Serafina seems lovely, but blood is thicker than water.
“You and I have more in common than you think,” she says cryptically before smiling. “But as much as I want to get to know my new sister-in-law, I need coffee first.”
She hustles over to the coffee machine and presses a few buttons before it spits out a latte. “Let’s go sit by the pool whileyou tell me how you stayed one step ahead of Kane for the best part of a year.”
It’s cooler today, but still humid. Two guards walk across the lawn a few hundred feet away, eyes firmly fixed ahead as they murmur to each other. A third appears and hovers in a shady spot by the pool house. He periodically glances our way. Fina watches him when she thinks I’m not looking.
Something tells me she likes the guy, although she appears to be playing it cool. Probably because she doesn’t know if she can trust me.
“So, spill the tea. How did you stay under the radar for so long?” From the sparkle in her eyes, she thinks I had an amazing adventure while on the run. Sadly, she’s wrong about that.
“Pure luck, mostly,” I admit. "The first chance I got, I picked up a box dye to hide my natural blond and stayed in a succession of shitty motel rooms. To get as far away as possible, I hitched lifts with truckers, jumping from one town to another at random. I figured that would be enough to throw the dogs off my trail."
“Weren’t you terrified you’d get picked up by a rapist or something?” From her horrified expression, hitching a ride is well outside of her comfort level. Unsurprisingly, given the luxurious, pampered lifestyle she’s enjoyed since birth.
While my father was wealthy, my life fell off a cliff when he died. Vivian cut off my allowance and pulled me from my private school, enrolling me in online studies. I think she hoped I’d become her little doll while she brokered a marriage deal, only I proved less malleable.
“It was scary sometimes,” I admit. “One guy got handsy, but I stabbed him in the leg and got away.” That was the night Ihit rock bottom. After the asshole tried to rape me, I vowed my stepmother would pay for ruining my life.
“Oh my god, Chiara!” Fina grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly. She’s an extremely tactile person, which makes me a little uncomfortable. “I’m so sorry,” she says again, like it’s her fault Vivian married me off for cold, hard cash.
“Hey, it’s fine. I survived!” I laugh, brushing off what was in truth a traumatic event. I survived to live another day, even if the memory of that awful man’s hand on my throat still gives me nightmares.
She refuses to let go of my hand. “Surviving isn’t enough, Chiara. Please know that you’re safe here. My brother…” There’s a pause while she chooses her words carefully. “My brother is no angel, despite his name, but he’s not a monster. He won’t hurt you.”
“Maybe not,” I agree, “But he insists I need to pop out a baby before I can leave.” My admission hangs between us like a bad smell. She gently releases my hand and sits back.
“That’s our father’s doing,” she admits. “He’s stuck in the old ways, where families married for money and power and to produce heirs.”
“If that’s the case, marrying me made no sense. My family has no power. I don’t know what your family paid my stepmother, but I imagine it was a hefty sum.”
I still don’t understand why Angelo chose me as his bride. There had to be more eligible women out there. Women who’d have loved to marry a man like Angelo.
“I’m not sure what the deal was, only that Angelo didn’t fight it.”
She shrugs before she’s distracted by her phone. It doesn’t matter why he married me. I’m stuck in this house, with no way of escaping unless I shoot myself in the head with a stolen gun.
Angelo’s sister might be openly sympathetic to my fate, but I’d be a fool if I trusted her this early in our friendship.
For all I know, Angelo has sent her as a Trojan horse. Hell, Luka could be one too, although I doubt it having seen the way he interacts with his older brother.
Luka disappeared two days ago without a word, so it’s possible Angelo has banned him from the house. Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past the bastard. I realized the day he and his guard dog showed up unexpectedly he didn’t much appreciate the way Luka looked at me, like he wanted to lick me all over.
“We need some girl time,” Fina announces once she finishes her coffee. She slides her phone back into her Gucci clutch before sitting up straighter. “Fancy a mani-pedi?”
An hour later, we’re in a very exclusive salon with our feet in warm water and two glasses of champagne on a table between us. The guard staring at Fina earlier hovers by the door while two more have taken up positions in the main salon.
I briefly considered using this unexpected trip to escape my dear husband’s clutches but soon realized it would be impossible.
We arrived here in one car with a driver and Fina’s pet guard, with two more cars full of armed men accompanying us. There’s a difference between reckless and stupid, and I’d prefer not to cause harm to the poor women working in this salon.
I still feel bad about hurting the maid at the hotel when I absconded. She hadn’t deserved it.
“What’s it like handling all the PR for your family?” I ask Fina while she decides what color she wants on her toenails.
“I enjoy it most of the time. It’s my job to decide which charities receive money from the foundation we set up. I lovebeing able to help some of the smaller groups in the city. They’re usually ignored by other fundraisers.”
Her admission surprises me. I knew the Di Rossi family donated money to local causes, but I assumed it was merely a tax write-off. A way to clean dirty money.
