Quiet Wealth by J.L. Drake

Years of painful memories rushed to the surface, and I knew it was time to open the forbidden door that had been under lock and key, guarded by what was left of my soul.

“Tell me something, Elio.” I turned to face him dead-on. “If the one person you trusted with your entire heart used your worst fear against you, would you be as understanding as you want me to be?” I tried to push away the vague memory I had of my mother’s back to me. He closed his eyes, and I slowly turned back to the photos on the wall. Each happy face secretly nipped at my core. The Capris welcomed me into their lives and made me one of their own and just as quickly disappeared without a trace. “I didn’t think so.”

“I never wanted to abandon you.”

“But you did. Any way you spin it, I was left in the dust with only memories that over the years made me question if you were even real.”

“You think it was easy on me? You don’t—”

“No,” I cut him off, “at least you knew why you left me, and you had people to lean on.” Tears burned painful paths down my face. “While I cried for years, wondering what I did wrong to make you leave me.”

“No, Sienna.” The heartache written on his face told me I was getting through to him. Good. “You did nothing wrong.”

“Don’t.” I put more distance between us, and his eyes narrowed in on me. “Unless you can tell me the true reason for leaving.” He opened his mouth but snapped it shut, and so did the door to my heart. “Right.” I shook my head as I walked by him. “We’re finished here.”

“Like hell we are.” He snagged my arm and held me close. “Answer me this, Sienna.” His jaw flexed, and his pupils dilated. My chest fought to keep up with my lungs. “Has anyone ever made you feel whole or right again?”

When I didn’t answer, he finally broke eye contact, and I sagged in his hold.

“I just need to let go,” I said, more to myself, and felt my temper lash out. “Maybe Mariano can do that for me.” I instantly regretted the words as they leapt from my tongue. I hated that I wanted him to hurt as much as I did. I didn’t even want Mariano.

“He’s too selfish.” He waved off my comment, which ignited the flames inside me.

“Selfish!” I nearly screamed. “Selfish like leaving without even a note. You broke every single piece of my soul, Elio. God!” I pulled back, feeling my words wash over me. “I’m dust inside, empty, and hollow.” I wailed my pain. “Do you get that? I’m broken, and I hate that I was weak enough to let a man do that to me. Christ, I’m only human…or at least I was.”

He stormed up in front of me, his hands clasping and unclasping at his sides.

“Well, if I broke it,” he boomed, “then I’m the only one who can mend it!” His growl echoed across the marble floor just as his mother stepped into the room.

“Elio,” she said calmly, “your father needs you.”

His shoulders lowered as his intensity slowly subsided. He turned on his heel and left the room.

I wrapped my arms around my stomach and turned away from Andrea.

Her heels clicked as she approached, and I gave in and flew into her arms.

“There’s so much more you need to know, dear, but for now, understand it wasn’t his choice to make. We grabbed the few things that meant the most to us and left.”

I sobbed harder, not having the energy to express how much her words just tipped me over the edge.

“Come on, sweet girl.” She walked me out of the room and away from everyone else and up the stairs. “Let’s give you some privacy.”

She led me to a bedroom that looked over the winery, and as I tucked into a ball on the big, cushioned window seat and stared out the window, the weight of it all exhausted me. She snuggled up next to me and started to run her fingers through my hair.

“Tonight, it’s just you and me, Sienna,” she whispered in her motherly voice. “Get all your tears out. You’ll feel so much better when the sun comes up.”

“I feel like,” I tried to speak calmly, but it took a great amount of effort, “life is punishing me for something, Andrea. What did I do wrong? Am I a bad person and don’t know it?”

“No way, and you did nothing wrong.” She tried to soothe me.

“Then why is it, when I finally let my guard down after all these years and attempted to let someone in, he shows up.” I pulled myself into a smaller ball, hoping I would disappear.

“Maybe it was for a reason.” She brushed my hair back and with her other hand pulled a soft quilt over me. “Maybe someone somewhere knew I needed my daughter back.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling how much I needed her to say that.

She kissed my head and let me cry my heart out until my fight with my heavy eyelids won, and she leaned down and whispered, “Do you still love Elio?”

I dug deep, past all the darkness, pain, and doubt, and gave her the last bit of me I had left tonight.

“Does it matter?” Seconds later, I gave in to sleep.

The effort it took to open my swollen eyes to let the sunlight in was almost unbearable. Three attempts later, I lifted my heavy head and took in my surroundings. There was a note on the night table with my name written on it. I had to blink a few times to clear my vision.

