Page 10 of His Gilded Cage

“Answers to what?”

“You don’t even know what questions you should be asking.”

“Do you always speak in riddles?”

“What I am about to tell you, you must not reveal it to anyone, do you understand me?”

I nodded feeling like a schoolyard child crossing my heart and hoping to die.

“There has been a break in your mother’s case.”

Her words felt like a punch in my gut. “What?”

“I need to make a few calls,” Veronica said. “But when I return I will have more information for you.”

“It was suicide. The case was closed ten years ago. Ten years, Veronica.”

“It’s open again.”

My heart raced. I felt confused but exhilarated. I had never doubted my mother’s suicide before. She had chosen to leave me behind. It was the defining moment of my youth. Her rejection had shaped and damaged me more than her love had given me strength.

“Trust me my brother.” Veronica leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. She held my face in her hands. “We leave when I return. It’s time for answers.”

A few minutes after Veronica left, there was another knock at the door.

“I knew you wouldn’t leave me like that,” I said, swinging the door open.

“Like what?” Carmella asked.

My heart seized. She had taken her long dark hair out of her bun. It hung loose around her shoulders. With her glasses still on, she looked, hot, rumpled, and sexy.

“Nothing, I thought you were someone else,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. I immediately wanted to tell her everything, to open up my heart and share all of my fear and pain, but I’d made Veronica a promise.

“I saw Veronica leave,” Carmella said. “She just drove away in a red convertible. Where was she going?”

“I don’t know,” I said, grateful I hadn’t had to lie.

“I’m worried about you,” Carmella said, her voice softening. “I wanted to tell you this morning, but I was too angry. I’ve calmed.”

“You don’t need to worry.”

“You drink too much, my Marco. You are full of pain.”

My Marco.

The way she said my name was such a comfort. I wanted to bury my face against her neck. I wanted to feel her arms around me. I wanted her to heal me with her love.

She reached out and brushed back my hair. “It makes me sad to see you this way. Did Veronica upset you?”

I didn’t know how to answer her question so I didn’t.

“I know she is your friend,” Carmella continued, her hand moving from my hair to my cheek. Her touch was intoxicating. “And I remember why she is here. Today is a very painful day for everyone who knew your mother. She was so beautiful, so troubled.”

I almost contradicted her but I was afraid to break the spell between us. I had never known the troubled and tormented side of my mother that others remembered.

“You know it’s been a long time for us,” Carmella said. She circled me. Her hands at her blouse, she played with a button. “I miss you sometimes.”

She missed me. My heart swelled and there was no turning back.

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