By the time Rosalie is getting dressed for the day, I’m standing outside her door with a mug of coffee already in my stomach. I need to talk to her, on her own, without anyone else getting in the way. I know that her plans for the day consist of going out to meet a few of her friends, so I also know that this morning before we head downstairs is the time to talk to her.
The second her door opens, I turn to her.
“Morning,” she says with a flip of her hair. Then she processes that I’m standing in her way. “Do you need something?”
I look to the side for a moment and see that no one else is coming down the hallway or up the stairs. “We need to talk. Alone.”
Rosalie takes a step back into her bedroom. “About what?”
I take a step into her room. “Alessio.”
“Okay, come in.” She motions me in and closes the door behind me, then locks it. I’m frankly surprised Eivor even allows locks on the doors here. What with how much control he seemsto want to have over everyone. Even my door doesn’t have a lock on it.
“What’s going on with Alessio?” she asks, folding her arms over her light pink sweater dress.
I step even closer to her so that I can keep my voice down as much as possible.
“I’m taking a risk here, but I have a feeling you don’t know what your uncle has been up to,” I tell her. “Just in case…at least promise not to try to attack me. You’ll lose.”
Rosalie scoffs. “Please, I could take you down if I wanted to.”
I look at her seriously. “I’m serious. You don’t want to try.”
She eyes me slowly. “Fine. If you piss me off I’ll give you a head start.”
I take a slow breath. “Eivor wants me to find information on Alessio to bring him and the Dresvanni family down.”
She blinks at me. “What?”
“When he hired me to protect you, he also hired me to spy on Alessio. To dig up any dirt that I can,” I explain.
She shakes her head. “I don’t understand why he would have us get married if that was the case,” Rosalie says with a knit brow. “Why not just draw out the engagement?”
“Because he wants control. He wants as much control as he can get—that includes marrying you off to Alessio as though he actually plans on playing along, playing nice,” I tell her straightforwardly. “It might not make complete sense, but I’m sure you’ve figured out that your uncle doesn’t make sense. He’s concerned about himself, no one else.”
“He cares about me,” she insists. “In his own way but…no, you’re right. I only agreed to this whole thing because I was worried about what he might do if I didn’t. I thought marrying me off to Alessio and joining the Dresvanni family would be enough power for him, but I should’ve fucking known it wouldn’t be. Damnit.” She starts to pace in front of me.
“It’s not too late to stand up against him, but he’s going to get tired of waiting for me to find the information he wants,” I say slowly.
Rosalie’s heels click on the floor as she walks back and forth. “Why are you even telling me this?” she asks. “You could’ve just gotten the information Eivor wants.”
“Your uncle might be paying my way right now, but I’m not interested in another ego maniac grabbing all the power that he can,” I say with frustration lacing my voice.
“Does Alessio know?” She side eyes me.
“He does,” I admit.
“I’m surprised he didn’t kill you.”
“As am I.”
I ignore the ache in my groin as I think about all the things he did to me instead of killing me. It’s not the only ache I feel though, I realize. I find myself wondering what he’s doing, where he’s at, if he’s talking to his family yet about what’s happened.
I pull myself back into reality when I realize Rosalie has spoken and I didn’t process it.
“Did you hear me?” she asks.
I shake my head. “No, sorry. I’m thinking about how I’m going to handle Eivor.”
