Chapter 37
Charlie
Iwake up and instantly know something’s off.
This isn’t my bed. Whose arm is wrapped around me?
My brain’s foggy, like someone hit the reset button and forgot to save.
No clue how I even got here. I look around me.
The room screams luxury—a master suite, by the look of it.
I push myself up, every muscle protesting, my head pounding, and see the arm belongs to Izzy.
I give her a quick shove. She stirs slightly but doesn’t wake, so I decide it’s best to let her sleep.
I stumble downstairs to the kitchen and grab a coffee, my kind of lifeline right now. Leaning against the counter, I wait for this hellish hangover to drag me under.
Rosa walks in, eyes immediately locking on me.
“Oh, Charlie,” she says, pulling me into a hug that’s too gentle.
Her hand strokes my back, but I can feel the weight of everything unsaid.
“I’ll make you my special smoothie. It’ll knock that hangover out in no time,” she promises, pulling back to study my wrecked face.
“Thanks,” I mutter, turning toward the door. But I stop and spin back. “Rosa, I would like to move into the master suite. Can you please ask Anna and Laura for our rooms to be swapped? Don’t put her belongings into storage just yet. I would like to go through them.”
She nods like she’s been waiting for me to say it. “Yes, dear. Anna and Laura already know.”
My jaw tightens. How the hell does she know everything? The whole charade is suffocating. I walk away, the weight of having to pretend crushing me.
In the office, I sink into Luciano’s chair, the one that usually holds his iron grip. This place, this throne, it’s mine now. Mattia slides in, scrunching his nose like he walked into a garbage dump. “You look awful,” he says bluntly.
“Gee, thanks. Real smooth,” I snap at him.
“Maybe shower? You reek of booze.”
“I get it.” I wave him off, my irritation starting to grow. “I fucked up and drank too much last night.”
He lounges himself into the chair in front of me. “How you holding up?”
“I’m fine. Where are the others?” I ask, looking for a distraction.
“At our place with Luciano.” I roll my eyes at his words. Of course, they’re loyal to a fault.
“Can you help me set up a meeting with the capos and soldiers?”
He raises an eyebrow. “What for?”
“Because I want to address them.”
“Is that smart?” he asks.
I slam my fist on the desk. “Can everyone stop babying me and let me run this my way?”
Mattia just nods, quickly backing out. “Got it, Red. Meeting’s on for this afternoon.”
I pick up my phone as he leaves the study and dial. “Joseph, can you be at the estate within the hour?”
“I’ll be there in thirty,” replies Joseph Milano, our family lawyer, hanging up the phone without another word. I pick up the envelope Joseph dropped off to me months ago—a time where life was so much simpler.
I still have a couple months left until the estate is transferred to me, and I’ve obeyed her other rules; no one has been fired or kicked off the premises even though I was so close yesterday with Luciano—I can’t risk that being my downfall.
But surely there’s a loophole. How do I become in charge now?
I need to avenge my mother as the Donna, not as someone’s side piece.
Lost in thought, a sharp knock taps on the door. “Miss Charlotte,” Joseph calls out.
“Come in.” I wave him in, not bothering to stand to greet him.
“How can I be of service?” he asks, sitting down across from me. I fling my mother’s will at him, cutting straight to the point.
“This.” I point at the paper. “Is there a loophole?"
“There is always a loophole, Miss Charlotte.”
“I’ve read over this multiple times and I can’t find any,” I say.
“Yes, but did you pay attention to the page numbers?” he quizzes, leaving me confused. Who checks the page numbers? Gabriele would, actually.
“There’s a page missing?” I question him as he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a small envelope.
“This was only to be given to you when you were ready.” He passes it to me.
“Why would my mother leave it out?” I ask.
“You and your mother are very alike. She knew what she was doing.”
I open the envelope, and out fall two pages. I open the first page to find another letter from my mother.