Chương 12
Someone farther back lifted a phone, then seemed to think better of it when Marcy stared at him.
“There was also an incident this morning that made continuing impossible.”
His chest tightened.
He could feel Livia’s instruction as clearly as if she were standing beside him.
Don’t say it was all Bianca.
“I’m not going to describe it.”
A murmur rose.
He waited.
“But it involved my daughter.”
The room quieted again.
“And I’m asking everyone here not to speculate publicly about her, photograph her, or turn her into part of whatever story gets told about today.”
This time, more phones disappeared.
Not all.
He noticed one woman near the back typing rapidly with both thumbs.
Alessandro looked away.
He could not control everyone.
Livia had been right.
“I’m sorry for the disruption.”
He forced himself to look at the faces instead of the carpet.
“I’m sorry for the time and money people spent.”
He glanced toward Bianca’s relatives.
“And I am sorry to Bianca for not being honest sooner about my doubts.”
Someone shifted a chair.
That small scraping sound seemed louder than the microphone.
“I won’t pretend the rest belongs in this room.”
He handed the microphone back to Marcy.
Nobody applauded.
He was grateful for that.
For a few seconds, no one seemed to know whether they had been dismissed.
Then Marcy stepped forward.
“The hotel will continue serving refreshments in the adjoining reception area for anyone who would like to remain while transportation arrangements are made.”
Her voice was calm enough to make catastrophe sound administrative.
“Staff will also assist with valet and any schedule changes.”
That gave people something practical to do.
The room began moving again.
Slowly at first.
Then everywhere.
Chairs shifted.
People stood.
Whispers multiplied.
Alessandro stepped down from the platform and immediately found himself intercepted by his mother.
“You admitted fault.”
“Hello to you too.”
She ignored that.
“In front of everyone.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because some of it was mine.”
Her mouth tightened.
“You have always had a talent for accepting blame other people are happy to give you.”
“Ma.”
“I am not saying you were perfect.”
“That’s generous.”
“I am saying there is a difference between being uncertain and taking clippers to a child.”
His expression hardened.
“Keep your voice down.”
She looked around.
People nearby had already moved farther away.
His mother lowered her voice anyway.
“Where is Livia?”
“Upstairs with Rosalie.”
“Can I see her?”
“Not yet.”
Her face fell.
Alessandro softened slightly.
“She wanted quiet.”
“I can be quiet.”
He stared at her.
She lifted one hand.
“I can try.”
“I’ll ask her.”
His mother nodded reluctantly.
Then she studied him more carefully.
“You look terrible.”
“Thank you.”
“You took off your tie.”
“I noticed.”
“Your father wore his tie through a kidney stone.”
“That explains a lot about him.”
For one second, she almost smiled.
Then her attention shifted over his shoulder.
Vittorio was approaching.
The smile vanished.
Alessandro moved before his mother could.
“Ma.”
“I wasn’t going to do anything.”
“You were standing up.”
“I am allowed to stand.”
“Sit.”
She glared at him.
Then she sat.
Vittorio stopped several feet away.
His face had lost some of the anger from upstairs.
Not all of it.
“You said more than I expected.”
Alessandro nodded.
“I said what was true.”
“You left out what she did.”
“That part isn’t for them.”
Vittorio looked toward the ballroom entrance.
“She told me everything.”
Alessandro said nothing.
“She shouldn’t have done it.”
“No.”
“I’m not defending that.”
“All right.”
Vittorio frowned.
“Don’t make me regret trying to be reasonable.”
“I’m trying very hard not to.”
That earned him a tired look.
Vittorio slipped both hands into his pockets.
“She’s upstairs.”
“I know.”
“She won’t let her mother in.”
Alessandro looked toward him.
“Why?”
“She says she wants to be alone.”
“That may be the first sensible thing either of us has done today.”
Vittorio’s jaw tightened.
Then, unexpectedly, he let the insult pass.
“She gave me the ring.”
Alessandro looked down.
“I thought you took it.”
“She put it in my hand and told me to return it.”
A faint pressure tightened behind Alessandro’s ribs.
He had not expected the detail to matter.
It did.
“Keep it for now.”
Vittorio shook his head.
“I don’t want it.”
“Neither do I.”
“That’s useful.”
Despite everything, Alessandro almost laughed.
Vittorio looked at him.
“You know she loved you.”
Alessandro’s expression changed.
“Yes.”
“Badly, apparently.”
“That doesn’t make it less real.”
“No.”
Vittorio looked toward the ceiling as if the floor above them were visible through it.
“She spent years being afraid someone would choose somebody else over her.”
Alessandro said nothing.
Vittorio continued.
“Her mother and I separated when Bianca was twelve.”
“I know.”
“You know the version we told at dinners.”
That made Alessandro look at him.
Vittorio rubbed his jaw.
“I left for six months.”
Alessandro waited.
“There was another woman.”
Vittorio’s voice flattened around the admission.
“Bianca knew before her mother did.”
The ballroom noise seemed to recede.
“She found messages.”
“How?”
“My phone.”
Vittorio looked ashamed for the first time Alessandro had ever seen.
“She was twelve, and I told her she misunderstood.”
Alessandro’s mouth tightened.
Vittorio laughed once without humor.
“I made my child think she was stupid because I didn’t want to admit I was a coward.”
“Did Bianca ever tell you she remembered that?”
“No.”
“She probably does.”
“Yes.”
Vittorio looked toward the ballroom doors again.
“She spent those six months asking her mother when I was coming home.”
“And you did.”
“I did.”
“Then what?”
“Her mother forgave me.”
“That simple?”
“No.”
Vittorio looked at him.
“Nothing was simple.”
He rubbed the side of his nose.
“But from Bianca’s point of view, I left, then came back because everyone fought hard enough to keep the family together.”
Alessandro understood where the sentence was going before Vittorio finished it.
“She learned staying was proof of love.”
Vittorio nodded.
May you like
“And leaving was punishment.”
They stood in silence.
