Chapter 30
Dylan and I stood hand-in-hand at the front gate to the Mia Sorella. Leo thought of everything, including packing me a wedding “go” bag. I had fresh clothes, a toothbrush, and even my favorite facial creams.
The square was full of Carnival remnants. A few costumed people slept on a bench. The colored lights were still up and streamers littered the cobblestones.
The beautiful party was over. We were all emerging from a dream, and before us stood a door that led to the real world.
“You ready for this?” I asked, leaning into him, my head resting just below his shoulder.
After he had made me come, I had taken him in my mouth and sucked him until he’d come shuddering and shaking. I could still taste him.
“Yes.” He kissed the top of my head. “Let’s get in there before my brother loses his fucking shit.”
“You think he hasn’t already?”
“Oh, absolutely yes, but I’ve never felt so ready to face the wrath of my older brother.”
“You are really hung up on those six minutes,” I said.
“Oh, yes.” He laughed. “That son of a bitch never lets me forget it.”
“Ready?” I said, stepping ahead of him, pulling his hand.
“Always,” he said.
I opened the gate.
Inside, the lobby was quiet. A couple sat in the peacock green loveseat, drinking Bloody Marys, eyes puffy with a hangover.
Paolo stood at the front desk in his gray suit and white shirt. His eyes darted between me and Dylan, and his brows did a quick dance. I smiled and nodded as we walked to the desk.
“Is it true?” Paolo asked, pointing at the two of us.
“Yes, it is.” Dylan nodded.
“Congratulations,” Paolo said, looking pleased. “And I understand that you are also a musician, Mr. Strand.”
“It was a big night, Paolo,” I said.
“If the night ended in your happiness, I would consider it a success,” Paolo said.
“Are they upstairs?” I said, nodding toward the marble staircase.
“Oh, yes. They were all in the ballroom last night, until,” he paused, “until the news broke. You surprised them, Isabella Carmen,” he said, leaning toward me, “but not me. I knew that if anyone could find a way to fix things, it would be you. And you will be good to her,” he said to Dylan. He wasn’t asking a question.
Dylan coughed and stood taller. “Of course,” he said.
“Good,” Paolo said. “She is a jewel, a gem.”
“The rarest,” Dylan said. He reached over to brush a hair off my face. His touch sent goosebumps down my body.
I reached across the counter on tiptoes and threw my arms around Paolo’s neck, pulling him into a quick hug. I kissed his cheek.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice low. “How angry is Papa?”
“Furious,” he said, shrugging. “But everyone here is thrilled. We know what you did for us, for our families. Your mother explained what would have happened if the deal had gone through.”
“She did?” I said, surprised that she’d listened to me.
“Yes,” Paolo said. “She shared some very strong opinions with us all.”
“Okay, we’re going upstairs,” I said. “Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need luck,” Paolo said. “You are victorious.”
Dylan and I walked up the grand marble staircase. I thought about all the times I had climbed these stairs alone, all the years I’d worked in the hotel trying to please my parents, all the times I’d climbed these stairs to attend board meetings, only to find my voice silenced.
My mind went back even further, to all the times I’d run down these halls with Sara, giggling and dancing before the joy of my childhood vanished. This hotel held so many memories for me and my family.
I understood the complexity of my past on a new level. My childhood was happy and sad. I experienced joy and sorrow. No matter what, my past and the choices my parents made shaped me. I was the woman I am today because of their love, however misguided, and now it was my time to forge my own path forward.
The little girl who was afraid of disappointing her elders was gone. I was a married woman now. An entrepreneur. I was still a sister, a daughter, a friend, but I was a woman first.
I squeezed Dylan’s hand when we reached the top step.
“What?” he whispered. “What are you thinking?”
“I am thinking that no matter what happens between us, I feel lucky to be with you today.”
Our eyes met. It was unspoken, but I felt the bond between us grow stronger in that moment. It was time to move forward and face my family.
