“You shouldn’t be so reliant on him,” Molly growled, and when I glared at her, she threw her arms out to her sides. “What? I’m not saying it in a mean way. I’m saying you should feel okay going to do your own thing.”
“What Molly is trying to say,” Gabriel said, taking over, “is that we’ll look after Sandro. The house is safe. Marco has security at max capacity. Nothing will happen on our watch, and if he so much as sneezes, we’ll let you know.” Marco nodded in agreement before Gabriel continued. “Besides, yoga changed my life, and I’m not just saying that because I met the love of my life there.” He squeezed Stacy a little closer. “It’s really relaxing, it alleviates stress, and it’s good for your bones and muscles. I even sleep better at night. Seriously, it’ll be good for you.”
“Plus,” Stacy cut in with her sickeningly sweet voice, “I’d love an opportunity to spend more time with you and get to know each other better.”
That almost sounded worse than the yoga, but Stacy had spent most of her time with Molly since becoming part of the family, mostly because I refused to be around at first. Then after I started coming around, it was to be glued to Alessandro’s side. She’d spent some time with Kelly, as well, on trips to and from Maine. Stacy and I knew each other very little.
“If you come, I’ll give you the sister discount, which is free.”
“Stacy’s a great teacher,” Molly said, doing her best to keep her voice as kind as possible, even if it was obvious how forced it was. “I was going to her, even before Gabe. You’re stressed. It’s obvious. I know better than anyone how it can be. It’ll be really good. Trust me.”
I could see the seriousness in Molly’s eyes, so I let out a sigh and nodded at Stacy. She clapped, and Gabriel chuckled at her excitement before kissing her on the cheek.
“Yay! I’m so excited. The first group of the day is at eleven, so go change into something comfortable, and we’ll head out.”
5
Willow
I tried to remember the last time I did something without Alessandro as I got into Stacy’s white Range Rover while she loaded a flurry of mats, bottles, and other materials into the trunk.
The past six months had me sewn to his hip. The furthest I would get from his side was out in the garden when he was up in his office, and even then, I could still see him. Before the Binachis kidnapped us, Alessandro and I spent a healthy amount of time apart. He and Ricky would go out from time to time, as would Sasha and I. He had a regular day job, and I had my fashion buying business, so we’d work during the day and reserve nights for spending time together and with Alexis.
When Stacy just barely saved the day, Alessandro was so shocked that he wouldn’t leave my side. I found out that he’d been making secret trips to Philly and had been arrested after a bar fight, and things started to unravel. We were that rare, odd couple that somehow started spending more time together on the precipice of divorce, and every single day since then, we haven’t been more than a stone’s throw from one another. To say I was anxious would be an understatement.
“Okay.” Stacy’s door slammed as she climbed into the driver’s seat. “Ready?”
I nodded. “As I’ll ever be.”
Before she started the car, Stacy turned and smiled at me. “I just want to say that I’m really glad you decided to do this. I know it’s scary, so if there’s anything I can do, please let me know, okay?”
It was hard to keep my rocky exterior up in the presence of such a sweet, sunshiny person. Being around Stacy, in her light gray sundress and with a crown of white hyacinths around her blonde hair, was like being around an actual angel from heaven. If I hadn’t seen her storm into a room with a pistol in her hand, untie the four Varasso brothers, just barely saving them from the brink of death, and then turn and open fire on their attackers, I would say she was too innocent for this world.
“I’m glad, too,” I said. “I know that my weird attachment to Alessandro can be difficult to swallow.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you wanting to be near your husband, Willow, especially not in his state. I love Molly, but she was out of line.” She left it there for the time being, situated herself in the seat, and started the car.
The car ride was filled with getting-to-know-you questions. Stacy asked me everything from what my favorite color was to what my thoughts on the death penalty were. At first, I thought she was just laying it on thick, but she started to weave in what she’d learned about Molly and Kelly, and it became increasingly more clear that both of my sisters-in-law had been hit with the same flurry of questions. Stacy asked me about things I would never think to ask someone, like where was my favorite place I’d ever traveled and if there was something on my bucket list that I didn’t think I’d ever get to do. In a way, I was learning more about myself than Stacy was. It’d been such a long time since I thought of who I was when I wasn’t Alexis’s mom or Alessandro’s wife that when Stacy asked me to run down my favorite food, I struggled not to say bacon and eggs or mashed apricots. Maybe Molly was more right than I was willing to admit. I’d become so focused on being a facet of Alessandro that I almost forgot I was my own person.
“Are conversations with you always so enlightening?” I asked.
Stacy giggled. “Gabriel has asked me that exact same question. Luca, too. I guess it’s just something about me.”
I crossed my arms. “I don’t think I like it.”
“People usually don’t,” she replied simply. “It’s kind of like when you take a picture of yourself, you can make sure that you have the right angle and the right lighting and all that, but when someone else catches a picture of you when you’re not paying attention and more natural, you usually don’t like it. It’s hard to look at your real self.”
“You should write a book,” I muttered absent-mindedly.
Stacy laughed again. “I actually am, but not about that. A cookbook with my mom. Though people have told me that a lot, too. Maybe I should listen.” She let out another small chuckle and then asked a question I was not at all prepared for. “So, how did you and Sandro meet?”
Thinking about Alessandro and my history was always painful. I thought about all of the love that existed between us, and it made me sad that such a huge, unshakable wall had erected itself between us. It made my throat burn.
“I’m sorry,” Stacy said. “Was that too personal?”
“Sorry, did I show it?” I asked.
“I could feel it. Your aura got really dark.”