This man refused to see me, as I had been refusing to see him. I still did not see him entirely, but the relationship between he and his wife. It was causing my heart to knock against my ribcage. It was as if I was watching extinct animals, a mating pair, come to life before me.
The ballerina rose on her feet gracefully, putting her mouth against his neck. “Look at him, my husband,” she pleaded. “Please.Really look at him.”
Thebellaballerina was minuscule in comparison to him, and I wondered if he was physically hurting her without realizing it. Deep inside of her, he knew he was.
“Is he hurting you,bella?” I took a step closer.
He itched to strike at me. He would reconsider the impulse if he did.
“Keep your distance,” Scarlett said to me, her voice full of control, but underneath the surface, I felt more than heard the tremble. She was barely keeping this beast of a man back.
This tiny ballerina could stop a mountain from moving. I was not surprised, but it was a phenomenon to see in real time.
“Tell me who he is to you, Scarlett,” Brando demanded.
“No, not to me.To you.”
“Tell me, Scarlett,” he demanded again.
“He’s the one who feeds Rosaria pasta. Rocco is her husband. He’s one of your three brothers,mio marito.”
The truth hit me with such force, at first, that I thought the man had. But it was simply the truth. Truth powerful enough to alter the rest of my life.
My eyes could not take in Brando…Fausti fast enough.
He could not take me in fast enough.
We were both suspicious, taking in every line of face, builds, even down to the way we were being judge and jury toward this shocking truth.
We were brothers.
And we were about to kill each other before we were properly introduced.
Neither my father or grandfather had been forthright with me about this situation, and it mattered none in that moment. This man had been hidden from us, and sooner or later, the full truth would be hidden no longer, but we had been pitted against each other.
My wife.
She had organized this.
She had brought these two lovers into our lives. And even if she had not been in direct contact with my father, she had made sure he knew. My father had been testing me. Donato’s arrival with the photograph and note proved to him that I could still be trusted.
Without turning my eyes away from this man, I sent a command to the nearest man to meet me outside. Three of them did. I spoke to Guido, since he was the first in charge underneath Donato. Their eyes pinged between Brando Fausti and me, as if the resemblance was astounding. I gave Guido a sharp command to bring my wife to me.
Rosaria exited the house as if she were a queen. She opened her mouth to speak, but her ruthless king was too fast for her. I turned, forcing her against the wall—her eyes bright, her lips parted—and set my hand around her throat as I breathed out the next words.
“Mio fratello.”My brother.“Il mio sangue.”My blood. “Non me l’hai detto.”You didn’t tell me.
My wife could not speak but was enjoying this scene all too greedily. I could smell her desire in the air. I glanced at Scarlett before I turned back to Rosaria. “Never that one,” I said. “Do not even try it.”
A slow smile came to Rosaria’s face, knowing I meant what I had said. She would cross a line that could not be uncrossed if she attempted to taint a woman who had the power to paint the world in all different shades, not only red. But I had something in store for my wife. I bit at her nose and promised herlater.
“Ah,” I breathed out, turning back to my brother and his wife. I would direct my next words at him, but I kept my eyes on hers. “It seems we have business to discuss.”
“Seems that way,” Brando said.
Brando Piero Fausti, who was one of us but spoke with anAmerican accent and was not baptized in our ways. Romeo had been right.
Rosaria and I entered the castle together, my brother and his wife behind us. Scarlett’s heels tapped on the marble floors, as if her feet could create beautiful melodies. My men were entranced by her, and sensing my “brother”would not appreciate this, seeing as he had pulled his wife to his side, I ordered the men to leave us.
