Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 724(@200wpm)___ 579(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 724(@200wpm)___ 579(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
“I’m a grown man, Nicoletta. She can’t very well come here and order me back home or threaten to cut me out of the family fortune. First, I’m independently wealthy, and second, she can’t cut me out of the trust. Stefano is in charge of the riders and he is head of the family. She has no control in my life and hasn’t since I was ten.”
He realized that was true. He had turned to Stefano for everything, cutting out his parents, and Eloisa and Phillip had allowed it. If Stefano had noticed that he shouldered more responsibility in the raising of Taviano, he never said so, but then he wouldn’t.
“What do you want me to do when she gets here?”
“I’m not certain yet,” he said honestly. He didn’t know. “I believe Eloisa is ashamed of the choices she’s made over the years. I’ve had a lot of time to think about things. She hasn’t been able to look at any of her children since making her decision. She grew colder and pulled away from all of us. Maybe she loved Phillip, and all she had left to her was riding shadows, because Phillip didn’t love her. He didn’t love any of us. He was selfish and vain. All he seemed to care about was other women. He used shadows to have affairs, further twisting Eloisa into a bitter, lonely woman.”
Nicoletta leaned her chin into the heel of her hand and stared up at him with her large dark-chocolate eyes. Last night she had wanted to hunt Eloisa down; this morning, there was a small hint of compassion in her eyes. His warrior woman could definitely be a rider. She would learn to balance the need for vengeance with the will for justice.
“The death of my youngest brother, Ettore, really separated her from everyone. He was born premature and very fragile, his lungs weak and his body unable to deal with the terrible toll the shadows took on the riders. Stefano warned our parents repeatedly that Ettore shouldn’t be a rider, but imperfection was never tolerated in the Ferraro family. Phillip just didn’t care enough to bother, but Eloisa was fierce about our reputation, and she believed that Ettore simply needed to work harder to bring his body to maximum physical perfection. Others had done it, and so could he. He died in the shadow tube, and Stefano has never forgiven her. More importantly, she has never forgiven herself.”
“It’s so sad. All of it. On the outside, so many people envy what the Ferraros have, yet no one really knows what other people go through, do they?”
Taviano shook his head. “I think Eloisa has always felt alone. My grandparents really loved each other. And they loved us. But they weren’t quite so wonderful with their children as we’d all like to think. They were so wrapped up in each other they ignored them, leaving them to be raised by a series of nannies and then shipped off to families in other countries to be trained.”
“The traditions Eloisa followed.”
He nodded. “She didn’t find a partner, so they arranged a loveless marriage for her. Sadly, she fell in love, but Phillip didn’t. He courted her and pretended, but he didn’t really care. For someone like Eloisa, that made it all the worse. I’m certain she felt a fool. I’ve often wondered if that’s why she objects so strenuously to Francesca. She can see Stefano loves her so much, and it scares her for him. The same with Ricco and Giovanni and now Vittorio. She doesn’t want them to suffer the way she did.” He shrugged. “Who knows what goes through her mind. I’ve spent far too much time speculating on her behavior.”
He held out his hand to Nicoletta, and she took it immediately. He wanted her showered and dressed before Eloisa arrived—and he knew she would be coming. She was like a storm, and he felt the brewing already stirring up the air. He pulled his new wife to her feet.
“I’m certain Eloisa interferes in our lives now to prove to herself she can’t have a relationship with any of us. She was particularly horrible to Francesca, who truly, in all of our opinions, is the kindest woman on the planet. I think Eloisa is terrified of being accepted. Of actually having a relationship and loving someone and having them hurt her. She doesn’t know how to relate to anyone anymore with the exception of Henry. He grew up in her family, and she spends all her time with him now, She’s different with him. He’s not a rider—he works with the cars. A good man and very loyal to our family.”
Nicoletta was silent for a moment, and then she met his eyes. “She’s too ashamed, the way I was, so she’s self-destructive and pushes everyone away from her. That’s what you think, isn’t it?”