It was stupid how much it hurt. There’d always been those little comments from Brian—constantly reminding her that she wasn’t family, that she had to be grateful and good, keep her on her best behaviour... The few times she’d tried to fight back, he’d squashed her.
‘I’m no blood relative to any of them.’
And that was what gave Brian even more power over her.
‘You don’t think of me as family?’ Alessandro asked.
She glanced up at him. ‘You weren’t there. How could you be?’
Alessandro had only appeared from boarding school during holidays and formal occasions. Her aloof ‘step-cousin’ couldn’t have been less interested in forming a relationship with his new family.
‘And thank you for that reminder,’ he echoed with a soft jeer. An arrogant smile curved his lips for a fleeting second. ‘I chose to leave—why can’t you?’
‘I’m not like you,’ she said. ‘I can’t just walk out. I can’t talk to Susan about it—she doesn’t know about any of this.’ Katie was protecting her on several levels. ‘I’d buy out the debt myself, if I could, but I have hardly any money.’
His gaze narrowed. ‘You said your sauces sell well?’
She bristled at his belittling tone. ‘They do okay. They’re even stocked in Sybarite, here in London.’
She’d been so delighted when the gourmet deli had put in a repeat order only a week ago, taking almost all her stock.
‘Sybarite? Wonderful.’ He said with light mockery. ‘Then why aren’t you paid accordingly?’
‘I put all the profit back into the business... I don’t need a lot personally.’
His eyebrows shot up.
‘I live in,’ she explained irritably. ‘I have accommodation and food. I don’t need fancy things.’
He skimmed a glance over her outfit and she shrank at the hint of disdain in his eyes.
But then she fought back. ‘I knew things weren’t good—that’s why I started the garden tours as well. I owe it to them to work hard...to help Susan.’
She’d heard that phrase so many times and Brian was right, she did owe them. They’d plucked her from a life of poverty and neglect... Who knew what her life would have been like if it hadn’t been for their generosity?
‘You don’t owe them the rest of your life,’ Alessandro said bluntly.
‘No, but I love Susan,’ she said fiercely. ‘And she needs me now.’
‘There’s no one else? Not her husband?’ he said dryly.
Katie froze at the disparagement in his tone. ‘All the times I’ve tried to stand up to Brian... In the end I’ve given in...’
‘Because of Susan?’
‘Yes.’
But Alessandro was right, wasn’t he? She didn’t have to sacrifice her whole life.
‘I guess because of her...he has a hold over me,’ she said lamely.
‘And I don’t?’
‘Of course not.’
But she couldn’t meet Alessandro’s eyes. He had a hold over her in a way that she could never admit to herself, let alone to him.
‘So you think that if you marry someone else then you won’t have to marry Carl?’