Chapter 57 Who is Scarlett?
CHAPTER 57
Who is Scarlett?
ROMAN – POINT OF VIEW
Sleep evades me.
Damian and Caleb are still here. They didn’t leave. I know why they stay, why they linger close to me. They know this is not the first time this has happened.
Amara and I were in love, or so I thought. I was young and a fool. I shared some classes with Damian and Caleb, but we were not as close as we are now. I was engrossed in Dante and Amara. How stupid of me to have been blind to the sighs. The way Dante always lingered. The way sex soured soon. The way everything went cold. I thought our relationship had naturally advanced, and we were growing as people. I didn’t know she was dancing around with my enemy.
I had so many ideas then, bright and foolish ones. Dante and I would work on our ideas, the good and bad ones. He always took credit for some of mine, claiming to have done the coursework and led presentations with my project. Even then, I didn’t suspect betrayal. I considered it healthy competition. Some part of me must have known because while I worked on my groundbreaking framework, I kept it away from both of them. I wanted to keep it private until I knew it would be permanent.
The grand idea was private global infrastructure as a service. I developed a radical framework for it that showed Infrastructure shouldn’t belong to the government. It should be owned, optimized and leased by private entities that would move faster than states. I envisioned a vertically integrated private system that controlled ports, warehouses, rail hubs, power grids, data center and logistic corridors.
It was supposed to be my ticket out of the trenches. A golden ticket that would have helped me take care of my parents. I showed it to him like a fool because I needed funding. I wanted the connection that came with his name. I remember the greed that flashed in his eyes to this day. He couldn’t steal the models, documents and simulations himselves so Amara did the dirty work for him.
She stole something painfully important to me. Then, she dared to cosy up to me while I went insane trying to find it. I was stupid enough not to duplicate it.
Weeks later, the fire happened, and everything changed. My whole world burned to the ground. My father passed painfully, and my mother shut me out.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Caleb leans against the counter and pushes a glass of gin towards me.
I grab it, but don’t drink. I prefer to only drink occasionally, not when everything is on the line. I like to make informed and clear decisions. It would be so easy to lose my mind in a bottle, to crawl into it and nest at the bottom. I did that once, after my father’s funeral. Damian, Caleb and Elena pulled me out of it.
“Just thinking about the chaos of making the same mistakes twice. How stupid am I?” I laugh dryly and push the drink away.
Damian scoffs and walks to the fridge, “I don’t consider it a mistake, though. You allowed yourself to care about someone. It is a win.”
Disgust courses through me, “She means nothing to me, absolutely nothing.”
“Well, maybe,” he scoffs, amusement in his eyes, which only pisses me off more.
“Calm down, we’re on your team, remember?” He reminds me, and I clench my jaw hard.
“I think Scarlett is a fucking bitch for what she did, and we might have to throw her to the dogs!” Caleb declares abruptly.
I freeze, heart racing at his vicious words.
Her crying face flashes through my mind.
I push it back, jaws painfully clenched.
“Right?” he grins at me.
I blink, irritated, heat flushes through me, “What?”
“Scarlett is a fucking b –” He repeats with a wide grin.
I cut him off with a growl, “Do not push me tonight, Caleb. I know what you are doing, and I will break your face!”
Damian eases in smoothly, “What plans do you have for Dante? He got away with stealing your idea once, built a shit organisation out of it though, so what are the plans for him?”
My face flushes as I am swarmed by an overwhelming amount of emotions. I slam my fist on the table and seethe, “I don’t know, but he’s not getting away with it this time.”
“Calm down before you get an aneurysm.” Caleb frowns at me, concerned.
He reaches for me, but I shrug off his touch. My phone rings. Luca. I exhale harshly, take the phone and walk up the stairs, then enter my bedroom, trying not to linger or stare at her door.
I step out to the balcony and pick up the call.
“We lost the deal.” He states. He doesn’t sound too angry.
“We did.”
“Your girlfriend sold us out to Ricci.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” I scoff, pulling at my tie as heat flushes through me.
“Could have fooled me with how close you were a few days ago, eye-fucking each other and all that. Do you know why she did it? What does he have on her? He made her dance. Why?” he asks calmly, a bit too calm.
I exhale deeply and tilt my head, “She said he was going to expose her,”
“And you don’t think she was talking about your relationship.” He completes with a soft laugh.
“She’s hiding something huge, huge enough to gamble on her new life. I need to find out what it is.” I reveal, loosening my tie.
“Hm,” he sighs, “Something tells me you won’t like what you’ll find, so be sure she’s worth it before you take such a step. Women … the women we chose make us who we are. My father was a good man, and in his absence, my mom is pulling strings, doing her best to hold on to his legacy.”
“In the familia, the La Cosa Nostra, things are delicate. My father held so much power, and as his only son, everything has been dumped on my plate, including a blonde Sicilian brat who is hellbent on killing me. Somehow, Adelina reminds me of Scarlett, which makes me wonder how much we really know about your girlfriend?”
“I’m Don, now, Roman, and you’re one of my closest friends. I can’t afford to overlook somethings including your girlfriend’s identity, so figure it out. I called to tell you the wedding has been moved up. See you on Wednesday. Bring everyone, Scarlett, too. You’ll be here for a week. Ciao.” He ends the call before I can respond.
I stand there, the cold biting and the dark waters below me.
Who is Scarlett?