Chapter 45: FORTY - FIVE

RAFFAELE

“Has she come alone?” I asked Cesar, who happened to burst into the breakfast room to break the news of Kyla Donovan’s unexpected arrival.

Cesar’s nod was crisp and sharp. “Yes, sir, she has come alone, save for the driver in the car. He is waiting outside.”

I exchanged a look with Amadeo, who happened to have the same nonplussed expression on his face.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled. “Have her situated in one of the side rooms and stay with her,” I ordered him and added cuttingly, “Do not let her out of your sight for a second, Cesar, and make sure you have placed two additional guards outside the door.”

Having stood by my side all these years, I was more than sure than Cesar would follow every instruction to the letter. With a curt nod, he left, leaving the two of us.

“This woman is fucking unpredictable,” I heard Amadeo snicker beside me as I slotted my elbows on the back of a nearby chair.

“She has a motive, Amadeo,” I drawled with a slow shake of my head and locked my eyes with his. “There is no way she would risk her safety after all this time her daughter has been taken.”

My brother, unfortunately, didn’t share the same conviction probably. “What motive could she possibly have when she just walked into the devil’s lair by herself?”

“We will have to find that out.” I stood straighter, smoothing down the suit and buttoned it up. “Listen, before I walk into the room with this woman, I need to know if we are on the same page.”

There was a mix of anger and discontent marked over his features. “Do I have a choice?”

I sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Amadeo, you are my brother. You will always have a choice, no matter what. I don’t want anyone, much less Kyla Donovan, to drive a wedge between us. If she so much sniffs a crack, she will try to slice and dice us.”

As brothers, as family, Amadeo, and I went through some shit and came out stronger than we were. But I didn’t want him to be crossed when I was at war within and without. What I felt for Celestia was beyond was understandable, and explaining it to another person was near impossible.

Thankfully, he acquiesced for the time being. “Kyla Donovan is not getting the better of any of us.”

“Let’s go then.”

As we stepped outside the room, a maid was passing by. She saw us and paused as I directed, “Send Lila to Celestia’s room and make sure she stays there. Under no circumstances she will come down or gets an air about this. Is that clear?”

The terrified look on her face told me she understood it well enough. “Yes, sir.”

My entire plan for the morning went down the drain. I had hoped I’d see Celestia after breakfast or at least inquire about her well-being…but now the earth seemed to be titled on its axis upside down. Not only I have to explain it to Amadeo but also deal with Kyla Donovan. And God knows that woman was as shady as they came.

Crossing the living room, we rounded off a corner and walked into the long corridor. Two guards stood ramrod straight outside one of the rooms as Amadeo, and I approached. One of them held open the door for us as we entered.

And there she was, donned in her businesslike pant-suit, formal hairstyle and obscure manner. My eyes swept her from head to toe, and I couldn’t notice a single sign of distress in her features that imply her daughter’s abduction. Kyla looked like she came here to conduct business.

“Mr. Roselli,” she approached with her pass-the-butter voice, sounding every bit fake. Unlucky for her, I could see such falsity from a mile away. “I apologize for showing up unannounced. You must be extremely busy—”

“Can we skip the preamble, Mrs. Donovan?” I cut her off, claiming the seat on the couch across from her. Amadeo took to my right and sat with his legs crossed over another.

“Of course.” She gave a tight-lipped smile, and I wondered, what exactly was she trying to achieve? Kyla cleared her throat. “I have come here with a proposal, a sort of settlement you can say.”

“And I’d say that I am not interested,” I dismissed it right away.

I’d have to give to her, seriously. After all this time, she has the audacity to show up unannounced and with a fucking proposal?

“You didn’t even hear me out.” There was an edge of displeasure in her voice, and something told me that she was not used to being at a disadvantage. Well, if she was going to deal with the devil, she better get used to my way.

“Why should we?” Amadeo spoke for the first time since we entered. “Give us a good reason, and then we might consider.”

Kyla wrung her fingers and pursed her lips for a long moment before willing herself to smile. And I noticed that Celestia hardly shared any feature of her mother. Maybe the hair color but not in the exact shade.

And as for her habits and moral fiber, Celestia was far from Kyla.

