*** Trigger Warning: SA, Abuse ***
Ginevra
Talking to my brother brought me back to square one.
As I’m sitting in front of my fiancé, I’m feeling so numb that I don’t even bother to force a polite smile at the ludicrous things he is saying. At one point, I’m just staring at my food while pinching it as he is chatting along nonchalantly.
Idiot.
The day after I confessed everything to my brother, I did the worst thing. I complied with my duties and texted Ruggerio that he should stop contacting me.
And he did.
I got just one last message before I stopped hearing from him.
His text asking “why, what happened?” is still left unanswered on my phone. It’s already been two days now and apparently he is respecting my wishes.
So stupid.
The thing that irks me the most is that I’m now sitting at a table wi
Ginevra The next day, my mother was shocked to see my bloodshot and swollen lip as I took my seat at the breakfast table. I explained to her that I had a bad accident at work and bit my lip while falling. She just answered that I should be more careful where I put my foot and that she hoped that it would be healed by Saturday, as I had an important date to attend. “What will people think?” Sure, mom, it’s always good to care about people. I take the plate full of delicious bacon out of my sister’s hand and keep quiet. I’m feeling exhausted, and don’t think I will have the strength to go against all of it anymore much longer. Why not just let me die in peace? As my brother asks for the scrambled eggs sitting on the plate before me, I lift my gaze at him for the first time. He takes the plate out of my hands, not looking amused at all. For the rest of the breakfast, he is looking at me with an unreadable expression, making me feel very uncomfortable. Having finished my breakfast,
Ruggerio Ginevra: You can act like an idiot all you want, but your smile is still gorgeous. Ginevra: Your file was horrible. But still better than Not-Tommy’s. I suppress a smile at the texts appearing on my screen and concentrate back on the big screen. Frank is holding a beer and is talking to my brother standing beside him. We took him with us to a bar where we wanted to see the game, as my mother was nearly re-staging a classic tragedy at my refusal to take him along. I hate this. Instead of enjoying the game with my best friend like I had intended to, I’m now playing a babysitter for a convicted rapist. Technically speaking, I wouldn’t have to, but I feel myself tense every time he just moves to look at someone other than Frank. Damn it. Suddenly, Frank turns around and puts his beer bottle down. “I have to take a piss.” I just nod and look at him walking away, my brother already turning to me. In such moments, I envy girls that get to go to the toilets in pairs. “So, b
Ginevra I sense him and can smell his mouthwatering cologne before I actually hear him talk. “Tommaso, hi.” My heart doing a backflip risks having me collapsing on the shiny parquet of the big hall as I turn to face Ruggerio who is shaking hands with my future husband. He looks gorgeous. How shocking. His black tailored suit hugs his bulky figure perfectly. Tommaso is already chatting along as Ruggerio sets his eyes on me, his jaw clenching. I’m hypnotized by his gaze and have to push down the urge to beg him to get me out of here. Whisk me away. I’m so engrossed by him that I barely notice the beautiful blonde hanging at his arm. Oh, nice. I guess he got over me not answering his texts pretty well. Tommaso follows his gaze and, like the intelligent boy he is, he lays his arms around my waist, pulling me to his side. “Please, meet my fiancée, Ginevra.” “Sure, Ginny, hi.” “Oh, you two already know each other?” Tommaso looks between us, and I unfortunately have to hug Tomm
Ginevra I don’t care about what they will be thinking of what I’m doing this long on the toilet. I can’t go back out to that table. Not being able to delay facing my possibly worst dinner I have ever been to, I get out of the stall silently. Washing my hands and checking my appearance in the mirror in slow motion, I get out of the washroom equally slowly, just to find a dark figure already waiting for me. Ruggerio wears an annoyed frown as he looks at me, leaning against the wall. Even if the hallway is just dimly lit, I can still recognize every unhappy trait of his face. Still gorgeous, dammit. “Are you done hiding?” I cross my arms across my chest and look at him, acting disinterested. “I’m not hiding. Did you have a good smoke?” He pushes himself off the wall and takes a few steps, standing in front of me. “It was the only thing I could do to keep me from having him ending up in the ER.” My eyes lock with his deep blue ones, capturing me immediately. Oh, bad move. I catc
Ginevra “Are you happy now?” “Oh, you can’t even imagine.” I shake my head, not hiding my smile as I look at him. “Seriously, Ru. We have to stop doing this. It’s not going to end well for any of us.” Shrugging again, he leans down to me, caressing the skin down along my neckline. “I’m still willing to take the risk. I really have a hard time getting you out of my head.” I feel my goosebumps covering my skin as I watch him following his fingers with his eyes. As he reaches the side of my breast, I would like to curse myself about how stupid it was to choose such a deep neckline out of defiance, but I can’t seem to find the spirit to do so. Ruggerio takes advantage of my sanity slipping away for a second to lean in further to kiss me softly. As he captures my lips with his, a sigh of relief leaves me and I feel his smile against mine. Before I can even think of putting my arms around him to deepen the kiss, he is already breaking it and goes to whisper something in my ear. I’m st
