Page 63 of Black Sheep
“Dom hates the opera, but his wife loved it,” Cannon replies, his tone taking on a sharp edge.
His wife.In all my research and digging, I’ve found very little about Lorena Casso. She was mentioned briefly here and there, but there was nothing in depth. Her family history was difficult to track as well. She was raised in a small village in Italy, and from what I could tell, she was shipped over to the US just in time to meet her husband the week before her wedding day.
“How did he meet your mother if he was there with his wife?” I ask quietly.
“Hell if I know. He should’ve stayed in his damn box, where they’d be waited on hand and foot. But something was different that night. The way she told it, crowds parted for Dom like he was a king. Back then, he was rising to power in a very decisive fashion, so it’s not hard to imagine.”
He pours the red into both glasses and hands one to me before continuing.
“Of course, a girl from Brooklyn would be stunned to see a man like Dom and the respect he commanded. And with his eye for beautiful women, Dom couldn’t miss her. Even in her homemade dress and cheap shoes, he knew she was special.”
Cannon sounds equal parts sad and angry right now. I want to tell him it’s okay, that he doesn’t have to tell me anything more, but I can’t bring myself to speak. The faraway look in his eye tells me that he’s slipped into the story his mother used to tell and isn’t ready to leave it.
“Then what happened?” I ask, reaching up to adjust my wig, wishing I could rip the dang thing off while he’s baring his soul.
“He insisted on buying her that glass of champagne and then charmed the hell out of her. Found out where she worked. Promised he’d come see her, and they’d have champagne together. Talked to her until the lights flashed and he had to get back to his box. She watched the rest of the opera with one eye, looking for him with the other, but she couldn’t find him. Probably because she didn’t have those little opera glasses to snoop on people like everyone else. She thought she’d never see him again, and by the time she made it home to Brooklyn, she said she’d put him out of her mind.”
“But Dom didn’t forget her, did he?”
Cannon’s head moves slowly from side to side while I lift my glass to my lips.
“No. He found her on Monday at the fabric shop. Took her to lunch. Made her feel beautiful. And then he came back every single day and took her to eat until she finally couldn’t resist him.” He pauses, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “She’d tell the story to me at bedtime like it was a fairy tale. She just didn’t realize it would end in a nightmare. She didn’t realize he was married; she always made sure to tell me that. She never would’ve gotten involved with a married man if she’d known.”
He flattens one hand on the counter, around the base of his glass, and I cover it with mine.
Cannon keeps speaking without acknowledging my touch. “It’s hard to condemn her for it, because I wouldn’t be alive if she hadn’t met him, but ...” He glances up at me, his features tight. “Fuck. I didn’t mean to get into something this heavy right now.”
“You don’t have to say anything else. It’s fine.”
Cannon shakes his head again, moving his hand so he can squeeze mine. As he does, he says, “I can’t help but wonder if she’d still be alive if I’d never been born.”
My heart breaks for him. Right then. Right there.
“I am so sorry, Cannon. It wasn’t your fault. Wondering things like that will never bring you any peace. Trust me, I wonder all the time if my father would still be alive if I’d done something different to trip the wheels of fate and send them rolling in another direction.”
My voice grows husky as the words choke me up. And then there’s the thought blaring through my brain right now—one I can’t tell Cannon.
Did my father have to die for me to meet this man? The one I’m falling in love with?
I have to tell him the truth. Right now.
“There’s something I need to—” I say, but a buzzer sounds from the area near the door.
Cannon’s gaze lifts to meet mine. “That’s Geno. Always quicker than he says. I’ll run down and get the food. Drink your wine. No more heavy shit tonight. Just ... us. Okay?”
He releases my hand and slips away, giving me a reprieve that I don’t even want.
36
Cannon
Iknow she’s going to tell me something I don’t want to hear. Something that’s going to change everything. If I were a smart man, I’d drag every bit of information out of this cagey woman I can get, but tonight, I don’t want to be smart.
No. Tonight, I just want her.
Reckless as fuck, but I don’t care. Sometimes you have to take risks. Leaps of faith. That’s what the hell I’m doing right now.
Telling Drew my mother’s story reminds me that there’s not a damn thing we can do to change the path of fate. Drew came into my life for a reason, and I’m not ready to find out exactly what that reason is. Tonight, I just want to pretend that we’re two people who want to be with each other, and if we’re lucky, we’ll both be able to silence the ghosts that haunt us.
