I tried not to think of how horribly awry my plan had gone.
“It seems to me that the composer’s tragedy was brought upon himself,” I ventured, silently wishing I could just dissolve into the ground and slither home through the earth’s core. “So I’m not sure you should count it as something that happened to him.”
“A debater, I see.” Felice’s expression turned gleeful. “But surely you could argue that the pressure of having to exact retribution was brought upon him by his wife’s actions. To punish her was the societal expectation, but the act of having to do it, for him, I think, may still have been a personal tragedy.”
“But surely he didn’t have to kill her.” If only Millie could see me now — debating the intricacies of sixteenth-century murder. All this and headstones in the last twenty-four hours — the calendar said July, but it was definitely starting to feel like Halloween.
“Well, his wife was unfaithful, and in those days, unfaithfulness carried a high penalty.”
“As high as murder?”
“I believe so.”
I crossed my arms, feeling offended on behalf of all sixteenth-century women. “I don’t feel her betrayal justified his response.”
“Ah!” Felice raised his index finger in the air like he had just happened upon the answer to an unsolved riddle. “But seeing as his response led directly to his musical legacy, perhaps, in the grander scheme of things, it did. All in all, I think it might have made the world a better place. And surely there is justification in that.”
“Uh …” I began awkwardly. I was getting confused, and certainly out of my depth. “I just think the whole thing is pretty messed up.”
“Yes,” echoed Valentino, clearing his throat. “It is messed up. Just like this conversation.”
Felice waved his hand dismissively, his attention now resting on the oil paintings behind us. “But the point is, the music was glorious. You must consider the possibility of an inverse correlation, which would mean a dark deed leading to a deeper connection with creative energy and, as a consequence, a beautiful composition.”
“Hitler was an artist before he committed all of his atrocities.” That was about the only thing I had gleaned from history class — and since we were chitchatting about murder, why not throw Hitler into the mix? This day had already hit rock bottom. “So I don’t think you can really say murder leads to better creativity or vice versa.” I wanted to add something along the lines of: So I wouldn’t go killing your wife just yet. But I thought better of it.
Felice clapped his hands together. “But isn’t it fascinating to think about? That the two parts of one’s psyche can coexist like that?”
“There can be light in the dark,” I said, echoing Valentino’s words from earlier.
Valentino nodded thoughtfully, but I could sense his discomfort. He was gripping the sides of his chair so hard his fingers were turning white.
Ah, weird relatives. There was something quite sweet about the fact that Nic and I shared slightly unhinged uncles. Maybe one day we would get to introduce them.
“Absolutely!” Felice responded to my borrowed maxim after a pause. “And sometimes a dark path can lead to a bright light.”
I shuffled awkwardly. He’d lost me again, but I was definitely beginning to see how he thought buying knives for his nephews was a good idea. “I guess it’s food for thought.”
Felice’s phone buzzed, filling the room with an intense flurry of opera. He closed his eyes and swayed to the music before finally pulling the phone out from his breast pocket and answering the call.
“Ciao, Calvino!” He covered the mouthpiece. “Excuse me for one moment,” he whispered, before leaving the kitchen.
I watched him go. “Well, he’s certainly … energetic.”
When I turned back to Valentino, his expression was unreadable.
“Sophie,” he said wearily. “Thank you for returning Nic’s hoodie, but I need to be honest with you. He wouldn’t want you here.”
I felt like I had been slapped. “What?”
“I don’t mean to hurt your feelings,” he continued in that same soothing lilt. “But we’re in the middle of a very private family matter.”
Was he referring to their father? His passing was obviously more recent than I’d realized.
“I’ll go,” I gulped.
Valentino smiled apologetically. “Please don’t take it personally.”
“It’s fine,” I lied, turning from him and hurrying across the kitchen. My gaze fell upon a large black frame to the left of the door. It was hoisted midway up the wall and was unmissable from this angle. Inside the frame was the same crest I had seen on Nic’s knife — jet-black with a crimson falcon at its center. Below the crest, in cursive red script, it read: LA FAMIGLIA PRIMA DI TUTTO. Family Before Everything — Nic’s grandfather’s words, I remembered.
“It’s just the timing of it …” Valentino called after me.
I felt tingly all over and I wasn’t sure why. Everything felt so intense all of a sudden. Feeling my cheeks prickle as the color drained out of them, I pulled the double doors of the Priestly kitchen closed behind me.
I had barely made it to the end of the block when someone grabbed the back of my T-shirt. I stumbled backward and bumped against a small cushioned body with a soft oomph!