From ashes to fire

Family now

*Livia*

The house smells like coffee, wood smoke, and tomato sauce simmering somewhere deeper in the kitchen. Rosa stands at the counter with a dish towel over one shoulder, speaking rapidly into her phone. She looks at me, then at Nico, then points a wooden spoon in his direction.

"Do not start with her in my doorway," she says.

"I was not starting anything," Nico says.

Rosa makes a face that says she has known him since he was in diapers and considers that answer an insult.

I head for the stairs.

Nico follows two steps behind me.

I stop on the landing and turn.

"Do you need something?"

"I am making sure Teo does not say something stupid."

"He already did."

He lets out a small sigh, "He can do worse."

"That sounds like a family motto."

Nico's mouth flattens.

I keep climbing.

Teo's door is easy to identify. It is the only one standing half open with music pulsing softly behind it. I knock once against the frame.

"Go away," he calls.

"That is not very welcoming."

There is a pause.

Then, "Oh. New wife. Come in before Nico has you fitted for a tracking collar."

Nico, behind me, says, "Teo."

"What? Does she know you own collars? You had one for that Doberman."

"The dog had a tracking collar because he escaped twice."

"I rest my case."

I step into Teo's room before Nico can decide whether to throw him out a window.

It looks like a bomb went off in a tailor shop. Shirts hang from the backs of chairs. An open suitcase lies on the floor, full of cashmere sweaters and what appears to be a disassembled motorcycle helmet. A framed photograph sits facedown on the dresser. There are books stacked beneath the window, several empty beer bottles near the desk, and a small black cat asleep on a pile of leather jackets.

The cat opens one yellow eye at me.

Teo sits on the edge of his bed with a wad of gauze pressed to his eyebrow. He has changed into a white T-shirt and gray sweatpants. The cut is shallow but messy.

He looks at me for a beat.

Then he says, "I am sorry."

The apology is so unexpected I almost look behind me.

"For what?"

"Calling you Mrs. Moretti that way. It was cheap." He shrugs one shoulder. "I saw the ring. Everybody is going to stare at it. I made a joke before somebody else could make a worse one."

Nico stays in the hall.

Teo notices, too.

His expression shifts, quick and unreadable.

"I will leave you two alone," Nico says.

I turn toward him.

He looks at me, waiting.

The fact that he asks without words makes my chest feel strange.

"Leave the door open," I say.

Nico nods once. "Elio is downstairs."

Then he walks away.

Teo watches him go. "You have him confused already. Impressive."

"You threw a bottle at Carlo."

"He deserved it."

"That is not an explanation."

"No." He winces as he dabs at the cut. "It is the interesting part."

I look around the room again. The black cat stretches, then hops down from the jacket pile and winds around my ankles.

"Is she yours?"

"She owns me. Her name is Vesper."

I crouch carefully and hold out my hand. The cat sniffs my fingers, then bumps her head against my knuckles.

Teo's eyes soften.

"She likes you."

"She has poor judgment."

"She lives with me. So that is obvious."

I scratch beneath Vesper's chin. Her purr starts low and rough.

For a few seconds, the room is quiet.

Then Teo says, "You do not have to tell me why you married him."

"Good."

"I would not believe the version he tells people anyway."

I look at him, "What version is that?"

"He will probably say it was private." Teo pulls the gauze away from his eyebrow and inspects the blood. "Nico thinks privacy is a complete sentence."

"He thinks a lot of things are complete sentences."

That gets a real laugh from Teo. It cuts off when he touches his brow again.

"Did Carlo hurt you?" I ask.

Teo's gaze moves to the open door.

"He grabbed me."

"Why?"

"Because I was being a problem."

"You said that already."

He picks at the tape around the gauze. "Carlo likes to remind me I am not Nico. He thinks it helps."

"And does it?"

Teo smiles without warmth. "No. But he gets to feel useful."

I look at the blood staining Teo's fingers. The empty bottles. The facedown photograph.

There are men who make pain into a joke because nobody stayed long enough to see what happens after.

I know some of them.

"I am Liv," I say.

His eyes lift to mine.

"Not Mrs. Moretti. Not new wife."

"Liv," he repeats. "Okay."

Vesper rubs against my shin. I pick her up. She allows it with the arrogant patience of a tiny queen.

Teo watches me hold her.

"You planning to stay?"

The question is casual. His face is not.

I decide to be honest, "I have a contract for three years."

"Jesus."

"That is what I said."

He lets out a breath through his nose. "You really do have poor judgment."

"Apparently it runs in the family."

A sound comes from the hallway, a short burst of movement downstairs. Then Elio's voice, low and sharp.

Teo sits straighter.

"What now?" he mutters.

My phone vibrates in my pocket.

Unknown number.

Every part of my body goes cold.

I set Vesper down and pull out the clean phone.

There is one message.

The front gate fills the frame. The upstairs window to Teo's room is visible through the bare branches.

Under it, Enzo has written:

‘A new house does not make you a new person, darling.’

I stare at the screen.

Teo sees my face and reaches for the phone, then stops before touching it.

"Is that him?"

I nod.

From downstairs, Nico calls my name.

I look toward the open door.

For the first time, I do not want to hide the message in my pocket and tell him I am fine.

I stand with the phone clenched in my hand.

"No," I call back. "You come up here… now."