Chapter 7
7
CELIA
H ow do you pick the right outfit for going on a date with the psychopathic brother of your dead true love?
I went with a little black dress. I didn’t have a choice to refuse Gabriel Caruso.
His interest in me made me valuable to my father, and I didn’t dare destroy that value. It might keep me alive until my girls and I were able to knife our fathers in the back and steal their thrones.
Still, if I could’ve paid one of my illicit visits to David’s grave, I would have told him how sorry I was.
I might marry Gabriel Caruso, but I would never love him.
That rebellious thought rose to my mind as I came down the stairs. He stood in the entryway, one hand in his pocket, looking relaxed as he talked to my father. He was dressed casually, in dark jeans, a black t-shirt, and a leather jacket that clung to his powerful shoulders.
He looked irresistible.
My father turned to me with a smile and that warmth that I’d never seen until Gabriel came back into my life. “Celia! Have fun tonight.”
“Thank you, Father.” I turned to Gabriel. “Hi.”
“Hello, Celia.” His voice was low and husky, and while there was no trace of humor in his gaze, I couldn’t shake the feeling he was amused by me.
He told my father goodnight and then opened the front door for me. A black SUV was parked in the circular driveway. Behind it was a ridiculously gaudy fountain that spurted water into the air, lit from beneath with colored lights that made it pink or purple or blue by turns.
Gabriel opened the passenger door for me. I pulled my skirt down lower over my thighs as he shut the door. His brother used to open doors for me too. It was so old-fashioned, and I used to love it.
But I was a grown woman now, and I knew not to be impressed by gestures that cost a man nothing.
“I thought you usually drive a McLaren.”
“I do. But given that someone targeted you, I thought the armored SUV would be safer.”
I nodded, tucking my hair behind my ears, even though I shouldn’t risk ruining my blowout.
“I thought we could just go out to dinner tonight and get to know each other better. Is that all right?”
“Yes, that would be lovely.”
His lips twisted slightly, and I had the distinct impression he thought I was ridiculous. “How was your day?”
“Uneventful. Which I suppose is nice, given everything that has happened lately.”
“Has your father had any success turning up who attacked you?”
I shook my head.
“He must be tearing the world apart trying to find the threat. I’m surprised he let you go out with me tonight, even with the armored car.”
“And your men following us.” I glanced in the passenger side mirror, at the SUV that was three cars back.
That time, he cut a look at me.
“I’m smarter than I look,” I said.
“I know you’re smart, Celia.” His hands were large, with long tapered fingers. He caught me looking at the way he gripped the steering wheel, and he glanced at me again. “Though sometimes I wonder if you know.”
I didn’t know how to respond.
“And some of my men preceded us to the restaurant,” he said. “I’m sure you’d spot them without difficulty. Except perhaps for the snipers on the rooftop across from the hotel—but I would appreciate it if you didn’t point them out, mm?”
I nodded.
“You don’t have to be afraid of anything tonight,” he promised.
I was worried about whoever had sent the masked men after me, but not as afraid as I was of Gabriel.
“Your bodyguard is behind us too, of course.”
I nodded, although no one had talked to me about Luca’s presence. Still, I felt an unexpected rush of heat, thinking about the man who had held me in his arms after killing my enemy. I pushed it down. I couldn’t afford to let my focus slip from Gabriel.
“I don’t run into many people who talk less than I do,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I replied automatically.
“I wasn’t complaining. Merely observing.”
“Do you like your women quiet?”
My tone came out more abrasive than I had intended. I pressed my lips together, careful not to ruin my lipstick.
He seemed to consider that for a moment. “To be honest, I’ve spent the last several years focused on nothing but putting my family back together, to the extent I can. I haven’t cared about women except to fuck them and serve my needs and move on.”
He pulled the car up to the valet. Before we got out of the car, he looked over at me. “Does that shock you?”
I shook my head.
“Good. It’s not as if you’re a newcomer to our world, and someday, you’ll leave the ground floor of the Obsidian.”
Marrying a man like Gabriel meant entering the debauchery of The Obsidian Club, where some alliances were sealed over a woman’s body.
I’d been dreaming of burning it down, not graduating to the upper floors.
He got out of the car, and before he could come around, I opened the door. He reached my side and looked around as if he were worried to have us in the open. He put his hand near my lower back—almost touching me—urging me to move closer. It was such a small, possessive gesture.
Inside the hotel, we took an elevator to the top floor. I caught a glimpse of the two of us in the mirrored walls. He was tall and handsome, despite the stoic unsmiling lines of his face. With my thick platinum hair curling around my shoulders and my long legs exposed by the dress and my high heels, I looked as if I fit nicely by his side.
Once we stepped out of the elevator, we entered a private area on the rooftop, overlooking the city’s skyline. The table was laid with expensive china and crystal, with fragrant bread and a bottle of wine, but it was the skyline that drew my interest.
