Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

will make our children feel special." His arm tightened possessively around her. "Why do you fear me so much, Nicoletta?" The words slipped out of him before he could stop them.
    Nicoletta felt the way his heart jumped. She was silent a moment. It was not in her nature to tell an untruth. She turned her gaze so she could meet the dark intensity of his. "Because you fear yourself. It is in everything you say and do. This dark curse you and your brothers live under. You believe in it, and that gives it life."
    "You do not believe in it?" he asked quietly, the words barely audible. He turned away from her to stare out at the foaming sea. "You cannot see it?"

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    "I see that you give it power. As long as you believe in it, you breathe life into it, Giovanni. You give it power. It lies in wait, watching you for a moment of weakness. And we all have them, you know. Each of us. If you believe you are cursed with murderous, uncontrollable jealousy, there will come a time when I will smile in the direction of some young, handsome soldier, and you will see me. The curse will be there, crouching like a wild beast, lying in wait to take a hold of you. I will not give it life; you will have already done so." She sounded sad.
    Giovanni bent his head to hers at once, kissing her eyes, the corner of her mouth. "Tell me how to break the curse, angelo mio. Tell me what to do. I feel it clawing at me when I look out the window and see you laughing in the courtyard with Francesco or Dominic or even mio fratello. You are so beautiful, you take my breath away. I know without you there would be emptiness. I have endured emptiness, and I do not want to go back. I would rather die now, happy for once in my existence, than ever risk harming you in some way as mio nonno did his wife. He adored mia nonna, yet she is dead, and he is hollow. Better that I never took you as my wife than have the fate of the famiglia catch up with us."
    "Then you must believe in me, Giovanni," Nicoletta whispered softly. She framed his face in her hands.
    "Believe in what you see in my eyes when I look upon you. Believe in my body when you touch me.
    Believe in yourself, in your strength and power, but most of all, believe in us. If you can do that, the curse will be broken, useless. I could smile at a hundred young, handsome men, and you would always know I see only your face, want only your body. It is up to you." She allowed her hands to slip away from him, but her eyes were steady on his.
    "You think the Scarletti men have fashioned their own curse?" He shoved a hand through his dark hair, tousling it even more than did the wind. "Do you think our women have been driven insane or murdered for a powerless curse?" His fingers tangled in her hair, the long, silken strands sliding around his palm.
    Dark color swept into her face. His voice was mild, yet he made her feel young and foolish. Her gaze fell away from his. Who was she to try to explain away something that his family had lived with for generations? Giovanni caught her chin in his palm, forcing her to look at him. "Do you believe what you are saying, Nicoletta?" he persisted. "Really believe it?"
    She took a deep breath, her heart pounding. She did believe what she was saying, but did she trust him enough to admit it? She was so much younger and inexperienced than he, a woman and of much lower status.
    "Nicoletta." He breathed her name out into the wind. His talisman. His world. His arms enfolded her again, holding her tightly against his body.
    She decided to speak and risk his derision. "Everyone has weaknesses, Giovanni. Even the Scarlettis.
    Jealousy is just as wrong as telling an untruth. It eats one from the inside out, destroys men and women. It is a weakness, not a curse. You can stop it just as your nonno could have stopped it. You should not give it merit, should not nurture it or feed it or allow it any power over you at all. It is not really a curse, Giovanni. No legacy of love gone wrong. In truth, it is something you must fight, like an enemy or an illness. Be vigilant at all times, never lower your guard, and you will conquer the 'curse.'"
    "You believe it is that easy?" There was a grimness to his voice.
    Nicoletta shook her head. "Not easy, and yet not so difficult. It is a matter of trusting yourself and the one you love. You cannot simply own someone and expect her to love you in return," she pointed out