I was no longer alone, but I wasn’t standing beside Dylan from a position of weakness. I was ready to stand beside him and face my family as an equal. We walked forward, side-by-side.
Outside the dining room, there was a row of banquet tables draped with white cloths. A banner combining the logo for Street Entertainment and Uzano Properties hung crooked on the wall.
It looked like someone had started to take the sign down, or worse, the tape had failed. It looked sad, like an idea that was no longer relevant. I saw it as a sign. The age of the acquisition was over. It was time for the age of Bella Baci.
James sat outside the ballroom entrance in an oversized yellow chair. It reminded me of the horrible loveseat I’d sat in at the church, waiting to marry Roberto all those months ago. James said nothing as we crossed the carpeted floor.
He raised his hands in the air for a slow clap. “Well played, little brother. Well played,” James said, standing.
“Brother,” Dylan said. A smirk crossed his face. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you. Did you say ‘congratulations?’”
I inhaled and gripped Dylan’s hand tighter. I wasn’t sure how he was going to handle this confrontation, but I wasn’t sure if a shit-eating grin was the right move. The last thing we needed was a fist fight and an assault charge.
“You certainly surprised us all with this ridiculous move,” James said, nodding at me.
Dylan’s hand tensed in mine. “This woman is not a ridiculous move,” Dylan said, his voice purposeful and low. Holy shit, these brothers were definitely one step away from bloody knuckles.
“You expect me to believe that you were motivated by anything other than wanting to fuck me over,” James said, a vein pulsing in his forehead.
“Well, of course I wanted to fuck you over,” Dylan said. “But this marriage is not a game or a play.”
“Oh, like you weren’t also playing a game, telling the world about Strand.” James exhaled. “Ophelia is furious. She is trying to manage the press.”
“Tell Mother that I will handle the press.”
“Well, you just might need to this time. You may have finally made a mess that we can’t fix for you.” James shook his head. “This marriage is a joke.”
“Apologize to my wife,” Dylan growled. He took a step toward his brother, his hand still in mine. The men faced each other, rage rippling between them.
Their shared history or pain was unknown to me, but whatever scars they’d given each other, they were not healed. I hoped Dylan would open up to me some day, to support him and his healing. Well, I was thinking like a wife, wasn’t I?
“I apologize, Isabella,” James said. Sighing he stood down. “You are a beautiful and compelling woman, and my brother is lucky to call you, his wife. Welcome to the family.”
“Thank you,” I said, surprised by his words and my reaction to them. I was now a part of the Street family. I had been so focused on saving mine, I hadn’t thought for a moment about the family I had just joined.
James sighed again. “You know, you could have come to me.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t realize how fucking serious you were.”
“You mean when I told you that I had grown a conscience and decided that this was one family that our business was not going to destroy?” Dylan snorted. “I told you, brother. You didn’t want to hear it.”
The brothers were still fighting, but the aggressive energy between them diffused into something closer to sibling rivalry. I wondered what it was like for the two of them to live in each other’s shadows.
“You can tell yourself that if I’d told you to stand down again yesterday, it would have made a difference,” Dylan said. “But that would be a lie, and you know it.”
“Well, we’ll never know now, will we?”
“It’s just money, brother.”
“Just money,” James said. “I have been running this business since I was twenty-one years old. You have fucked around. You never wanted to be a part of it. I saved your ass, again and again.”
“You have,” Dylan said.
“You could have given me the respect of a heads-up, man,” James shook his head and nodded, as if shaking away an idea, “and now the two of you are married. You are really married.”
“Yes, we are,” Dylan said.
“And Strand is done? You’re going to tour as you?”
“I don’t know,” Dylan said. “I have my music, and if I’m not me when I play it, I don’t want it anymore.”
“And you are happy?” James asked, looking straight at Dylan.
“Yes,” Dylan said. “You have no idea.”
James nodded, pleased with this answer. “So, it’s done. You are married, and you have the votes,” he said. “It’s dead in the water, and you know what, if you had come to me, it wouldn’t have mattered.”