How on earth, a vicious woman like Kyla gave birth to her?

Attempting another of her faux smiles, Kyla began anew. “I was hoping you would say,” she told Amadeo. “And, which is why I have brought this in good faith.”

She slightly bent down to pick up her beige hand-held bag and reached into it as Amadeo and I shared a cynical look. Then we watched every little move of her with the precision of a hawk as she pulled out a piece of paper and slid it towards me.

Picking up, I perused over the letters.

“Seven and a half million,” I muttered, glancing down at the cheque and then handed it over to Amadeo.

“That is half the amount I owe,” she acknowledged as if it would pacify anything between us. The woman was lucky; we wanted her money instead of her head.

Amadeo placed it down on the table and leaned back comfortably. “It still doesn’t hold on to anything,” he said. Being the man who regularly dealt with numbers, I let him play it out.

As expected of a shrewd woman like Kyla Donovan, she understood the pecking order very well. Instead of answering my brother, she clubbed her palms and turned her eyes to me. “Mr. Roselli, this might be just money for you, but I have my daughter’s life on the line. I have much more to lose than you do, so please, I request you to hear me out first.”

It took all my strength to sit before her and let her get away with the fake charms. And if I didn’t give her a chance, it would pile on Amadeo’s suspicions.

Still calm and poised, I allowed. “Alright, say your piece, but I can’t guarantee anything else.”

“In exchange for this seven and a half million, let Celestia go. I am giving you my word that I will pay up the rest within the given time.”

A burst of laughter rumbled out of me while Amadeo shook his head and smiled. “This is the funniest thing I have heard, Rafe,” he told me and then turned to Kyla. “You pay up and take your daughter home. That’s the deal.”

When it was clear that Amadeo would not give her an inch, her dubious gaze settled over mine. I immediately shook my head. “No. And I am not going to offer an explanation because you owe none.”

“She is an innocent, Mr. Roselli!” she exclaimed like I contradicted. Of course, she was innocent and far better than her mother. “Celestia has never lived a day without me, and I am worried to death for her. Please, I am requesting you.”

Her voice trembled and eyes glassed like she was about to cry. And I would be damned to trust her crocodile tears when seconds ago, she was blatantly sly and cunning.

But I sensed trouble when Amadeo looked at me like he was inclined to believe her. I immediately shook my head, dismissing any notion of clemency that he thought he could give to her.

“Celestia is doing just fine,” I told Kyla. “She managed without you all this time so that she can live another two weeks as well. Besides, I have given my word that she won’t be harmed unless you do anything stupid.”

“She would not be harmed?” She raised a brow and scoffed mildly. “While you would still hold her captive?”

“Since I am a businessman, I prefer the term insurance,” I told her deadpanned. “So, your daughter’s well-being depends more on you than on me, Mrs. Donovan.”

The air was static between three of us until Kyla caved a little, or pretended to cave in.

“Would you at least let me meet her in private? And before you deny me, this is your house and your men circling the place.” She waved her hand around in gesture.

“Fine,” Amadeo said as my head snapped to his. Fuck. I send him a scathing look that he simply brushed off without a care.

I had some inkling that if I gave an inch of a berth, Kyla would gladly stretch a mile and take advantage. Besides, an arrogant part of me believed Celestia was more comfortable under this roof than she has ever been in her entire life.

“Thank you.” The triumphant smile on her face was glowing.

“Ten minutes and not a second extra,” I hissed as I stood up and dashed out of the room before I have to take in any more of her bullshit.

“Rafe, wait, wait!” Amadeo called out from behind, but I didn’t stop until I was well without her ear-shot range. And finally, when we were at the end of the living room, did I turn to snicker at my idiot brother.

“Why did you have to undermine me like that?” I gritted through a clenched jaw and tried so hard to calm myself down.

“I thought you said I’d always have a choice.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“You are twisting my words, and you know it!”

He continued to look at me in silence, and I knew that one of us had to maintain composure and yield. Since I had already lost my temper once, I backed out.

“We will talk about it later,” I told him, as calmly as I could afford at the moment.

Far across the room, Cesar stood in attention. He must have followed us in here when we barged out. I called him closer and ordered, “Bring Celestia in.”