“Woman.” He lowered his gaze to the dog I was holding. He was curled up against me peacefully. Without saying a word, Alessio turned and returned to his glass of whiskey on the table. I went inside and closed the door. Petting the dog, I followed my husband.
“What’s her name?”
“Loulou,” Alessio said, with a strange note in his voice. I stopped beside him.
“May I have a sip of your whiskey?” Alessio’s eyes stared at me. “You’ve never had whiskey before?”
“No. My father did not allow me to drink alcohol. I had my first drink at our wedding.”
“Many firsts for one day.” A small shiver ran down my spine at the contemplative growl.
“You’re not old enough for hard liquor.” My lips half-closed in indignation. Was he serious? He downed the remains of his drink and, before I could say anything irreverent, cupped the back of my head and pressed his lips to mine.
Gently at first, his eyes searched mine. I grabbed his bicep and stood up on tiptoe, with his permission. Then he really kissed me, his tongue caressing mine, uncovering my mouth. The taste of whiskey swirled in my mouth, intoxicating, not as much as the kiss.
God, his kiss ignited me. When he pulled back, I was stunned. Only Loulou writhing in my other arm brought me back to reality. Alessio cast a look over my head.
“What is it, Sybil?” I spun around. Sybil hovered on the threshold, wringing her hands and looking anywhere but at me. She must have caught us kissing, and although we had done nothing indecent or forbidden, considering we were married, a sharp embarrassment swept over me.
“The children are asleep and I have cleaned up. Is there anything else you need from me?”
“No, you can go.”
His choked voice rubbed me the wrong way. Even though Sybil worked for him, that did not mean he should sound like a drill sergeant. Sybil nodded and, with a fleeting smile, left.
“May I see your children?” Alessio frowned.
“The dog stays here, and we have to be quiet. I don’t want them to wake up.” “Where should I put Loulou?”
“We lock him in a room because the thing can’t behave itself.” I tightened my lips, following Alessio as he led me into the lobby and motioned me to open a door.
I opened it and my heart clenched. It must have been a storage room before, judging by the small window and the shelves lining the walls.
A torn basket, a litter box and two empty bowls were the only indication that a dog lived there. There were no toys. I took one of the bowls and handed it to Alessio.
“Can you fill it with water?” Alessio looked at the bowl, then at me.
“Please.” Loulou’s living conditions were to change, and they would change, but today was only my first day. I was supposed to be smart in my battle against my husband. He took the bowl and disappeared.
I headed for the torn basket and put Loulou down. She curled in on herself. She must have taken out her frustration on her basket, if her shattered state was any indication.
No wonder, considering that she had probably spent most of her days alone in that room. What had happened in that house? I stroked her head when Alessio returned with the water bowl. He put it down, and the moment he stepped back, Loulou trotted over to it and drank.
I straightened up. I could no longer contain myself.
“How long has she been locked in this room?”
Alessio’s expression stiffened. “The dog is out of control. I don’t want him shitting and peeing all over the place, not to mention snapping at my kids and everyone else.”
“How can you expect Loulou to behave if no one is taking care of her? She’s not a machine, she’s a living being, and from what I can see she’s not being treated the way she should be. If you have an animal, you have to take care of it and not treat it like something you can put in a corner and take away when you feel like it.”
“I didn’t want the dog! Gaia did, and then I was left to deal with it like everything else.” She closed her mouth as if she had said more than she wanted to, breathing heavily. Loulou hid in her basket during her outburst. I stood my ground.
“Then why didn’t you give Loulou to the people who want her?”
I kept my voice calm. Matching Alessio’s anger with my own seemed an unwise choice. Alessio shook his head.
“Let’s go upstairs. I have a busy day tomorrow.”
“Why?” I touched his forearm.
“Because Daniele lost his mother. He doesn’t need to lose that too!” “I thought Loulou would snap at him.”
“Yes,” Alessio replied.
“And she’s not allowed to go near him.”
“Then why…” “Enough.” Alessio’s voice could have cut through steel. He nodded toward the door. I walked out of the small room. Alessio closed it, blocking Loulou once more.
“Sybil’s taking her for a walk?” Alessio gritted his teeth as he led me up the stairs.
“No. There’s that cat box in the room.”
“She needs to be walked. It’s not a cat.”
Alessio gave me a look that made it clear he expected me to be quiet at that moment.
“I’ll walk it, then. You have a leash, right?” He stopped on the second-floor landing, a vein at his temple throbbing.
“You don’t have time to walk the dog. You have my children to take care of.”
His children. He made it sound like I was his nanny, with the added benefit of sleeping with him.
“Children need fresh air, too.” He gave me a condescending look, as if I were a delusional child who needed to be scolded.
He did not think I would be able to handle his children, much less a dog on top of them. Maybe he was right, but one of us had to try. I had a feeling that, as much as Alessio seemed in control of his soldiers, his town, and his life, his home and his family had gotten out of hand.
He was incapable of fixing it; Perhaps he had even lost hope that it could be fixed. And now here I was, without the hint of any knowledge of dogs or children beyond what I had read in books, which should have taken care of all this.