I thought this dinner party was going to be bad, but I had no idea of the hell it would actually be.
I'm sitting beside Nino who has done nothing but argue with Vince since we sat down to eat. Vince's wife, Lorna, is staring morosely into her sixth glass of red wine and Danny Santos is smirking at me across the table.
I do my best to ignore him, but I'm failing miserably and we both know it. I can feel the telltale flags of color in my cheeks my hands as they clutch my glass are shaking. He notices this and smiles even broader.
"Dammit, Vince, we don't need the Santos family on this," Nino is saying angrily.
Vince shrugs, his gray eyes indifferent. "Three families are better than two, Nino. And the Santos family doesn't have the same...history with the Lomatti's as the Riveras."
Nino's eyes flame and for a brief, horrible moment, I think he's about to surge over the trable like a tidal wave and kill Vince. "I'm not my father, Vince," he says at last in a strangled voice. "I know Bernard crossed you once, but I swear to you I won't do that."
I put a comforting hand on my husband's arm. He shrugs it off.
Immediately, my eyes swing to Danny, praying he didn't see.
He did.
Tears begin to prick my eyes, but I put on a false smile and say, "I'm going to get a few more bottles of wine from the wine cellar."
Nino finally looks at me then, irratation in those eyes that used to hold me so spellbound. "Michelle, you know how bad those stairs are. You can't carry more than one bottle by yourself." He flings his napkin on the table. "I'll have to come with you."
"Don't bother, Nino," Danny says suddenly as he rises from his chair. "I'd be more than happy to help Mrs. Rivera."
Nino's eyes narrow slightly as he looks from me to Danny. My pulse is leaping wildly and I feel another blush creep up my neck. "Thanks, Santos," he says at last and then turns back to Vince. Danny's eyes meet mine and he smiles, sweeping an arm out in front of him. "After you."
On shaky legs, I make my way to the wine cellar door, feeling his eyes on my back. "H-have you ever been in our wine cellar, Mr. Santos?" I ask, desperate for small talk.
"No, Mrs. Rivera, I haven't," he says laughter in his voice. "But I've heard it's something else."
"Oh, it is," I say with forced cheerfulness as we make our way down the rickety steps. "Nino's father is quite proud of it."
The cellar is cold and lit by a single bare light bulb that dangles from the ceiling.
"It's nice," Danny comments as I stare sightlessly at the ocean of bottle that stretch out before me.
"Yes, I like it down here. Especially in the summer.I like to come here to think. It's so nice and cool down here and it's the only place..." Suddenly I feel flustered, as though I've shared something I shouldn't have with him.
"It's the only place no one thinks to look for you, right, Michelle?" Danny says softly and something in his voice makes me turn around and look at him. He smiles, almost sadly, and continues,"I have a place like this. My grandmother has a garden that my grandfather built for her when they first moved here. There's this stome bench right under a huge oak tree and I used to go there to be alone because I figured the garden was the last place anyone would think I'd be. I spent a lot of time there after...after Ana."
I stare at him, a thousand emotions swirling through me. Some are new and foreign, other as familiar as my own face in the mirror.
"You must have loved her very much," I whisper.
Danny looks at me and there's such pain in his eyes that it takes my breath away.
Then, then eyes go cold again and I wish I'd never come down here with him.
"The way you love Nino, Mrs. Rivera?" he says in a dangerously soft voice, advancing on me. "I don't see how you can love Nino like that and still kiss me the way you did."
He's right in front of me now, his breath warm on my face, his fingers curling around my upper arms. "Did you tell Nino about our little interlude?"
"No." I manage to choke out. I feel like all the air around me has gone very thin and I can't breathe.
"Why not?"
I try to drag my eyes from his, but I'm caught. "If...if I told Nino what you did, he'd kill you and I don't want your death on my hands, Mr. Santos."
Danny smiles mockingly. "I don't think so. I think you didn't tell Nino because you'd also have to tell him how you reacted."
He lowers his lips to my ear. "That you kissed me back."
"I didn't!" I cry, trying to wrench free from him.
"Didn't you? You wanted me to kiss you, Mrs. Rivera. What's more, you want me to kiss you again. Now."
"No," I say helplessly, knowing he's right and hating him for it.
"I want you. You want me. You know you do. So why are you denying it?"
"I'm married," is all I can think to say.
Danny laughs softly. "Yes, you are that. Legally. Physically. But what about your heart, hmm? Your soul? If you were married to Nino in every way, you wouldn't be thinking about how much you want me to make love to you right now."
My face flames and tears begin to trickle down my cheeks. "I hate you," I whisper shakily. "I hate you."
Danny's thumb reaches out to brush away my tears, setting off a wildfire inside me. "Do you? I just can't believe that."
His lips are right against mine as he continues to say in that silky voice, "I see your eyes when you look at me. And I know you're thinking the same things I am."
I close my eyes and tilt my head back slightly as he cups my face in his hands.
"When I make love to you, Michelle, and it is a when, not an if, you'll never be able to go back to being Nino's wife. That's what scares you so much, isn't it? You reordered your whole life for that man and now I'm about to blow that all to hell for you.And I don't give a damn."
"Danny, please," I say, not sure what I'm pleading for.
"When I watched you get married, I wanted to kill Nino."
I open my eyes, questioning.
"I knew," he whispers softly. "I knew at that moment that you were supposed to be mine. That you'd always been mine." His hand covers his heart. "Here."
His hand then moves down to rest of my breast, covering my own heart and elicting a gasp from me. "And here."
His lips barely brush mine then he pulls away. "Remember that."
And for the second time, he leaves me trembling in the near darkness.