C7 7

The door of Benjamin's cabin opened with a bang, and they looked up to see Alessandro rushing inside. He stood shocked, seeing Benjamin holding Isabella's hands.

Isabella quickly extricated her hands from Benjamin's hold and stood up, gulping.

"What the hell?" Alessandro asked in outrage.

Alessandro Carter, an Italian, works in the hardware department of the company, and before Benjamin had taken on the CEO position, he had worked in the same department for six months.

He had always found Alessandro easygoing and friendly. But now, the man appeared furious for some reason.

"Alessandro? Everything alright?" Benjamin asked, only to get a glare in return.

Benjamin frowned at the confusing behaviour of the man.

The glare then turned from him and ended upon Isabella, who moved to hide behind him.

"What?" Benjamin asked, seeing Isabella cowering behind him, clutching onto his shirt tightly.

"Izzy," Alessandro called furiously, and Benjamin frowned.

"I didn't do anything, fratellone. I swear," Isabella said, peeking from behind him.

"Fratellone?" Benjamin asked. Fratellone is a term Italians use to address their older brothers. He had no idea that Isabella is Alessandro's sister.

"Izzy, come here," Alessandro called out again.

"No. You will scold me. I won't come until you promise me that you won't scold me," Isabella said.

Alessandro took deep breaths to calm himself.

"Okay. Fine! Just come here," Alessandro said in a calm tone.

Isabella moved forward, still with a suspicious look on her face.

"Why didn't you tell me you are Alessandro's sister?" Benjamin asked.

"I thought you knew," Isabella said.

"How will I know without you telling me?"

"Everyone here knows," Isabella said with a shrug.

"Izzy, what is happening here? The whole office is humming with the gossip that the new errand girl is getting married to the CEO. Some people even came and asked me when I am giving them the treat," Alessandro said in exasperation.

"Employees weren't supposed to know," Benjamin said, rubbing his face in irritation.

"Do you have any idea what you have done, Isabella? You have been here for hardly two weeks. How in the hell did you fall in love in two weeks? And how could you decide to get married without talking to anyone at home?" Alessandro asked angrily.

"It's not like that, fratellone. You misunderstood," Isabella said.

Benjamin then explained to Alessandro in detail about what had brought this impulsive act from his side.

Alessandro was furious.

"You fucking used her," Alessandro accused.

"Alessandro! I can understand your emotions. But my intentions were not to hurt anyone. I admit, my act was impulsive. I didn't think through the consequences. I felt cornered at that time, and I did the first thing that came to my mind," Benjamin said, trying to placate the overprotective brother in front of him.

The six months he worked with Alessandro, they had gotten along well. But this is a new side of Alessandro he is seeing.

The overprotective brother side.

"That is not an excuse, Benjamin. I admit, we work for you. But that doesn't give you the right to take advantage of her like that. And how could you really ask her to marry you? You want my sister to be a sacrifice so that you can gain custody of your niece," Alessandro asked.

"Alessandro, I am sorry if I offended you in any way. That was not my intention. As I said, I didn't have any choice. I am not forcing you into anything. I am just asking you to give it a thought. I will ask my parents to come back soon, so that we could come and talk to your parents," Benjamin said.

"That won't be necessary. We are not interested," Alessandro said.

They heard shuffling sounds from the baby basket and saw the little girl waking up from her nap.

She sat up in the basket by herself and rubbed her eyes.

She looked around and saw Isabella sitting on the couch warily watching her brother and boss.

"Bell bell," Sapphire called out, and Isabella picked up the little girl with a smile.

Isabella brought Sapphire towards Alessandro, and Alessandro watched the baby in awe.

He had heard about the little girl from Isabella a lot. But this is the first time seeing her up close.

"Fratellone, meet Sapphire. Sapphy, this is Sandro, my brother," Isabella introduced the baby to her brother and vice versa.

"Andro?" Sapphire asked, making Alessandro chuckle.

"Yes, Sandro. Hello, Sapphire," Alessandro greeted the child with a smile.

Sapphire took Isabella's gold chain in her pudgy hands and brought it to her mouth.

