14. The Fausti Three
Chapter 14
The Fausti Three
I t almost seemed as if fate was guiding the steps of my life. Before the beautiful ballerina had come into my world, I had planned to meet with my brothers. At my suggestion, we met in Pienza for lunch instead of in Rome for dinner. After, we took my new Ferrari, a four-door, four-seater, a prototype, and traveled to Siena together.
I had decided that I needed to let Dario and Romeo in on the situation with the bella ballerina. Whatever was coming, I wanted them to be prepared. I was not sure who Scarlett’s husband was and what either of them truly had to do with our family. Whatever it was, it would affect my brothers as well.
My father had given me instructions to allow fate to work. Time reveals all at its own pace . I had pondered his message, attempting to make sense of it, but none had come yet. For my father to instruct me to allow the situation to come to me was telling. He had something to do with it.
Another secret of my father’s that I was keeping close to my chest was the one Monica had somehow figured out. Who the women were who had given birth to the three of us.
I glanced at Dario in the passenger seat. He was quiet, as he usually was. He did not speak much. He was articulate, intelligent, and thoughtful about his words. He would rather be designing a building than doing anything else. He enjoyed reading non-fiction books.
I glanced in the rearview mirror.
Romeo was checking out his reflection in the glass, singing to himself.
The sight of them, so alike physically, yet so different in personality, made it hard for me to not think about the paper Monica had given me. It didn’t just list my birth mother’s address. There were two other addresses as well. I found the names of the women connected to those addresses myself, but I decided not to step foot on the listed properties. Both women were dead, as was the woman listed for me.
Matilde was a scientist—Dario.
Serafina was a model and aspiring singer—Romeo.
Dario would accept the information and move on. I was not so sure about my youngest brother. Out of all of us, he disliked our father’s wife the most. He found her disturbing. She was cruel to us. This was when I went to my grandfather and had a talk with him about all that had been going on in the house. Not even a day later, she was out, and we rarely saw her. It was I who led my family. But it left Romeo with more maternal-related issues.
Romeo caught my eyes in the mirror and grinned to himself as he ran a hand through his hair. “I do not ask this ballerina questions,” he said, repeating the instructions I had given my brothers before leaving Pienza. Romeo was curious by nature and would ruminate on the mystery the hardest until he figured it out.
“ Corretto ,” I said, squinting against the glare.
Romeo tapped his fingers against the window. “She is beautiful, ah?”
I narrowed my eyes, and he held his hands up.
“If she is beautiful and talented, a Fausti must have married her. I do not see why else she would claim the name. Perhaps Nonn o had a child after Nonn a passed. Perhaps the woman— Scarletta —is married to Nonno’s son’s son. ”
“You have wild ideas, brother,” Dario said to him.
Romeo lifted his hands and grinned. “This is why I am a sleuth.” He sighed. “I wonder if she has sisters.”
Dario shook his head, probably wishing Romeo sat in the front so he could slap the back of his head. Dario had been quieter than usual. Abree had chastised him for not buying her a bigger engagement ring and had turned down his offer for marriage. Rosaria had made a bold statement to me: her sister deserved better. I felt Dario and Abree were a good match, but he was not bowing down to her demands. Perhaps after time she would miss him and would speak to him.
Dario sat up straighter and fixed his suit. “Brother,” he said to me, “during the trip with Abree, there was a man with the Fausti name staying at the same ski resort. I did not think much of it at the time, but I wonder if he could possibly be the same man that received your first package from Mario.”
“Better and better.” Romeo nodded his head. “A simple case of the same last name? Highly doubtful. Or a man who shares our blood but not our laws? Perhaps his wife is in some kind of trouble. Or he is. She came looking for us for help. Perhaps she has not worked up the courage to share their secret yet. She is, ah, how do they say…feeling us out first.”
We all became lost to our thoughts as the Ferrari climbed the hill to the ballerina’s farmhouse. All of what Romeo said could be true. My wife was also involved, which meant that she had found whatever was going on worth her time. I knew better than to outright ask her. Rosaria was a sly snake. I would not ask the ballerina either. She danced around the subject of her, my , last name and what she was suddenly doing in Tuscany, no longer dancing in Paris.
I came to a complete stop in front of the farmhouse. In the silence, my brothers looked to me for direction for what would happen next. It was our way, just as they would exit the car after me, the three of us walking up to the door in the order we were born. If we could not keep in line out in public, what did that say about our rules?
