She startles as if I’ve just woken her up from some nightmare. “What? Oh, yes, of course. I’ll work on the mannequins now.”
Placing a hand on the rack, Alessia goes to roll it out of my office, but I stop her. “Wait a second.”
She looks up at me, and I peer straight into her glossed-over eyes.
“Is everything okay, Alessia?”
She smiles and gives me a nod, brushing a loose dark strand behind her ear. “Yes, of course.” But I can see right through that.
“Let me rephrase—what’s wrong?” Before she can answer, I hold up a finger. “And don’t tell me it’s nothing. We’ve known each other for a while now, so I know when something’s up.”
Alessia looks between Izzy and me, and just when I think she’s going to try and pretend like nothing is bothering her, her shoulders round forward and her smile falls to a frown.
“It’s just …”
She doesn’t offer more as she drops her gaze to the floor.
“Are things okay with your boyfriend?” Izzy asks, trying to coax something out of her.
Alessia snaps her head back up with widened eyes and says, “Yes, it’s not Colton at all.” She bites her lip. “Well, kind of.”
I quirk a brow, then gesture to Izzy’s desk. “Why don’t we sit down, and you can tell us what’s going on?”
Alessia nods, and we take a seat in the two chairs across from Izzy.
After setting her iPad in her lap, Alessia fidgets with her fingers as if she’s worried about telling us something.
“This is a safe space, Alessia. You know you’ve always been able to speak with me and Izzy about anything.”
Her big hazel eyes soften a bit, and she gives me a nod. “I know, I just… I’ve been trying to figure this out on my own and not bring this stupid drama to work, but… things have been rough with my dad lately.”
Alessia’s dad is Tommaso Caruso, one of the Bonetti family’s capos, and from what I’ve heard, one of the best.
“I recently found out he’s been lending Colton’s dad money, feeding into his gambling addiction.”
My gaze snaps to Izzy, who’s already staring back at me with a concerned look on her face.
“His dad’s gambling has gotten so bad that he now owes a million dollars to my dad.”
“Oh no,” I breathe out.
“Yeah, and to make things worse, his dad has spent all of the money Colton’s made from playing football at CU, so now not only does Colton have a drained savings account, but he can’t even help pay off his dad’s debt. I tried talking to my dad about it,begginghim to erase the debt or even take money out of my trust fund to pay it off for him, but he refuses.”
“Why does it matter how he gets the money? If you’re willing to pay for it, shouldn’t that be sufficient enough?” I ask.
She throws her hands in the air, nearly knocking her iPad off her lap. “That’s what I thought, but my dad is being a complete asshole and refusing to let me help Colton. And to top it off, he’s been throwing around the idea ofusingColton to throw games and mess with his stats once he’s in the NFL so he can win bets.It’s like he’s enjoying the idea of toying with him. It makes me sick.”
“Oh no,”I repeat.
Alessia told me about her dad’s disapproval of her dating Colton when they first got together, but I assumed he’d gotten over it since they’ve been happily dating ever since. I’m kind of surprised to hear all of this.
“Yeah, so I have no idea what to do, but basically, I’m in a shitty situation, and I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.”
“Oh, gosh, Alessia, I’m so sorry,” I say, even though my words won’t help a bit.
We’re quiet for a few moments, the weight of Alessia’s problems heavy in the air.
“I just don’t know what else I can possibly do,” she says, defeat taking over her tone. “Playing in the NFL is Colton’sdream. It’s everything he’s been working his entire life to do, and nowmydad wants tocontrol him? He entered the draft this year, but if my dad follows through with his threat to start using him to throw games, he’ll never have the career he’s worked so hard to have.”
