Page 9 of His Gilded Cage

“I was going to take care of this myself.”

“With what Marco.” Carmella crossed her arms. “With the money in your bank account?”

I didn’t answer. I knew where she was going with this.

“Unless you’ve got some lucrative side jobs, any money in your account is there because of Amador industries. You clean up this mess with a handshake agreement and a check and you put the corporation at risk. You still shame your family name.”

If she only knew the truth about my family name,I thought to myself.

“Oh, you left this at the scene of the crime,” Carmella said, tossing my wallet on the table. “That may have helped them figure out your name.”

“Where do I sign,” I asked, feeling defeated. There were no words to fix this. There was nothing for me to do but accept responsibility for what I’d done.

“Sign here, and here,” she said. “And here too.”

I signed.

Carmella picked up the papers and slipped them into her leather purse. She looked at me and I thought her gaze softened for a moment as if she’d remembered something kind about me, as if she felt something besides disdain when she looked into my eyes. “Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome.” I handed her back her pen.

Our fingertips touched and Carmella was all business again. I wondered if anything had truly passed between us or had I just imagined that tenderness in her eyes.

Carmella walked to the door. “Your father wanted me to tell you that he expects there to be no more incidents but he knows that this time of year is hard for you.” She packed up her leather satchel and scanned the condo as she spoke. “He wishes you would give up this macabre tradition with Veronica and come back to the city. He says he has work for you there and you’d understand what he means.”

“Tell him that I’m fine where I am and Veronica makes the anniversary of my mother’s death bearable.” I said, trying to stand tall in the face of my humiliation. “You look good,” I said.

“You don’t.” Carmella said. “Good-bye Marco.” She walked out the front door.

I leaned my head against the doorframe. My headache was back.

I heard Veronica’s footsteps coming down the tiled hall. “She still works for Luis?” Veronica said, slinking across the room, being careful to stay back from the windows.

“She’s employee number one, it seems,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “You heard her. She is protecting Amador Industries. It seems that once again I am a liability to the old man.”

I walked into the kitchen and opened a cupboard pulling out a bottle of tequila.

“Marco,” Veronica said. “You think that’s a good idea brother?”

“Or course not,” I said, pouring a shot.

“I know you loved Carmella,” Veronica said. “But I’ve never thought she was the one for you even back in the day.”

I threw back a drink. The heat of the tequila warmed my bones and thawed my heart a bit. The sad truth was I felt alive when I drank. I figured this was a step up from being an adulterer.

“I don’t want to talk about her or my father,” I said.

“You need a change of scenery,” Veronica said. I moved to pour myself another shot and she clamped her hand around the neck of the bottle, her eyes daring me to pour. Damn the woman had a grip. She probably had enough strength in those chiseled arms to throw me on the floor. I didn’t want to test her.

I raised my hands in the air. “You are wise and beautiful and I know when I am beat.”

“Do you think it’s a coincidence that your life started to unravel in the years after your mother’s death?” Veronica spoke with her back to me as she poured my bottle of tequila down the drain. “When your mother died, you lost your compass and now here you are my friend. Drunk and alone in Sayulita trapped by your father’s money. You have no purpose.”

She turned and faced me.

“That’s a bit harsh,” I said, crossing my arms.

“You have no purpose because you have no answers.” Veronica lowered her voice as she spoke.

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