Chapter 4: The House Takes Bets

On the fourth night I walked into the Sarnelli casino in the dress I had worn to my own wedding rehearsal.

It was dark green silk, and I had not been able to put it on for six years without feeling like a guest.

Tonight I felt like the owner.

The doorman started to say something, saw my face, and opened the doors.

The casino sat in the old wine cellar under the villa's east wing. It was all velvet, brass and low lamps, and it was full.

Tommaso's friends stood around the main table with glasses in their hands.

Tommaso was at the head of it in a black jacket, laughing.

Ilaria stood beside him in my red evening dress, the one I had bought for my thirtieth birthday and worn once.

She saw me first.

Her hand went to her mouth. "Mari?"

The room turned.

For a second I heard only the roulette wheel running down.

Then one of the friends began to clap, slowly, and the others took it up.

"The runaway returns!"

"Pay up, you fools. She's back in four days."

"Back in four days is Thursday," said a man by the bar. "I had Friday."

Tommaso did not clap.

He put his glass down and spread his hands, smiling at me.

"I knew it," he said. "I knew you'd come. Say it, amore. Say you missed me."

"I'm here to place a bet," I said.

The laughter faltered.

"A bet," Tommaso said. "On what?"

"On the whiteboard." I walked past him to the back room, and the crowd made way for me.

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