‘What does it matter now?’ he asked. He walked over to a bookshelf and started loading books into a box.
‘It matters to her and to us. She thought for a moment that she had been raped by her own brother.’
‘Half,’ he corrected her.
‘So you don’t deny you raped her,’ Carlotta said. He was disgusting and he made her feel sick. She swallowed to get rid of the metallic taste in her mouth.
‘I didn’t rape her. We got drunk. She had been flirting with me the entire holiday, if I remember correctly.’ He taped up a box and started folding another one.
‘That’s not how she remembers it,’ said Carlotta, her arms folded.
‘Well, there’s nothing you can do now. You want to have her charge me with something that happened years ago and bring more shame to your family. Anyway, I’m leaving New York and I won’t be back anytime soon.’
‘Where are you going with your newfound money?’ asked Carlotta, curious at his cockiness.
‘I’m going to stay with my parents.’
He said it with relish and Carlotta felt herself wanting to hit him but she held back.
‘Did you always know Leon was your father?’ she asked.
Matthew packed the box and then looked at Carlotta. ‘I guess I knew but he’s such a fucking prick, he never recognised me as such until now.’
Carlotta laughed dryly. ‘Well, at least we agree on what sort of a person he is. So what’s your big plan?’
‘I’m gonna go back and make him see what a great son I am. Trust me, he will be indebted to me forever.’
For a moment Carlotta felt sorry for him, but just for a moment.
‘Matthew, who did you sell your shares to if it wasn’t Berconi?’
‘I can’t tell, sorry. I’ve signed the papers this afternoon. You just missed your new owner.’
‘Come on, Matthew, do me a favour and tell me,’ pleaded Carlotta.
Matthew walked over to her and stood very close. ‘What will I get in return?’ he asked.
Carlotta went to slap him but he caught her arm and pinned her down on the table. She felt books digging into her back. He pushed into her and she felt his stale breath on her face. ‘Maybe you might actually put out instead of lying there dead like your sister,’ he said, and tried to tug at her black pants.
Carlotta struggled and then she felt him being pulled off her. She sat up straight and looked around. Matthew lay sprawled on the floor, the man with the bike from downstairs standing over him.
‘You OK?’ he asked.
‘I think so.’ She was suddenly dizzy and threw up.
‘Fuck bitch, clean it up,’ said Matthew.
The man walked over to Carlotta and took her by the arm. ‘Come on,’ he said, and picking a gold pen up off the table he walked out of the apartment with Carlotta.
‘Did you just steal that pen?’ she asked, her head spinning.
‘No. It’s mine. I forgot it and came back for it. It means a lot to me. You need to see a doctor,’ he said, looking for a cab.
‘No, I’m fine, really,’ Carlotta said, and then she threw up again into the gutter.
‘That’s it, off to the hospital.’
He hailed a cab and took a clammy and pale Carlotta to the emergency department at Bethlehem Hospital. Taking her mobile phone from her, he clicked through her contacts. ‘Do you know Grace de Santoval?’ he asked.
