“Then why couldn’t he help Dante?”
“Because he’s not a Knight.” When she only stared at me, I sighed and tried to explain. “Marco and I grew up together. His parents were killed in a car accident when he was a kid. He was raised by his uncle, who is a Knight in the Salvatici House. The Knights are like...”
I tried to think of something she would understand. This would be a hell of a lot easier if they had royalty in the US. “They’re like advisers. There are thirteen. All are appointed to the Council of Thirteen by the head of the House—the Granducato di Toscana, or in English, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who happens to be my father. Marco’s not a Knight, so he has no ruling privileges when it comes to how members, especially Salvatici family members, are disciplined.”
“But his uncle does?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you ask him to help Dante?”
I lifted my cup to my lips again. “Because Marco’s uncle is as depraved as my brother Giovanni. I don’t trust him any more than I trust the Grande Cavaliere.”
“Sela mentioned this Grande-whatever. He’s some kind of priest?”
I huffed. “No. He’s not religious at all.” He was evil. And I didn’t want Natalie anywhere near him. “The current Grande Cavaliere isn’t someone you ever want to meet face to face. You saw him once before. In that ritual in the woods. He was the one in red.”
Her entire body stiffened in her chair, and without even asking, I knew what she was remembering. The way the Grande Cavaliere had bent that naked beta kitten over the stone altar and fucked her right there in front of everyone.
I looked down at my coffee, my stomach twisting at just the reminder she’d seen that depraved ritual. But I didn’t want to scare her, so I gentled my voice when I said, “There’s no reason you’ll have to meet him personally. Marco would never invite him on the property, not because of you, but because of Fee. Legally, he can’t enter without that invitation.”
She nodded and looked down at her coffee. Unable to stand the silence, I dropped my hand and looked at her. She was studying her cup as if it held the secrets to the universe, but I could tell she had more questions.
Scrubbing a hand over the three days of stubble on my chin, I said, “Just ask whatever you want to ask, Natalie.”
She wrapped her hand around her mug, pulling it closer, and as she did, I spotted the slave tattoo on her finger, visible because she wasn’t wearing her wedding band.
“I’m trying to figure this all out. You said Marco wouldn’t invite the Grande Cavalier here because of Felicity. What’s their story? Are they married? Because I didn’t see any rings. But she doesn’t act like a kitten.”
“She’s not a kitten.”
I told myself not to be disappointed she’d taken off her ring. She clearly didn’t want to be married to me. It made sense she’d remove the ring in private.
But I hated the sight of that word. Wished like hell I’d picked something less vile. And I was scared to death she’d forget to put the ring back on before she left this villa and someone else saw the marking. Not because it would make me look like an ass—I didn’t give a shit about that. But because I was terrified of that word on her skin being reported back to the Thirteen and my father.
“And they’re not married,” I forced myself to say instead of ordering her to put the damn ring back on as I wanted, “because Felicity’s father is the head of House Merrick in England, and—”
“Wait. Felicity’s the one you told me about? The woman in England who educated you about your House and what they were really up to?”
I nodded. “She’s also the one my father tried to set me up with. Neither of us was interested. Marco’s way more her type than me. And she and Marco are not married because her father won’t sanction their marriage while my father and the Grande Cavaliere are in control of House Salvatici.”
Her gaze narrowed again. “I don’t understand.”
I knew she didn’t. I also knew she’d never truly understand because I wasn’t about to tell her what the Grande Cavaliere was capable of.
“Her father doesn’t want her under our House’s rule,” I said, trying to keep it simple. “All five Houses are still very patriarchal. As soon as she marries into House Salvatici, she’s bound to follow our rules. Her father won’t allow that to happen while my father is in command.”
She considered that for a moment. “You said Dante went after your father because Maricella is missing. Why would he blame your father for that?”
Thankful we were off the topic of the Grande Cavaliere, I sighed. “Because my father probably is responsible.” I drained the rest of my cold coffee. “After you and I left Tuscany, Dante moved to Rome with Maricella without my father’s approval. That’s a big-time no-no.”
“So your father did something to Maricella? I don’t get it. Why?”
Of course she didn’t get it. She could never understand the twisted way my House worked. Most of the time, I didn’t understand it, but I’d learned long ago not to question the rules. That’s how people died. “If he did, it was to punish Dante.”
“Do you think he did?”
I eased back in my chair and stared at my empty cup on the scarred wooden table. “I don’t know. It’s possible. My father is all about preserving the old rules.”
I lifted my gaze to hers, knowing I wouldn’t hide this truth from her. “He went after you when you fled the villa. I know the things he’s capable of, and, technically, like it or not, Maricella is a kitten. To my father and the other Knights, that means she’s subhuman.”
A sick look passed over Natalie’s face, but she didn’t break eye contact with me. “Dante doesn’t think so.”
“No.” Once again, I was amazed at this woman’s ability to read people. She’d spent only one dinner and one long afternoon with my brother and his kitten, and she’d easily seen a truth it had taken me and my House much longer to see. “I’ll know more once I talk to him. Hopefully then, I’ll have a better idea how I can help him.”
“The only way you’re going to help him is to find her.”
I had a sinking feeling she was right. I looked down at my hand on the table. “I’ll talk to Marco about that on our way to see my father.”
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “When will you go?”
I sighed and glanced toward the clock above the stove. “As soon as I shower and change. I told Marco I’d be up to the villa after we had breakfast.”
She nodded and looked down at my coffee mug. “And you think you can talk your father into letting Dante go?”
I pushed to my feet and took my empty mug into the kitchen, my brain already skipping ahead to how the hell I was going to do exactly that. “I have to try. Regardless of his faults, he’s my brother. And unlike Giovanni, he’s not a lost cause. He’s still got a heart buried somewhere inside him. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t give a shit what happened to Maricella.”
“And then what?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, setting my cup in the dishwasher.