Ginevra My heart begins to sing as I see him walking back holding two flutes and a bottle of champagne. He reaches me as fast as he had left me, putting the bottle and the glasses down. He takes a small plastic bottle from under his arm and puts it on the table as well. “I suppose you aren’t in need of just a bit of water.” I giggle, whispering a “thank you.” while he looks around looking for a chair. Having found one in another corner, he goes to grab it and drags it just in front of mine. As he sits into it, his knees practically touch my chair, caging my legs in. I can’t think of a moment I felt more protected. I watch him intently as he opens the champagne bottle, gesturing to the water bottle. “Drink some water first.” Wrinkling my nose, I take the bottle reluctantly to take a sip from the bottle. I jump as I feel his finger grabbing my chin, forcing me to look back at him. “Don’t listen to that idiot. Don’t ever lose this. It’s cute as hell.” Feeling myself burning up un
Ginevra “Did you get home alright?” “Yes, perfectly, thank you. And you?” I’m currently in my grandmother’s boutique, watching Nina chewing on a chewing gum as she is browsing in a magazine. Hiding in the back room, I can talk to my secret love interest carefreely. “Yeah. Did the jerk try to do anything else?” “No. no. I got home unharmed, don’t worry.” I hear Ruggerio grunting something like how it would have been better this way as he was going on a visit to their grounds otherwise. I chuckle while I hear him getting distracted by some voices in the background. “Sorry, babe. I have to go. But you owe me. Don’t forget this.” I still can’t get over him calling me babe. “Sure, I’ll oblige thankfully this time.” “I’m looking forward to seeing that. I’ll send you some details later. If you don’t show up, I’ll come to pick you up myself.” He laughs and my heart skips a beat at that. Oh, my. *** By the time I receive his details, I’m cashing in a client while Nina is packing
Ruggerio “Westchester County Ground, Gulfstream 4 N600XY, Romeo 2, Requesting Taxi, northwest departure.” Ginevra looks at me with sparkling eyes and has her tongue pressed to her upper teeth. And God, how I love the sight of it. I’m beginning to think of how stupid it was not to bring one of our pilots, as I have the sudden urge to show her how comfortable the seats in the back are. “Gulfstream 4 N600XY, Westchester County Ground, taxi to Runway 29 right, via Mike, Kilo, Lima.” I clear my throat, concentrating back on the instructions of Ground Control. “Taxi to Runway 29 right, via Mike, Kilo, Lima, N600XY.” Ginevra laughs, clapping her hands, as I proceed to roll on the runway to request takeoff. “Awesome, Romeo.” I laugh as I turn right on the instructed runway and stop before the specific marks. “That wasn’t on purpose, I swear.” Caressing her leg, I contact the Tower to request clearance for takeoff and as soon as they give me the clearance, I do so. Stabilized at an appro
My lovely readers I hope you enjoyed my debut novel and the extra chapters. I am very happy to have been able to share this incredible journey with you and am currently looking into the possibility of doing a spin-off about Elisabetta and Alexander. If it will work out, you’ll know :D Be certain to follow me on the socials by finding me with my full name to get all my updates. In the meantime, I will leave that little sneak peek of my planned sequel below. Much love, Shelagh ’s business, the twins want to go to New York and regain the legacy their parents lost by marrying for love. After traveling to New York under false pretenses, they are ready to take what would belong to them as a birthright. But as soon as they find themselves between the Monteccos and Capolettis in the huge metropolis, they find out soon enough about where thei
Federico “Good afternoon, Mr. Montecco. How was your flight?” Alfredo greets me with a smile as he holds open the door of the limousine. “It was alright, Alfredo. Thank you very much.” I take a deep breath as I settle into the backseat, and Alfredo drives off. It’s not that I’m not looking forward to finally seeing my sister again, but work and the planning of my upcoming trip are taking a toll on me, making me want to just drop everything and depart a month prior than scheduled. Locking my phone after answering a few emails I got during the flight, I put it back into my inside pocket and open the newspaper I was trying to read all along. But of course, I don’t get too far as we seem to reach the mansion my sister is living in with her husband at lightning speed. “Thank you, Alfredo,” I say, as he opens the door for me and goes to fetch my luggage. I have barely stepped out of the car as I see the entrance of the beautiful home before me open and my sister steps outside with a s
Elisabetta “What the hell?!” Ginevra says as we drag her into the room with her wedding dress.It had been a struggle to bring her onto a plane, and through New York. I guess that the fact that we had everything private, like the jet and the chauffeurs, saved us from a lot of trouble.We had originally planned to drug her with some light sleep-inducing drug. But suddenly, Nina was against it and made us change our plans. So, we figured out the tactic of telling her that Ruggerio had left, leaving her at the altar, in order to get her onto a plane to New York. But as we started to tell her that she lost it completely.She kept screaming that she didn’t believe us and that she wanted to speak to him.Naturally, we couldn’t have her speak to him.As he was indeed waiting for her at the altar.So, plan C kicked in.Even if it should be called plan P, as it rose from the panic we felt at that moment.We overpowered her, and while our staff took all the packed things we needed to take with
