Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 118245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 591(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 591(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
The moment we were alone, she seemed to drop the brassy, over-sexualized attitude and was as unaffected and innocent-seeming as her sister.
Was it possible that while Ella hid inside of herself behind a wall of shyness, Antonia reacted to her surroundings by putting on a promiscuous show, like her father seemed to enjoy? It hadn’t escaped my notice how her father seemed to encourage his men to admire his two poor daughters as if they were trophies on his mantle.
That must be it.
The innocent demeanor I witnessed the other night with Antonia was not an act like I assumed. She must be closer to her sister Ella’s sweet personality in real life, when away from corrupting influences or trying to please her father.
And if that was true, then most of the rumors about her behavior must be false.
“Aunt Gabbie, you are a genius.”
“Of course I am, darling. But why?”
“They are twins. Twins!”
“And?”
“Don’t you get it? The sisters are not opposites after all. They are the same! It explains everything. Why I kissed Ella. Why I had a connection with Antonia on the boat, but not at dinner last night. Why her personality seems to keep changing. Everything.”
“If you say so, dear.”
The tightness in my chest eased.
This arranged marriage might be off to a shit start, but at least I finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Once I got Antonia out of Sicily and away from her father, her true nature would come out.
My future bride would be as sweetly innocent and charming as her sister, Ella.
CHAPTER 16
ELLA
Antonia flopped down into the chair opposite me in the library. “So I let Alessio fuck me in the ass last night.”
My cello bow rattled as I dropped it and it fell against the base of my cello before hitting the floor. Bending over to pick it up, I frowned at her before checking to see there was no one in the doorway. “What the hell, Toni! You shouldn’t say things like that.”
She let out a dramatic sigh as she pulled the gum in her mouth past her lips in a long strand before sucking it back in. “God, Ella, don’t be such a whiny nerd. All the girls do anal nowadays. It’s what men expect. You’d know that if you weren’t such a prissy little virgin.”
My cheeks warmed. For the first time since it happened, I didn’t regret what I'd done with Matteo on his boat. I had to bite my tongue from firing back at my sister with, oh yeah? Would a prissy nerd allow herself to be whipped with a riding crop as part of a sex game?’ But I didn’t.
I adjusted my bow and continued to practice my cello. I had a class next week, and I wanted to be prepared. Father thought a university education was a waste for females. His exact words had been "you don’t need to go to school to learn how to spread your legs and cook pasta."
Thankfully, I convinced him that advanced music lessons counted as a legitimate feminine pursuit and playing an instrument would be a desirable skill in a wife who would be expected to entertain her husband’s guests. It was a disgusting throwback argument, but it got me what I wanted.
After a few bars, Toni interrupted me again. “Why are you in here with that thing and not in the gazebo, like usual?”
Leave it to my sister to finally notice something outside of her own selfish sphere when I least wanted her to. I continued to play and kept my gaze averted. “It was cold and damp in there. It’s not good for my cello.”
It had nothing to do with the fact that Matteo, her fiancé, passionately kissed me in that same gazebo not all that many hours ago.
“What is that song you’re playing? It sounds familiar. Not like that posh crap you usually play.”
My bow hand paused. I hadn’t even realized it. I should have been practicing "Cello Suite No. 1 in D Major" by Bach as a warmup.
Instead, I had absentmindedly been playing "Someone to Watch Over Me" while my mind drifted to thoughts of Matteo and last night.
I adjusted my grip on the fingerboard and fiddled with the position of my fingers over the strings. “Nothing. Just an exercise. Did Alessio agree to marry you, so you don’t have to marry Matteo?”
There was a strange pressure in my chest at just the thought of her marrying Matteo. Before, I was against it because my father was being boorish and unfair.
Now?
I gave myself a mental shake. There was no point in dwelling on how my reasons may have changed. The point was, our endgame remained the same.
She laughed as she adjusted the chain on the necklace she was wearing. “Why on earth would Alessio marry me?”