Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
I stare at her, instinctively placing a hand on my belly as I hurt for Saverio while battling to process the facts.
“That’s why my father agreed to the divorce.” Her smile is rueful. “Us women aren’t allowed to study or work. We’re showpieces for our husbands. Our sole duty is to carry forward the family name. All we have are our babies. The only purpose of our life is the heritage we leave behind for our men. That’s the one thing no man will take away from us.”
“So Saverio let you go.”
“Let me go?” She chuckles. “No, Saverio would never let me go. When I left him, my father didn’t give him a choice.”
“Is that why you had an affair?” I ask with no small measure of blame, knowing it must’ve devastated Saverio when he found out.
She shrugs. “I will soon marry Archie. We’re already trying for a baby. At least, this time round, I get to do it with a man of my choice.”
“I hope you’ll fall pregnant soon,” I say, meaning it, because I don’t wish Saverio’s pain on anyone.
“We’ll see.” Her smile is smug. “I’m not in such a hurry, but my father is eager to have an heir. Someone has to take over the business when Giorgio will no longer be there. That’s how it works in our families.”
I take my clutch bag and walk with leaden feet to the door, everything inside me breaking apart and falling to pieces. Because Saverio deceived me. Again. Because inside, I’m bleeding for the man who tried to trick me by hiding the truth.
Life dealt him a cruel hand. Fate deprived him not only of the child he craved so badly but also of the only woman he wanted since he was fourteen. All because he couldn’t produce the heir that was expected of him.
All because he’s infertile.
“I’m sorry you had to find out like this,” Rachele says to my back. “If you’re going to marry him, you deserve to know the truth.”
I stop with my hand on the door handle. She’s not sorry about anything.
“He doesn’t love you, Anya.”
I turn on the threshold. Rachele is watching me with victory burning in her dark eyes. Telling me has nothing to do with paying me any favors. She just wants to make sure she’s still the invincible mafia princess, the most powerful woman when it comes to men’s hearts.
“I know he doesn’t love me,” I say in a level voice, meeting her gaze head-on. “Who says that’s what I want? Did you consider that maybe I’m the one using him? You know nothing about the dynamic between Saverio and me.” My mother didn’t give me much, but if there’s one valuable lesson she taught me, it’s this. “The problem is that you’re not happy, Rachele, and you’d hate for anyone else to be.”
Her gaze flares, her large eyes widening slightly because I’m right.
I don’t even care enough about her to experience triumph. All I feel for her is pity.
As for the rest, desolation rips through me when I push the door open and walk through it. Every step I take is like walking on a bed of glowing red coals.
Saverio stands on the gallery, talking to Dante. His smile slips when he sees me.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, wrapping an arm around my waist.
I plaster a smile on my face. “Nothing.”
The way his eyes tighten in the corners says he doesn’t believe me, but he doesn’t push the issue.
I stand like a statue at his side while people file past in a steady row to prematurely congratulate us and to make mindless conversation.
A short while later, Luigi asks the DJ to kill the music. He makes an announcement, but everything is like white noise in my ears.
Saverio takes my hand and pushes a ring with a huge oval diamond over my finger. I can’t stop staring at the monstrosity that shines under the lights, the huge stone weighing down my hand. Saverio holds my gaze as he lifts my fingers to his lips and kisses the ring, something dark and deviant sparking in those eyes that resemble the color of an iced-over lake. Clapping follows and then cheers.
Lowering his head, he claims my lips in a kiss that lasts too long to be appropriate for the occasion. This time, wolf whistling sounds.
It all happens in a blur. The one moment I’m Anya Brennan, and in the next, I’m to become Ms. De Luca.
“Soon,” Saverio whispers in my ear, sealing that frightening promise with a tender kiss on my neck.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Saverio
Finally, she wears my ring. It’s not one she chose herself, but she wears it all the same. Anyway, I’ve always believed the ring is a symbol of a man’s vow and commitment that he presents to his future wife and should therefore be selected by him. I only gave her the choice because she has so little freedom in everything else.