Build a Love (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (13 page)

“Are you sure?”

My mouth was dry. I was ready to run. Bryan knelt down.

“Deep breath, Harry. They’re fine.”

Marco’s voice rang out. “Hey stop,
con il litigare voi due
.”

“
Scusa
.”

His mother looked at me as if I was a little crazy. Maybe I was at that moment. But I just panicked. I stood.

“Um…I need to go to the bathroom.”

“You okay, babe?”

I nodded and smiled at Marco. Marco said something to his mother as Bryan led me to the bathroom.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“I will be. Just let me wash my face. I just panicked a little. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s okay, sweetie. I’ll wait for you in the kitchen.”

He gave me a kiss and I went inside. I couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid. If anything bad had been happening, of course everyone there would have reacted. I just saw my own past and judged the wrong way. I used the toilet then washed my face. Taking a breath, I went back into the kitchen. My two boys were sitting at the table. Their mother was at the coffee machine. They both looked worried. I tried to smile bravely. Marco stood and kissed me, then sat me down.

“Harry would you like a coffee?”

“Um…thanks Rosa, yes please.”

“Go ask your father Marco.
Andare con lui
Bryan
. Voglio parlare
.”

“
Si
Mama.”

Both men stood, they kissed me, then their mother and left the room.

“Do you have milk and sugar?”

“Yes, thanks Rosa.”

Rosa made the coffees and sat with me.

“They are good men. They worry.”

“I’m sorry. I…I misunderstood.”

“Easy done. Especially in this noisy family. The boys were worried.” Rosa patted my hand. “I’m glad they met you.”

“You are?”

“Do you know they’ve never brought a woman to meet us before? You’re the only one.”

I wasn’t sure how to answer, but Rosa saved me.

“I love my son and I love Bryan. He is like another son to me.”

I wondered if she knew exactly the relationship between them. I kept my mouth shut.

“Bryan is good for Marco. He was a wild boy. I worried about him. He got his trade but he was always being crazy. I was scared he’d do something wrong. But then he met Bryan. Overnight he changed. He matured. He got smart.”

“I know they’ve worked together for a long time.”

“Yes. Marco started to work for Bryan. Then he bought into the business and it grew and grew. They’re very successful, and very happy, I think.”

“I think so, too.”

“I like you, I know they like you a lot.”

“They are both wonderful men.”

She looked thoughtful.

“Maybe eight, nine years ago they met a woman. She went out with Marco, then she went out with Bryan. They both like her. I never met her. Anyway, they’re going for maybe a month. Marco, he is unhappy, and so is Bryan.”

“Bryan comes here one day. ‘Mama’ he says, ‘I think I’m losing Marco. I think he’s going to tell me he wants to be with Angela’. I said, ‘he told you this?’

“Bryan, he looked so sad. He tells me he just knows. I ask him is he going to fight for Marco or let him go.”

“You know what he said to me?”

I shook my head.

“He said ‘I love him too much, I only want what makes him happy and if that’s without me then so be it.’”

“I know they have been in love for many years. At first I was disappointed when Marco tells me he only like boys.” She patted her heart. “I love him, but it broke my heart a little. Same with Papà. He was upset. But he’s our son, so if he is happy then what more can we want for our child? Then a few times, he goes out with girls, too. I was very confused.”

She shook her head and giggled.

“I asked him one day and he tells me he like boys best but sometimes he like girls, too. Oh la la, it was puzzle!” She laughed. “Anyway, some of the people he went out with, we didn’t like. He was being reckless but then he changed suddenly.”

“He tells us he met someone special. Said he was in love with Bryan. We weren’t sure but then we met Bryan. He is a good man. If my son wants to be with him then that’s okay. Papà was a little slower but we can’t help but love Bryan. Papà, well, he treats Bryan like his son.”

I felt a tear trickle down my face. It was wonderful to hear this woman so accepting of her son and his partner. Especially when I knew that Bryan’s parents had rejected him because of his sexuality.

“So now it looked like they would break up. Poor Bryan, he was so unhappy.”

She giggled.

“So I ring Marco. I told him a cupboard door had come off in the kitchen. He has to come fix it for me. Before he came, I get a screwdriver and take out a screw, the door falls off the hinge.”

We both laughed.

“So when he comes, he fixes the door. I see he isn’t happy either. Asked him what’s wrong and he tells me Bryan is going to leave him because he wants to be with Angela.”

“What? They both thought the other wanted her?”

“Yes. Neither of them would talk to the other about it. Stupid boys! Trying to be brave. I asked Marco what he wanted. He tells me he loves Bryan and can’t bear to see him leave.”

“Oh no. How on earth did they sort it out?”

“I got them both here on the Saturday for our lunch, like today. Took them both into the sitting room and sat them down. Told them they weren’t to come out until they had been truthful to each other.”

By now, we were both crying.

“I went back in about twenty minutes later, they were cuddling on the sofa.” She looked off into the distance, a sweet smile on her face. “I love my boys.”

“Anyway, that’s the last time they were serious about a woman. Actually, I think she was playing one against the other. She didn’t accept they were a pair and just wanted one for herself. I think she just wanted to be married, thought one of them would fit the bill and she could get rid of the other.”

I reached out and covered her hand with mine.

“Rosa, I’d never want them to part. I can see how much they love each other. Please understand I honestly don’t want to break them up.”