We would walk in line.
“What if father had another son?” Romeo said out of nowhere.
Dario made a disbelieving noise. “We would have known about it. Father is proud of his heirs, and we would have all been together by now. There is no other way about it.”
I fixed my suit, my brothers doing the same, and stepped out into the bright sunshine. The weather was hot, but I enjoyed the feel of it. This was why whenever I seemed to break a woman’s heart by not committing to her, she told me I was at home in hell.
Feminine laughter echoed from beyond the farmhouse doors. It had been two weeks since I’d last seen Scarlett, and I did not plan for this trip. I was arriving unannounced, but I was pleased my brothers would have a chance to meet the bella ballerina.
She did not open the door.
A mature woman stood in the doorway, though right away, I knew her spirit would be forever young and flirty. Her hair was auburn, her eyes hazel, and she had a smile that would knock a grown man to his knees. The scent of her brought back memories of warm lemons dangling on trees, bright flowers rolling along the hillside, and sharing wine with a lover. Romeo whistled low from behind me.
“Hi, Handsome!” She beamed at me. In the next instant, her entire face fell. She studied the three of us and took a step back, as if she might close the door in our faces.
“ Signora ,” I said, taking a step forward. “We are here to see Scarlett, ah, Fausti.”
She took two giant steps back, for a woman of her size, and shook her head. Another woman with blond hair and a leopard print bathing suit appeared from somewhere in the house, side stepping the stunned woman and greeting us. Both women were in bathing suits, my mind registered. The new woman was around Scarlett’s age, perhaps .
“Hi! Did I hear you say you were here for Scarlett?” She seemed hopeful, then mumbled to herself, “Sandy has been keeping a secret from me.”
Perhaps this Sandy was Scarlett? I did not know, but I could hardly escape the first woman’s wide-eyed gaze on us. Her head was shaking as if a conversation was going on silently inside of her mind and she was disagreeing with the voice.
“Woman.” I spoke to her in Italian, and her eyes crashed into mine. “Are you okay?”
“Come in,” the new woman said, taking a step back and accidentally running into the other woman. “Scarlett is upstairs.”
Nodding, I fixed my suit and sent my brothers a warning look—stay clear of the anxious woman—as we entered the house. The younger woman closed the door, and darkness fell over us, except for the light filtering through the windows on each side of the door.
We stood there.
“I am Rocco Fausti,” I said. “These are my brothers. Dario—” I nodded to him “—and Romeo—” I nodded to him, then held my hand out for the first woman. “You are?”
The second woman nudged the first, but she would not be budged. “This is Maggie Beautiful,” the second woman said.
Maggie Bellissimo stared at my hand before she took it, a sigh escaping her lips. I brought her hand to my mouth. “ Affascinato ,” I whispered to her in Italian. Releasing her hand gently, I turned to the other woman, but she had her hand out for me already.
“Violet Castellanos,” she introduced herself and smiled.
I repeated her name, and she shivered when I kissed her hand.
Dario stepped up next, repeating the gestures. When Romeo did the same, he kept Viola’s hand, quirking up a brow, saying, “If I called you an angel, would you treat me like the devil, Signora Castell anos? ”
Violet giggled, almost as a girl would, which did not fit my first impression of her. She was a woman who did not seem to know herself yet, or perhaps what she wanted in life .
Following Maggie Bellissimo , we turned straight for the kitchen. As we passed the steps, Viola shouted up, “Scarlett, can you come down?”
We filed into the kitchen. I stood against the wall, crossing my arms and legs. My usual stance. My brothers took their places beside me. Scarlett stepped inside of the room with us, and it almost seemed as if an invisible string was trying to pull her out of it. She resisted, forcing her feet to still, it seemed, her eyes wide.
“Holy Mary,” she breathed out.
Maggie Bellissimo ’s eyes had started to harden once the light hit us, but at Scarlett’s reaction to us, she completely hardened.
Interesting.
Viola snatched Scarlett’s arm and whispered something in her ear. I could not pull my eyes from the bella ballerina. She was wearing a swimsuit that accentuated her physique. I had not seen her since I spoke to my father on the phone, and time had created a hunger inside of me for her. She was stunning in so many ways. Some explainable. Some not. A true enigma created by our creator Himself.
