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“What’s wrong with her, anyway?” Carmela asked with a cocked eyebrow.
I shook my head somberly and glanced at my crew mates who were eyeing me curiously.
I placed an empathetic hand on her arm and turned my back to the crew, hoping that they couldn’t overhear us.
“Do you mind if we talk about this privately a little later?”
Carmela didn’t hesitate. “Of course. Whatever you need to do.”
There wasn’t a single ounce of suspicion or judgement in her expression. She looked at me with such an innocent trust that it melted my heart. She was so pure. I vowed to always protect her and do my bestneverto hurt her.
“Thank you.” I began slowly walking her toward the door. “I’ll meet up with you later. Maybe we can have dinner alone?”
Carmela’s wide green eyes lit up. “I’d really like that.”
“Okay, great,” I said as I escorted her to the door. “Thank you for understanding. I promise that I’ll explain everything to you as soon as I can.”
“I believe you.” Carmela gave me a buoyant smile.
She was the polar opposite of Amada. I could never take her for granted. She was a lucky pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. I wanted to dedicate myself to her, but I knew it started with honesty — andIwas the one who wasn’t exactly being forthcoming. Carmela deserved better and I intended to give it to her.
I felt guilty about the confusion Carmela must have been feeling considering Amada, but I promised myself that I would make it up to her the first chance I got. I needed to blow off some steam first and let my sizzling temper dial down a bit. Not to mention, I didn’t want to talk to her in front of my crew of Alesian warriors.
As soon as Carmela was gone, the questions started coming at me left and right.
“What are you going to do about the love triangle?” Nix asked with a teasing smirk.
I closed the door and gave him an irked eye roll. “It’s not a love triangle.”
“It sure seems like it to me.”
“There is nothing going on between me and Amada.”
Nix’s eyebrows formed into little arches. “But there is between you and Carmela—”
I rubbed my throbbing temples. “Yes. But that has no bearing on what is going on.”
“Really? You think not? Then whatisgoing on?”
None of your damn business.
I sighed loudly. “You know that Amada is still bitter about our breakup. Whenever a new girl shows up in the picture and I show her even the mostremoteamount of interest, Amada goes ballistic about it. She doesn’t like it one bit, regardless of the fact that we aren’t together anymore and I don't ever plan to get back together with her.”
“That much is obvious,” Nix said with a chuckle, in agreement with me.
“I feel like I've unintentionally made Carmela a target of Amada’s now,” I said, collapsing into a chair. My shoulders wilted. I felt so defeated when it came to women sometimes. They were frustratingly difficult to figure out.
“What are you going to do about it?” Nix asked, his expression empathetic now.
“I don’t know,” I said, shrugging glumly and feeling unnecessarily sorry for myself. “I guess I'm going to have to talk to Carmela privately about it later. I’ll explain everything to her, even though I know it might be unpleasant.”
“She’ll probably understand,” Nix said. “She seems like a nice enough girl.”
“She does,” I agreed with a nod. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to enjoy the conversation at all.”
ChapterSix
CARMELA
