“That was so embarrassing, Dominic.”

“If you want romance, you’re going to get over-the-top romance.” I cupped her chin and tilted her head back to kiss her again, a long, soft kiss.

“I love you,” she said. “For a long time now. I don’t even know when it happened.”

“I think it was the first time I saw your eyes. When they were glaring at me,” I added, making her smile. “Let’s get out of here.”

It took me two months to do the one thing I needed to do to close the door on the past before I could move on with my future.

“You want me to come with you?” Gia asked from beside me.

We had just driven through the gates of the cemetery and pulled up near my family’s plot.

I looked at the gated-off area, at the three largest stones.

“No. I need to do this alone.” I squeezed her hand.

She nodded, and I climbed out of the sedan with the bundles of flowers. My breath fogged in the brisk morning air, and all I heard was the lonely sound of leaves crushing under my feet. I made my way up the hill and through the headstones of countless other Benedettis until I reached theirs.

Squatting down, I cleared some of the weeds, then lay the flowers before each of the stones. First, my mother. Then my brother. And finally, my father.

That was when I paused, traced his name and the dates. I took a seat on a bench nearest his grave and glanced at the waiting car. With its tinted windows, I couldn’t see inside and would have felt foolish for someone to see me, but I cleared my throat anyway and turned back to my father’s grave.

“I should have done this when you were alive.”

My eyes felt hot and damp. Death was so final and regret so permanent.

“But that night fucked with me, Paps. You telling me the truth like that, it fucked with my head. I wasn’t like either of my brothers. Sergio felt duty bound, and Salvatore is just too good for this life. Me, I wanted it. Oh man, I wanted it so bad I could taste it.

“You’re right, you know. What you wrote in the will about me being the most like you. You’re right. Who’d have guessed it, huh, considering.”

I wiped my hand across my face and stood, made a short turn, and kicked some pinecones away while I got myself under control. I didn’t even hear her come up behind me until she slid her hand into mine and held it. Gia stood close but gave me space at the same time. This is what we’d become to each other. It was like we knew, like we felt each other’s needs, and neither of us could stand the pain of the other.