She turns and looks at me remorsefully.“I should never have said a word.The boss’s business is not my place to discuss, no matter the situation.I know better, just got caught up in the moment.”
“Massimo will never know about our discussion, Elsie.Thank you for telling me.If you want to know the truth, it helped me a great deal.I was feeling more than a little jealous of this Desiree person, and hearing that she’s never been here, that really did make my day.”
Elsie grins so wide she shows me a mouthful of beautiful white teeth.“I’m so happy that I made your day, Miss Sophia.And, you do not have to keep my terrible secret.I will tell Massimo myself and pray that he does not fire me after so many years of service.”
I stand up tall and straight.“Massimo wouldn’t dream of firing you.I may not have known him long, but I know you are a very kind person and have his best interests at heart.He will have to get through me to fire you, Elsie.”
She laughs.“Grazie, Miss Sophia.I bet you can stand up to him, too.But beware of the father.Not so kind as Massimo.”
I’d already gathered as much.I saw the look in his eyes when he deliberately mentioned Desiree to me.He knew the hurt it would cause not only me, but his son, too.He had to have known or why mention it at all?I wonder if he’s any different than my own father.
Papa may have treated us like princesses growing up, but how much time and energy was that really?The occasional appearance at the supper table before it was time for us to go to bed?The seldom times we saw him in the morning before we went to school?No, it was always Mamma, even with employees to help with the cooking, and other things around the house, she took care of us herself.Packing lunches and fussing with our hair and chastising us to keep our coats on in the winter.
Once she died, it was all different.Granted, we saw him more.At least he made the effort, but even when he was home, he was never really there.Always in a quick meeting in the home office, or engrossed on a phone call in the hall, or glued to his laptop.We never lacked for any of the material things in life, that’s for certain.He made damn sure of that.
His girls had everything.Except him, and their mother.Maybe that’s why I’m so protective of Anna even though she’s older.She always tried to step up and mother me, even when she was too young herself.
Maybe that’s why there’s a special place in my heart for all of the employees, who to me are more like family, like Elsie, who just make life better by being a part of it.I make a mental note to talk to Massimo about Elsie.To make sure she doesn’t get the brunt of his anger if she decides to mention our conversation.
I take one last glance in the mirror and suck in a deep breath, ready to face getting out of this suite that is not small by a long shot but feels stifling after multiple days of being in it mostly alone.
Maybe if he had never touched me, not just the sex, but really touched me, I wouldn’t have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.Wrapping me up in his arms and drawing me against him in the night, kissing my hair and neck when he thought I was asleep.Like he really cares and that it’s not just a game to him.I want to believe but yet that nagging persistent voice in the back of my mind whispers caution, even though my body was burning up against him.And still, I didn’t give in, and say his name.
Because I won’t do that, I can’t do that.
It’s the one thing that is keeping the debt forgiveness on the table.And no matter that my father may not be doing everything in his power to get me back, or anything at all, Anna is still in that house.How is that going to work if our family is in debt to the Rosellis?Will Barcelo still want to marry Anna and take over the Cassone empire in the middle of a war with the Rosellis, who are supposed to be their allies?
It’s all too much to think about but one thing is for certain, if I say his name, the family debt remains without any way to pay it because I sure as hell don’t believe after what his father did that he’ll forgive the debt no matter what Massimo thinks.Antoine Roselli is still the don, at least for now, and I haven’t even heard whisperings of that changing in the near future.
If I lost, I would end up marrying the son of the Roselli don who swore to bury our family, my sister and all, right into the ground and by the evil of that dead stare the other night, nothing has changed in that regard.Massimo’s father still hates me and my entire family.
I reach the bottom step of the rounded staircase with purpose, striding into the dining room where I hear voices.Leandro glances up from the table where he’s eating eggs and avocado in a pool of olive oil and what smells like smoky aleppo pepper.The aroma reminds me of days when Mamma made recipes from home.Leandro points to a chair across from him.“Take a seat,” he says.“You’ll run into me and our brothers here every once in a while.Best breakfast in town,” he says, giving a woman who passes by a wink.I slide into the chair across from him.“Would you like breakfast?”he asks.
I nod.“Yes, please.It looks and smells absolutely delicious.My mamma used to cook meals like this for us when we were younger.I haven’t had that combination,” I tell him, gesturing with my eyes to his plate, “for a very long time.It brings back memories, you know?”
He pours me a coffee from the carafe on the table and doesn’t have to ask for another plate.The woman in the kitchen brings me a filled dish with a smile on her face.“It looks and smells so good,” I tell her.
“Grazie.One of my mother’s favorite recipes, too.”
She brings a small plate of heated wheat toast over to the table.Leandro brushes a piece with butter and hands it to me.“It’s homemade.Layna has the best recipes anywhere and is the most talented cook in the world,” he praises.
Layna blushes and bustles away, returning to the kitchen as we eat in amicable but awkward silence.I finish my meal and inhale a deep breath.“So, you know about me and your brother?”
His dark eyes so much like Massimo’s pin me with their intensity as he takes a sip of his coffee.“I know.”
“Good, then you can take me to him.”
His eyebrow arches over his coffee mug and only the upward tilt of his lips gives away the hint of a smile.“When might I be doing this?”
“Now, Leandro, please?I’m not sure what’s going on right now, but somehow it involves me, and my family, and I have a right to know.Take me to him.Get him on the phone and tell him I am coming to meet him wherever that may be.Please?”
“Massimo is on the yacht.”
My heart constricts for a moment, right away thinking the worst.But he’s gone, on the yacht without me, knowing how much I enjoyed being there instead of here, but still he left me to go alone.And the only reason I can think of is because of the well-endowed flashy blonde who is Desiree …
“Take me,” I tell him, because no matter what, I have to know.
31
