Page 24 of The Godfather’s Christmas Twins

And so it goes over the next week. Each morning, I’m up early brewing coffee and waiting for the kids to join me to help make breakfast.

At work, I find myself eager to finish the day to return home. As I drive, my mind drifts to whether Dario finished his math homework, if Daniella needs help with her reading, if Gia will join me for wine once they’re in bed. I’m growing frustrated by her polite yet distant treatment of me, like I’m just another one of Nic’s soldiers assigned to guard her.

Every morning and evening, when Gia and I are alone, she executes a perfect dance of avoidance. It’s not lost on me that I performed the same dance last year. And I know it hurt her because I remember seeing the pain in her eyes each time I pushed her away.

She’s right, of course, to keep her distance. Six years ago, everything was different. I’d been her confidant. Her friend. For one glorious night, I’d been her lover.

Now, I’m her protector. I’m giving her shelter, safe harbor until she can return home and resume her life. A life that doesn’t need me.

Tonight, I watch from my office window as Gia sits on the edge of the pool as the kids splash in the water despite the temps dropping to the mid-sixties this evening. I suppose that’s balmy compared to the forties in New York.

The sound of Daniella's laughter floats up through the window. She has Gia's smile, that same light in her eyes. Regret and guilt swirl inside me. I admit, if only to myself, that I left Gia six years ago not just because Gino threatened her, but also to hide from these feelings. I shouldn’t have touched her. I shouldn’t have left Nic alone to protect her from Gino and Aldo. I was damned if I stayed and damned if I left. For five years, I convinced myself that I made the right decision for both of us, but last year, I was forced to face the truth. I ran because I’m a coward.

Gia stands and jumps into the pool with the kids. She breaks through the surface, water streaming down her face, laughing as the twins splash her. Watching it, something breaks inside me. It’s the realization that I could have had something with Gia, but now it’s too late.

8

GIA

Iwatch Dario and Daniella huddle over their workbooks in the makeshift classroom Max has set up for us. I should be checking email and doing my own work for Nic, but I’m distracted. A week into our stay, and the kids and Max have settled into a routine that unsettles me even as I’m pleased by it.

Max's home has become our sanctuary. Breakfast together each morning, lessons until lunch, afternoons filled with the kids watching movies in that incredible theater room or playing in the playroom while I do my work for Nic. But when the door opens in the evening, the kids light up and race out to greet Max, peppering him with questions about his day.

Max has been wonderful to them, to us. It’s a little discombobulating how different he is now compared to last year when he was tapped to protect us. Back then, he kept his distance. His responses when I tried to talk to him were clipped and formal. He'd barely looked at me, maintaining careful distance even when we ended up in the same room. The memory of his turning away when I tried to speak with him alone still stings.

I attribute his change to my making it clear that I’m not harboring any romantic notions about him anymore. My cheeks burn at the memory of my younger self, so desperately in love with him. No wonder he'd kept his distance. He must have worried I'd throw myself at him again.

But now that he’s safe from me, he’s attentive and involved and the kids can’t get enough of him. If he knew how his behavior now is drawing me to him more, he’d probably stop. Watching the kids light up around him, seeing how naturally they fit into his life… it stirs something in my chest, something I can't afford to consider.

But the emotions are bittersweet, because as I watch Max with the twins, my secret grows heavier. The way he helps Daniella with her reading, how he tosses a ball with Dario in the indoor gym, it tears at my heart. It makes me wonder what could have been… but I push that away. That boat has sailed.

“Can we swim today?” Dario asks, looking up from his workbook.

“It’s too cold today.”

The only downside to our situation is being cooped up. Their restless energy is building up. At home, we'd walk to the park, visit the zoo, meet friends for playdates. Here, we're caged in and while it’s a nice cage, it’s a little too contained.

I watch a guard walk past the window, his presence both reassuring and confining. The sprawling grounds beyond beckon, but fear keeps us inside. Whoever sent those messages is still out there, waiting.

"Mommy, look!" Daniella holds up a drawing, and my breath catches. She's sketched our little family, with Max standing beside us. My daughter's green eyes sparkle with pride.

I force a smile, but my hands shake as I take the paper and consider that I need to tell Max the truth. Finally, after all theseyears, I can let him know what we created that night he’d so tenderly touched me.

I’d been so ready to let him know last year, but he didn’t give me the chance. Now, I feel like I can reveal the truth and yet… something is holding me back. I think back to how he abandoned me six years ago. How he couldn't get away from me fast enough last year. All because he didn’t want to deal with my feelings for him. If he couldn't handle my feelings for him then, how would he handle this bombshell now? Oh, he’d do his duty. He’s good at that. But the kids don’t need a father in their life out of obligation.

I trace my finger over Daniella's drawing, wishing I could make this true for her but knowing it’s too risky. I've been down this road before. Six years ago, I'd convinced myself that Max's friendship meant more, that the tenderness in his eyes when he looked at me wasn't just duty or pity. I'd been young, naive, desperate for someone to save me from my arranged marriage.

Now I know better. Max had made his choice clear when he left for Vegas without a backward glance. I can’t let this return to the old Max kindness fool me into thinking there’s something more between us. It would be so easy to let myself fall again, to lean into the comfort of his presence, to hope that this time might be different. But I’m older and smarter now. It’s better to keep things between us cordial but distant, to remember that this arrangement is temporary. Soon enough, we'll return to New York and resume our life while Max will stay here and continue his.

I wonder how much longer I’ll need to stay here? It’s only been a week, but still, surely, Nic has found out something. I text Nic.

Any updates?

His response comes quickly.

Working on it. Stay put.

I want my life back, my simple, quiet life where I'm just Gia, not a protection detail, not a burden on Max's hospitality. He must know something about Nic’s efforts. I’d be surprised if he wasn’t helping somehow beyond hiding me and the kids away.