in Sicilian. I did not miss how his eyes took in my face and my dress. His eyes were a green made from the sea, and his skin as tan as the sand. His hair was as black as my husband’s, and just like my husband, the contrast was almost shocking.
My chest heaved up and down, and his eyes moved to the pulse in my neck, where he could probably see it beating like a drum from the panic. I had nothing to defend myself with.
“I am waiting for my husband,” I said.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I heard the news. Congratulations.”
I nodded. “Grazie.”
“Where is he?”
I looked around.
The relief I felt when I saw him made me crumple in Rocco’s hands. Rocco noticed and nodded when he saw him, too.
Corrado’s eyes were frantic, though his face was stoic. He was looking for me. When he took me from Rocco’s hands, pulling me close, I looked around for the man who had been following me. He had disappeared in the crowd, but I could still feel his eyes on me.
Rocco and Corrado made small talk for a minute before Uncle Tito and his wife joined the conversation.
Even though Corrado acted as if nothing had happened, his body had become more rigid after we walked away, heading back to our seats. “Why did you walk away from Adriano?” he said, his tone sharp.
“I could not find him,” I said.
“He was standing next to the bathroom. He said one minute you were there and the next you were gone.”
“Where were you?” I asked.
“Not far from him. I was talking to Nicodemo.”
“Why is he here?”
“He had some news from my grandfather.”
“Good news, I hope?”
“The bull is dead,” he said.
I stopped walking, and Corrado did, too.
“Wh—” I swallowed hard. “When?”
“Last night.”
I looked around and only saw a few people rushing toward their seats. Adriano and Nunzio appeared among them. Adriano looked at me and his eyes showed nothing but remorse. I noticed a pack of nuts sticking out of his pocket.
“Yeah, the motherfucker was eating,” Corrado said. “He dropped the bag and bent down to pick it up, and that’s when he lost you.” He took me by the arm and started ushering me back toward our seats. “Tell me what happened, Alcina.”
“Nothing,” I said, trying to catch my breath. He had broken the news so smoothly, as though he was telling me that the rodent problem we had at home had been taken care of. Like the only reason it mattered was because it mattered to me.
“Don’t fucking lie to me.”
“A man,” I said. “I thought—he was following me. But if the bull is dead…” I took a deep breath. “Maybe I was imagining it.”
“No,” he said. “Silvio might still have people looking for you, which means they’re looking for me, too.”
“What does that mean?” I looked at him, at the set of his face, and there was nothing showing there but a man determined to get back to his seat before the show began again.
“It means that if Silvio decides he wants me dead because I ordered his son dead, we will not agree to disagree.”
“We should leave?”
We took our seats again. This time it seemed like Adriano and Nunzio were on higher alert. Nicodemo took the seat directly in the back of me.
“No.” Corrado fixed his suit after he sat, taking my hand again. “My wife will enjoy the rest of the show. My grandfather exiled me to Italy for his own reasons, but when it comes to il mio cuore, I’ll die before another man puts his hands on you.”
He looked at my arms, where Rocco had touched me, his eyes hard. After a minute, he turned in his seat, his face as solid as the amber in his eyes.
The lights dimmed, the music started, and the curtain lifted. Conversation over.
20
Corrado
I watched my wife as she took her bag and followed the land down toward the boat slip. I told her to stay close. She took a seat in a grassy area not too far away.
Her back faced me, her hair pulled up and a scarf around it, her sunglasses on, but her face was set toward the fading sun. It was going to kiss the water soon—that was something she said—and she always wanted to be there for it.
Adriano stayed close to her, more eager than usual after the fuckup from the night before. It was the first time I’d ever had an issue with his eating. It usually