The sun was just beginning peek over the horizon when Marie woke up next to Sal.  She smiled at him and quietly got out of bed without disturbing him.  Last night had been wonderful.  Luca had planned everything out from the candle-lit surf and turf dinner to the private guitar serenading that they had danced to until the wee hours in the morning.  She had never felt closer to him than she did right now, but there was still the elephant in the room.  Every time Luca had tried to bring it up, Marie refused to talk about it.

She knew that he would continue to press her as gently as possible.  The fact was, she still had not had enough time to process the whole experience and she needed time alone to do it.  At least here he would be there to bring her back.

Marie slipped into her bikini and walked the short distance to their private pool.  She could only imagine how much money he had spent on this trip.  She drove effortlessly in and swam the length to the rock waterfall.  Immersing herself under the waterfall she allowed the rushing water to envelope her in and her senses.  The world faded away.  Pushing partially through the waterfall she laid her forehead against the cool, smooth basalt rock and allowed the water to wash over her neck and shoulders and down her back.

In this moment she allowed herself to remember.  The sound of bones cracking, the metal pliers clinging softly against one of the other metal tools while being lifted off the table, the screams as each nail was ripped out.  It was slow at first and then the floodgate flew open.  She began to lose herself to the memories and her body was gripped in sudden panic.

Luca rolled over and woke more refreshed than he had in as long as he can remember. He awoke to see his beautiful wife walking towards the pool in her bikini and he couldn't take his eyes off her. He watched till she dove into the pool, then he got up and walked over and started some coffee and headed into the shower. They needed this weekend of relaxation it would be good for both of them.

Marie fought the urge to flee, to slam shut the gate to the memories and lock it away forever in her mind.  She didn't though, knowing sometimes the bandage sometimes just needed to be ripped off as quickly as possible.  She cried in the pain, but there was healing in the release.  She let the water carry it all away from her.  All the memories from the five senses -- sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell.  She held on to none of them and visualized the water literally washing them off of her one-by-one.  When the scene had played out in her mind she went through it again... and again.... and again.  She had lost all concept of time and did not know how long she had been there, but she began to realize that she was no longer panicking.  Her body had finally surrendered.  She did not know if it had surrendered in sheer exhaustion or if real healing had occurred.  Though know when she thought back on that day in the warehouse, she could at least see it void of emotions and for now that would do.

Turning she left the waterfall.  She felt like she had been through a marathon, but at least in this moment.  She had found some peace. 

Luca sat by the edge of the pool with his legs hanging over the edge and his feet in the water. He sat there with two cups of coffee, one for him and one for her, and waited for her. He figured she was dealing with something, mostly because she was just sitting under the waterfall. He sat there enjoying the beautiful morning and the view. He saw her swim out from under the waterfall and head in his direction. 

"hey love I brought you this," he said pointing to the cup that sat next to him. 

Marie smiled so brightly at her husband.  "Thank you darling." 

She stood next to him in the pool and took the cup to sip the black deliciousness.  "Thank you for the coffee and thank you for this weekend."  She smiled up at him as she laid a loving hand on his thigh.  "It has been good for us and for me."

 Luca sat there smiling and drinking his coffee. It was a wonderful trip and a needed get away fire for of them. Luca had to figure out what to do about Don Rick. 

"I think we should had down to the beach and enjoy our cabana. What do you think?"he said too her.

"I would like that."  She thought she might be ready to talk with him, and the cabana would provide a peaceful and soothing location.  She gave him her coffee to hold as she lifted herself out of the pool.  Standing up she pulled on her swim dress and offered to take the coffee back.  "I had a very lovely time last night," she told him as she took his hand and walked with him down to the beach.  She laid her head on his shoulder and he kissed her forehead.  She smiled.  "I am so glad I have you by my side.  I can't imagine trying to live this life without you."

Luca led Marie to the Cabana that he had reserved, he had called ahead and had juice and fruit brought to it for them to munch on as a sorta breakfast. They both sat in the wooden beach chairs and relaxed and listened to ocean waves. They nibbled at the fresh fruit and chit chatted about nothing in particular for a while. 

Luca thought it was time he tried pressing her to talk about the other night. 

"Marie I want to talk to you about the other night. I know it was hard for you to see me do that to another person and I also know you probably don't want to talk about it," he said looking at her 

Marie sat up and turned to face Luca, sitting sideways with her feet on the cabana floor.  "What do you want me to say?"  It was an honest question.  "Do you want me to talk about my feelings?  What?"

"I want to know all of it. Everything you felt then and now. What you saw was not something you are used to" he said truthfully

Luca turns to Marie and reaches and takes her hand in his. 

"I want to know you are ok and that we are ok. That you dont hate me for what you saw me do." he says 

Marie took his hand in both of hers and lifted all three to lay against her forehead for a moment, her elbows resting on her knees.  After a long moment she brought his hand down and kissed it gently.  "I don't think I can talk about how I felt then just yet.  I have just gotten to the point that I can look back on it without emotional attachment.  I don't want to got back there and dig those emotions back up.  At least not yet."

"I will be completely honest with you.  Logically I know what you did.  Thankfully my mind won't let me see you as the one doing it.  I am thankful for that small blessing."  She kissed his hand again.  "I don't hate you and we are okay.  As well as we can be okay until I have some time to heal.  You can't expect me to just get over this and move on.  It is going to take some time to go through the process.  I hope you can understand that."

"Fair enough," he says leaning over to kiss her

"So now what about this Rick Character?" he said giving her a look. 

Rick had rubbed Luca the wrong way from the beginning, sending her money for no reason then meeting them at their house. Luca would never stop her from making earning. He would try to talk away from going into business with this guy if he could. 

"How well do you know him? " he asks. 

“I know almost nothing about him... accept he is a Don. Luca we need to at least consider the value of having that kind of connection. I know I can put up with quite a bit of crap if it provide us with some protection and adds value to our reputations.” She gets up and moves to sit sideways on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. “However you are my husband. I will not enter any deal with him, if I don’t have your blessing.”