Page 39 of Amadeo
I stared at her. “Yes, but I only knew her briefly.”
“Yes, that is true,” she replied in an angry tone. “Brief enough to fool her to get what you wanted. Then you walked away!”
We all stared at her in utter confusion.
Puzzled, I sat back in my chair and said, “I met her once. Just once.”
Gia shook her head. “You were involved with her.”
“I was not,” I instantly denied this. “Claudio introduced her to me and I shook her hand. I was with her for three damn minutes.”
“No, she said you and her were in love and after just ten days, you two got engaged. She showed me the ring.”
Shocked at this total fantasy, I shook my head. “I was in Italy for three days. Someone had to have …” I took a deep breath and halted. “This is about the crime you think I committed? The horrible thing I supposedly did?”
Nodding, tears shimmered in her eyes.
Reaching for her hand, I told her, “I can prove that I wasn’t there beyond three days if I have to. But you need to look into my eyes and hear me.”
Gia swiped at her tears and looked up at me.
I gazed right into her tear filled eyes and told her, “I never dated your sister. I never touched her except to shake her hand politely in a nightclub. I left soon after and I flew home the next day.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. “B-but she told me your name. All your plans and the ring. Then before we were due to leave, she couldn’t find you anywhere. She searched the hotel where you took her as you said you were just visiting from another province there.”
“Gia, that wasn’t me. It was never me.” I growled under my breath. “It was Claudio Cadanza.”
Zia had been silent as she was sweeping up the tea cup shards. Her head snapped up as she exclaimed in panic, “No, tell me that isn’t true!”
I shrugged and concluded, “It has to be. He used my name and pretended to be me. He was that type to run around, dating women at the drop of a hat.” I looked from Gia to my aunt. “He is a distant cousin on my father’s side. I barely knew him or any ofthe family there actually. But even I knew the stories about him and women.”
“Oh no, nooo.” Zia looked upset as her eyes filled with tears while she stared at Gia. “That was your sister?”
I studied my aunt's shocked face then I looked back over at Gia.
“Y-yes,” Gia replied to her question.
Zia looked a bit ashen as she slowly shook her head and made the sign of the cross over herself. “Santa Madre di Maria.!”Holy Mother of Mary. “I am so sorry, Gia…sosorry.”
My stomach tightened as I got the feeling that this was about to get bad.Really bad.
Chapter Fourteen:Sanctity of Life
Gia
“She had always been a dreamer and sort of fragile in a way,” I spoke quietly, unsure if I could get through this without breaking down completely. I stared down at the table as I went on, “We saved up for that trip to Italy. Our father and mother are from there. Ella loved fashion, she even made her own designer outfits. She really wanted to go there to see what they all were wearing and have some fun too. She had just turned twenty-one…” My voice cracked. “She was set to graduate from college in just a few months. Her whole life was ahead of her…” I halted and lowered my head.
Amadeo rubbed my shoulder. “You don’t have to do this,” he whispered softly.
I raised my head as I sniffled through tears. “Yes, I do. I need you to know why I…” I shook my head and continued, “Ella had big dreams of having her clothes on runways all over the world and she even told me that visiting Italy was paramount to her success in fashion. I couldn’t see it, but I wanted to go to Europe anyway. We had never been there before. I had a month long break in my internship, so we did it. At first, it was great. We had a few days at the start where it had been just us. We ate well, shopped and Ella loved Italian design in everything from clothes to public buildings. So we had plenty to see and do. Then she met…” My voice faltered again as I looked up at Amadeo. “Oh, my God, Deo. I am so sorry that I accused you!”
He looked confused as he shook his head.
“W-what happened to her?” Valencia asked in a quiet, shaky voice.
Zia dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “It was so awful… My cousin told me about it.”
I looked up to meet Amadeo’s concerned gaze and answered Valencia’s question, “She must have found out that…the man she loved had dumped her? A bellboy from his hotel floor had said he was with another young woman and that my sister had a fight with him over that.” I paused and sighed. “So if that really happened, he was cheating on her right after their engagement. I do know that it was too heartbreaking for her to accept. He had fooled her and lied about being in love with her. I feel like now I will never know the truth.” I paused to wipe my eyes again as I finally said it aloud, “She overdosed and I found her.”
