Page 35 of His to Keep
“Don’t you mind working for such a fucked-up family?” I ask Rosalia.
She lifts a shoulder in an indolent shrug. “It gives me independence. I bring in my own money and I was able to move into an apartment with my friend Carlotta recently.”
“That’s all good,” I tell her, “but you’re very young to be a housekeeper. Don’t you want to go to college?”
“No, it’s not for me. I hated school and I don’t really have the brains for college.”
“You seem smart enough to me.”
Rosalia beams. “Not in an academic way, unfortunately. I plan to work, save a little money, travel around Europe, America perhaps, and then settle down.”
The enthusiastic way she lays out her vision for the future reminds me of the way my friends and I used to plan what we’d do when we left high school.
“I always wanted to go to university.”
“What did you want to study?”
“I hadn’t decided. English Literature, maybe, or Film Studies. Something fun.”
Rosalia finishes with my hair by sliding a final pin, topped with a delicate pearl, into the knot at the back of my head. “You could still go to college.”
“I’d have to finish high school first.” Before I was preparing for my first round of exams. It would be a lot of work to refresh my knowledge of those subjects, pass those exams, and move on to the next more advanced set. That’s if I was able to continuein the Scottish system. Heaven knows what I’d have to do to prep for university elsewhere. “And besides, I doubt Gio would support that idea.”
“Why don’t you askSignoreVolante? He might surprise you.”
“Ask me what?” Gio’s voice startled both me and Rosalia, if the way the other woman jumps is any indication.
“It’s nothing.” I don’t want the disappointment of having him reject the idea of me studying.
Rosalia has no such compunction about telling him what I want. “Eilidh is thinking of going to college. She wants to study books or movies. That’s possible, right?”
“Of course,” he replies easily. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Well, I haven’t finished high school. You know, because of everything.”
“So finish high school.” Gio makes it sound simple, probably because he’s used to being able to do whatever he wants. “Or find another route into college. I’m sure there are programs you could attend.”
“And you’d be okay with that?” I hate how unsure I sound.
“Of course.” Gio crouches in front of me and takes my hands. He doesn’t look away from me as he addresses Rosalia. “Would you mind giving us a moment?”
Rosalia scurries out of the room. Gio smiles at me. “You look beautiful, kitten.”
“We haven’t finished my makeup yet and I’m not wearing the dress.”
“Lipstick and a silk gown aren’t going to make you any more beautiful than you are right now. In fact, don’t put on any more makeup. I like you the way you are.”
“As you wish.” I don’t mean for it to, but pre-wedding jitters make the comment sound snarky.
Gio sighs. “This college thing, Eilidh, were you afraid I’d forbid you to go?”
“Maybe.”
He reaches up and curves a hand around my cheek. “Kitten, I know this is all happening fast and we haven’t gotten to know each other yet, but I want you to understand, I am not trying to put you in another cage. Sure, I’ll set some rules about security, and I’ll do everything I can to protect you whether you like it or not, but I’m not going to stop you following your dreams.”
“You won’t?”
He shakes his head. “I want a partner in life, someone who forges her own path, but comes back to me at the end of the day. Perhaps you imagined something else and that’s my fault for not making my wishes clear.”