I was used to luxury. I wasn’t used to freedom. I’d never stood on a rooftop like this, towering over the city.
He poured two glasses of wine, then joined me. When I took one from him, our fingers briefly overlapped. I pulled away from the warmth of his touch, then smiled to try to cover how I’d felt thrown by the brief contact.
“Thank you for bringing me here. It’s beautiful.” I held my glass up to him to toast.
He touched his glass to mine. “I’m glad to hear it. It’s mine.”
“The restaurant?”
“And the rest of the hotel.”
I wanted to ask: Have you ever thought about making your living solely with legitimate businesses like this one ?
Instead, I sipped my wine.
“You’re not impressed.” He stared at me without taking a drink. “I suppose I’m not surprised you’re hard to please.”
“I’m not hard to please.” As far as I knew. Pleasing me hadn’t been much of a priority for anyone these past few years.
“Is that so? What could I do that would make you happy?”
Help me step over my father’s corpse on my way to my own life . I couldn’t think of anything safe to say.
His lips curled up faintly, as if he had won an argument, and he touched his glass to mine in a second cheers. That time, he drank. Maybe he had to fortify himself to stay in such an unsatisfying conversation.
I wracked my mind for something to say into the strained silence, but neither of us seemed to have anything to say to each other.
Waiters arrived, carrying our dinner, and set it on the table. I moved to my seat as they left. Candles sparkled between green foliage and white roses. The rooftop had fairy lights strung around, casting a soft glow. The rigid planes of Gabriel’s face, sharp jawline, and soft lips that suggested just the hint of decadence were rendered even more beautiful in the light.
He didn’t need any help making me feel so nervous I couldn’t taste the sumptuous meal set out in front of us. He had to realize by now that I was not worth this level of effort. He must be dreading the rest of the night.
“I’d ask you about yourself, but I feel like that would be the seventh circle of hell for you,” he said.
Yes, he was definitely regretting the life choices that had put us sitting across from each other in this beautiful setting.
“Probably closer to the inner circle. Second or third.”
The faintest hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. It made my stomach flip-flop, like I was a stupid schoolgirl once again watching him across the lunchroom, and my gaze dropped to my plate.
He asked, “Do you ever think about when we were teenagers?”
When I was stupidly obsessed with you ? Only when I want to cringe so hard, it hurt a muscle in my back.
“Occasionally. Do you?”
“When I can’t help it,” he said dryly. Maybe my face altered, though I didn’t mean to, because he added, “I don’t like to think too much about those years. After my parents were murdered, life became…difficult. Especially given my brothers.”
“You were the oldest, trying to look after Lorenzo and David.” My tongue tripped over David’s name. How long had it been since I last spoke of him?
“They were not very responsive to looking-after, either,” he stated. “Lorenzo was obsessed with revenge. But there was no opportunity for us to get revenge then without getting ourselves killed. Saving Lorenzo from himself was a difficult and thankless job.”
Given how Lorenzo hadn’t been seen in years, it apparently remained thankless.
“Meanwhile, David was obsessed with you.” He watched my face as he delivered that brutal line.
I could barely swallow the bite of food in my mouth. It took effort, and I blotted my mouth with my napkin. Could I walk home? Sure, I could be murdered, but I was willing to risk it.
Although…I’d been sure for years that Gabriel must hate me for causing his brother’s murder.
Maybe it was for the best to know just how much he despised me now, no matter how uncomfortable it was. Hopefully, he didn’t plan to kidnap me tonight or kill me—using me to get revenge for my family’s cruelty.
I wished we weren’t quite so high up. It was a pretty view, but it made me imagine plummeting to my death. The mental image of me lying, twisted and broken in a pool of blood on the sidewalk, really put me off my pasta.
“Why are you telling me that?” I asked, icy fear pooling in my stomach.
“Because I never get to talk to anyone else who loved my stupid little brother. And you did love him, didn’t you?”
“Very much.” The words might save my life, but I could barely get them out. I’d always wondered if he thought I had helped my father lure David in that day.
“That’s why I’m here, Celia.”
“What is?”
He leaned back in his chair. “The week after my parents were murdered, the board of directors for our legitimate business holdings found an excuse to cut us off financially. My father had owned the gambling in this town. I fought to maintain what power I could, but everyone knew there was blood in the water. Everyone wanted what had once been my inheritance.”
“Lorenzo is…different from anyone else. Reckless and amused by life, no matter how dark it gets. Back then, he was driven by his need for revenge. But David worried me. He was always so much more tender than Lorenzo and me.”
“He was a good man.” I couldn’t stop myself from defending David. I never could.
“The best,” Gabriel agreed. “We used to go with my father to his underground fighting ring, and he had us train, but he never would’ve sent us there alone. Once he was gone, other rings sprang up, unsanctioned by our family. Most of our men had fled to other families, so I couldn’t show up with machine guns.
