Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83776 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83776 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
I stand up and start pacing. “That’s not helping right now. Can we just talk about something else please?”
“Uh, no, because my closest friend lost her mind and married a total stranger and is living in a different city. I’m kind of freaking out.”
“You’re freaking out? I’m losing it and you’re not being supportive.” I feel this conversation spiraling out of control. If I were in better control of myself right now, if I had gotten more than a few hours of sleep and if I weren’t in an insanely stressful situation, I might be able to salvage this.
But Giorgia’s stubborn, and I’m angry, and we end up getting into an argument. She can’t accept that this is my choice, and I just want to feel two seconds of normalcy, and neither of us is getting what we want. I end up slamming the phone down onto the floor in frustration and disconnecting the call.
I had hoped hearing her voice would make me feel a little less homesick, but all it did was make everything worse.
The door opens, which makes me freeze. Davide was gone when I woke up, although I remember him coming in some time in the middle of the night and going to sleep without a word. He appears in the front doorway and steps inside, and his eyes rake over me for a moment before shutting and locking the door behind him.
There’s nowhere for me to go. The entire first floor is completely open, and maybe I could lock myself in the bathroom, or maybe I could run up the stairs, but he’s already coming toward me.
“You look upset,” he says, which pisses me off for some reason I can’t identify.
“Thanks, that’s helpful,” I say and scoop my phone off the floor. I groan because the screen’s cracked.
“What’s wrong?” He doesn’t move, but I feel him scrutinizing me. “Did someone from my family come over?”
“No, I had a conversation with my friend Giorgia that didn’t go well, that’s all.” I don’t want to explain this to him. I march over to the kitchen and get myself a glass of water. “I need to get food for this place. Am I allowed to go to a grocery store?”
He cocks his head, considering the question. “Of course you are. There’s a number you can call to request a car. It’ll come with two guards, but they’ll tail you at a discreet distance.”
I close my eyes, feeling more trapped than I’ve ever felt before. “Since when did I need guards?”
“Since Uncle Luciano decided to sink three of our ships down at the docks.”
That gets my attention. My eyebrows raise and my glass pauses at my lips. “Uncle?”
“He’s not my actual blood.” Davide walks over and leans against the island, looking tired. “But he and his organization are part of the reason why we wanted to ally with your brother.”
“Great,” I say, finishing my water and slamming the glass down in the sink. “I can thank your fake uncle for ruining my life.”
Davide takes a deep breath like he’s trying to gather his patience. “Stefania—”
“No, please, don’t.” I’m being unreasonable. He hasn’t done anything wrong. Except he’s the root of the problem. “You know what’s messed up? All I want is to be alone right now, but this freaking creepy house doesn’t have any walls.” I blow past him towards the stairs.
But he catches my wrist. His grip is iron as he tightens it, his jaw flexing in anger. “You’re pissed. I get it. You had a bad conversation with your friend. But don’t start taking it out on me.”
I wrench myself free of him. “I’m going to the bathroom. I’m going to shut the door, and I’m going to sit in the tub for a while. Please, just leave me alone.”
His face doesn’t change, but he nods slightly, and I swear he looks a little hurt.
I storm upstairs and by the time I’m alone again, regret slams into my chest.
Davide didn’t deserve that. My little comment calling his house creepy was totally uncalled for, but I’m too ashamed of myself to turn around and apologize. Instead, I hide in the bathroom like I said I would, feeling completely pathetic and alone.
Chapter 13
Stefania
I screwed up big time, so when Davide’s mother and his sister invite me to go shopping with them later that day, I decide it’s time to do better.
Turns out, his sister Elena and his mother, Freddie, are two of the nicest people I’ve ever been around in my entire life. They do most of the talking, though both of them try to include me in the conversation as they navigate through a high-end shopping mall, stopping only to drag me into stores. Freddie tells stories about Davide as a baby (“He was the fussiest little bastard in the world, but also the cutest”) and Elena recounts some of their childhood hijinks (“Davide used to like pranks, at least until I filled his bed with shaving cream when we were eleven, then suddenly they weren’t funny anymore”).