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“I’ll take you to the kitchen. I’m Sonny, by the way.”
“Charlie,” I mumbled in response, eyeing the other guard who seemed like he’d be staying outside the door to watch over Lucy.
“Don’t worry about Vinny. His job is to make sure your sister is safe. Nice to meet you. Welcome to Casa Nera.”
Make sure my sister was safe.Safe? Did Sonny really not know that we were here against our will? He didn’t seem to, as he walked cheerfully through the hall, leading me around corners that all looked the same. He was downright chipper, which felt rude considering I was still half expecting Renato to change his mind about us and kill us anyway.
When we got to the first floor, Sonny explained the layout of the house and then took me to the kitchen. It immediately became my favorite room. It was cozy and had a lived-in feel. Warm ochre walls flowed into terracotta tiles, and white Carrara marble with delicate veins adorned the long wraparound counters and island. Potted plants with herbs and bottles with different oils were scattered around the space, and the air smelled faintly of lemons. Pans hung over the island, lovingly shined and well taken care of. Someone spent a lot of time in this room and was proud of it. That someone stood by the sink when I walked in.
“Carmella, this is Charlie. The boss’s woman.”
So, Sonny was under the impression that Iwantedto marry his tyrannical boss?
“You do know that it’s not by choice, right? I mean, we’re going to all stand here and pretend that this is a cause to celebrate and not the start of a lifelong prison sentence?”
Silence met my blunt statement. Sonny shifted his eyes from me to the older lady by the sink – the housekeeper, Carmella. Silence stretched for a long moment before he spoke again.
“The boss is going to have his hands full with you. But don’t worry, he’s used to handling difficult women.” With that, Sonny pulled out a chair and sat, just in time for Carmella to hand him a plate with a fat, buttery pastry on it.
I grabbed her hand as she passed me. “Me and my sister are here against our will. Will you help us?”
She turned to me, eyeing me critically. “I will make sure you are fed well.”
“That is not the kind of help I’m talking about.”
“But that is the only kind of help you’ll get from me,ragazza. I don’t go against Renato, and I don’t support anyone who does,” she said and stepped away, her face showing how pained she was from having to interact with me.
So, it seemed if I was banking on help from this corner, it would be a slow time coming. Renato clearly knew how to surround himself with people who were just as insane as he was.
Carmella set a plate in front of me with the same type of pastry she'd given Sonny. As soon as the smell of chocolate and butter hit me, my stomach growled loudly. I debated the wisdom of refusing to eat out of protest. My thoughts were clearly easy to read.
Carmella tossed her head. “Why do women these days never want to eat?” she mumbled.
My tummy rumbled emptily.
Figuring I might as well eat the damn thing – seeing as I hadn’t eaten much the night before at the gala, and I was going to need my strength to survive all this – I pulled out a chair and sat, taking a bite of the pastry. It was still warm and melted against my tongue.
Sonny chuckled. “Thin is in, Carm, didn’t you hear?”
“In the magazines, maybe, but not in real life, and not with men,” she replied confidently.
I wished I’d ever been that confident about men. The other sex remained a mystery to me most of the time.
“Maybe not all women care that much about what men want,” Sonny continued, surprising me as he shot a look my way. “Charlotte is a nurse, right? From what I hear, she’s dedicated to her work.”
I blinked at them, suddenly included in the conversation with a mouthful of pastry.
I nodded, not able to elaborate with food in my mouth, but he was close enough. I was an aspiring nurse, and I worked more hours than anyone else I knew. If that wasn’t dedication, it was at least desperation, but there was no need to go into that with two strangers.
Carmella’s eyes narrowed, and something changed in her expression. Her tight lips loosened a touch, and her forehead smoothed. She nodded to herself a little.
“Va bene.”
Carmella’s quiet words and softer expression made me feel like I’d just passed a test of some kind. The expression on the housekeeper’s face had changed from wary contempt to something closer to respect. I didn’t know how to feel about that.
“It’s good, isn’t it?” Sonny prompted, grinning down at my rapidly disappearing pastry. He’d finished his in three big bites and now sipped coffee.
I nodded reluctantly.