“I know,” Dylan said, smiling at his brother.
“All right.” James gave me a smile that actually looked genuine. “Congratulations to you both.”
“Thank you,” I said, squeezing Dylan’s hand. “I understand the complexity of being in business with your family.”
James checked his phone. “Right, well, I’m leaving town today, brother. I assume you can find your way home?”
Dylan nodded.
James inhaled and turned to me. “And Bella, I apologize that you had to be a witness to our disagreement. You are family, and as your brother- in-law, I ask you to please accept my apology. I’ll be sending you a gift -- to where?” He looked at Dylan. “Where are you two living?”
“Um,” I said, realizing I had no clue either. There were so many things to discuss.
“We don’t know yet,” Dylan said.
“All right. Keep me posted. And best wishes to you both,” James said. His shoes clicked down the marble staircase as he left.
“Is he always…”
“A prick?” Dylan shrugged.
“Do you two always work things out like this?”
“Like what?” he said.
My eyes widened.
“Oh, that was downright civilized,” he said, smiling. “When it comes down to it, it’s just business. James is like a jaguar. He gets a target, hunts, pounces. I guarantee he was messaging his assistant, checking on one of the many leads he has for other acquisitions.”
“You are serious,” I said.
“He will move on to different prey.”
“You call it prey.”
“I’m sorry,” Dylan said. “You have to understand how my family thinks. We were born for business, and I chose music.”
“And you did quite well.”
“Until I fucked it all up,” he said. “But now I’m back, because of you. I’m back and this time it’s really me. No more hiding.”
“So that is it? You are all good now?”
Dylan inhaled. “I think so.”
“He isn’t going to stop speaking to you? Cut you off?”
“He can’t cut me off. He may finally want to buy me out, who knows. He may stop speaking to me for a minute or two when he remembers I fucked him over, but he’ll get over it. We always do. And honestly, some silence from him would be a bloody relief.”
“It’s really over.”
“Yes,” Dylan said. “He is right. I never had the passion for the business. Now I have a passion for a woman, just one, one woman, and my music, of course.”
He reached out and touched my cheek. “You are my muse.”
“Doesn’t this make you nervous?” I said. “We don’t even know where we are going to live. Are we crazy?”
“Probably,” he said. “But every cell in my body is telling me to choose you, Bella Uzano, and I do. I choose you.”
He reached down and softly kissed me. We stood in front of the signage for the merger that we’d destroyed. We’d replaced it with something else. With us.
I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I turned to see my mother.
“Mama,” I whispered, clutching Dylan’s hand.
“Bella,” she said, nodding. “Mr. Street.”
“Signora Uzano,” Dylan said, stepping aside. I noticed how he deferred to her.
My mother’s mouth curled in a slight smile. “Bella, I need to talk to you,” she said. “Alone, please.”
“If it’s about Dylan,” I said, “anything you have to say to me, he can hear.” Dylan had not asked me to step away when dealing with his brother.
“It’s all right,” Dylan said, squeezing my hand. “I’ll be downstairs waiting for you. Talk to your family.”
Before he left, he leaned down and gently kissed me on my lips. It was sweet and tender, and when I looked up, I saw my mother’s eyes follow him as he exited the foyer. “I see that you did marry for love,” she whispered.
“Mama.” I walked forward and grasped her hands. “It was supposed to be Roberto, but the plan changed. What mattered to me was getting the votes to stop the acquisition. The plan to marry Dylan wasn’t entirely mine.”
“Well, you did it,” she whispered.
“Paolo said you told him what was at stake.” I searched my mother’s face for a reaction. “Did you really try to get Papa to stop? Did you tell him that James was going to sell off everything.”
She nodded. “I believed you. And contrary to what your father believes, I have a strong mind for business. I knew something was wrong.”
“But if you don’t have a seat at the table, it’s hard to have a voice.”
