Racing the Sun(39)

“Try to walk straight,” I whisper harshly into Derio’s ear as I adjust his arm around my shoulder. “We have company.”

Derio looks up to see his brother and sister and his lips press together tightly. He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He’s going to hate himself for this in the morning, I can already tell.

“Andate a letto,” he says to them and I wince when he slurs. “Presto.”

The twins continue to stare so I repeat what he said. “Go to bed, please.” I pause. “I will come see you in a minute. Your brother is fine, he just isn’t feeling well. I’ll bring sorbet.”

Like before, the treat gets them moving. They slowly go back to their rooms just as we reach the second floor, throwing little glances at us over their shoulders. They didn’t seem that upset or shocked, just worried. I wonder how many times something like this has happened. If someone like Lenora said he had a reputation in town for drinking, my guess is this isn’t the first time.

I open the door to his room and manage to flick on the lights. His room is gorgeous and huge, with an enormous king-size bed, a bathroom fit for a Roman emperor, a sitting area, and a spacious balcony. I have no time to soak it in, though. I quickly move Derio over to the bed and help him onto it. He collapses in a heap.

“I’ll be back,” I tell him, moving him so he’s on his side before I close the door and leave the room.

The children are back in their rooms like I asked so I quickly run downstairs and fill two small bowls with blood orange sorbet. Before I head up, I take a moment to breathe. My heart is racing a mile a minute, threatening to burst out of my chest. Felisa has quit, which means for the time being I’m in charge of the twins. There’s no way around it. Even when Derio wakes up tomorrow hungover but sober, I’m going to be the one who has to step up. At least until they find a new nanny, because they all know that’s not my job. That’s not even close to my job.

But for tonight, I don’t have a choice. And I really don’t want the children to suffer anymore. As I run the bowls of sorbet up the stairs, I can’t believe I’ve suddenly become one of those bleeding-heart won’t-somebody-think-of-the-children types, but it’s happened.

I go into Alfonso’s room first. He’s sitting up in bed and waiting. I stand by the door and hold out the bowl. “Do you want to eat this in your sister’s room? I can explain to you both what’s going on.”

He nods and takes the bowl from me. We go into Annabella’s room and he sits on the corner of her bed while I pull over the desk chair.

“Derio is not sick,” Annabella says first. “He’s . . . ubriaco.”

“Too much vino,” Alfonso fills in, shoving a spoonful of sorbet in his mouth. At least they seem to be taking this in stride.

“And you’ve seen him like this before?” I ask.

They nod. “Yes, sometimes,” Annabella says.

“Where is Felisa?” Alfonso asks.

“Yes, did she leave?” asks Annabella.

I nod slowly, not sure what to tell them, but they’d figure out the truth sooner or later.

“I am sure she will be back later,” I say, adding a white lie. “But for now, she is gone.”

Annabella’s lower lip trembles and she stares sadly down at her bowl. “Who will love us now?”

Oh, my poor fucking heart.

“Your brother loves you very much,” I tell her adamantly. “So much that sometimes it is hard for him. And Felisa loves you, too. She took your picture with her so she could look at it while she is gone.”

“But he can’t take care of us,” Alfonso says. “He needs someone to take care of him.”

Now, this is a pair of extremely astute children. “He might be stronger than he looks,” I tell them. “Besides, he is trying his best. And I will try my best, too. I will look after you until we find someone else.”

Annabella gives me a shy look. “We like you. We are sorry we have been so bad.”

“Yes, we are sorry,” Alfonso chimes in. “Please, we do like you. We want you to stay. We don’t want you to leave, too.”

I’m melting into a puddle, along with their sorbet. I look them both in the eyes and say, “I’m not going anywhere. Now finish up your sorbet and get to bed.”

They slurp down the rest of it and I take the bowls from them. I say goodnight to Annabella, take Alfonso to his room, and say goodnight to him. I go down to the kitchen, put the bowls in the sink, and turn on one of the lanterns before I turn off all the lights in the house.

Once back upstairs, I go into Derio’s room. He seems to be sleeping now so I turn on the light beside his bed, a really ornate, fancy thing of marble and gold, and then go to the washroom to fill up a cup of water for him. An Italian version of Advil would be good for pain in the morning, so even though I know it’s kind of intrusive, I open the drawers on the beautiful vanity and do a quick search. I find some kind of painkillers, as well as prescription meds.