45. Rose
ROSE
Whoa. I did not see that coming. I’m honestly in shock with how much Dante has shared with me tonight. Here I thought we would sit down for one drink, play a single record, then call it a night.
I could listen to him read the phone book with how sultry his voice gets at night.
The dim mood lighting and the two glasses of whiskey definitely don’t hurt either.
Damn, I really nailed this sitting room.
It’s exactly the vibe I had envisioned for my own sitting room once upon a time, down to the record collection.
But sitting here with Dante makes me want to know about him and maybe even open up a little more about myself.
I noticed he said “his daughter” and didn’t refer to the woman who was killed as his sister.
Maybe they only share a dad and weren’t that close?
“Dante, I am so sorry to hear about your dad. I can’t imagine the stress you are under. And the pain of unresolved loss must be excruciating.”
“Technically, Angelo isn’t my father by blood, but I do consider him the only family I recognize. I only met his daughter a few times when I was very young before she passed, but she essentially saved my life.”
“What do you mean?” I don’t know if I’m referring to Angelo not being his father or this woman saving his life somehow. The layers to this man are unending.
“Since it’s getting late, I will try to make a long story short.
I didn’t have the best home life as a child growing up in the city, so I spent most of my time, when I wasn’t in school, outside in our neighborhood.
It wasn’t the safest area, and one day, I saw something I shouldn’t have, and typically, that was a death sentence in my neighborhood.
Luckily, Angelo’s daughter was there to intervene.
I remember her being so warm and kind to me, so I went with her, and she brought me to her father, Angelo.
And I guess you could say the rest is history. ”
“Wow, I wish I had someone like Angelo in my life growing up. My childhood might’ve turned out very differently. What was his daughter’s name?”
“Liliana. She went by Lily.”
“Beautiful,” is the only response I can manage after hearing Dante’s story.
“Yes,” Dante says in response while looking directly into my eyes, and for some reason, I don’t think he’s referring to Lily’s name.