“I know. I know they would never have brought you here if they thought that. You’re all they talk about. They call in here for a coffee and it’s ‘Harry this, Harry that.’ They are both well on the way to being in love with you.”

I had no answer. Rosa looked at me. She stood and carried the empty cups to the sink. Turning back, she asked.

“The question is, can you love two men equally? Two men who love each other and who have a sexual relationship with each other?”

Time to be truthful to this wonderful woman.

“I knew from the beginning they were together, they’ve never held anything back. I...I’m in love with them both. I know if I lost either of them it would break my heart.”

I stood. She wrapped her arms around me and we both cried. At that moment, I knew I was inexorably linked with this family forever. We had a good cry and then dried our eyes.

“Come on. They’ll think I’ve scared you away. They were worried about you.”

“I know, Rosa.” I took a breath. “Something happened to me a long time ago, it was really bad and well, sometimes it comes back.”

“Ah.” She nodded sagely. “The past always comes back to haunt us at the wrong times, but now you have two men who you can lean on when it does.”

“Yes, that’s so true.” She was so right. “Yes, I do.”

We wrapped arms around each other and walked out to join the others. I noticed some people had left. The evening was getting close. When we got to where the three men were, Marco pulled me onto his knee and Bryan lifted my feet onto his lap. Salvatore was sitting on a long stool with a high back and Rosa sat alongside him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and said, “Your little sister said she’ll see you on Monday, they all left.”

“Okay.”

A few other couples came up and kissed everyone goodbye until all that was left was the five of us plus Marco’s brother, Franco, with his family and his twin sister, Helene, and her family. They moved up and sat with us.

“Helene, can you make your Papà a coffee please?”

“Sure, Papà.”

Marco piped up. “Me, too, sis.”

“I’ll have one as well.”

Everyone was shouting orders. Helene laughed and dragged her sister-in-law, Jane, inside. Soon they came out with a tray of coffee for everyone. Marco started laughing when he saw Jane carrying an enormous platter of Italian pastries.

“Are these for Harry?”

“Hey. I’m not that bad.”

He rolled his eyes and grinned. “Of course you’re not.”

Jane laughed as she sat. She placed the platter near us all.

“Don’t forget we know you, Marco. I doubt anyone could eat as many as you.”

The last of the day was drawing to a close. It was lovely to sit and chat, we drank the coffee and ate most of the pastries before finally calling it a day. Rosa and Salvatore walked us out to the front gate. They both hugged me and I felt like one of the family, they had been so warm and welcoming.

“Don’t forget to come again next month.”

“No
Papà
. We know.”

“
Buona serata.”

“Buona sereta, ti amo Mama e Papà
.”

Marco kissed his parents goodnight. Bryan did the same and whispered, “
Ti amo Mama.”

I got a hug and a kiss from Rosa and Salvatore, with Rosa telling me not to let the boys forget the next month’s family feast. I asked her if I could bring anything but she assured me they had it all organised this time, but next time I could.

Marco laughed and told his mother I was as bad a cook as he was. I poked him in the chest.

We settled into the car, it was Bryan’s turn to drive, and headed for their house. In spite of my near meltdown, it had been a wonderful day and I told them both.

“I’m glad, Harry. They mean the world to us. Mama, well, she’s the best.”

“Is that Ms. Kempton?”

“Yes, yes it is.”

“Hello, Ms. Kempton, my name is Detective Inspector Russell Grant. I just wanted to let you know that Elliott Farris has been released on parole.”

I gave a little scream.

“Please tell me you’re joking?”

“No, Miss. I’m sorry but he’s served his twelve years and has been a model prisoner.”

“How do you know he won’t come after me and finished the job he started?”

“As a condition of his parole he is not allowed to contact you in any way or come near you.”

I gave a sarcastic laugh.

“Fat good that will do! I had a restraining order out on him last time and look what happened!”

“I do understand your concerns but as I said, he’s served his time. He does understand what will happen if he attempts to contact you.”

I started to panic.

“Please tell me he doesn’t have my address?”

“Most certainly not!”

“Well, I guess I should be happy for that but I’m not. I know him, I know what he’s like. He’s clever.”

I could hear the patient tone in the detective’s voice as he tried to reassure me.

“Ms. Kempton if you are concerned at any time, if you think he is around, you only have to ring us. To make you more comfortable I’ll give you my direct line and my mobile number.”

He rattled off his numbers. My hands were shaking so badly the numbers were almost illegible. I read them back to him to make sure I had them correct. He told me they were right.

I suddenly had a thought.

“You do realise he only has to Google my name and he will have my e-mail address. I’m a well-known artist, I have a website, and my - contact information is on there for prospective clients to write to me.”

I heard his sigh.

“As I said, if you think at any time he is attempting to contact you ring me. Understand this, Ms. Kempton, it would violate his parole conditions and he would be back behind bars as soon as we arrested him. In fact, he’s been out now for five weeks and obviously he hasn’t contacted you.”

“Five weeks!” My voice rose a few octaves. “I guess I should be grateful you’ve let me know. It’s just that this is such a shock.”

“Yes, I imagine it has been but now you are aware and know what to look for.”

“Thanks.”

“Remember call me if you’re worried at all.”

I laughed recklessly. I could feel my terror building.

“I’m worried already.”

“I understand. Okay, well goodbye, Ms. Kempton.”

“Bye, Inspector.”

I hung up and sank to the floor with the phone in my hand. I immediately programmed both numbers in and put them both on my speed dial.