Francesco “Did you hear from any of them?” Ruggerio asks me for the umpteenth time.“Yes, Ru. Nina just texted me. Your spouse is still alive.” I check my watch before flashing my grumpy best friend a grin.He looks ready to rip my head off my shoulders, but I will let it slip as he is losing his mind at how nervous he is.“Ready, bro?” I ask him, and he closes his eyes while taking a deep breath.“Yes!” He says, clearing his throat.I slap his arms, getting him to pull onto his sleeves again. He clicks his tongue as I chuckle at how cute he is.Wanting to look perfect for his bride.“Let’s go!”With another deep breath, we walk down the stairs and out of the gateway to reach the wedding venue with the hugely built patio where empty chairs and a floral bow are already waiting. It is breathtaking because of the view of a vineyard, but also because of its lovely decorations.It would have been the perfect place for them to get married.My heartbeat skyrockets as I am still unsure how h
ElisabettaRuggerio distorts his face, and again it is Nina who is the first to speak. “I guess they are still convinced that she is pregnant. Or hoping that it is the case by now…”Silence falls upon us as we stare at Hissy and Nina with a shocked expression.“She would lose the baby. Especially, as we are highly superstitious when it comes to these kind of things.” Hissy adds, getting us to stare at the packages gutted.Nina tears herself out of her trance, and whispers. “I have to talk to her.”As she disappears into the house, I turn to my brother who is already clenching his jaw. His stare doesn’t leave the door where Nina just disappeared through, even as I talk to him. “Ruru, don’t worry. We will get rid of them. But you should go now. Don’t let her think that you are worried as she will get more anxious.”By lying my hand on his arm, I lean in to get into his line of sight. He nods slowly, and before he gets steered away by Frank, he reaches into his pocket. Handing me a folde
Elisabetta It is rather comical how they had to tear my brother off that ladder to get him away from Ginevra that we are still laughing about it the next morning.Ginevra wipes the tears from her eyes and sighs. “Giving him a ladder has really been a bad idea.”“Ah, don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it. You had to be dragged in as well.” We laugh as Nina mocks Ginevra jokingly. “You are both so mental. It’s disturbing but also incredibly cute.”Ginevra pulls Nina close, pressing her grinning face against Nina’s cheek.Seeing Ruggerio and the interaction with him must have done her incredibly well. I am glad to see her in an easygoing mood as I had thought a few times that she seemed troubled because she was pale and apparently felt sick.And I guess that two days before your special day, it is just going to be worse.At one point, we even had trouble getting her to eat something, which worried Nina especially. But she kept saying that she was too nervous to eat and that she didn’t want
Fortunately, the next few days are hectic, keeping me from thinking too much about what happened. Or how it broke my heart. As the guests for the wedding start to arrive, we are too busy with the final preparations to even find a moment to talk when we meet at the venue. But he still keeps standing as closely as possible to me. Making me feel the worst pain I have ever experienced before. I guess that rejecting his offer broke my heart much worse than his first rejection as I asked him about what he felt for me on our first date. Or the things he told me in Paris about how we were just compatible when it came to fucking. Taking a deep breath, I follow one of the minions of the wedding planner crew to arrange the flowers on the patio of the rehearsal dinner. We are turning the vases and picking at the flowers without any sense as I hear him clear his throat behind me. He is really getting on my nerves with this quirk of his. “What do you want?” I ask annoyed without even raisin
As soon as I straightened back up again, I get lifted off my feet and carried into the adjoining room with the whirlpool. “What are you doing?!” I squeal, punching his chest. “Let me down.” “I just want a bit of privacy.” He answers with clenched teeth, as he puts me down. He closes the door behind us, and I cross my arms over my chest. “You have some nerves.” “Do I?” He smirks but lifts a brow as he looks behind me. “Why isn’t that thing going?” Shrugging, I look back at the empty tube shortly before turning back to look at him. “We never use this.” He hums, and passes me, starting to fill the whirlpool. “We are going to use it now.” “You are kidding, right?” I ask, clicking my tongue, but he is already undressing. Turning my head away from him, blushing like a little girl, I suddenly feel him tugging at my jersey. “I’d never kid about the possibility of seeing you naked.” “You must have lost your mind!” I say, making him chuckle. “Come on, Annie. I’ll keep my hands to mysel
Turning to Elisabetta and Hissy, I get back into my excitement about the upcoming ceremony.“And the dress?” Hissy asks in a whisper.Elisabetta pouts her lips. “I don’t know if it is going to work, but I managed to book a small room by the venue where we can do the change and all the make-ups.”“Oh, I can’t wait.” Hissy squeals, making me giggle.“She is going to cry so much these days. She is going to love it!” I chime in, and the two women nod with a broad smile.Successfully dodging another attempt from Frank to finally have our “talk”, I walk ahead of the two ladies as they continue to chatter along.As we finally get back to our vacation home, Ginevra is already standing behind the door, looking like she is about to burst.“And how was it?”I hug her, swaying slightly. “Oh, it is perfect. It looks soooo beautiful. The flowers and the view. It’s going to be fantastic.”“For real?” She asks, wiping a small tear from her eye. “I’m so glad. I’m so nervous.”“You look pale, babes. Do