"No, baby," Isabella chided softly, prying Sapphire's fingers from her chain.

"Why does she look so pale?" Alessandro asked.

Benjamin sighed and told him about how much Sapphire cried seeing Eleanor's photo and how she fell asleep exhausted.

Alessandro felt a twinge of pity for the cute little one. Not enough to sacrifice his sister though.

"If you don't mind, I would like to take Isabella home," Alessandro said, and Benjamin nodded in understanding.

"Have you gone crazy? How could you be so foolish?" Rosetta Carter yelled, glaring at her daughter.

Isabella maintained a diplomatic silence, which seemed to infuriate her mother more, who came forward and pinched her on her arms.

Isabella hissed in pain.

"Mommy! It hurts," Isabella said, rubbing her arms.

"It was supposed to hurt," Rosetta said.

"I didn't do it intentionally, Momma. He looked so desperate and was pleading through his eyes. I just thought I would help him," Isabella said.

"Yeah right! I gave birth to St. Catherine of Siena," Rosetta said sarcastically.

"Momma, that's enough. I think she heard enough scoldings for the day," Alessandro said, coming into the room with a glass of juice for Isabella.

He passed it on to his sister as a sign of a peace offering.

Isabella took it, still glaring at him for being a traitor.

"I didn't see Momma coming, Izzy. You know I would never have talked about this in front of her," Alessandro said.

"Yeah, spoil her more. Who listens to me anyways?" Rosetta muttered, shooting glares at her silent husband, Zakariah Carter, and son, and walked into the kitchen.

As soon as Rosetta was out of sight, all three let out a sigh of relief.

"Why did you have to marry her? Couldn't you find a better bride for you?" Isabella asked, still rubbing where her mother pinched her.

"Izzy!" Zak called out in a warning tone.

"It really hurts, Papa. Why does she always have to pinch me so hard? It is abuse," Isabella huffed in complaint.

"Why did you do that, Izzy? Don't you know how these things can affect your future?" Zak asked.

"I didn't think everyone would know. And Papa, we are living in central UK. How do you think these things are going to affect me? This place is more progressed than that."

"Do you know what people are talking about in the office? And above all that, you told the woman you are having a love marriage. What was the need for that? We might be in the UK, Izzy, but we still live in the conservative Italian community here. People here are still the same," Alessandro asked.

"I thought that would appear more legit. I thought an arranged marriage between a rich boy and a middle-class girl would appear suspicious," Isabella said.

"I just hope the gossip dies down and doesn't go out of the office building," Alessandro said.

"Maybe I will take a week off so that they can forget about this," Isabella said, though a part of her felt pity at the thought of Sapphire being taken away by her greedy paternal family.

"What leave? You are not going to that office again," came her mother's voice from the kitchen.

Damn! She was listening to their talks.

"Momma! I want to make money to open my bakery," Isabella protested.

"I left you to your wishes, and see what you have done. Now listen to me and sit quietly," Rosetta said angrily.

"Momma..."

"No means no, Izzy," Rosetta said and turned to her husband.

"Zak! Call that marriage consultant, Mr. Black, to come over. I guess it's time to start searching for a groom," Rosetta said.

Isabella gasped.

"Momma! No! You can't do this now," Isabella said.

"Why not? You just nodded for a marriage when that boy asked. Why do you have a problem now?" Rosetta asked.

"I didn't nod," Isabella protested.

"Momma! Let's not rush," Alessandro tried to interfere.

"You don't say a word! I let her go to work only because you were there. I thought you would do the duty of an elder brother and look after her. Look what has happened," Rosetta asked, and Alessandro gaped at his mother's accusation.

"That's not fair, Momma. You know it," Alessandro said.

"Enough! Izzy, Sandro, go inside," Zak ordered, and both of them left.

Zak looked at his wife.

"Rosie! Don't push her too much."

"Zak, didn't you hear what she did today?"

"I heard everything. Let's hope the gossip won't go outside the office," Zak said with a sigh.

Rosetta nodded at her husband but inwardly decided to make a call to the marriage consultant herself.