up at him from the floor. “It started before us. I needed to heal. I had no one else I trusted. I found out that it was his child that Eldora was trying to pretend was yours, and it was him who took her to safety away from Preston. It was him who paid for her to live until she found a husband. He depleted his fortune, and she never even said thank you. By the time I found this out, I didn’t tell you because…”
“You didn’t want to hurt me.”
“Partly. The other part is, I didn’t think you were coming back. I know you, Marco. You’re not going to ever settle down with me. You may think so, but your nature is going to resurface, and you’ll be off. I’ve accepted that. And, oh my darling, you are worth the heartache when you do leave. Until then, I will be here when you want me. Just don’t expect me to be wearing a chastity belt while you’re running after sopranos.”
Marco stepped over me. He turned around and shook his head. “Was he any good?”
“He’s no Marco,” I said honestly.
“Good. Get up, Bella. The tile clashes with your hair.”
I got up. I walked into the bathroom and pulled my fingers through my hair. I decided I needed to calm down. I ran the bath.
Lasciare Andare
While Harry and Max left to pick up some food, Marco napped with an uneasy look on his face. I crawled into the bath with a likewise expression. There, I thought about what we had learned and tried to put it together. Harry had a firm grasp on the information. I was ashamed to realize that I had been too focused on the pain of supposedly losing Marco to be of any help.
I eased my body out of the tub and wrapped a towel around myself. I walked into the bedroom. Marco had left. I picked up the clothes Harry had brought. The pants were too big. I had to roll the waist down to get my pants to stay on my hips. I pulled on the sweater, but it smelled of Tom. I put it back in the bag and looked in Marco’s closet. Surely some female had left something behind. I ended up with a less than perfect striped shirt. I buttoned a few buttons and let the rest hang. I refused to wear mourning clothes inside this penthouse.
I came out to find that Harry and Max had returned. They’d brought back a sandwich.
“So where are we?” I asked.
Harry looked over and angled his head. He gave me a discreet thumbs-up. I smiled. Max turned around and stared at me awhile. I turned around and looked at my reflection in the stainless steel refrigerator. Did I have mustard on my face? I looked back, and he was gone.
I sat down next to Harry. “Thank you for the sandwich. Where are the D’Amores?”
“Marco has been in the office since he came out,” Harry said.
“Where’s junior?”
“He just went outside. I think he likes you.”
“Tough,” I said. “Did you hear from Tony?”
“No. Dave called me, at last count, seven times. Where’s your phone?” he asked.
“I turned it off after calling you.” I leaned back and closed my eyes a moment.
“Why don’t you take the time to listen to your messages? Just in case Tom called,” Harry suggested.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I just can’t seem to focus.”
“You’re excused,” Harry said, twisting around.
I turned on my phone, and once it had booted up, I saw I had a few voicemail messages. I decided to go outside and listen to them. The patio was large enough, so I wouldn’t be in Max’s airspace.
Dave call number one:
“What are you doing? Everybody is talking about you and your dead lover’s son. Harry says you’re staying in town. I guess I know what you’re doing.”
Dave call number two:
“It occurs to me that this all could be part of your investigation. But, freckles, it’s making you look bad. No one is going to hire you after this.”
Dave call number three:
“Tony called. He’s had a lot of phone calls from the opera set. People are coming forward to relate anything they feel may help him in his investigation. Maybe you do know what you’re doing. Sorry, Cin, it’s just…”
“It’s just that you’re an asshole!” I shouted at the phone.
“I’m sorry, are you talking to me?” Max asked, walking over.
“Are you an asshole?”
“No.”
“Then I wasn’t talking to you,” I growled.
“Cin has a temper.”
“Yes, she does.”
“You don’t look Italian,” he observed.
“I’m Irish.”
“Ah,” Max said, as if it explained everything.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “All of this can’t be easy to hear.”
“Actually, if it wasn’t my father involved, I would be fascinated. I worry about him. He’s so lonely. Or he was.”
“Max, I’ll be a distraction for a while, but I can’t hold him. And I shouldn’t try. I hate women who fall for the rascals and then cry foul when they are rascals.”
“You’re a very confident woman.”
“It’s an act. I’m this far,” I held up my thumb and forefinger, “from grabbing his leg and holding on for dear life.”
“You know you can’t do that because you’ll suffocate him,” Max warned.
“Yes. So I decided to enjoy him when he’s here and, when he’s not, to go
on living. He’s one in a million, Max.”
“How about me?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Be my lover.”
“No.”
“Come on, he won’t mind.”
“No.”
“You know that he and I aren’t blood related.”
“No,” I said laughing. “But thank you for asking.”
He smiled.
“When tomorrow’s Shiny Sheet comes out, everyone will assume that we are lovers anyway.”
“No. Please go away. I have a few more messages to yell at.”
“Fine, be that way.”
The wind caught my shirt and flipped it up and away from my stomach. The horrible scar captivated Max. He walked up and pulled my shirt open.
“Max, bloody hell,” I said, trying to pull it closed.
“Stop it!” he demanded. “My god, what did this?”
“A saber, and then the surgeons trying to save me. You do know what happened?”
“Yes, but the telling is nothing like the seeing. There’s more.” He ran his hands along the silver scars. “What happened here?”
“I was tortured. I was on a job, and the opposition wanted information.”
“Where else?”
“My foot. My neck. My back.” With each scar he found, he needed an explanation. He buttoned my shirt and drew me away from the window. “You are so damaged, and yet Marco loves you as if you were a porcelain doll.”
“Marco sees the woman inside. He knows how to find her. That is why all of us will excuse him. This is what you can learn from your father. He accepts and then exploits the good.”
“You are so brave.”
“I have to be. No one taught me any different.”
“Thank you for telling me. I still think you should make love to me.”
“No,” I said, shocked.
“Another woman? I know one that likes redheads,” he teased.
“No.” I pushed him away.
With mischief in his eyes, he grabbed me, put me over his shoulder, and started to carry me off.
