"Giorgio promoted me."
Damiano nods. "He told me."
Of course he did.Giorgio reports everything to his boss.
"I'm creating posts for social media now."
"I know."
My fingers tighten around my fork as I resist the urge to plunge it into Damiano's chest just to see if I can get a more animated reaction out of him. Speaking to this man is like pulling teeth sometimes.
"Is that all you have to say? Don't you want to know how I feel about it?" I don't try to conceal my anger, even though it may provoke a response I don't like. "Don't you fucking care?"
Damiano flashes me a warning look.
"Watch how you speak to me, Violetta."
"What do you want from me, Damiano? I don't understand why you invited me down for dinner if you're not even going to talk to me."
He sets his fork down and gives me his full attention.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"My future, of course."
"We've discussed this. You'll be my wife."
I blow out a breath. "I didn't agree to that."
He smiles tightly. "It's not up for debate." He holds a hand up to silence me as I open my mouth to protest. "But I am willing to address your concerns."
"Okay." It's better than nothing. "If I agree to marry you, what happens to my life? My work, my ambitions, university? Do those things simply cease to exist for me?"
"You will marry me whether you agree or not." He regards me carefully. "But as for the rest, do you want to continue to work?"
"Yes."
"And you'd like to study theater also?"
I shouldn't be so pleased he remembers that.
"Yes."
Damiano nods. "Fine, but you will study here in Florence or online. You will have access to whatever resources you need."
Taken aback, I blink. I'd braced myself for an argument, but he's quick to give me exactly what I want.
"And the marriage you envision, would it be real?"
"In every sense of the word. We already fucked. We know we're compatible."
"How romantic!"
Damiano shakes his head. "Don't look for romance, Violetta. You won't get it from me."
"Understood." I steel myself for the next issue. "You mentioned before that you wanted children."
He looks at me with a degree of exasperation. We've been over all of this before. I know that. But we didn't resolve anything.
