as she does. My heart was in my throat when I’d read it, so I can only imagine how she must have felt when she saw it. I watch as the pain plays out on her face, and as much as I feel she doesn’t deserve Gil, I can’t help but pity her.
But like my husband, this is Maricel’s doing. She stopped caring about anyone other than herself, and in doing so she turned the marriage into a roommate situation. For years, she neglected her husband’s physical and emotional needs. Why would anyone expect a happy marriage if it’s void of sex, love, and intimacy?
With her sleeve, she wipes the trail of tears from her cheeks. “Why? Why couldn’t you have just made things work with your own damned husband?”
Before she can say more, the apartment door opens and closes then a voice rings through the space. “Nia, sorry I’m running late. Where are you, babe?”
Thank goodness—Gil’s finally here. When he’d asked me to meet him at his place to talk, I didn’t consider anything that could be awaiting me other than him. He’d arranged everything—the first-class flight to Boston, the chauffeur, and the key to his apartment that had been left for me at the concierge. Was his plan to tell me about the divorce? To tell me he wanted to follow his heart after all?
Maricel rips the tape off my mouth and leans in. “Answer him,” she whispers. “And don’t try anything unless you want me to pull the trigger.”
“I’m… uh… in here. I’m in here,” I call out.
“I’m so glad you made it, Mami,” Gil says as he steps into my line of vision.
Gildardo Botelho. In the flesh. This is the guy I’ve been pining over. The guy whose words alone brought me to multiple successive orgasms. His eyes dart to mine, and for mere seconds, I see the delight in his expression.
“Hello, Gil,” Maricel says. “I was starting to think you wouldn’t make it in time.”
His gaze shifts to the image stepping from the shadows. “What the hell are you doing here?”
She raises the gun to his eye-level. “I’m righting a wrong. And sense you’re the central piece to this threesome, I want you to have a front-row seat to the last seconds of your whore’s life.”
“Have you lost your mind? Give me that.” He hurries toward her, his hand outstretched as he reaches for the weapon.
“Stop,” she warns, her hand quivering as she points the firearm at him. “Don’t come any closer, or I swear I’ll shoot.”
Gil stops in his tracks and reassesses the situation, glancing at me and then back at his wife. This is my first time seeing him face-to-face, so I’m not privy to his expressions, but in this case, I don’t have to be. His eyes reflect the fear I feel in the pit of my stomach—we’re both in danger, and there isn’t anything he can do about it.
THREE
“YOU DON’T WANT to do this,” Gil says, his tone pleading.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Maricel replies. “I’ve pictured this moment for months. This is exactly what I want to do. It’s exactly what the two of you deserve.”
I look at Gil and think of our communication, of how I initially disliked him, and of how I’d wanted to blow him off… but his persistence didn’t let me. I sit in the chair, restrained and frightened as I study the two of them, as I watch him attempt to talk her down. He’s smooth, just as smooth now as he’d been when we were 800 miles apart. The Portuguese accent always did me in, and even now, it does crazy things to me. Tack on the light brown eyes, strong jaw, and the full lips I’d imagined gliding over my body, and I’ll dissolve into a puddle right here. How fucked in the head am I to think of my desires when my only concern should be getting out of here alive? That’s what happens to a woman who’s been neglected by her husband for over a decade. A woman who’s starved for love and affection. A woman who’s damaged and broken from a marriage that always made her feel less than.
As I continue to study Gil—his demeanor, his bravery, his persistence—I see the man I’d once wanted. The man I still want. I notice how his tone softens as he speaks to Maricel, and how she reacts almost immediately, readjusting her position and lowering the gun. It’s just a smidge, but it’s better