A Breath of Scandal, page 16
“She is downstairs with Carlo right now.” Margot entered the bathroom and stared hungrily at Adele’s body as she bathed.
“I don’t want gossip, Margot,” she said as she raised herself in the tub and looked towards her sister. “Can I count on you for that?”
“Of course, dearest,” she said softly.
Adele stared at her for a moment then returned her attention to the sponge close by and began to wash her body. She turned towards Margot as her eyes noticed her bandaged hand again. “What happened?” she asked as she looked from Margot back to her hand.
“You fell…” Margot trailed off.
“I fell?” Adele asked sarcastically.
“What do you want me to say to you? That you fell because you were drunk and cut your hand open, is that what you want me to say to you?” Margot confronted her with the same type of sarcasm.
Adele continued to wash herself with one hand until she felt Margot’s hand cover hers and both sets of eyes locked in a power struggle. For a moment, Adele held on tight to the sponge then simply released it.
“Lean forward so that I can scrub your back. We will get you dressed, go downstairs, and take on Mother together,” Margot said to her gently and Adele gave her a conspiratorial smirk and leaned forward to allow Margot to scrub her back.
Chapter Fourteen
Adele walked into the large drawing room of the villa at the Caravagio Winery. Unlike her home in New York, the room seemed much bigger with its high windows that seemed to bathe the large expanse with a golden light. The furniture was also of a more European style with pastel silks and gold threads. The house itself dated back over a hundred years and it featured open porticos and large verandas with roman arches. The grounds were lush and green and from the house, the vineyards could be seen in their entirety as far as the eye could behold. The house as well as the vineyard had been a part of the Visconti family for several generations. As Adele turned slightly into the room, she noticed her mother turned to face her. Adele raised her chin with an air of superiority. Her mother nodded to her in recognition. Whether Madeline Visconti, her mother, liked it or not, she bowed to Adele acknowledging the power she held not only over her but the family. Adele held the purse strings; her dead husband had seen to that, so Madeline behaved as much as she was able.
Madeline had always resented the idea that in one way or another she had been subservient to the men in her life. From one to the other, she had always had to cajole or beg for money. And now she had to bow to her daughter’s generosity, or lack of. She had expected to be set for life when she had met her Italian count, but custom and his will to give his fortune to his blood children had won out. She had counted on his heart not on his love for his offspring. This had also been a betrayal, Madeline told herself, and this had put a permanent wedge between her and her daughter. It was never that she did not love her children, it was that she loved herself more; she was clear about that. Her dependency on money from her children because of Conte Visconti had been a complete surprise to her the day the will was read.
†
“Please take a seat,” the solicitor suggested to Mrs. Visconti, Contessa de Caravagio. Madeline sat down with great poise. She had to control the joy she was feeling inside her. It wasn’t that she had had no feelings for her dead husband, Conte Vittorio Visconti de Caravagio, it was that the anticipation of the wealth that she was about to inherit made her head spin with giddiness.
Her children by Vittorio Visconti sat to her right, Matteo her son, next to her, and his twin sister Adele next to him. The twins held hands to comfort each other in their grief. It surprised her because Adele always shied away from being touched. She had always been that way as a baby. When Madeline had attempted to show some affection to her youngest daughter, the child had always pushed her away, preferring the affections of the nanny or the old housekeeper. She had taken care of that right away and had the nanny sacked. She was unable to get rid of the housekeeper because Vittorio would not hear of it. He had insisted that she stay as she had been in the family for many years. Madeline had relented and Adele had always resented her for getting rid of her dear nanny, Teresa, who had always been loving towards her. Unlike his twin sister, Matteo had showered his mother with affection, and she had loved him as much as she was capable of.
†
Margot entered the room and sat to her right and only looked briefly towards her. Lines had to be drawn for Adele’s benefit. She would have a private talk with her mother for assurances later in the day.
“Mama, stop being so difficult about this, it’s over! She is finally out of our lives, I have seen to that,” Margot insisted.
“That putana will never be out of our lives and that bastarda carries the name!” Madeline’s hatred for Catty was not only evident but it appeared to seethe out of her.
“It is something that will not change. Adele would never be parted from her.” Margot stated with crossed arms and walked back and forth in the room. “We must fight the battles we can win, Mama!”
“Carlo is the only legitimate heir. He should not have to share anything with that bastarda!”
“Don’t let Adele ever hear you call her that, not ever.” Margot said as she stopped in front of the window and watched as Adele walked towards the vineyard. “Sometimes we must be patient and abide our time, Mama.” She smiled and then turned to look at her mother with a smile of incredible satisfaction.
†
Adele stared towards the vines of grapes heavy in their perfection; soon it would be harvesting time. Somehow that just didn’t hold the satisfaction that she had expected it to. She was deep in thought when a voice brought her back to reality.
“Mama, tell me about Gillian,” Carlo asked softly, and he was caught by surprise at the sadness expressed in his mother’s eyes.
