| |
Dante
Present Day
“What happened to Stefan, it explains a lot,” Charlie observed.
“How so?” I asked.
“They say that when a child is abused – especially the kind of abuse Stefan endured – that’s the age at which they stop maturing. And the anger, it builds and builds. Whatever is inside always has to come out in some way. And who do we usually take it out on when we’re angry? The ones we love.”
“Are you sure you’re not studying to become a shrink?” I asked.
Charlie smiled. “Maybe I should. There’s a lot of healing that has to go on; not only between you and Stefan Dante, but between you and yourself. You have to forgive yourself for what you think you did wrong. Stefan has.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said.
“Did he ever betray you when they hauled him off to jail after our incident? And you know they went at him hard; tried to get him to give them something. He loves you as much as you love him. That’s why he didn’t tell you about the abuse, even though the scared, child part of him blamed you. And so many things – his anger, his desire to take over your business, his jealousy – it was all exacerbated by the drugs. That’s obviously not who he is. And you said when you went to see him three weeks ago that you felt like you got your brother back.”
“I said I saw glimpses of the old Stefan; the Stefan I knew growing up. It’s going to take a while to get my whole brother back, but I think we’re on the right track.”
“He’s loyal to you; blood doesn’t betray blood. He’ll come back to you. I know it,” she insisted, pulling one of my hands to her mouth to kiss it in assurance.
A lump formed in my throat. I stopped walking and turned to her, taking her face in my heads. A tear fell onto her cheek.
“What’s wrong sweetheart? What is it?” she said, her eyes tearing up at the sight of mine.
“You’ll never know what it meant to me that you found it in you to forgive him for hurting you. That—”
“Shhh,” she said, stepping on tiptoes to press her lips to mine.
“Thank you for not making it a choice,” I swallowed, “for allowing me to have you and him in my life. I hate what he did to you Charlie. And I would have cut him out of my life if you’d asked me to. I need you to know that,” I said, searching her eyes, beseeching her to believe me.
“I’ve lost family Dante. It’s painful, even when it’s necessary. Through that loss, I’ve come to believe that we all deserve the biggest circle of love around us as possible. And for you, that includes Stefan. How could I not forgive him? Especially when he’s finding it so hard to forgive himself.”
“You’ve given him a path to redemption.”
“I’m not holy enough to do that. I hope that through my forgiveness though, that he can find the grace to forgive himself.”
I hugged her to me, kissing the top of her head as my tears flowed freely.
“Mia cara,” I whispered. “Amore mio. Cuore mio. Mia anima.”
“And you are mine Dante. My love. My heart. My soul.”
I squeezed her. I felt our son kick. “Active little fella.”
“Kinda like his uncle, no? Always into something” she smiled.
“True, and that means we’re in a heap of trouble,” I laughed.
“Your brother is very lucky to have you,” she said, smiling as she pointed a finger up at me. “Otherwise, he might be spending quite a few years in prison. Or worse,” she said, letting the thought trail off.
I shook my head, thinking how much had gone right since that awful day in my apartment.
“Family stands by family,” I said. “I kept my word with the Colombians. They got their merchandise back, and hopefully that’s the last I ever see of them. And you not pressing charges helped. Remember what I told you about always needing an ally on the right side of the law? That helped too.”
“A little strategically kept dirt on the right people in the right places. Yeah, I remember,” she said, smiling up at me.
“That too,” I agreed. “But the biggest part is Stefan keeping his end of the bargain. I swear if he leaves that treatment center one day inside of a year, I’ll have his ass locked up so fast it’s not even funny.”
“Based on the letters he sends you, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. I think getting everything out in the open helped. Secrets, especially the ones he was keeping, they eat at you.”
“Some secrets I could do better without knowing, but I’m glad I finally know what was really wrong with him. I hate what he went through, but I’m glad it wasn’t just a drug problem.”
“I know what you mean. It makes some sense of the madness.”
“You are way too smart for your own good,” I said, kissing the back of one of her hands.”
“Not really. I’ve just seen a lot. Anyway, I’m glad Stefan is getting help. And it really is quite ingenious of the therapist to have you all write each other weekly. You say things on paper that you might never be able to actually voice.”
“True,” I agreed.
She squeezed me tightly, burying her head in my chest, one of my favorite positions – at least in public.
“Come on,” she said. “I want to walk a little more before we grab some dinner.
“Wait,” I said. “I have something I want to ask you.”
She smiled a little. “What?”
I looked at her beautiful face and then dropped down to one knee. I pulled out the ring I’d picked up from the jeweler’s only yesterday and held it up. The city lights gleamed off the four-carat, emerald cut, pink diamond set in a platinum band of white diamonds.
Charlie gasped and covered her mouth. Tears sprung to her eyes, and slid down her cheeks. “It’s—it’s ... Dante I have no words,” she said.
“Just like you. I have no words for how much I love you Charlotte Everhart. I didn’t even believe in the concept until I met you. And that’s because it didn’t exist for me until you came along. You – and our child – that’s the only organization I’m interested in growing. So will you please marry me?”
My heart pounded as I waited for an answer. My palms were damp, like a teenager asking a girl out for the very first time. I knew in my being that we belonged together. I just hoped her sometimes too-independent-for-me being recognized it too. She had begun taking online college courses in cyber security, pouring all her bottled-up potential into her passion. She didn’t need me, but I prayed to whatever god took mercy on souls like mine that she wanted me.
“I was beginning to think you’d never ask,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
I stood up and put the ring on her finger.
“It’s perfect,” she said, looking up at me.
“I heard that most women spend hours admiring their engagement ring. You’ve barely looked at it. Are you sure you like it? If not, we can—”
“Shhh,” she said. “I haven’t studied it because it can’t compare to the man who gave it to me. It’s just a symbol Dante. No piece of jewelry is more precious that than the love behind it.”
I pulled her against me and kissed her face everywhere I could reach: her lips, her nose, her forehead, her cheeks.
I knew she was a rare jewel beyond compare.
And in the way that only my sweet Charlie could, she’d proven it all over again.
And she was mine. All mine.
Forever.