Time to meet the family my lovlies - I hope that you are ready for them!
Ginevra The next day passes excruciatingly slowly. I feel so numb due to my panic that my brain barely registers what’s happening around me. My family asks me several times if I’m OK and I keep telling them that I am. But I don’t think I’m convincing anyone. I thought about telling my father everything. Also, because it would blow up anyway and I was kind of scared of going to the Capoletti’s mansion all by myself. That isn’t right. Traditionally, my family should come with me. This is just fucked up. Even if I’m close to bursting many times, I keep it to myself. My stupid, romantic self is still thinking and trusting Ruggerio. Even if everything screams at me not to. The way he acted yesterday paired with the messages and the disparaging texts he keeps sending me has me wanting to puke. I even had to lock away my bracelet and my phone as they keep getting worse. He is so mean. I blow the last chance to confess anything as I tell my parents that I was going out to a fanc
Ginevra “So, what do you do for a living, Ginevra? Tell us something about you. Don’t be shy.” Ruggerio’s father says loudly. “Erm… I work for my grandmother. She has a… she designs bags and I manage the sales.” Scooping the tomatoes on my plate with my fork, I add, lying. “And help her design and so…” “Their new collection is awesome, daddy. A huge success, as I heard in school.” Elisabetta gushes, triggering her brother’s response. “How would you even know?” Salvatore snarls, making her poke her tongue out at him. “Elisabetta…” Her mother reprimands her, continuing to eat bored. “We look at them at school! Ginevra Ottaviano is a huge name in fashion. Right, Ginny?” I nod, still able to taste the bile that rose into my throat at hearing my grandmother’s name. “Uh-huh. She is very proud of her brand.” Elisabetta nods repeatedly at my remark with a big smile on her face. Bless her soul. She is so happy to have me here while everyone else would like me to take fire. “So, you
Ginevra “Are you expecting someone?” My sister is rocking her baby as she shakes her head no to my grandmother and I mirror her, not even looking up from my plate. My night was the worst. The moment I was finally able to fall asleep I was haunted by my nightmares, jerking me awake. My father looks up from his newspaper questioningly. “Who would come by unannounced at this time of the day?” My grandmother makes some shooing noises to get the new maid to open the door. I don’t care, I just want to die. We all stare intrigued as we hear several footsteps nearing our dining room and the poor maid begging them to wait to be announced. Poor thing, her career was rather short even for my mother’s reign. My fork falls onto the plate as I see Massimo emerge from the hallway and my heart stops. This is it. I’m going to die. I see Salvo and Ruggerio, sr. following close, but I don’t spot my Ruggerio. My father springs out of his seat shouting. “What the fuck are you doing in my hou
Ginevra I don’t know what will make me vomit eventually. During the entire drive to my new home, I was getting sicker by the minute. I can already taste the bile at the top of my throat as I see my future in-laws waiting for me in front of their front door. The gravel being crushed under the tires of my brother’s car makes my stomach churn. “After all that I’ve done for you!” My brother doesn’t seem to hear me or doesn’t care as he gets out of the car and waves at my new family with a smile. I get out of the car lazily while my brother gets my suitcases out of the trunk. Two male servants in funny uniforms come running to help him get my things to the house and I follow them quietly. Each and every step I take has another piece of my soul dying. The gravel suits the sound of me and my family’s pride walking over my crushed heart. Arrived at the main door, my future mother-in-law smiles at me warmly. “Let’s get you inside, darling.” Darling, I’ve been called that before… We
Ginevra I hope you will find what you dreamed of soon. I’m on autopilot as I keep smiling while Tommaso is conversing with so many boring people. I feel like suffocating when I have to look like I’m having the time of my life. Tommaso suddenly acts considerate as he leans down to me, whispering, “I have to say hello to the Capoletti heir. Do you want to wait here?” I look at him with newly found resolve. “Oh, no. It’s OK. I’ll come with you.” Your mama is going to hide some place in shame. I can’t say my heart is beating out of my chest because it is practically breaking my bones as it tries to beat the fuck out of it. “Ruggerio, Elena, hey.” What gets me even more raging is that this Elena-bitch has hair as dark as mine and doesn’t look like one of his usual Barbies at all. Ruggerio turns around, getting my heart to stop. Tommaso’s voice vanishes into the background as it gets overpowered by some shrill sustained ringing in my ears. He looks awfully devastated, he looks pal
Ginevra I always got up with a kind thought, but bitterness is my new best friend, so fuck it. I struggle to find nice things in my days, as I even laugh at Tommaso treating his staff badly. I absolutely loath it. As I’m sitting in a chair, reading in my magazine absentmindedly, Tommaso sits next to me, taking my feet into his lap. He starts caressing my legs and I smile at him briefly before returning to my shiny reportages. I’m getting used more and more to his touch, and it nearly feels normal. It’s not the spark-erupting kind of thing, but I don’t feel that sick anymore. It’s just there. He stares into the vast garden behind his family’s mansion as he speaks to me. “I was thinking that maybe you would like to move into my bedroom. What would you say?” I put the screaming little thought in shackles as I smile up at him again. “I’d love to.” He nods happily as he looks away, letting his eyes roam over the garden. “Nice, I’ll have your things moved into my quarters before
Ginevra Tommaso steps into the bedroom as I’m reading a book, leaning on the headboard of the bed. He smiles at me as he steps closer to give me a short kiss on my cheek. “Is this a thriller?” I giggle shortly as I turn the cover for him to read, and he tilts his head to do so. “Yes, it’s quite enthralling.” “I didn’t think you were a thriller kind of girl.” I just smile at him while he disappears into the walk-in closet to change. He was kind of right, actually. I was never into thrillers or scary movies. But I can’t just read all my romance novels that I loved before this all happened to me. I tried, but every line I read was just too painful for me. This entire situation, feeling so absurdly normal, makes me feel like I thought I would in the beginning, as I accepted to be married to a stranger by my parent’s choice. If it wasn’t for the pressure I felt in my chest, I would actually not have been bothered by it. As Tommaso steps out of the wardrobe with a smile, I get a st
Ginevra After having spent the entire night over the toilet bowl, throwing my guts out, I wake up on the cold toilet floor feeling like being hit by a bus. As I get up with a groan, I examine my face and upper body in the mirror over the sink, starting to cry again. My stomach, back and belly are mottled with big bruises and my lip is split up. On my forehead is a big bump which I fortunately can hide behind a few strands of my curly hair. I start taking deep breaths and get to calm myself down a bit before my heart leaps at an intense knocking on the door. “Ginevra, are you alright?” “Yes, mom. Just a minute.” I pull the flush handle before I wash my hands and step out of the bathroom. Anna Rita is standing in the middle of the room with a worried expression, and I don’t know how to react. Fortunately, she helps me with it as she acts like there wasn’t a beat-up woman standing in front of her or blood on the carpet next to her. “Good morning, mom.” I force a smile, wanting not
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