“There is nothing to tell. Don’t worry yourself; it is not for you to worry about,” she said wearily.
“How can you say that? We love her, you love her.” He finally saw a spark in his mother’s eyes. He also noticed how her stance had straightened with sudden anger.
“She does not! It is done, Carlo, it is done!” She could not control the anger in her voice and Carlo took a step back.
“Why are you being this way? You must stop this. We are a family, and you love her!” he insisted. “Talk to me! I have a right to know.”
“She doesn’t want me, Carlo. She just doesn’t want me anymore.” As she said this, she seemed to have lost her breath.
“I don’t understand, Mama. I see things. I don’t understand,” he stated gently.
“It’s over, caro mio. It’s over.”
“But I see how she …”
Adele did not allow him to finish. “Enough, Carlo! No more!” She turned and walked away from him.
†
“Why haven’t you called me back, Margot!” The voice on the phone insisted.
“I have been busy,” she stated in boredom. “You must be patient.”
“You said that we would be together.”
“I never promised you anything.” She had gotten tired of the game she had been playing with him. After all, she didn’t need him anymore. But, she had just one more hand to play. “You promised me that you would take care of my happiness and you have not delivered. You just don’t love me enough.”
“How can you say that? I have done murder for you!”
“But she is still alive!”
“Margot, the damage is done. I can’t…” he begged her.
“If you love me, you will finally end it,” she stated flatly. “Then, caro mio, we will finally be together forever,” she purred. “I cannot wait for you to cover my body with yours and…well, we both know what you like, no?” She hung up the phone.
†
He remained on the phone with only the sound of a dial tone. At that moment the enormity of what he had done finally became clear to him.
Giovanni de Lanpandusa hung up the phone and at that moment the road before him was finally clear. He walked towards a table close by that held a decanter of a rich brown liquid. He had always enjoyed his French brandy. He poured the brandy to the brim of the tumbler, sat down behind his desk, and began to drink it. He brought the half-filled glass up and pressed it to his forehead. He felt lost and empty.
Margot had taken his pride and his reputation as a doctor. No, he finally admitted. He had done that to himself. He had broken his oath to heal rather than destroy. And for what? Clearly, it had been for nothing. It finally hit him that he had been played. She was never going to be with him. And how could he want a woman when the price had been his soul? He finished the glass and poured himself another.
Sometime during the night, he sat down and stared at the phone. Giovanni took a deep breath and picked it up and dialled.
The ringing seemed to take forever until the voice that he needed to hear said, “Pronto.”
†
Adele waited for the person on the other side to speak.
“Contessa, I have failed you and myself…” he slurred.
“Giovanni?”
“I have done murder and I beg your forgiveness. I have always served your family. Your late father trusted that I would take care of his family and I have betrayed that.”
“Giovanni, speak for God’s sake…just speak!” She was losing her patience with him and his drunkenness.
“Gillian… I have done murder Contessa…” he slurred.
“Giovanni…”
“I met Margot a few years ago and I…” he began.
Chapter Fifteen
“Gillian! Amore mio, listen to me please,” she begged in desperation.
“Dell…?” Gillian had begun to hear voices and was not sure whether what she heard was real or merely just part of her dreams. She focused on the phone in her hand then brought it up to her ear again.
“Amore, listen to me please. Don’t take any medications, do you understand? Please, amore, you must listen. I didn’t know. God, I didn’t know! I love you so very much. Please forgive me. Forgive me,” Adele cried in horror. “Gillian, are you there?”
Gillian hung up the phone and walked to the balcony with a smile on her face. It didn’t matter that it had been a dream she told herself. She had heard Adele. Even now how she longed to hear her voice. She smiled and she curled up in her favourite corner and drifted off to sleep.
†
Adele ran like a woman who had lost her mind. Making calls and giving instructions. The ambulance to pick up Gillian. Reaching out to Candice to make sure that Gillian took no other medications. Calling for a plane to be made ready so that she and the children would fly back to the States immediately. And during all that time she remembered every word, every deed, and every horrible thing that she had done to Gillian. The gates that had held her sanity in place burst open and she could no longer hold all her emotions in check.
Carlo helped her get everything ready for their departure. She explained to him as much as she knew and gave him specific instructions.
“Come with us, Mama, she will need us,” he cajoled her as he held Catty on the tarmac.
“You must go. You and Catty must get there before me. I have to stop her, Carlo. I have to stop Margot before she does any more harm to us. This is what I have to do to keep you all safe. Please tell her that I love her more than my life. Now go! You must both go to your other mama.” She kissed him, then kissed Catty. “Go.” She turned away from them and got in the car ready to take her to retributions.
†
“Margot…it’s over,” Giovanni said sadly. “I have finally done the right thing. I wanted…I wanted to hear your voice before…”
“What are you rambling on about?” she stated impatiently. “You are really getting tiresome.” She inspected the manicure she had had done that day. She was thinking that she didn’t like the shade when she heard a loud sound and pulled the phone away from her ear.
