“Oh, you know Jack. He must always invite everyone who’s remotely associated with the Embassy.” She studies Valentina. “They all seem to really like her.” She lifts a flute of champagne to her lips, takes a sip. “Be careful, Sébastien.”
“What do you mean?” I frown, not liking where this is going. “Nothing’s happened.”
“Not yet,” she adds, watching me from the corner of her eye. “Listen, Sebs, I really like Valentina, too. I truly think she’s the perfect woman for you. Her one, maybe only, flaw is that she’s married.”
“I know.”
“You think you know, babe. But you’ve never been married. You can’t erase the years they’ve been together. And the moment you try to make her choose between her husband and you, you’ll lose her.” She pauses, measuring her next sentence. “For all you know, it could be another rough patch.”
About a week ago, Sophie and Jack came over for dinner at my apartment. Valentina was there. Conversation flowed like the wine. One glass turned into five or eight bottles. Before I knew it, Valentina opened up about her marriage. There was no anger anymore. She didn’t even blame William. It was as though she had finally come to terms with the state of whatever was left of it. And the bastard in me was happy.
“Her husband doesn’t deserve her.”
“That’s not for you to decide.” She pats my chest. “Be smart. Don’t take it any further.”
I shake my head, reach for her hand, covering it with mine. “I don’t think I can quit her.”
“Have you even tried?”
“I don’t want to.”
“You’re fucked then, handsome. Just remember, she and her husband are unfinished business.”
Jealousy makes me see fucking red. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“You know exactly what it means. It’s not over until it’s over.” She pats my jaw tenderly before walking away to join the rest of her guests.
Unsettled by Sophie’s warning, I go in search of Valentina. The need to be with her corrodes my bones. As soon as I spot her sitting on the grass with little Jack on her lap and the other kids around her, I’m calm once again. Fuck her husband. If he truly loved her, he would have been here the next day. If Valentina were mine, I would have moved heaven and earth to get to her. Because when you finally find something worth living for, you fight until there isn’t one more drop of blood left in you.
As I approach their spot, the anger and fear gradually slip from my pores. I don’t have the answers to her marriage, only she does, but we will figure it out. She remains unaware of my existence, so I hang back, reclining my shoulder on the trunk of a tree. I listen to her soft voice as my eyes devour her. The fabric clings to her slim curves as the wind blows past her, molding onto her like a second skin.
“Once upon a time there was a sad king of a vast land where midnight was eternal. Children grew up not knowing what the sun or a morning sky looked like. It was also said that when the king was angry, rain and howling winds would follow, shaking their homes with its angry power.”
“He sounds scary,” a little boy says and hugs himself.
“He wasn’t scary, Tobias. He was just lonely and very cranky. That’s why he scowled all the time.” Valentina shakes her head and smiles.
“He sounds like my father,” Jack says, giggling.
Valentina laughs, and the sound is like music to my fucking ears. “Anyway, the king was feared by all, tenants, servants, and neighboring rulers alike. He was known to be ruthless and unfeeling.”
“What did he look like?”
“Hmm.” She taps her chin seemingly thinking of her answer.
“A bear!” Jack orders.
“A horse?” another girl offers shyly.
“Yes! How clever you both are.” Valentina smiles encouragingly at the kids, and Jack grows about five inches with manly pride. She glances around her engrossed audience and lowers her voice. “It was said that he had the face of a bear and the body of a horse. His subjects dreaded to come into contact with him for they believed that he could turn them into stone. So the poor king lived in seclusion in his big castle at the top of the highest hill.”
“That is very sad,” my niece Isabella says. “Living all by himself.”
“Bet you daddy would like it,” Jack interjects, making Valentina chuckle. “He’s allergic to people, you know.”
“Oh, I know!” Isabella exclaims. “He needed a beautiful princess with a flower crown just like you to kiss him and turn him into a handsome king.”
Pushing myself away from the trunk, I stroll toward the circle of children and the minx at its center. “Now the story gets more interesting …”
Valentina’s eyes dance with laughter as she holds my gaze. “No. Sadly, it wasn’t in the cards for him.”
“More’s the pity.” I cross my arms, raising an eyebrow. “What happens with this scowling monster?”
“He wasn’t a monster. Just misunderstood. Now, if you would be kind enough as to remain quiet so I can finish the story, I’d be forever grateful.”
I nod graciously as a smile tugs the corners of my lips. Valentina spreads her skirt carefully and hugs little Jack in her arms once more. Lucky boy. “Where was I? Oh, yeah. One day, a gypsy girl in a blue caravan stopped outside the castle.”
“Was she beautiful?” the same little blond girl from before asks.
“Of course she was. They always are,” an older girl interrupted.
“Does the king fall in love with the gypsy?”
“Ew, no!” the boys shout in dislike almost unanimously. Poor kids. If they only knew …
We lose the kids’ attention as they start to laugh and fight amongst themselves. Not that it matters. She stands up, brushing the grass and dirt off her skirt, and closes the space between us. An indecent smile on her wide mouth, that damn dimple that drives me to distraction peeking, she comes to me as though she’s a virgin ready to be sacrificed to the gods. Taunting me. Intoxicating me. A gust of wind blows past her as it sends her hair flying in all directions, making her dress dance in the air.
She’s now standing in front of me. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”
“I certainly hope so,” I drawl, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“You know, Sophie’s right, you do touch me whenever you feel like it,” she teases.
“And yet it’s still not enough.”
Valentina lowers her face, blushing a little, but not before I see her smiling. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice heavy-looking clouds move across the sky, covering the sun. The smell of rain filters through my nose. Trees sway back and forth in the breeze. And then it comes. The rain. Soft. Gentle. Fresh on our skin.