However. I did not like the way she seemed to want to cover herself. A woman of such beauty should never cower or cover in the face of anyone. Or perhaps it was our timing.
“Did we come at a bad time, bella ?” I asked.
Maggie Bellissimo turned her fierce stare on Scarlett.
Scarlett cleared her throat. “Rocco, this is?—”
I straightened, taking Maggie Bellissimo’s hand once again. Perhaps she would soften to me as she had, or I could read her hesitance a little deeper. “Maggie Bellissimo . We have been introduced already.” Her pulse raced, her breaths were ragged, but her eyes were still made of stone.
Viola offered her hand once again.
I smiled. “Of course, Viola Castellanos .”
“Yes,” Violet breathed. “I am Viola Castellanos .”
I turned back to Scarlett. “If you are occupied, we can?— ”
“No!” Violet responded. “We were just going to the pool. Would you like to join us?”
“ Sì , we accept. Grazie .” I nodded, my eyes refusing to leave Scarlett’s. “You asked me the last time we spoke if I had siblings, bella . We happened to be all together.” I shrugged. “All in the area. This is my brother Dario.” I pointed to my left. “This is my other fratello , Romeo. Dario is an architect. Romeo is Guardia di Finanza .”
“Oh, Romeo,” Viola’s voice had lowered to a purr.
Scarlett’s face seemed frozen, except for perhaps the thoughts racing through her head.
“We are called the Fausti three.” I grinned.
Maggie Bellissimo turned back to Scarlett, eyes meeting in a quick, silent exchange. Whatever information passed between the two women, Scarlett nodded as in confirmation.
“Aww hell,” Maggie Bellissimo said, covering her face with her hands.
Romeo stepped up first, taking Scarlett’s hand, as if he could not wait to touch her skin. He would be punished for his impatience, even in this…odd situation. I did not understand what was happening, but it was awkward, tense, and comfortable at the same time. Awkward for Scarlett. Tense for Maggie Bellissimo. Comfortable for Viola. Dario repeated the same gesture as Romeo.
“It’s nice to meet you all,” Scarlett said after the introductions were made.
“The pleasure is all mine.” Dario winked at her.
It was Romeo who had already found his match in the room. Viola. Their eyes continued to connect from across the space between them. However, I could tell Scarlett would have preferred to move. We had interrupted their time at the pool. Perhaps that was why.
“ Bella ,” I said, taking a step toward the door, “let us go.”
“Can you give us a minute?” Scarlett asked.
“Of course. ”
Viola took the lead and offered to show us where the pool was, as if we did not already know. What these women did not know, at least Viola, was that we spent time here occasionally. I did not mention it to Scarlett, either, during our time. In this situation, since it was mysterious, it was better to listen rather than to talk.
Romeo was already working on fitting Viola into his datebook. The two of them flirted, and Romeo even removed his suit jacket, took his shoes and socks off, and rolled up his pants to escort her into the pool. Occasionally, Dario would send me a look, either a question in his eyes, or offering a silent thought, but mostly he sat back and allowed the sun to fall on his face. I could not stop thinking about the entire situation. Though I knew sooner rather than later, the situation was going to present itself with answers. My father had told me so.
Maggie Bellissimo sauntered into the pool area, and my brothers and I all stood at her entrance.
“That is so nice!” Viola said from her floating toy in the pool.
Maggie Bellissimo used her thumb to point toward the farmhouse. “Scarlett is waiting to speak to you in the kitchen.” She spoke to me in Italian, as if letting me know she spoke the language and understood it.
I nodded, thanked her, and as I started to leave, she stopped me.
“Only in the kitchen, ah?” She spoke Italian once again, but her eyes had turned menacing, and so did the tone of her voice.
I turned back to the house, a grin I could not hide on my face. The woman was worried I was going to seduce the bella ballerina. Scarlett was not in the kitchen when I entered, so I poured myself a drink and took a seat at the table.
Our eyes met when she arrived. She had changed. Covered herself up.
“You didn’t have to cover up for me, bella .”
She deflected. “Romeo—is he interested in Violet?”
“ Sì . Is this a problem?”
“Yes. No. Well, she’s newly single. I don’t want her to get—” It seemed as if she did not want to insult Romeo’s intentions, but she also did not want her friend to get hurt. She could not find the proper words to express the situation without sounding rude.