“Giovanni?” she asked as she put the phone to her ear again. “Hello?” She again pulled the phone away from her ear and smiled to herself as she placed it back on its mount. One less thing to worry about, she said to herself.
†
“Mama! Where is Margot?” Adele yelled as she shook her mother by the arms.
“Let go of me! Why should I know where she is?” Madeline looked away from her and at that moment Adele realized that her mother had known too.
“You knew, didn’t you? You knew what Margot was doing!” she demanded rather than asked.
“Yes, I knew. It is time that you put away this thing that you do with women. And on top of that, breeding with them. What did you think I would do?” Madeline seethed at her.
“Breed? Did you say breed?”
“That abomination child that you had with her. Not of our blood to inherit and to take away from Carlo. Did you think I would allow that to happen?” Madeline faced her daughter and finally Adele was able to see her mother’s true nature in its entirety. She had not thought much of Madeline, but she had never truly expected all the venom that seemed to pour out of her.
“The sperm was Matteo’s.” Adele simply stated and saw the shock register in the face of her mother.
Madeline grabbed the nearest chair and sat herself down. “No, I don’t believe you.”
“He wanted me to have my own children as I chose if I ever found someone to love.”
“The other one?” Madeline finally voiced the horror that now they shared.
“Yes, it would have been a son. My son and you were party to his murder,” Adele said softly. The softness in her voice was more frightening than the yelling. Madeline truly began to feel fear as she now stared at her daughter.
“You will never see the light of day. You will not be missed. No one will care. I will be the only one that knows where you are and that is where you will stay and die. I will be your jailer till your last breath.” Adele turned around and walked away.
As Adele left the room, four men walked in and Adele could hear her mother yelling for her as she walked away.
“Adele!”
She would imprison her mother and keep her away where she could never ever hurt them again. Madeline would be locked up in a room with her own demons to torment her. Adele didn’t care. She was not the same woman she had once been. Whether it was retribution or justice, it didn’t seem to matter. It was done and now on to Margot.
Neither Gillian nor her children would ever be safe with Margot on the loose. She had seen to her mother now onto the next viper to be put down. She had already lost her soul, what did another crime hurt. Adele flew out of the villa and headed now for Margot.
†
Margot was in the tasting room of the vineyard when Adele walked in.
“You must taste this one. I think it will be the finest one to the venture. It will launch the winery…” Margot’s voice trailed off as she saw how Adele was staring at her. “Is something wrong?”
“Giovanni…” was all Adele said softly.
“Ah…” she said and stared at Adele. “I do love you, you know. That is the one truth in all this.”
Adele stared at her, waiting. Ready to pounce, like something wild, and tear her limb from limb. “Love…”
“I have loved you since the moment you offered me that flower you had picked one day with Papa. Well, your Papa anyway, not mine,” she stated in an eerie voice. “I noticed you that day. You were the most exquisite thing I had ever seen.” She stared at Adele as she continued to speak. “I wanted you from that moment. I waited but then she got in the way.”
Adele stared at her as Margot’s words intensified the desire for murder within her.
“I slept with that swine for you!” Suddenly Margot accused. “I did disgusting things with him for you!”
“You tried to kill Gillian! You murdered our baby!” Adele screamed.
“Well…so you are updated,” Margot said coldly. “Well, I had my fill. At least for a bit, dearest Dell,” she purred. “I enjoyed all of you.” She smiled.
Adele stared in confusion.
“Did you think that it was Gillian all those nights?” Margot laughed. “It was me, cara mia. It was me,” she purred.
Adele stared at her till it suddenly hit her. The enormity and the disgust generated by the words landed on her with such force that she swayed, and her body’s revulsion made itself known. She could not stop the vomiting or the nausea.
When Adele looked up Margot knew that she had to run.
Adele chased her as Margot ran toward the garage where the cars were kept. Margot got there first and jumped into the first vehicle, a yellow Lamborghini that was the fastest vehicle in the garage, and sped away with Adele in chase. Margot almost hit Adele as she drove out like the demons of hell were chasing her and she knew they were. Adele ran into the garage and jumped into her black Aston Martin and as the engine roared, she sped out in chase of Margot. They drove recklessly and hit fence posts and the rails that kept the vehicles in certain areas from going over the road along the way. Margot saw through her rearview mirror that Adele was gaining on her and floored the pedal. The roaring of the engine kicked into a higher gear. The screeching of the turns became more frequent and there were near misses with other vehicles as well coming on the opposite direction. As Margot took another turn, she saw another vehicle and she lost control along the curve. In the chase, Adele was not able to keep control of her vehicle either, trying not to hit the oncoming vehicle as well. Both vehicles went over the side. They appeared to take flight for what seemed like forever in slow motion, and then the noise as they hit the ground below filled the air. The smoke was seen from the vineyard as the fire reached upward towards the heavens.
