Chapter Six
Liana didn’t have the head to run from the guards today. Besides, all the girls were at a spa and had agreed to meet for lunch. She didn’t know what she was going to do after, but her friends were waiting at a table. Clarissa waved her hand, and Liana joined them.
It looked like they were already ordering mimosas, and Liana just asked the waiter for water. She took a seat, and at first couldn’t exactly look at her friends.
“Are you okay?” Mia asked.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. How is everyone?” she asked, not quite meeting their gazes.
“Something is bothering you,” Clarissa said.
She made a point of looking at each of the women and letting out a little laugh. “I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Nothing is bothering me.” She gave a light laugh. “See, all fine.”
“You slept with him,” Tatiana said.
This made her turn to Tatiana. She felt her cheeks start to heat. And her friends let out gasps then started to giggle.
“Have you forgiven him?” Mia asked.
“Did you want to sleep with him?” Clarissa asked.
“Did you use protection?” This came from Tatiana.
Liana held her hands up, because there were a lot of questions coming, and the truth was, she didn’t know how to answer them.
Thankfully, the waiter gave her a little reprieve by bringing her a glass of water, which she was thankful for, and offered him a smile in a way of thanks.
She took a sip, and her friends were looking at her.
“I don’t know what you want me to say. No, I haven’t forgiven him. I’m still hoping for divorce. Yes, we did have sex last night, and no, protection wasn’t used.”
Tatiana winced. “If you are still hoping for a divorce and you get pregnant, you know that is not going to happen.”
Liana knew it, but last night was just different. They had never just talked, and he’d never given a part of himself to her, but she had a feeling that last night was a turning point.
“Do you love him?” Mia asked.
“No, I don’t love him.” But even to her own ears, she didn’t quite sound convinced. Her friends looked at one another, and it was like they were all communicating the same thing.
“What?” she asked, not liking their shared knowing look.
“You do know there is nothing wrong with falling in love with him?” Mia asked.
“I am not in love with a man who thinks I’m boring and a doormat. Last night was just ... an error in judgement. It meant absolutely nothing.”
Only, that didn’t seem to be the case. Not only had they made love last night, it extended into this morning as well. When they woke up, Liana had still felt that deep connection to her husband, which is why they had also made love that morning.
“I think I need a drink,” she said, raising her hand for the waiter to come back.
The waiter came toward her, and she ordered herself a whiskey. Although, last night that drink had been way too strong, she felt like she needed another taste of it.
None of her friends spoke and Liana looked around the table.
“I still love Emilio,” Tatiana said.
This drew her attention.
“Doesn’t that make me a doormat?” Tatiana laughed. “I mean, he admitted there was another woman and when I ask who she is, he tells me nothing. I’ve tried to find out who she is. I mean, he could be with her right now.” Tears pooled in Tatiana’s eyes, and then she held her hand up.
The waiter was in the process of bringing Liana her whiskey.
“Bring a bottle and three more glasses,” Tatiana said.
“You two are going to get drunk?” Mia asked.
“And you two are going to join us,” Tatiana said.
Liana picked up her glass and took a sip, and it was not the nicest taste. She let out a little gasp, then held it out for Tatiana to take a sip. Around the table the glass of whiskey went, and Mia and Clarissa took their sips. None of them were used to that strength of alcohol.
“This is not going to be good,” Mia said.
“Why should we be good?” Tatiana asked, when the bottle and glasses came. She poured them all out a large glass.
Liana picked up her drink and took another sip. She didn’t think it would work this quickly, but she did feel a little tingly all over. Whiskey was strong.
“What has good gotten us?” Tatiana asked. “We’re married to men we didn’t choose, all of whom didn’t have many nice things to say about any of us. They even have sex with other women while you think you are falling in love with them and that they are in love with you.”
Tatiana lifted her glass. “To asshole men, and the women that love them.”
They all raised their glasses. Liana knew they were admitting to some degree that they were in love with their husbands, and that was what grieved them the most.
She took a sip of her drink, while Tatiana finished her glass, and then she coughed and wheezed.
Liana knew this was a bad idea. Girls’ lunch was about having fun and then enjoying the spa.
Today, that was not going to happen. Each of her friends drank the whiskey, and she didn’t know when she stopped feeling bad.
