“Fine.” There’s a high likelihood Sabina will toss that list right into the trash, but whatever.
“This is your new home. I want you to be comfortable.”
I bite down on my lip. Comfortable? I’ll never be comfortable here. Why is he trying to act nice to me? This place is my new prison. It doesn’t matter how pretty it is.
A cage is still a cage, and he will always be my jailer.
CHAPTER 7
CLEO
My new food arrives quickly. It’s a vegetable curry over jasmine rice, and it’s so fucking good that I inhale it in minutes. I immediately feel better.
Now, if only I could get some wine.
There’s a bottle sitting on the table right in front of me, but the servers pointedly ignored my glass. If I had to guess, I’d say Rafaele told them to keep the booze away from me.
So what if I like to indulge on occasion? I’d like to see him living with Pietra and Stefano Garzolo for nineteen years without developing a vice.
I huff out an annoyed breath and glance around the table. Two ancient nonnas are giving me the evil eye from behind their plates of steak. If I was sitting any closer, they’d probably try to spit on me.
Does Rafaele really expect me to sit through the rest of this dinner sober? He’s drinking, so what gives? The air in this palatial ballroom is suffocating enough to clog my throat. It’s like I’m being tried for a crime I didn’t commit, and his relatives are my jury.
Fuck it.
I reach for the bottle, but Rafaele beats me to it, snatching it from under my fingertips.
Frustration prickles over my skin. “Oh, come on—”
He fills my glass and tops off his own.
“Drink,” he commands.
My brows arch up. What’s this? Has he decided to take pity on me? Or maybe he can tell I need something to take the edge off or I’ll explode.
I don’t care about the opinions of other people. Never have. But normally, I wouldn’t just sit here quietly, letting their judgmental gazes skewer through me. I’d cause a scene, embarrass my parents, find a way to be sent home.
Only now this is my home.
I drink the entire glass in three gulps and I swear I feel a light buzz right away. Some tension leaves my neck.
Rafaele pushes his chair back and stands. “Come with me.”
My gaze slides up his huge body. He must be at least six-two. “Where?”
He opens his hand, like he wants me to take it, and doesn’t answer. His entire family is watching us, their conversations quieting. I sigh and slide my hand into his. At this point, I’d rather be anywhere but here.
His hand, warm and rough, swallows up my own as he leads me out of the ballroom.
Touching him is not entirely unpleasant, which gives me pause. Whenever Ludovico got too close to me, I got the strong urge to hurl, something I communicated to him quite often. It kept him away from me for a while.
We turn down a wide hallway and walk toward the door at the end of it. Behind it, a narrow staircase leads downstairs. Rafaele flicks on a light and gestures for me to go first.
I swallow. This is starting to feel ominous. “Want to tell me where we’re going?”
“You’ll see.”
I narrow my eyes. “Any reasonable person would want to know why you’re taking them to a creepy dark basement.”
“They would, but we both know you’re not a member of that group,” he drawls.
Wow. “So you expect me to follow you around like some lapdog?”
He crosses his big arms over his chest. “I don’t like dogs.”
I scoff. “You don’t like dogs? Well, that explains a lot. Is it because you’re deathly allergic?”
His eyes spark. “Wouldn’t you just love that.”
“If you have any serious allergies, you should probably make me a list. I wouldn’t want to accidentally kill you, would I? That would be very unwifely of me.”
His cheek ticks. “You can either take the stairs on your own, or I can throw you over my shoulder and bring you down there myself. Your choice.”
“Jesus, I got it.” I brush past him. I should probably keep my mouth shut, but I’m brimming with nervous energy.
Getting down is a challenge due to the narrow skirt of my dress. The air gets colder and colder with each step I take.
The chill fills me with foreboding. Seriously, what the fuck is down here? I mean, he wouldn’t kill me the night before our wedding, right?
I finally reach the bottom landing and take a few steps into the darkness.
Rafaele flicks on another light, illuminating the space.