Il Pane Della Vita (12 page)

“
No, I mean yes, but not until one of them mentioned the idea to me.”

“
So you told one person about it,” said the monk.

“Yes. That would be Brother Orsino.”

“Good afternoon, Brother Orsino. I have asked some of the other brothers to tell me what they saw the evening Brother Pietro’s cottage blew up.”

“I saw it flash, twice I think
. Immediately after the flash, there was a loud boom.”

“You say you saw two flashes. How exactly do you see that from your cottage?”

“I wasn’t yet in my cottage. I had stopped to make an appointment for my confession. I confess to Brother Francisco, and he was still in the church. I let the last of the recession line pass me, and I went back in. When I came back out, the rest of the brothers had gone through the gate and let it close. I had to dig for my keys and then insert the key into the lock. That’s difficult to do in the dark.”

“Were you still coming up the walk when you saw the explosion?
” asked Brother Salvatore.

“Yes. I usually take the walkway second from the left. I was about halfway to my cottage when the first flash happened. Almost immediately, I h
eard the boom. It nearly threw me to the ground. I could hear nothing else, ringing for several minutes afterward. Right as the din faded, I saw a firework-like tail—I don’t know how to describe it—and a whistle as something flew up through the roof and took off into the sky.”

“How big was the flying object?”
asked the monk.

“It’
s hard to say because it almost went straight up. I waited to see if it would bloom into a large ball and sprinkle ashes on us, but it didn’t. It just disappeared.”

“What did you think the object was?”

“I thought it was Brother Pietro, though it seems crazy when I think about it.”

“When the police came to look for the brother’s remains, did you expect them to find anything?”

“I guess not,” said Brother Orsino.
“I would have been surprised if they had found anything.”

“Why?” asked Brother Salvatore.

“Because if he ascended, they wouldn’t find one.”

“Di
d you see Brother Pietro after Compline?”

“
I passed him in the recessional as I walked back to the church.”

“You didn’t see him go
through the gate, then.”

“No.

“When you did see him, how did he look?”

“No different than usual. He must have been deep in prayer.”

“Some of you were not deep in prayer?”

“
No, most of us were. It depends on your personality. Some brothers are friendlier than others. You know. They kind of watch you and talk with their eyes, like they care about you.”

“And Brother Pietro didn’t look like he cared about others?”

“I don’t know him that well.”

“You mentioned earlier that you confess to Brother Francisco.”

“That’s right.”

“Why did you confess to him instead of Brother
Pietro?”

“I don’t know why. I guess we just hit it off. Others go to Brother Pietro so they might feel differently. I’m not saying Brother Pietro was bad or anything. He had to have been a good
eremita
because God decided he would become a saint, right?”

Her body washed in moonlight shining in from the window, Russo lay back against the pillow and watched. She p
ushed her dark red hair aside as she slid her straps down her arm and let her slip drop to the floor.

“I’m glad you found a hotel nearby that was nice enough. The river is beautiful in the moonlight, Dante.” She unclipped her bra and dropped it on the pile on the floor. Standing beside the bed, she
slid out of her heels and propped her foot on the edge to carefully roll down one of her shear black stockings.

Russo eyes rested on the panties
that moved aside to reveal the shadowy place at the top of her leg. His mouth was dry. She sighed as she slid her foot out of the silk, and when Russo looked up, he saw her watching him.

“You wait like a
clever dog, knowing that I’ll have to give in and hand you a treat. Is this where you bring the others?”

“Others? What others?”

“Papà said that you buy women whenever you can.”

“And how would Lauro know that? He may have recommended that, but I
didn’t do it.” His face burned.

She changed feet and began to roll down the second stocking. “I didn’t ask you to hunger only for me, Dante. I understand that maybe I can
’t satisfy your needs when I’m not around. I just wanted to know what they do that gets you turned on.” She pushed back the covers and slid between the sheets. “I wore my favorite panties, Dante. Please ask me to remove them when you need to. Last time you ruined them. Remember?”

Russo stood and removed his trousers, neatly folding them over the hanger that held his jacket. He removed his underwear before loosening his tie, watching to see if she held any interest. Her eyes seemed mesmerized
on him. He smiled to himself.

On
ce between the sheets, she let him fondle her breasts, but she did not move closer. His hand inched down to the panties. He ripped them off and felt her shudder. His fingers reached for the shadowy place between her legs but were momentarily disappointed by hairlessness. She pushed back the blanket and raised her knee to let him see how clean and pink it was when he hit the spot that rendered her helpless. She let out a whimper and tried to take control once more, but he held her at arm’s length until he could see the tears glint in the corners of her eyes.

“Dearest Ciana. How beautiful you are when you can’t get what you want. I know you have to marry the man your
papà wants you to, but you’re going to miss me because I’m the only one who fulfills your needs.” He chuckled to himself as he pulled her toward him. “I can stop here because I’m not in the running,” he said kissing a tear that rolled down her cheek.

She punched at his shoulder until he fell back onto the sheets. Then she climbed on
top of him and took what was hers to take. “You don’t deserve me, Dante. You have a lady in your bed, and you treat her like one of your whores.”

He put his arm behind his head and smi
led. “I’m the only one who makes you feel like that, and you like it, Ciana. You like being dominated because your father has done that all your life. He won’t pick such a husband for you because he’s only interested in acquiring another’s fortune.”

“And did you enjoy it, Dante? Do you want a wife who only takes care of your physical needs for the five min
utes you need her? I’m sure you have met plenty of those. She pushed the sheets aside and bent down to grab her bra.”

“What do you want from me, Ciana? I love your spirit. I love your body.”

“She lay back down to look at him. I want you to ask my Papà for my hand.”

Dante felt cold and covered himself with the sheet. “You know what he’ll say. He’ll tell me to leave the company and then we’ll have nothing.”

“If you don’t tell him, I will.”

“What will you tell him that won’t get him to disown you too?”

“He would never disown me because he’ll blame you. You know that.”

“I’ll just tell him th
at I haven’t done anything. I’d be shocked if you brought it up yourself.”

“I have proof, Dante.”

He smiled and pulled her toward him. “Why ruin what we have? Why do you want to marry me?”

“Because I’m carrying our child, and we won’t be able to keep that a secret much longer.”