Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“Mom’s not a Bianco,” Elena points out.
“She doesn’t count.” Stefania sighs and steps back, giving me a little personal space again, which is nice. But then I see the man lurking behind her and wonder how I missed him.
The guy’s enormous. He’s built like an industrial freezer. Massive shoulders, huge chest, and a face like an All-American quarterback, except more Italian. His lips are full and his wavy hair is windswept. It’s obvious that he’s the Davide in question—the Bianco family resemblance is strong.
“Nice to meet you,” he grunts at me and offers a hand. I shake it, and notice burn scars, but I don’t let myself stare.
Stefania hangs off her husband’s arm. “Davide here seems like a giant, grumpy T-Rex, but I promise he’s a massive softie. Just get to know him.”
“I’m perfectly capable of putting the girl at ease myself,” he grumbles and shows me teeth in what I assume is meant to be a comforting smile, but looks more like a hungry bear trying to keep from mauling a juicy salmon.
Stefania starts talking about life at the oasis, launching right into all the different structures—apparently, some of them are guest houses, some of them are offices, and one is actually a gym strictly for the family—while Davide lurks in the background. He’s quiet, a bit standoffish, but Stefania talks enough for both of them.
I can almost forget about the ugly scene back in the office. I can almost pretend like I’m a part of this family—with the friendly, comforting Elena and the outgoing Stefania and even the brooding Davide—but that look Don Bianco gave me back in the office won’t get out of my head.
I’ve never felt so degraded before in my life.
And all at once, it reinforces all the bad things I’ve assumed about this arrangement, how I’m just a prop and a wet hole for Simon to use up and toss aside, how I’m letting him drain me the way those scammers drained my father, how the balance of power here so clearly favors my husband that I’m left fighting for every scrap of dignity available. Even though Stefania, Elena, and Davide are treating me like a real human being and seem to be trying to make me feel like I’m at home, this precarious and absurd situation is finally catching up.
“I’m sorry,” I say at a break in the conversation. “But I’m actually not feeling too great.” I try to seem apologetic as I get up and inch toward the door.
Stefania gives me a knowing look. “I didn’t feel good my first few weeks here either,” she says and touches my arm as I pass. “Don’t worry. It’ll get better.”
“Now she loves it,” Davide says, pulling his wife against him.
She laughs and twists in his arms, kissing his chin.
I open the door and slip inside, catching a worried look from Elena, but I hurry upstairs before they can stop me.
I won’t ever have what Stefania has with Davide. Their arrangement worked out, but that doesn’t mean mine’s going to. They had a lot going in their favor, but most of all, they entered into their relationship as equals.
Simon looms over me, looms over all of this, and I can’t shake the feeling that he’s casting a large shadow across my life.
I retreat into the guest room, close the door, and turn the lock, before I curl up in bed, not caring if my fancy silk blouse gets all wrinkled.
Chapter 17
Simon
I fucked that up beyond recognition.
My plan had been to wait. I wanted to tell my father about Emily on my own terms and to couch the whole arrangement as a beneficial business venture and as proof that I’m taking steps toward becoming the sort of man a Don must become. Instead, I rushed into that office thinking he already found out somehow—and totally blindsided myself.
He’d been angry that some of the soldiers under my control had decided to harass some Santoro business owners, which isn’t normally a big deal, except Dad remains in denial about the war. But once Emily was in the room, I couldn’t exactly not tell him.
Now he thinks I’m an impulsive fool and doesn’t buy my explanation. Even worse, I resorted to threatening him—and that only made things worse.
Once she was out of the room, he basically told me I’d better divorce her and get my shit together or things will get much worse.
I’m in a haze as I head back home. Stefania and Elena are sitting on my porch while Davide’s lurking nearby on his phone, probably talking with his top lieutenant Emilio. I give him a nod and head up to my door.
“You just gonna ignore us?” Elena says, hopping to her feet. “Emily already talked about what happened.”
I rest my hand on the doorknob, thinking about my wife lying alone upstairs. “Dad wasn’t happy.”