I finally look up at him. “Why can’t she just be normal? Just eat one fucken meal without issue?”
Carlos looks at the open office door and then switches to Italian.
“She is normal, Alex. She’s just shy and you need to back off with comments. You’ll only make it worse if you keep picking and pushing at the wounds you already created.”
I can feel my insides shake. I go from annoyed to pissed.
“Are you kidding me right now? Wounds? What fuck’en wounds? I brought her into my home, fed her, and gave her a place to put her art shit. I take her to and from work. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?”
Carlos shakes his head as he sits down.
“You don’t understand women at all, do you?”
“What's to understand? Marry, feed, clothe, and protect? That is my job as a husband, isn’t it? That’s what my father does.”
“No, that’s not all your father does for your mother.”He breathes.
“Well enlighten me, Casanova, since you seem to have all the answers.”I look at him, eyebrows raised in question.
“Maybe you should speak to your father on this trip to get a better understanding of their relationship. Watch them, think about how they are together.”
“Fuck you, like you know any more than I do. Triss has you holding your dick in your hands for months, yet you still run back to her every chance you get. I will not cater to her every little need. She needs to toughen up if she plans on taking on the duties of theOrganization.”
I look back at my computer and quickly send off a few emails to my office. I plan on spending the day there till I have to pick Isabella up from work. I shouldn’t have pushed the Triss issue, but fuck that; he’s no better running after her every night.
Carlos sighs and stands up.
“Don’t push her to the point of breaking Alex. She’s scared, but she’s a fighter. I can see it, but everyone has his or her limits. Just be careful how far you want to push.”
I stand up and yell in his face, “If you think for one minute I’m falling for this girl, think again, Carlos. This is a business arrangement, nothing more. And her fathers made damn sure it follows through, so don’t lecture me on women. Once the wedding is over, I’ll make sure she’s taken care of, but don’t let the innocent eyes fool you. There’s something more going on here.”
Carlos raises his voice and points at the folder on my desk.“I’m only saying don’t let that folder influence your perspective.”
He gets up and shuts the door.
“If you don’t believe me, ask your father.”He comes over to the chair and leans over the back of it, glaring at me.
“Do you honestly think he’d put her in your path to fuck you over? Like this is some sort of test he’s playing?”His hands grip the back of the chair, turning white.
“I love you like a brother, but you can be a real dick. She’s innocent in all this and you’re too goddamn stubborn to see it because you might actually like her.”
He backs up and points at me.“And that, my friend, freaks you out.”
I rise and lean over my desk, switching back to English, “Fuck you, Carlos, you have no idea how I feel about shit. I’m done with this conversation. Let’s drop her ass off at work and take me to the office.”
I march past him and swing open the door. She’s standing by the front entrance, purse slung over her shoulder and coffee mug gripped tight in her hand. She turns away from us and waits for Carlos to pull the door open for her. I reach out my hand to put it on the small of her back to guide her, but she sidesteps my touch and practically runs down the stairs to wait by the passenger door.
The ride to work is silent; she’s huddling by the window again so I know she’s upset. Maybe she heard us talking. I look over at her, studying her face, but we were speaking in Italian, and I don’t think she speaks the language. Robert never uses it and it is not something families do much anymore. Unless you’re a Russo, that’s all we speak at home.
We drop her off at the back of the building and she just jumps out, dropping her cup on the seat in her rush to get away from me. Picking up her cup I quickly open my door to catch her and step out, holding her empty cup and yelling out her name, but she doesn’t turn, just waves in the air behind her back and escapes through the door.
Carlos has his hand on the top of the car and looks over at me across the hood.
“Keep pushing, and you won’t have to worry about a wedding.”
Carlos gets back in the driver’s seat, leaving me looking over at the closed steel door. Stepping back into the car. I keep turning her cup in my hand.
Harry Rules.
