Nothing in this palazzo felt vaguely familiar any longer. It felt wrong. As if my life here no longer fit me.
My sister stepped in front of us, but Atta told her if she did not move, she was going to beat her ass. My sister laughed at her, a crazed laugh, but she moved. Once to the room where I would be staying, aka, my previous room, Mia shut the door behind her.
Scarlett held me tight, almost rocking me. This was when more arms were added. The women in my life were surrounding me, hugging me, telling me it was all going to work out. A great curiosity stirred inside of me to ask Scarlett if it would, but I did not ask her. She was not responsible for my decisions and what would come of them.
When I felt as if I could not breathe, I pulled away some. I needed to feel the cool air on my face.
Atta opened the balcony doors to my room, allowing fresh air in. It did not seem to be helping. My air was in the office, not far, but far enough that I felt as if I could not breathe. The women kept taking turns fixing my hair, touching me, but it was Scarlett’s eyes that were felt the most.
“My son is not going to allow your family to hurt his heart,” she whispered in soft Italian. “He is discussing this withSignorDandolo right now.”
The tears in my eyes bubbled over. I felt hot and trapped in my own skin. I removed the bolero jacket but only felt cold when I did. I wondered if anything was going to be the same in my life ever again—if Mariano Fausti was not in it, I knew it never would be.
All I could do was nod.
“Damn.” Magpie paced the room. “Is there anything we can do, Scarlett Gorgeous? Maybe that kind man, the one who had a lot to say, maybe he’ll allow us to take her? Mariano can stay at his place in Maremma.”
Scarlett shook her head. “Signor Dandolo has no stake in this except to aide fate. I felt it from him the moment he entered the room. Even if the law was created by human hands, he feels this is the only way. If he’d had other intentions, say his loyalties lay with the Capella family, and this was a way to take Sistine from Mariano, I would have said as much at the table. However, there was something I felt from him that was kind of…odd. He loves the idea of love and would not be against fighting for it himself.”
That was…odd, and extremely specific, but since it did not seem to pertain to our situation, it was as if my mind waved the thought away.
“Shoot.” Magpie took a seat at the desk that had been mine. “This is so messed up.”
“What if Sistine just leaves on her own accord?” Atta asked, taking a seat next to me on the bed I would be using for the duration of my stay. “Go back to Wyoming, Sis. Who gives a shit about these people? That’s what mamma did.”
“It was different forZiaBianca,” I whispered.
“You have something to prove,” Scarlett said. “Your father. Your mamma. Your sister.”
I lifted my pointer finger. “First and foremost, I know men in the Fausti family can challenge Mariano. I refuse to allow that to happen.” I sighed, making a so-so gesture with my hand. “As far as my family…that is a simple way of putting it. I do have something to prove, but it is not as simple as that. There were two children who could take over the family business whenZiaBianca was here. She could have. Or my father. My father was eager for her to leave.
“He will assume my grandfather’s position in December. This is when my family switches power, just as the Fausti family usually does in November of the years in which this tradition is honored. I am the only Capella child who can take over. What I can do—design and create—is mine alone. Although I owe my family no loyalty, I feel as if I owe myself this. I would like to think over my place in the jewelry business before giving it up completely. I love what I do. It has always gotten me through…hard times.”
Scarlett nodded at me, a faraway look in her eyes, as if she understood my struggle, although she did not explain how she did.
“I’ll stay.” Atta sat up. “I’ll stay with you, Sis.”
“No,” I said, adamant. “You have too much going on in your life. Your new husband. Your honeymoon. Your tour.ZiaBianca is already anxious knowing you are here. She hates this place. Not Italy. Being around her father and my father.”
“I see why,” Atta mumbled.
We all got quiet until there was a knock at the door. Magpie and Atta jumped a bit, but Scarlett and Mia’s eyes were on the door a few seconds before the knock had come. I sat up straighter, thinking it was Mariano coming to tell me goodbye—until we met at the maze. It was not. It was Brando, Angelo, and Remo. Nonno Luca was waiting at the front door for Magpie.
Brando cleared his throat, his eyes on mine. “Remo will be staying with you. He’s not allowed to have any contact with the outside world unless the situation calls for it. It’ll have to be fucking dire. Oscar’s his backup. He’ll be sequestered here too. Same rules apply.”
“If it is? Dire?” I asked.
“The clock will start again.” He cleared his throat. “You won’t have any contact with the rest of the world, except for the people in this house, for the time up to the maze. Given the fact thatthe Russian, the one Mariano calls Iggy, is still around, my son would not agree to leaving you alone with your father’s security.”
“Also, my father might have killed his first wife to…silence her?”
Brando only nodded.
“There’s your sister too,” Scarlett added. “She reminds me of my own sister. Mariano notices it.”
Our eyes connected, and hers communicated to me,we will speak about thislater.
Remo seemed to stand taller at the mention of my sister.
