Teresa Bianco pursed her lips and sighed. The only sound was the rustle of her orange, flowy dress and the slight clatter as she placed the teacup in its saucer. She fixed me with a knowing look.
“Romeo, darling. You’re my son-in-law now. Trust me when I tell you that gift is the last thing you would want Anita to have.” I didn’t appreciate her condescending tone, the way she stared down her narrow nose at me.
My hackles rose, and I rubbed my fists on my thighs.
“I’ll give her whatever she wants. What she wants is the gift her father put aside for her. You said you destroyed it. Was that the truth?” Now my tone offended her.
She flapped her hands in the air as if she could wave away my request.
I didn’t care. I wasn’t here to placate, befriend, or smooth things over.
I was here because my wife was catatonic, and witnessing her distress made me want to tear things and people apart. I needed her sadness obliterated so she could flourish once more.
“Romeo…” She sighed again and fiddled with her sleeve. I let the silence stretch out, staring at her without blinking. I wanted her to be unnerved.
“You misunderstand what’s happening here, Mrs. Bianco. I am not here to ask. I am telling you. The gift? Where is it?” I commanded. A cool control made my request unbendable. She knew capitulation was the only option. Her left eyebrow twitched in disbelief. She wasn’t as good an actress as her daughter.
“How did she catch you?” Teresa wondered, my words not strong enough to quell her tongue. “You hold such power in Greenich Bay. Anita doesn’t fit what you deserve. But you truly seem to care for her. It’s unbelievable.”
I cracked my neck to the side; the grind of the bones soothed me. I leaned forward and pinned her with a look that had made grown men lose their bowels.
“She’s your daughter. You’re supposed to love her. You shouldn’t speak of her like you despise her.”
“There’s nothing of me in that girl.” Her cheeks reddened. “She might have you fooled, but her polished facade is a front. I should know. I forced her to practice it for years. Berate me about love when you’ve been married to her for a decade.”
“God willing.” My lips quirked as I looked at the ceiling.
We wouldn’t last a year if Anita had her say, but I was determined to win her heart again. Especially now that I knew how rare it was, carved to fit in my chest. I would stop at nothing to own it. She could savage me for a lifetime.
Since I’d realized who she was, I’d walked around aimlessly, fixated on the memory of her pettiness, her genius. I knew enough to realize layers of bitterness coated Teresa’s twisted opinions. Starting with her own marriage. I knew she’d married below her status, captivated by Antoni Bianco, a guard in charge of guarding her. She refused any other offers, and she seemed to regret it.
“Antoni did the same thing, you know. He was such a gentleman at the start. So studious and solemn. But he keptsecrets, just as Anita does. He wasn’t like any other man I’d met, more…”
Goosebumps sprung on the back of my neck. Did she know about Anita’s alter ego? Was she aware her daughter had far surpassed the dabbling her husband might have done? I couldn’t have her loose lips ruining what Anita was building.
“I know Anita well. We’re family now, so I’ll forgive the impertinent assumption that there isn’t anything your daughter could do I wouldn’t embrace. Antoni might have kept secrets from you, but I embrace all of Anita, even the parts that you clearly loathe.”
Teresa sank in her seat, and her nose wrinkled for a millisecond before she pasted on a serene smile. Anita might have thought she had taken nothing from her mom, but the way their faces smoothed over was uncanny. If I was a better man, I might have felt bad about putting Teresa in her place. But I wasn’t, and I didn’t.
“Tell me what the gift was. Perhaps I can have a replica made for her.”
Teresa looked out the window, a faraway look glazing her eyes. Her fingers turned her plain gold wedding band. She still wore it.
I waited. Nothing was more pressing than this. My father was still avoiding me, spending hours locked in his office. It didn’t matter. I had to get my own home right.
“Anita had a deep admiration for her father. They would spend hours locked up in his greenhouse. He corrupted her and turned her into his miniature. You must know she’s not right. I didn’t know what to do with her. I admit, it hurt me when Antoni died. I thought she would revert to the way she should’ve been, but it got worse.” She pursed her lips and flicked me a look. “Given the choice, she would’ve traded me for her father in a second. Probably she thinks I had something to do with his disappearance.”
Her shoulders slumped, but the glimpse into Anita’s childhood fascinated me. I could imagine how she would have reacted to her mom trying to control her. Teresa gave up the pretense of perfection, slumping in her chair. The reminiscence aged her, deep lines creased her forehead and the corners of her eyes.
“Did you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I loved my husband, despite the lies and secrets. He came to me in the end.” Her nose lifted to the ceiling, so like Anita’s, it made my chest pang. This was news to me. I didn’t know there was any affection between Anita’s parents.
“Just tell me what he left her, and all this uncomfortable dredging can end,” I said, thinking to mollify her. She fell into silence again, the rhythmic tick of the clock the only sound.
“He didn’t leave her an object,” she said with an air of resignation. “It’s a place.”
My spine snapped straight, and I waved my hand at her to continue.
