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“Come in,” he moves away to make room for us.
He is not what I had in mind. He is easy on the eyes and also has a relaxed aura around him. I was expecting a grouch.
We walk in and he leads us to a sitting area, with a round beige sofa, a table in the middle, and a loveseat sofa opposite the round sofa that I guess is for him.
“Make yourselves at home,” he smiles too brightly for a man who married his brother’s wife just a few weeks after his brother's death.
I know I don't know the entire story enough to take sides, but I feel it in my guts that his smile is a smokescreen.
My father and Lawrence take their seats before I do, and Claudio walks to a shelf behind us and walks back with a bottle of whiskey and three glasses. He opens the whiskey, pours someinto the glasses, drops the bottle on the table, hands my father and Lawrence a glass each, then takes the last glass and sits on the loveseat, crossing one leg over the other.
“Rosaline,” Claudio smiles, and I hate the way hearing him call me that feels like a betrayal.
“Rose,” I mumble.
“I didn't get that,” Claudio leans forward.
“Just Rose, please, not Rosaline,” I try for a more feather-like tone.
He snorts, “Rose then,” he leans back, “I heard you'll be staying in my house for a while.” There's a way he stressesmy housethat communicates the subtle message of the brawl between him and his nephew.
“I heard so too,” I tear my eyes from his piercing hazel eyes and let them drop to the sunflower prints on my dress.
“How come you couldn't keep the good thing I fought so hard for you and your family to have?” he sips his whiskey again. “I know that a marriage with Romano would have been the best thing to happen to your family in a long while,” he looks at my father and brother and they nod sadly, “but you blew it, you put to shame our hard work. My hard work,” he breathes out heavily, “What face would I use to speak for another family after the stigma you've brought on me?”
“Claudio, she is sorry,” My father begins to say but Claudio waves him with his free hand.
“Your action of being unable to keep your whorish side tamed is costing me more than I can afford,” Claudio continues, “and you might be asking or thinking how is that?” he chuckles dryly. “It's simple, Benedetto is back because of you, and what I and his mother had wanted for him, which was for him to experience life without the burden of the family business,” he swings his hand in the air, “you ruined that by doing what you did, getting him involved in your little escape plan,” he exhales sharply and downs the rest of his whiskey.
I’m beginning to see how that one action affects a whole. How it's interfering with the lives and plans of others. Benedetto left home and had a life in New York that made him more relaxed and smiley, keeping every one of his worries at bay. But what I did forced him to bring me back to Boston, even if I never asked for his help, and now he has to face the side of himself that he was running from.
“I'm sorry,” I mumble and start to pick at my dress.
“But I get it, I get you,” Claudio picks up from where he let off, “You're young and it's in your blood to rebel,” he laughs warmly. “But the damage has been done and I fear Benedetto is going down that dark tunnel again,” he stands and walks to a table in the corner, grabs some papers, and walks back to us. “He started putting these around the house,” he hands the papers to me. “We thought he was over this after he almost committed matricide and arson four years ago, and then left for New York.”
I unruffle the rumpled sheets and see they're magazine cutouts and newspaper headliners of the death of Benito Corte. If I thought Claudio and Benedetto looked alike, it was only because I hadn't seen a picture of his father. Benedetto is a spitting image of his father.
“But you can help. I mean, if he brought you here, it's because he cares about you,” Claudio goes back to sit, “And I know this might be a difficult thing to ask, but as a person that cares for him very much and his mother, I want you to help me help him,” he rests both elbows on his knees. “You have my blessing to start a relationship with him,” he smiles, “which is a good thing for your family,” he looks at my father and Lawrence and they both nod again, too quickly this time.
“It is settled then,” Claudio claps his hands together at that.
“It is settled,” my father chimes eagerly.
“This is why we need women in this business,” Claudio pours himself another drink, “They hold it down for us.”
“As should be,” my father sips his whiskey for the first time since this heart-wrenching meeting started.
“She will no doubt be good for him,” Lawrence says dryly.
“After all, what more of an important role is there for a woman than to care for a man and give him heirs to carry on his legacy,”my father spurts his usual stupid words out and Claudio nods to it.
“Rose, that would be all,” and like that, Claudio dismisses me.
I nod, “I'll be in my room.”
I know no one cares but I offer regardless and stand to leave.
They've given the verdict. Again, my fate is to be joined with a man that I can't stand, even more than I couldn't stand Romano. At least with Romano, there was no need to force a seduction, he knew and accepted what was offered and what would happen between our families. But with Benedetto, it's all on me. I have to make this work. It's not about giving him my body, because he will no doubt take it whether I give it to him or not. This task is beyond what my body can give.
