An Aria in Venice: A Musical Interlude Novel (35 page)

Erin
reacted to hearing the news of Alek’s coma a lot better than I did.

“My
brother’s stubborn. I know he’ll get through this,” I assure her. Regardless of
the words, my heart still aches from the pain of losing Simona, so I’m not sure
how convincing I sound.

“Thank
you. For being on our side,” she says.

“I
should be saying the same thing,” I remind her.

She
gives a light laugh. “Yeah. You’ve primped Luca for the priesthood, I think.”
We both narrow our eyes, our smiles growing. And then she says, “Nah. I don’t
think so.”

“Exactly
what I was thinking,” I reply, laughing.

“Seriously,
though. You’ve been really good for each other.”

“So
have you and Alek,” I add and give her the fish lips, which always works to
make someone laugh. The smile fades and she massages the back of her neck for
what has to be the fifteenth time since we entered the room a half hour ago.
Reaching across the table, I take her hands in mine, staring into her black
eyes. We keep silent and wait. What else is there to do?

As
though he felt us talking about him, Luca walks into the room, his hair tousled
on top and his clothes wrinkled from sleeping on hospital couches. He has stood
by my side the entire time, despite Mother’s frowns and Nikolai’s glares. I’ve
never been so proud of him.

“I
think this is my cue to leave,” Erin says, standing, her face storming with
worry and sadness. She’s like a sister to me, now.

“You
don’t have to go,” Luca says.

“No,
I do. I need to go check on Alek. See you guys in a bit,” she states, and walks
out the door.

Luca
pulls a chair around the table and sits down. He’s holding up remarkably well
since he lost Simona, and I can only imagine what being in this hospital is
doing to him on the inside. “We don’t have to stay here,” I tell him.

He
gives me an incredulous look. “You’re kidding me, right? Baby, there is nowhere
else I want to be other than by your side. And you need to be in this hospital.
Your brother will wake up and threaten to kill me again if he finds you
missing.”

Only
Luca can turn a dire situation into something humorous. I laugh, which quickly
turns into tears. At once, Luca pulls me into his arms, caressing my back,
calming me.

After
I finally regain control over myself, I pull back and stare into his eyes.
“What would I do without you?”

He
taps my nose and says, “I suspect you’d have turned into a nun.”

I
narrow my eyes. “You were listening to our conversation.”

I
get his infamous “O” face “Me? Never.”

“Yeah,
right, Mr. Not Innocent at All.”

“You
would know best,” he confirms, embracing me. We hold onto each other until
eventually, I fall asleep.

Later
that night, Mother, Nikolai, Erin, the Teatro’s artistic director, and me all
have a mini meeting and agree that Alek’s show must go on. Nikolai has agreed
to stand in as Maestro since he filled in enough times for Alek during one of
his chase-after-Erin Angelo runs to be able to conduct the symphonic production
with ease. I will lead Nikolai’s ballet troupe, a group skilled in the
technique of Russian ballet, a form completely opposite from the Italian style
I’m used to doing with Ines and the ballerinas at Aterballetto. On the night of
Requiem from a Dream’s opening, Lisbeth and JoJo come out to help me lead,
something I’ve only done once and that was before Seraphine.

However,
the thing that most people will remember for a long time to come is Erin’s ode
to the man she loves. None of us knew she had the voice of an angel, and as she
sang “The Rose” during the intermission, I could almost feel her love for Alek
radiating through her seasoned vocals. The entire auditorium stood in applause
when Erin, Nikolai, and I took the stage after the performance ended. My
brother’s dream won’t die. Even Nikolai beamed with pride as he took my hand.
The tuxedo of a Maestro suits him well. It’s as though he was born for the job.

After
the show, I catch up with Jojo. She’s rushing outside and I’m trying to run in
three inch heels, a catastrophe most definitely waiting to happen. She has
moved out of the apartment and now lives with one of her band mates. I miss her
like crazy.

“Jojo,
wait. Please don’t leave.” I’m begging and I don’t care. I want her to come
back home. I’m so tired of losing the people I love. I’ll get down on my hands
and knees if I have to. “Thank you for coming tonight. It meant a lot to me.”

“Adriana,
you know I’d do anything for my girls.” Her eyes hold so much sadness. It hurts
to see my friend this way.

“Have
you considered coming back?” I ask.

She
playfully rolls her eyes a bit and says, “Remember that old Russian fairy tale
you used to tell me about? The one where the king tried to please his three daughters
by going after those super hard to find gifts they requested?” she asks.

 I
nod. “The Scarlet Flower.”

