Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“No one told me you have a sister.” Stefano’s fork hovered in midair as he gave a quick glance to his older brother. “Was she at the party last night?”
“She got leukemia when I was eight.” The disease had ravaged her and taken away the person I loved best—and the only person who ever made my parents smile.
I could tell by the look of sympathy on Stefano’s face that I didn’t have to say more. “I’m sorry to hear that.” Again, he glanced at Massimo, but my fiancé didn’t say anything. Probably he’d already known about Isabella from talking with my father.
Stefano finished his toast as I nibbled at mine. “So, what’s on tap for your first day in Chicago?”
Annoyance filled me, but it wasn’t directed at him. If I hadn’t even been told what time breakfast was, it didn’t seem likely that plans had been made. “I have no idea.”
Stefano nodded and turned to his brother. “Got any plans?”
Massimo didn’t look up from his phone. “I have work.”
“What’s Leila going to do today?”
Finally, Massimo looked over at me. “Unpack, I presume. You brought enough luggage.”
“Feel free to explore the house,” Stefano said. Massimo didn’t exactly look pleased with that idea, but he didn’t object. “I’ve got work myself, or I’d give you a tour.” He studied me for a moment. “Is there anything you need?”
A bit surprised to be asked, I thought quickly. He probably meant if I needed fresh towels or something, but I decided to interpret the question a different way. “Do you think I could maybe get a phone?”
“You don’t have a phone?” A combination of pity and shock showed on his face.
“No, but I’d like to be able to call my parents.” I tried to hide how desperately I needed this. I’d had one, a very low-tech one that could only make calls, not access the internet, back in New York, but my father hadn’t let me bring it.
“You can do that from a house phone.” Massimo’s voice proclaimed that he considered the matter settled.
Stefano shot me a wink. “Yes, we still have landlines. Nothing but the latest tech around here.”
I tried to muster a smile for him, but I couldn’t quite do it. “But … won’t I need one when I go out?”
Massimo broke off a piece of crispy bacon. “You won’t be going out unaccompanied, so your chaperone will have a phone.”
“Chaperone?” I echoed weakly, my heart sinking.
“I’m not having my wife wander the streets of Chicago alone. It’s not safe.”
Wife.
That word hit me like a slap in the face. I wasn’t his wife—not yet—but I would be in a matter of months. Then I thought more deeply about what else he’d said. Did Massimo mean Chicago wasn’t safe for anyone? Or for someone from a family like ours? Probably the latter. Not that families like ours were known for giving much freedom to women. “Please, I have to be able to go out.”
The look Massimo gave me was bordering on annoyance. “I just said you can go out.”
With a chaperone. He didn’t say that, but the words still seemed to echo in the air between us.
Stefano sipped his coffee. “What do you like to do for fun?”
A flicker of excitement shot through me before my brain caught up. Why had his words made me react that way? Then I realized that this was my chance—the chance to perhaps assure that I could get out of here every once in a while. But what could I say? I didn’t know what young women my age liked to do.
Both men were looking at me, and I thought as fast as I could. What would get me out of this dark and foreboding house? “I like gardening.”
As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I cringed inwardly. Why had I said that? First off, I didn’t know anything about gardening. Secondly, there was a huge yard out back—I could see it from the windows. At most, gardening might get me thirty or forty feet outside of the house.
Massimo was apparently thinking the same thing. “You can do that here.”
“There’s a nice courtyard out back,” Stefano added. “Plenty of room for plants. I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with the area.”
Was he always so encouraging and supportive? It made me feel almost guilty that I didn’t have a green thumb. But the bigger issue was that I needed a way to get out in the real world. I didn’t want the beginning of my new life to be as restrictive as the first twenty years. “And I’ll need to go shopping. For clothes.”
Massimo raised an eyebrow. “The dozen trunks and suitcases you brought aren’t enough for you?”
“Yeah, but…”
“I fail to see how one woman can need so many clothes.”
I blinked rapidly, looking down at my toast. Nothing I was trying to say was coming out right.