It was like a sudden hit that came to her, and it no longer felt wrong to drink, and her body was a little numb.
One glass turned into two, and with them all sharing the bottle, Tatiana ordered a second bottle.
She did not see the trouble with them having whiskey, and they were laughing and giggling about their husbands and the fact they were in love with them.
****
“Liana killed someone?” Diego asked.
Enzo Jr. swung his golf club, the ball went hurtling across the field, and he turned to look at Diego.
“Is this why you asked me to golf? To get the gossip on my little sister?”
“No, I asked you to golf because I know you’re fucking bad at it, and let’s face it, no one can hear us.”
Enzo Jr. shrugged. “So, Liana has finally been spilling secrets.”
“She doesn’t know if she killed someone or not.”
They started walking toward the green where Enzo Jr. had landed his ball.
The guy was trying to get the ball to go in the opposite direction. Diego wasn’t much for golf, but he knew how to play. Business could be conducted during a game of golf.
“Liana has not killed a soul, and I don’t want you telling her anything different,” Enzo Jr. said.
“Tell me the truth then.”
“Liana killed a man. An enemy, several years ago. She had a gun, and she fired it, and if she hadn’t done that, I would have been shot. My sister saved my life, and I am indebted to her.”
“Why can’t she know?”
“Do you think she will be able to handle the fact that she killed someone?” Enzo Jr. asked. “Don’t get me wrong, my sister is a tough cookie. Mom, Dad, and I made sure she was a free spirit, but even death affects everyone. Liana is the same. She saved me, but to do that, she had to kill a man.”
“She knows how to shoot?”
Enzo Jr. laughed. “She knows how to shoot and how to hunt, although she doesn’t like killing animals. I should warn you of that.”
Diego tapped his fingers onto his hips. “What else does she like?”
Enzo Jr. lifted his golf club as if to swing and then stopped and turned to look at him. “Have you brought me here to help you woo my sister?”
“You know what she likes. What she doesn’t like. You could help me.”
He laughed. “And why would I want to do that?”
“You love your sister, and you know there is no way I am going to divorce her.”
Enzo Jr. laughed. “Ah, but you gave her conditions, and trust me, I know my sister and she is going to piss you off until you agree to divorce her ass. You have put yourself in the hot seat, Mister, and I hate to break it to you, there is no easy way out of it.”
“I will never divorce your sister unless she turns into a rat and betrays the mafia, but then, even you and your father would have to consider your position, because she would be turning on you.”
He watched as her brother sighed. “You make some very valid points, and I don’t like it, but I don’t see what harm there could be if I give you a few tips to help you make amends with my sister.”
Diego couldn’t help but smile. If Enzo Jr. needed to come up with some way of making this agreeable to him, then he was all for it. Just so long as he got to learn more about Liana and how he could win her back.
He had no doubt that come the harsh light of day, or a morning with her friends, she was not going to be happy having sex with him, not once but twice. So, he wanted to be prepared.
“Liana loves everyday things. She is not much of a shopper. In fact, she hates going clothes shopping. Don’t get me wrong, she loves clothes, and once she finds something she likes, she will order it in every shade. She does not like to fiddle with what she knows.”
Diego had noticed this. In the six months they had been married, the few occasions he took her shopping, he’d been the one to insist they go, because he assumed that was what she would like. He had been so wrong.
“Let me think, what next, she loves to shoot guns. She doesn’t like actual moving targets, as you know, but she does like to shoot and be able to defend herself. She doesn’t like to be thought of as weak.”
That explained why she was so angry with him and his assumption about her.
“She loves to cook and bake. It goes down the line from our mother to our grandmother, and great-grandmother. They loved to cook, and when they did cook, it was a sign of their love.” Enzo Jr. sighed.
“She loves romance, although she claims not to. Liana is a sucker for a romance movie and story, although she will try to hide it. She also loves big monster movies. The bigger and more lame, the better. She cannot get enough of them. She hates horror movies, and if she does ever sit through one, expect to stay up with her throughout the night, because they terrify her that much. Dad and I had to do that a few times. Especially around Halloween. She loves that time of year as well. She is a sucker for candy. Has she started decorating your place yet?”
Diego shook his head.