Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
“You do?” I tilt my head, feeling pretty skeptical. It’s hard for me to believe anyone could have any clue how I’m feeling. My father’s dying, and I was forced to marry a stranger this morning. I don’t know how it could get any worse.
“My marriage to Adriano was an arrangement. We didn’t have the best start in the world.” She wrinkles her nose, her smile getting bigger. “We met at an orgy.”
“An… orgy?”
“A sex party. Adriano puts them on, or he used to. I think people figured out he was recording them.”
I stare at her blankly, trying to decide if she’s joking or not, but she seems perfectly sweet and earnest. I’m not sure what to make of it.
“Well… I guess that’s good? I mean, not the recording part, but the way you two met?”
“My grandmother sent me there to seduce him.” Lucy sighs, leaning back in her chair. “Those were the days.”
“Your grandmother…” I trail off, feeling like I just got thrown into a giant freezing lake.
“Anyway, sorry, I don’t mean to talk about myself. I know how the first few weeks can be pretty hard, especially in your situation. This was all really rushed and last minute, right? That’s not what Adriano wanted.”
“He wanted to make sure I was safe,” I say, finding myself defending Luca even though I don’t actually want to.
“Do you need anything? Anything at all? Even simple stuff, like a toothbrush, clean clothes, anything to make you more comfortable.”
I sit up straight. “I really want to go home and pack, but Luca thinks it’s too dangerous. Maybe if you—”
“Don’t you worry, you can leave it to me.” Lucy nearly bounces with excitement. “I’ll head over to your place as soon as we’re done here and get you all set up.”
“No, I mean, I wanted—”
“Anything you want in particular? Or should I just bring everything? Oh, this is going to be fun. I’ll start by choosing some really good outfits.”
“Sorry, I think I’m not being clear—”
But Lucy’s not listening. She’s already planning how she’ll start with underwear and finish with toiletries. “Give me a few hours and you’ll be all set by the time I’m finished.”
I want to argue, but she seems legitimately excited to go shove all my stuff into bags. I don’t have the heart to tell her that I’d rather do it all myself.
“Elisa will help. That’s my sister. I have a feeling you two are going to get along really well.”
“Amazing, I can’t wait to meet her.” Lucy’s smile could melt a glacier. Even though I’m still frustrated, I find it impossible to be angry with her.
We talk a little more about acclimating to new places. She asks me questions about my home life before coming here, and basically, we spend a few minutes getting to know each other. The guys come out ten minutes after that.
“Sorry to run, but work calls,” Adriano says as he steers his wife to the door.
“Don’t worry, I’m going to your place right now,” she says and pats her husband’s cheek lightly when he gives her a hard look. “Don’t worry about it, darling. I’ll bring muscle.”
“You’d better,” he murmurs and kisses her cheek. He steers her to the door with a possessive arm around her shoulders. “You two sit tight. Luca, don’t do anything stupid. We’ll figure this shit out with the uncle soon enough.”
“I’m not feeling patient,” Luca says darkly, glancing at me. “The stakes are too high.”
“We’ll handle it.” Adriano nods at him.
“Great meeting you!” Lucy chirps before she’s led out the door and into the afternoon.
I watch them go with a sinking feeling.
A part of me thinks they’re the last visitors I’m going to have for a while.
“She’s good people,” Luca comments as I turn back into the house. “You can trust her.”
“Trust her more than I can trust you?” I move past him and head up the stairs. “I’m going to take a nap.”
“Take it in our room. No more guest bed.”
I pause and look back over my shoulder. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“I want you close.”
“And that’s a little too close.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re my responsibility, which means I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure not a single hair on that pretty fucking head of yours gets bent out of shape.”
“Screw you, Luca. I think you just like being a controlling prick.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think right now,” he calls after me. “So long as you’re safe. You can be as pissed as you want.”
Yeah, I can be pretty pissed; he’s right about that. There’s nothing I hate more in the world than feeling like I’m trapped. My skin crawls, and I feel like the floor is going to crush me up against the ceiling. My throat and mouth go dry, and I want to chug a gallon of water, even though I’m not really thirsty.