Page 68 of The Consequence of You
Except what happened with Carlo has planted the tiniest seed of uncertainty in my mind. He was so close to hurting me. Hurting Asher, and no matter which way I look at it, I don’t think either of us did anything wrong. It goes against everything I believe in.
I flick back through one of my old sketchbooks, and it falls open at a picture of my parents. It’s one I drew just after we moved here, so it’s a little rough, but what’s clear is how happy they were. My actions broke them. Mine, and mine alone.
I close it over and head downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass of water. There’s talking in the kitchen, and I pause outside the door for a few seconds. My father’s voice is clear.
“I know we’ve been over it already, but let’s run through it all again. The night you dismissed Carlo. What were your concerns?”
“We were in the bar, and because he was still in his training period, he was shadowing me. Lord Pennington approached me and drew my attention to the fact Carlo was neglecting his duties. I must hold my hands up. It was an oversight on my part, because the Lord was correct. Carlo was ogling Miss Callie. He was looking at herentirely inappropriately. I relieved him of his duties immediately.”
The regret in my bodyguard’s response is evident, and I feel a pang of guilt that he somehow might be blaming himself.
“And he appeared to take it well?”
“He did. His compliance was suspicious. That was why I’d planned to have the team investigate him, but as I said, within hours it was as though he’d disappeared into thin air.Fuck.I should never have let him leave like that.”
“Gabriele Rossi. You have been a loyal member of my staff for many years. You did everything you could to find him. Luca did his best when he got back here, too. You had no idea of his fixation with my daughter at the time of his disappearance. I do not blame you for this. I vouched for Carlo. He came to me and asked for this post. I didn’t ask questions as he was a friend of the family. I am more to blame than you. My complacency is to blame. It is a lesson for us all.”
I stride into the kitchen, my shoulders pulled back; my mind made up.
“Papa, I want to talk to Carlo. I want to ask him why he did what he did.”
Luca laughs. I hadn’t seen him standing in the corner of the room. My fists clench at my side as I try not to let his derision affect me.
“I don’t know what’s so funny. Don’t I deserve a chance to speak to him?”
“You can’t speak to him.” My brother moves to sit at the table next to Rossi.
“That’s not fair! You can’t tell me what I can do. Where is he?” I resist the urge to stamp my foot.
“You can’t speak to him because he’s dead, sorellina.” His tone softer this time.
“He’s dead?” I’m not particularly surprised, but I am disappointed.
“He’s dead.” My father confirms. He stands and reaches for the brandy bottle before collecting some glasses from the cupboard. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want it hanging over us through Christmas.”
I take the glass of brandy he offers me and sit down. The possible repercussions of Carlo’s death suddenly register.
“What will his family do to us in revenge?”
“There will be no retaliation. We learnt in the last few weeks he had been a frequent drug user. His family believe he overdosed from a misjudged dose.” It’s reassuring to know there will be no one seeking vengeance. I wanted to speak to Carlo directly, but there isn’t much I can do about it now.
“Rossi said Carlo believed I was promised to him, but it wasn’t true. I wanted to know why he believed that. Whether something I did made him act so crazy?”
Papa takes a sip of his brandy and places his glass on the table. He clasps his hands together.
“You’re aware that many marriages in our culture are arranged? Particularly between powerful families where we need to preserve trust?”
“Yes. Of course. I know yours and Mama’s marriage was arranged.”
“That’s right. Your mama and I fell very much in love, but our marriage was actually arranged years before we ever met.”
I nod. This isn’t anything I didn’t already know. In years gone by, the marriages happened soon after peopleentered adulthood, leaving them little opportunity to live independently, particularly women. The modern version allows a little more freedom before marriage. Weddings are held off until the bride is in her early to mid-twenties. Once she’s finished her education. It’s supposed to be a little more civilised. So, while there has been no mention of who I’m betrothed to, I know it will come, eventually. Luca will be first, of course, but time was slightly less pressing for the man.
“When you were much younger, as was expected, we had a few preliminary conversations with two families. They had son’s similar age to you. Carlo was one of them. It never progressed to an agreement or any such promise. I was clear about that with his parents, but it seems they still believed it might happen. From what we’ve gathered, they chose to make him aware that you could potentially be his wife.” Papa runs his hand over his chin before continuing.
“As far as we were concerned, it was forgotten about. However, he grew up becoming more fixated with the idea. We believe his parents reinforced the idea by promising him it would happen.”
I frown. I can barely remember him, yet he’s been led to believe we’d be married. He thought we had a future together. It doesn’t make sense.
