Page 32 of His Housekeeper's Twin Baby Confession
Massimo swallowed the ball in his chest. ‘Twenty-two.’
‘You were young too.’
‘Old enough to know that my brother had a death wish.’
‘It must have been hard to watch him self-destruct.’
Massimo’s chest felt tight. ‘The hardest. The worst thing is knowing I could have done more to stop it.’
Carrie shook her head. ‘I doubt that. If someone is hellbent on destroying themselves then they’re the only ones who can stop it. When they want to. No power on earth can stop them.’
‘You sound like you talk from experience.’
Carrie shook her head again. ‘Not personally. I just grew up in an area where I saw it all around me. Luckily my mother kept me away from malign influences as much as possible. I saw people self-destruct, but I also saw amazing examples of people pulling themselves free—and, believe me, they had a lot less to live for than your brother did. So it can be done...but it needs to come from the person themselves.’
‘Your mother was strong?’
Carrie nodded. ‘The strongest.’
‘Your father...?’
She tensed visibly. ‘He left her as soon as he knew she was pregnant. She found out that he was married with a family. She hadn’t known. She’d hoped that...’
Carrie stopped talking. Massimo could fill in the blanks. Betrayal and dashed dreams. He was surprised at the anger he felt towards the man for leaving them both like that.
After a moment, Carrie observed, ‘You never went down the same self-destructive road as your brother?’
‘No. I knew I had to be responsible because no one else was. I had a legacy to protect for both of us—even if he seemed intent on destroying it.’
‘You made a choice, Massimo. You could have easily decided the easier path was to lose yourself.’
He’d never thought about it like that before. And suddenly he realised that they had veered into very personal territory.
Normally Massimo shut down any attempt to talk about his family—especially his brother. But she hadn’t asked. He’d brought it up. He realised he trusted her. A revelation that he chose to push aside for now.
The car pulled to a stop outside a building and he said, ‘We’re here.’
Massimo led Carrie up to his apartment—a penthouse with panoramic views of Ipanema Beach in front and Christ the Redeemer on Mount Corcovado behind them.
‘Wow...’
Carrie’s eyes were wide as she took in the sleek modern furnishings and the bright pop art on the walls. She let go of his hand and walked around. Massimo opened the sliding doors that led out to a terrace, where there was a seating area and a pool.
‘Wow...’ she breathed again, looking out at the view.
Massimo took her hand, saying, ‘And if you come up here...’
He led her up to the very top, where there was a bar area. Ric’s favourite place to party. But he knew she wouldn’t be interested in that.
He pointed into the distance. ‘Christ The Redeemer.’
‘Oh, wow...’ And then, as if she’d just realised what she’d said, ‘Sorry, I sound so stupid... But this is just...’
‘Wow. Yes, I know.’
She scrunched up her nose a little. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but I wouldn’t have had you down as owning an apartment like this.’
‘That’s because it wasn’t always mine. It was Ric’s.’