“Exactly,” she whispered.
“But you’re happy?”
“Yes,” I said. “Is Papa furious with me?”
“Yes, but I think he is relieved, although he will never admit it.” My mother’s big eyes were wet with tears. “Come sit with me. I need to talk to you before I lose my courage. It’s about your sister. It’s time you knew all the truth.”
I nodded. My mother took me by the hand and we walked to a small settee in the corner. Unopened bottles of champagne littered the banquet tables.
It was like we were sneaking into a party that had been evacuated for an emergency. My mother reached over and clasped my hand.
“You’re scaring me,” I said.
“Just listen,” she said. “Bella, I am giving your father an ultimatum. Things need to change, or I leave him.”
“Mama.” Hot tears filled my eyes, not at the news she might divorce my father, but at the realization my mother had been unhappy for a very long time.
“You are probably aware that your father loves other women, Bella. He just doesn’t love me.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Shhhhh. Let me tell you this truth. I have held it in my heart for so long.” Her voice shook.
“When I saw your sister’s necklace around your throat, I knew that I couldn’t carry this burden any longer. Your father is a womanizer. I fought him quietly for years until I gave up. But I am not innocent either. I am a liar, Bella.”
“I told you that your father didn’t marry me for love. He didn’t, but I did,” she whispered.
“My family had money, darling. The Uzano fortune started with me. My dowry gave us our start. Of course, your father had business acumen and he started the first hotel in Milan, but he needed more money. I gave him that. We were a smart bet, a good investment.”
I cringed, as my father used these words often to describe the ideal relationship.
“Do you wish you never married him?” I asked, my voice thin.
“No, that’s not what I am telling you. The girl I was before meeting your father had hopes and dreams. I have let those slip away, my rage, my anger, my jealousy,” she sighed, “those are what destroyed everything.”
As my mother spoke, I could almost see the wrinkles disappear from her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes grow bright. The silver in her hair transformed to the original chocolate brown of her youth.
She was so young and beautiful when she’d married my father all those years ago. “I do not regret my marriage. My union with your father gave me two gifts, you and your sister.”
“But we lost Sara.”
“Yes, we lost Sara. I have always blamed myself. I sensed it was my fault, but I never knew her reasons. And now, I know,” she said. “You helped me to see what was right in front of my face.”
My mouth dropped open as a sick feeling swirled in my stomach.
“Your father started cheating on me soon after we married. He would travel for work, and I could smell the perfume on his clothes. One time when I went to visit Aurora at university, I came home and my bathrobe was moved.”
She cringed, as if remembering this small detail caused her pain. “He brought another woman into our home, and this is when I started hating him. He grew bolder, telling me we needed to hire women from America to help the children with their English.”
Mama spoke softly and steadily as if this were a story she had told often, although I was certain these words had never crossed her lips before. I couldn’t speak. I reached for the Murano heart around my neck. It comforted me. I knew my mother was leading me down a path from which I could never return.
“I told myself that this was the price I paid for accepting what little love your father gave me, like a beggar,” she said. “There was a time when I could have spoken with him and demanded better. I showed him my pain and could have spoken my truth, but instead I told a lie.”
“What did you do, Mama?” I held Sara’s necklace with one hand and my mother’s hand with the other. Her small hand felt cold in mine.
“I had enough, and one day I told your father a lie. I told him that I had cheated on him with Nico Bianco, Roberto’s father.”
My stomach dropped.
“I was so angry. You were so small. Sara was barely a woman and I was filled with rage at what she was learning of men. She was smart enough to realize that her father’s late nights were not all for work. So, I confronted your father, and we fought.
“I was angry. I wanted to hurt him. He admitted that he had a woman on the side, so I told him another lie. I told him that Sara was not his child. I told him that she was Nico’s baby. Sara heard me.”
I couldn’t breathe. This was the argument that my sister and I had overheard in her room. “She was in the wardrobe,” I said. “I was there, too.” I remembered the yelling and the pressure of my sister’s hand covering my mouth. The fear in her eyes when she looked at me.