“Well,
I told you I didn’t believe in any of that crap, right? Well, guess what? I
lied. I kinda do believe. But you see, I’m one of the daughters who wound up
with the coal, while you’re the one who found the beast and turned him into a
prince.” She glances back at Jeremy, the mobster’s son.

Where
has he been hiding all this time?

I
turn back to my friend. “I’m going to miss you,” I choke out, the damn tears
clouding my vision. We embrace.

“Gonna
miss you, too. Be happy with your prince, Adriana. You deserve it.”

I
pull back, give her the fish lips, and say, “So do you.”

“I’ll
be fine. Don’t you dare stop doing that thing you do with your lips, either.
That’s too funny. Jeremy has promised to be good to me. We’ve even signed up
for counseling. I really believe he’s changed.” She has come so far from
hurting herself before each performance to making the effort to clean herself
up. I don’t want to see her take a leap backwards.

“You’ll
always have my support in anything you do. Don’t ever feel like you can’t come
home.” I throw my arms around her.

After
a short moment, she pulls back and says, “Bye babes.” Easing around me, she
walks off toward Jeremy. He places an arm around her, leads her to a black
Aston Martin parked alongside the curb, and helps my friend get situated
inside. Glancing toward me, he attempts a weak smile. In return, I narrow my
eyes and tap my throat, a small reminder of Nikolai’s message. His eyes widen
and he practically runs and jumps into his side of the car. Mission
accomplished.

Sighing,
I swallow my tears and head back inside the Teatro where Luca waits … my beast
who became a prince.

That
night, for reasons I don’t understand, I write a letter to my father. Not only
do I explain what has happened to Alek, but I also tell him about Venice and
how I believe I’ve fallen in love. I tell him I can forgive him for the awful
things he has done if he can someday forgive himself. I use the story of Simona
and Giuseppe’s five white doves to hopefully get him to understand how much his
behavior has affected his family.

Walking
outside into the rain, I hand the letter to the postman. Since I have no idea
where Father’s hiding out, I send it to his last known address in Moscow. The
mail guy smiles at me, probably wondering why this crazy person has chosen to
come out in the rain instead of simply waiting for him to retrieve the letter
from the box. I watch his little mail car pull off and disappear around the
bend, fully aware that Father’s eyes will probably never see the words in that
letter.

And
then, I finally exhale.

~Luca~

She pulls off her brother’s Russian
ensemble with ease just as I knew she would. She’s breathtaking. Watching her
and being so far away at the same time creates an ache in me. I have never
wanted someone so badly.

That night after the performance, we hold
on to each other after making love for what seems like an infinite amount of
times. A week or so after Adriana’s performance in her brother’s show, the real
Maestro awakened. This made me so happy for Erin. My talented designer had also
been fighting her own demons since her sister was killed in a car accident just
before she moved to Italy two years ago.

I received information on my daughter,
Mariela, and a picture. Leona doesn’t have custody the way Giovanni and I
originally were led to believe. She gave our baby up shortly after she was
born, which is how she was able to pull off the miscarriage lie she led my
brother and me to believe. The family that adopted our daughter has agreed to
allow me one day of visitation. I don’t think I’m ready. Deep down, I want to
be there for her, but she’s a five-year-old little girl now.
And she has
Mama’s smile
.

The next day, my brother, Giovanni,
arrives at Black Butterfly. He has never once come to one of our shows, let
alone stepped foot into our design house. He won’t look me straight in the face
at first. Up until this day, I’d practiced all the hate filled, ego bashing
things I intended to say to him should we ever find ourselves alone this way.
It has been pure hell trying to get past the words I heard him say that night
at the Piccolo Mundo.

“I want you to know you have my support,”
Giovanni begins. “You’re my family. I don’t want to fight you anymore. We need
to stand together on this baby thing.” He shoves his hands into his pockets as
he glances around. That small demonstration of his insecurity begins easing the
anger in me.

“Her name is Mariela. And she has Mama’s
smile,” I say, thinking of the little girl in the picture I received last week.

“You have a little goddess, then. Can’t
wait to see her.”

I lose my shit and head toward Giovanni,
embracing him. I need this. We both do. He’s my big brother. I’ve dreamt of the
day we’d be able to act like friends again, let alone family. We spend the rest
of the day catching up on everything: our careers, musical tastes, the loves in
our lives—enough details for me to keep Adriana entertained for almost half an
hour on the phone later on.

Through all of my fucked up issues,
Adriana has stood by me. Even when I told her that certain members of her
family should never have been allowed to go free, that they’re piranhas preying
on the innocents who find themselves lost in the allure of the Dostovsky’s
charm. I can vouch for the truth in this because I have lost a part of myself
and gained something else in return. Love.