“Mariano stayed the night. No one thought anything about you disappearing early. The bourbon took care of that. Everything you need can be found in the restroom, including a clean dress hanging on the inside of the door. Take your time. We are all home today. Love, Andrea.”

A long shower made me feel better. I let my hair air dry and slipped into the blue dress that was left for me. I didn’t want to know why they had a dress my size hanging around, but her face popped up, and I pushed aside the thought of Elio and Anna together. I passed on the shoes and slipped on my beloved leather heels, impressed with how they looked with the dress.

“Good morning, Sienna,” Francesco greeted me as I walked into the kitchen.

“Francesco.” I kissed his cheek, beyond happy to see my old friend. “How have you been? No, first, how are your children?”

He pulled out his wallet and shared some photos of his grandbabies.

“Look at those sweet little cheeks,” I gushed over how adorable they were. “They have your eyes.”

“They do, don’t they?” he agreed.

Someone came running into the kitchen and almost collided with one of the kitchen staff.

“Sorry!” he apologized as he steadied her by the elbow then whirled around to us.

“Oh, Sienna, have you met Vinni?” Francesco waved between us. “He’s Elio’s cousin.”

“Cousin?” I questioned. “I thought you were the driver?”

He grinned and snagged a pastry off one of the pans the girls were walking by with.

“Not normally, but the boss wanted to make sure you were taken care of.”

“Oh.” I was shocked by that, but I waved my hand, trying to place everyone. “Don’t you have better things to do than cart me around?”

“And miss a chance to drive around a pretty lady?” He smiled.

I smiled back and paused to let his words sink in. “Thank you.”

Donte emerged from the walk-in refrigerator just as Vinni left again, talking about something he had to do.

“Last night was interesting.” Donte gave me a wary look as he set two dozen eggs on the island.

“I went to bed early.”

“That explains why the boss paced the bottom of the stairs for hours.”

I shifted on my stool and glanced at Francesco, who kept very busy and pretended not to listen.

“So?” I spun an egg on the counter. “What happened? Someone fall in the pool or skinny dip?” I held up a hand. “You know what? Given the company that was here last night, don’t answer that.”

He laughed, and to my surprise, so did Francesco. “No, we had some visitors, friends of Mariano, to be exact. The boss wasn’t happy, and he shut it down quickly. Mariano has a death wish not to mention he was running his mouth about you.”

“Me?” I leaned forward, interested to know what was said.

He glanced at Francesco, who gave him a nod to go on. “He was running his mouth about you and him and how close you’ve gotten. You know, intimately. The boss lost it and punched him straight in the nose.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen those two be like that toward each other.”

“Oh, my God.” I stared at him, wondering what the hell I was doing to their family.

“I think the boss has eyes for you, Sienna.” He tapped his nose. “The kitchen staff sees more than you would think, and my senses are telling me you caught his attention.”

“Well, years of love will do that,” I muttered before I slapped my hand over my mouth, completely shocked I said that out loud.

“I knew it was more than love at first sight.” He pointed a handful of basil at me.

“Oh, my God, Donte.” I circled the island and held on to his shoulders and looked him square in the eye. “Please never repeat what I just said to you.”

“Under one condition.” He beamed with excitement.

“What?”

“You stay.”

“What?” I was completely thrown by his comment.

“I’ve been working for the boss for nearly six years. Girls have come and gone, and never once have I ever seen him throw a punch for one of them.”

I threw my hands in the air and looked up at the sky. “It’s as if someone tore the pages out of a fairytale and stuck them back in without any order.”

“Come on, now, Miss Sienna,” he laughed like I should be getting his humor, “surely you know this is no fairytale. You’re wrapped up with the—”

Francesco cleared his throat, and Donte pressed his lips together.

“So, am I keeping my mouth shut?” He wiggled his eyebrows, which made me laugh, and I let whatever he was going to say go. It was most likely not meant for my ears.

“I don’t know.” I reached for my purse and pulled out a train ticket I bought before I left in case I needed to leave on my own terms and showed it to him. “After last night, I’m not sure what I should do.”

“May I suggest something?” Francesco spoke up behind me. “As someone who has been around from the very start, maybe stick around for a few more days. It couldn’t hurt.”

“Am I really welcome? Because last night—”

“Wasn’t what you thought it was,” he cut me off. “Perhaps some alone time with Mr. Elio would put your mind at ease?”

I let out a shaky breath and tried to get my thoughts in order. “Do you know where he is?”

“I was actually just heading his way right now. We can go there together.”