“I found your sister’s diary after searching for years,” my mother said.
“It was in the wardrobe, under the loose board.”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“I was there the day she hid it. I remember, Mama.”
“Oh, darling,” my mother grasped my hand, “I read her diary. She had entries about summer love with a boy whose name began with the letter R. She was cryptic, but it was clear she had slept with this boy.
“When I saw the necklace at your throat and you said it was Roberto’s, I knew,” she said. “I have been searching all these years for an answer. Why would she do it? Your sister heard my lie and she believed it.”
“She thought she was sleeping with her half-brother.”
“Yes, and the night I told your father that lie, she took the pills, Bella.” My mother’s voice was choked with tears. “My beautiful girl killed herself.”
I couldn’t speak.
“Your father and I decided that we needed to protect our family from this shame. I knew in my bones that it was our fault she was gone. I know now that the fault is all mine.”
“Mama, you didn’t realize she would hear you.”
“I was careless and angry. I should never have lied like that.”
“Roberto knows about Sara,” I said. “He is the one who told me she killed herself. He doesn’t know what happened, either, but he hates Papa for it. He thought Sara had argued with him before she died.”
“That is why he wanted to destroy us,” she whispered.
“I always knew something was wrong between us, Mama,” I said. “When we were engaged, it felt as though he wasn’t really there with me. He only just told me that he and Sara were together. That’s why I went into her room.”
“I have failed you so many times,” my mother said. “I wanted your father to suffer, not my beautiful girls.”
“Mama, don’t say that,” I said.
“It is true.” She looked up at me. “When your sister died, something shifted in me. My love for you became tinged with fear. I looked at you and was reminded that I am a terrible mother.”
“Mama, Sara would not want you to carry this,” I said.
“I failed to protect her and I won’t fail you.” My mother gripped my hands. “I want you to leave Venice. I want to unchain you from the obligations of your family. Your legacy here, your inheritance will always be yours, but you do not need to stay here and suffer.
You deserve to explore the world, to discover who you are. Venice will always be with you, my beautiful girl. This is why I didn’t want you to marry Roberto. I didn’t want you to make the same mistake I did and marry a man for the wrong reasons.” Tears streamed down her cheeks.
I realized tears were streaming down mine, too. “But I did marry someone, Mama,” I whispered. “And my reasons are definitely suspect.” I laughed through my tears.
“I know, you crazy child.” My mother laughed for the first time in a long while. Her laughter was deep and full, and I wondered how many years it had been since I’d heard it.
“Can you believe that I’m actually glad you married a perfect stranger last night? I see how you look at him. I see how he looks at you.”
“You do?”
“You need to follow your dream,” my mother said. “Do not give up Bella Baci. You have a creativity and a fire that can’t be contained.”
My mind spun as her words sunk in. “Venice is my home.”
“Venice will always be your home, but don’t let it become your prison. She is a queen. She is in your soul. Go be with Dylan, discover who you are and know that I will always be here with you. Stay married to him, divorce him. Do as you please. Just be happy.”
Just be happy. This was the first time I believed my mother loved me without condition. My head was swimming. “And what of Papa?”
“Your father has a choice.” She stood. “He gives up his women or I leave him. Either way, this company is mine and I will protect it for my family, and my family is you, my darling girl.”
“I want to talk to him,” I said.
“He left this morning for Milan,” she said, her eyes glassy with tears.
“Oh, Mama,” I said.
“It’s all right. He is angry. That is his choice. I want you to focus on your future. It is time for you to do what Isabella Carmen Uzano wants.”
I threw my arms around my mother’s neck. We cried with our arms wrapped around each other.
“Learn from my mistakes,” she said. “Find your happiness and maybe, marry the right man.”
“I think I just did.”
My mother kissed my forehead, and for the first time in my life, I understood what it meant to be her daughter. I believed in her love.