“Well?” I asked with my hands on my hips, squinting at him in the bright afternoon sun. “Will you give me an honest answer, or shall I go back to my work?”

He looked down and kicked at an unseen pebble. “I can’t get you out of my head,” he said, looking back up at me with large eyes. “Why do you haunt me?”

I took a few steps back, feeling the shock of the words he said. “Most likely for the same reason you haunt me, but it doesn’t change anything.”

“I don’t want to ruin your reputation—”

“Yes, because asking to speak with me in the garden by myself is not going to ruin my reputation. People talk. You have done plenty of damage already.”

“If you would let me finish, I was going to say that I don’t want to ruin your reputation, but I want to work around this unfortunate matter.”

“‘Unfortunate matter’?” I shook my head. “Is that what we are calling it? I will not be your whore.”

Garibaldi looked stunned by my words. “I would never…I have never…”

“I did not mean to be so harsh, but don’t I get a say in these unfortunate matters, as you call them? I wasn’t the one who wanted to get married in the first place. I wasn’t the one who chose to leave my family. A man gets to go out and live the life that he wants, but me? I have to live by the whims of men who want to work around my unfortunate matters.”

“Well then, tell me, Anna, what do you want?”

“Freedom.” I threw my hands up in the air and looked at him. I no longer felt the strength to fight. “You.”

He was by my side in just two steps. His arms were around my waist. The smell of fresh ocean and sandalwood engulfed me. “Then I believe it is time you make your own rules,” he whispered against my lips.

His eyes held me in a trance. I placed my hands on his broad chest. I could feel his heart pounding in time with mine. As Garibaldi leaned down, I slid my hands up his neck, tangling my fingers in his curls. He pressed his lips against mine, drinking me in.

Giuseppe pulled an eyelash’s length away, making me immediately feel the pain of his absence. “The families of the soldiers are camped out to the south of the docks. You should join us there, tonight.” Unable to speak, I nodded yes.

He stepped away, placing his hat back on his head. “I look forward to seeing you again.” He flashed me a boyish, lopsided smile that made my knees weak. I touched my fingers to my lips; they still throbbed from his kiss as I watched him stride away.

Seven

July 1839

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, running a comb through my hair for the third time that afternoon. As I brushed my long locks, I thought over my scheme to make sure I wasn’t noticed. For all that my family knew, I was going to be spending the evening with my respected friends. I plaited my hair in a braid and repeated my practiced speech: I am going to the Da Gatos’ for dinner. I expect to spend the night.