“But after that,” he went on, “Lorenzo and I began to fight in the ring ourselves. Lorenzo always needed a way to burn off energy, something reckless and insane, just like him. I thought it might save his life. And I…”
He shrugged off whatever he’d been thinking. “I didn’t want to put David in the ring. He was tall, fast, the most incredible fighter…in training. But he would hesitate. Like you, he said he was sorry too fucking much. He didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
My cheeks felt hot. Even the insult barely registered. Talking about David felt dangerous, so forbidden, after all these years.
“We had amateur night on Thursdays. Maybe you remember boys in their school uniform jackets on Friday, looking like they stepped out of a preppie catalog, with black eyes?”
I nodded. However, it had begun during the time we’d dated. David would come into school with cuts and bruises. He’d fought, though he hadn’t wanted to tell me about it.
“In the end, David not going in made us look weak. So I put him in, knowing he’d get his ass kicked.” He shrugged. “Cruel to be kind, so on and so forth. He had to learn to live in our world. But I knew him, so I bet against him.”
I tried to keep my face neutral.
“Then one day, he got into a fight at school. It got broken up before it could go far. I got a call from the headmaster, and once we’d spoken, I knew it was time to bet on David for the fight that night. Can you guess why?”
I shook my head.
“This kid had been bragging about how he was going to kick David’s ass that Thursday night. David didn’t care, but the kid also started talking about how he was going to fuck Celia Carmichael.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“That kid had some elaborate fantasies and a big mouth…” His lips ticked up. “I was right to bet on David—he broke the kid’s jaw. It was such an upset. I made a lot of money that night.”
David never told me that story. I could picture him, though, the way his jaw used to clench when he was angry, his protective impulses, the way his gaze brightened when I walked into the room like I was his whole world.
No one had ever loved me like that since nor ever would again.
I missed his face, his smile, the sound of his voice.
Heat burned in my eyes. I tried to smile through it, shaking the tears away. Through the haze, I could tell Gabriel was watching me, but I couldn’t see his expression clearly. He probably thought I was weak.
“I’m sorry, I’m going to run to the bathroom.”
“I’ll take you,” he told me. “It’s downstairs in the restaurant.”
I nodded woodenly, then followed him down the stairs. His men were at the door, and he walked me to the ladies’ room.
“I’ll be at the bar. Take your time.” He nodded in the direction of the bar.
“Thank you.” I darted into the bathroom. There was a box of tissues on a silver tray on the marble countertop, so I snatched up some tissues to blot my eyes carefully. I couldn’t ruin my makeup.
He talked about David so easily. It felt strange. I was jealous and at the same time…what if we could just talk about David? Could some of the memories, the pain, that felt like a caged animal in my chest be relieved if I could just talk about it?
When I’d gotten my shit together, as much as I could, I stepped back out into the restaurant. It was crowded, full of life. Yet another successful venture for Gabriel Caruso, who had risen from the ashes like a phoenix.
I found him across the room. He was so handsome in profile, and I felt an unexpected swell of emotion. I didn’t even know what it was—I just knew it felt good for the first time in years.
Then some of the people between us moved, and I saw the woman he was talking to. She was beautiful with long blond hair and a bright smile that was fixed on Gabriel.
The swell of emotion faded into nothing but more icy cold in my body. I moved through the crowd toward them, unseen as I threaded between bodies. Then I heard my name.
I moved closer, trying to stay hidden now.
“You’re here with Celia Carmichael?” Her voice dripped with surprise. “I would have thought she was too dull for your tastes.”
I would have thought so too. But that didn’t change the way my stomach twisted at the accusation.
“Celia’s not dull.” Gabriel’s voice was low, but sure. “She’s reserved.”
“Is that what you call it? Are you enjoying having a conversation with yourself while she just nods and smiles?”
“It is hard to get her to open up,” he said. “Probably because she’s spent her life surrounded by people like you.”
She pulled a face, though she still looked far too pretty. “When you get bored, you know where to find me.”
She reached to adjust his tie flirtatiously, but he took a step back. “Celia might be quiet, but she has her dignity.”
“For now.” She let out a mean little trill of a laugh. “But if she wants to keep your attention, she won’t, will she?”
“Maybe I’d want something different with my wife than I want with a fuck toy like you. If you’ll excuse me.”
My wife .
The words twisted through my body as if they were alive. I wasn’t sure how to make sense of them.
She stood there for a second, shocked, then turned with a flip of her perfect hair. She cut through the crowd, and her eyes met mine.
She gave me a nasty smile. “Good luck.”
Then she was gone.
Gabriel turned from the bar, and his gaze found mine. He frowned as if he were judging how long I might have been so close, how much I might have heard.
“There’s a problem with one of my businesses,” he said. “I have to end our date, but I’ll take you home.”
I nodded, then felt stupid for being wordless once again. No wonder he was done with me tonight.