"You look absolutely beautiful, by the way,” Gustavo says to me on our way down the stairs.I flash him a small smile. "Thank you for the compliment." Even though I accepted his invitation to be his company for the evening, I'm not pleased with this. How can I, when I'll have to be around Giotto? He's the bane of my existence. I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to see his ridiculous face tonight, but he made sure that I should. Perhaps he knew what we were both up to. The guests are laughing and in one large group when we finally get to the living area. Giotto is amongst them, and Natalia is by his side. Unabashedly. As we near the group, a man who notices us clears his throat suggestively, and everyone turns to stare at us. I pause, but Gustavo drags me along. We join the circle and I end up standing beside the man who cleared his throat. I can feel his eyes on me, but I don't acknowledge him. He says, "And who might this be?" "Is she your girlfriend, Gustavo?" A woman across us a
I pace around my bedroom, fuming.I wish I could wrap my hands around that spoiled brat's neck. She really thinks the world revolves around her. I'm so angry that I could spontaneously combust. She deliberately made me look weak and clumsy. I'll get her back for this. One way or another. It’s not that I’m bothered that I fell in front of all those people, who know the worst about me. It’s that she thinks that she can get away with anything because she’s Giotto’s daughter. It’s disgusting to me how someone can be so immature, and senseless. Gustavo s watching me with his arms crossed. "You're going to wear a hole in the carpet. Just calm down.""Your sister is a bitch!""I know."I stop and run my hands through my hair. I want to say more, a lot more, but I bite my tongue. Despite everything, she's still his sister. Also, I should say all this to her face, not to him. He doesn't deserve my anger. Although I am upset that he didn't tell me about my grandfather's attacks. "I'm sorry,"
We get to a new place. I assumed we would be going back to his house, but I was wrong. Enzo parks the car in front of a small apartment building. He takes the suitcase out of the car and drags it inside. I walk a short distance behind him. He's in one of those dark moods again, I'm not 100% sure why. After he threw the present that Gustavo gave me out the window, we rode in absolute silence. I was seething—of course I was. He had no right to act so irrationally and throw away something that was mine. And him asking whether I was having sex with him was grotesquely out of line. I was there a week, what made him assume that I would do such a thing? He must have a very low opinion of me and that hurts, I won't lie to myself. It shouldn't, but it does. He’s disrespectful, and I’ve had enough of it. A few men at the reception greet him. They don't look like porters, they look like gangsters. They're wearing suits. He doesn't answer them, but they don't seem to mind either. They're on t
Enzo leaves in the morning, but he leaves me a message. I can take one of his capos—strange, because he's a capo himself—to take me out. He's even left a card for me to use. Now, I don't intend on using it, but it will be great to go out into the world and see people. I've been trapped, caged, for too long.I get ready, and I make an effort. I dress into something comfortable, but presentable. When I walk out of the room, there's a man in the living room. He's one of the men I saw yesterday in the reception. He introduces himself, "Good morning, miss. I'm Vito. Enzo has asked me to accompany you to the city. When do we leave?"I get in the backseat of his car. I take in all the sights around me, not only because they are remarkable, but because I'm trying to find out where the hell I am. Maybe there'll be a name somewhere, but I don't recognize any of the neighborhoods. Or street names. This mall is different from the one I was at with Enzo, so is this another city? Another part of t
I can't sleep. I can't eat. I can't think.Some days, I'm convinced that I truly saw my sister, that the whole encounter wasn't just a figment of my desperate imagination. Other days, I think I'm going crazy. There's no way my sister—my Lia—would've looked at me so coldly. Is she mad at me, wherever she is? That I, who never cared about the beauty of life, got to survive and she didn't? She had so many aspirations, a desperate will to live. And Giotto crushed it beneath his expensive designer shoe. It’s unfair, and I’ll never stop thinking this way. The pain will never go away. I might lock it away some days, but it will always come back to haunt me. Enzo leans against the doorframe and watches me. I pull the covers up to my face. If he's looking for something to fight about, I'm not up for it today. He clears his throat and says, "There's dinner in the kitchen.""I'm not hungry."After a few seconds, he rips the duvet from the bed. I sit up and sigh in frustration. "What's the mat
I can't fall asleep. I glance at the clock and it's only half past ten. Enzo said that if he isn't back by midnight, Aurelio is supposed to take my someplace else. I don't know if that's good or bad. Surely he doesn't mean Giotto’s home again, but I'm paranoid. I'm almost certain that he'll take me back there. What choice will he have? If he dies, Giotto’s plan won't die along with him. Does that mean I'll have to get engaged to someone else? Another one of his capos? Just thinking about it is giving me the chills. I catch myself praying to God for Enzo’s safety, then I stop. Then, I continue. Right now, he needs to be safe. At least until he kills Giotto. I need to be free of Luigi, and that won't happen if Enzo dies. I glance at the clock. Thirty minutes practically flew by. I'm afraid. He needs to get here before midnight. The bedroom door swings open. I sit up hurriedly and see Enzo enter the room. He looks fine, but I immediately see the blood on the side of his head. Otherwi
Last night.I'm deeply ashamed. That kiss should never have happened. Never. The kiss at the motel was different. It was brief and I was genuinely disgusted by it. The thought of kissing him was absurd, like something out of a nightmare. Last night was different. I felt the opposite of what I felt in that stupid motel room.I wanted it. I kissed him back with a passion that makes me want to dig a hole deep enough for me to climb in and disappear from the face of the earth. I held him like a lover. The memory of his tongue in my mouth causes a shiver to run down my spine and settle there. I'm so ashamed that I'm afraid of turning around. I'm afraid of turning around and finding him watching me with that knowing smirk of his. And that bulge. Oh my God, the bulge.I sit up, without facing the other side of the bed, and rush to the bathroom. I close the door and stare at my reflection in the mirror. I look like hell. My hair is all over the place and my lips look bruised. How hard did he
"What are you doing here?" I ask.He leans towards me and placing a kiss on my cheek in greeting. His eyes scan my face. "Have you been crying?"I wipe my face again, even though it's already dry. "It's nothing. Come inside."He makes his way into the living room and looks around once. "Wasn't Aurelio supposed to be here?"I'm still shocked that he's here. I didn't think I'd see him anytime soon. He's wearing a brown trench coat and his hair isn't slicked back like it usually is. "How'd you know he was supposed to be here?"He shrugs. "I know Enzo. If he's out on business, he would never leave you alone. Aurelio is the one person he trusts above anyone. It makes sense that he would be here.""He left, but he'll be back shortly." I stand awkwardly, unsure of what to do. "Would you like something to drink, or eat? There's lasagne, fresh out of the oven.""I already had lunch," he says apologetically. "I came here to see you. I was worried about you."I blush. "You shouldn't have. I'm fi