* * *
“Welcome home.”I can’t tell if my new husband sounds tired or bored as he ushers me into our home now that the last guest has left the grounds well past midnight.My feet are screaming, and I would gladly take a pair of scissors to this dress if it meant getting out of it.This has been both the longest and shortest day of my life.I can hardly believe it’s over, even if it felt like an eternity sometimes.Every picture, every dance, every speech.Having to sit there and pretend to be any part of it.As if I felt like anything other than a piece of meat in lace and pearls.
Now that it is all over and it’s just the two of us, there’s an obvious question at the front of my mind.I don’t even want to look at Dante as I slide out of my heels and flex my feet.He doesn’t expect us to sleep together tonight, does he?I guess he might, consummation and all that, as barbaric as it sounds.
The thing is, and it has to be exhaustion making me feel this way, when I catch sight of his profile as he stands in front of the open refrigerator, I can’t ignore the slow sliver of excitement in my belly.He was hot enough already when he wasn’t wearing a tuxedo.But now?I danced in his arms at our reception, just once, but it was enough to give me an idea of his thick shoulders, powerful arms, and rock-hard chest.
“I should’ve asked if you needed anything.”He looks my way, and my cheeks get hot.“You thirsty?”he asks.
“I’m fine.”I’m nervous, and I am questioning my taste in men, but I’m fine.
He takes off his tie and leaves it on the counter before uncapping a bottle of water and gulping half of it all at once.The sight of his Adam’s apple bobbing shouldn’t make me stare the way it does.
I must be deliriously tired.
“This is a nice house,” I offer, looking around the living room.I didn’t get much of a chance to appreciate it during my first visit, and of course, living here before the wedding was out of the question.I’m surprised Dad didn’t lock me in my room until the rehearsal last night.The Vitali family has been notorious for just about every flavor of violence for generations, but let’s all clutch our pearls at the possibility of a grown woman maybe having sex with her fiancé.What a joke.
Now, I have the opportunity to size up the place.The walls are a bland shade of gray, and it could use personal touches, but he’s a man who’s lived on his own for years.I wouldn’t expect him to be big on decorating.
“I’m glad you think so, since it now belongs to you too.That reminds me, we’ll want to sign the new will I’ve had drawn up to include you.”He finishes off the bottle of water and tosses it in the trash before popping the top buttons on his shirt and giving me a peek at his tanned chest, which makes my heart skip a beat before he has to ruin it by speaking again, “We can handle that in the morning.”
Well, well, well.He is seducing me right out of my shapewear.“Sure.”
“Great.I’ll make sure it’s not too early, in case you would like to sleep in.I normally go up to the main house for breakfast.You won’t find much here for that, but anything you want, you can find in the kitchen up there.”He strolls toward the front door as he speaks, stopping with his hand around the knob.“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“What?”I ask with a disbelieving laugh.I must be imagining this.“You’re leaving?Where are you going?”
“I have work to do up at the house.”His brows draw together like he just remembered he’s supposed to pretend to be human today.“Oh, do you need help with your dress or anything?”
I don’t think my heart could sink any lower than it is now as I slowly shake my head.“It’s a zipper.The buttons on the back are decoration.”
“I see.”He hesitates, though, finally sighing softly before opening the door and letting in the noise coming from staff breaking down the rest of the tables and chairs outside.“All right.Goodnight.”
I can’t believe this.
I don’t know why I can’t.
Honestly, this is par for the course, right?
There hasn’t been anything normal about this whole situation, right down to the sparkling diamond bridal set on my left hand, which I had no part in choosing.I mean, I couldn’t choose my husband, so why choose the rings I’m supposed to wear for the rest of my life?
They weigh heavily on my hand, heavier than the layers of fabric I bunch in my fists before carefully climbing the stairs.This is my wedding night, and I’ll be spending it alone, in a separate bed, while my husband runs back to the safety of his father’s study.Because that’s all men like him are good at, I guess.
So what if it means leaving their women alone and teary-eyed?
Flipping on the light in the bedroom, I gaze down at the double bed the movers put together for me when I moved in.It’s inviting, especially considering the day I’ve had.
Before I can get out of my dress, I drop onto the bed when what’s left of my strength leaves me all at once.Finally, in a room thatisn’t mine, in a house thatisn’t mine, I can let myself cry.All of the tears I’ve stored up throughout the day, all of the loneliness, it all pours out of me in the form of racking sobs.
I knew when I lost Enzo, I might be losing any hope of a happy future.
I just never figured it would hurt this much when the future finally arrived.
5
DANTE
There’s a puddle of sweat on the floor by the time I finish counting off my push-ups.Every drop was a testament to my willpower since it was either work my body to the point of exhaustion or make a short trip across the hall to do something about the almost painful and persistent hard-on I woke up with.This is the third morning in a row of waking up with only one thing in mind, thanks to a female presence in my normally quiet, peaceful house.When the idea of jerking off yet again only made me grind my teeth in frustration, the only answer came in the form of a punishing workout.