“Ah.” I stood from my seat. “Romeo is a good man. He is just a bit naughty. Ah, how would you put it? Perhaps fun. Is this what Viola is after?”
“I believe so.”
“It is settled then.”
I took a few steps closer to her. She took double the steps back. She had cornered herself though. She hit a wall. I studied her eyes before mine took in the rest of her slight body. A cross hung between her breasts. I decided on airing out some honesty, in hopes she would decide to share some of hers with me.
“That is a stunning piece of jewelry, bella . It belonged to my grandmother. This was one of her family’s homes.”
My eyes softened against hers, my lids closing a little, seeing how far she would allow me to take this. Not far. As if she knew what I was up to, she took a step to the left and sat down at the table.
I smiled as I sat across from her, fixing my suit. “I do not wish to make you nervous, bella .”
“I don’t like to be chased or cornered. I’m married.” She lifted both of her hands, showcasing two sets of rings, one on the traditional finger and one on the opposite side.
Her husband was a smart man. He doubled the claim on this one.
I shrugged. “I am as well.”
“You are?” She seemed truly shocked by the news.
“Yes, you are well acquainted with my wife?—”
“You’re the pasta feeder?—”
“Rosaria Caffi.” I laughed. “She occasionally uses Fausti when she wants something that she cannot obtain on her own.”
A fierce look came into her eyes, as if she was battling with Rosaria in her thoughts .
“Has she done something to offend you?” I asked.
“Not today.”
I laughed so hard that the sound almost resembled a growl. Perhaps it was the ruthlessness in me denying me the pleasure. It did not last long. The bella ballerina tensed at the sound. I could not claim it had frightened her, but it had made her feel some kind of way.
“Do you know my husband?” she asked.
I wiped my eyes, a smile I could not control still on my lips. “No. Should I?”
“Why do you keep flirting with me? If you know I’m married, but more importantly, you are married.”
“Simple, bella . I want you.” There was no use in dodging the question, or dancing around it as she would. I had wanted her since the first moment I saw her. She was soft, supple, and intriguing in a way I had never found before.
However, in her presence or in thoughts...
My heart only sniffed around, curious. It did not roar. I was coming to accept that part of my legacy was broken inside of me.
Still.
This woman made my heart move without touching me.
She was mine, in one way or another.
A beautiful red flush touched her cheeks at my admission. “Dario and Romeo, are they your only siblings?”
She did not catch the hesitation, but the conversation with my brothers in the car was still at the forefront of my thoughts. We would have known if we had other siblings. My father would have not hidden him, and my grandfather would have demanded he be raised in our ways. I was confident when I gave her my answer. “ Sì , bella . I should think if there were more, I would know.”
What was this about though? She was not asking for no reason. I was about to inquire when she said, “I’d like you to meet my husband. If that would be doable?”
“Ah, it is doable.” I winked, putting a period to my father’s statement: time reveals all at its own pace. “When? ”
“Soon.”
We worked out all the details.
“A man who has such a treasure would be one to know,” I said, already feeling the warmth of his blood on my hands when I killed him. Perhaps with him out of the picture, my silent heart would roar for the first time. “It will be a pleasure to meet him.”
She smiled, and it was the same sort of smile my wife would give when she held a secret and could not wait to be the one to announce it to the world. “Yes, I’m sure it will be.”
Scarlett walked me to the pool to collect my brothers. We bid goodbye to the women, and as we walked toward the car, Dario cleared his throat.
“Something is amiss here,” he said. “The situation is not adding up.”
“ Viola Castell anos ,” Romeo almost sang.
Dario slapped him in the back of the head. “Pay attention!”
Romeo fixed his hair. “I am, fratello . I will get close to her. Find what we need to know.”
“No,” Dario snapped at him. “Father did not give us orders to find. We are to wait. Not as you did inside!” He slapped him a few times in the head, and Romeo knew he meant business. He was out of line both literally and figuratively.
Romeo did not make a sound, but in the soundtrack of his mind, I knew it was going something like this: Ah! Ah! Ah! My hair!
We arrived at the car, and my brothers waited for me to get in.
“If you want to take her out, that is it,” I said to Romeo. “There will be no need to find what we need to know. The situation will come to me.” I shared the date and time with them both. “Just as Papà said it would.”
And I would be waiting for it.
More specifically.
Him.