CHAPTER IX

I didn’t know I could dread something more other than this stupid wedding. I was slapped with reality when Dante told me we’re meeting his family for dinner. We’re riding in the same car again and the view out the windows was in total darkness that I had nothing to distract myself from my nervousness.

Dante was oddly chill about the whole ordeal. He was typing away on his phone and just like the whole day, acted like I didn’t exist. I wasn’t complaining though. I didn’t like the feelings that stirred inside me whenever he’s touching me. I think it’s the loneliness that was making me feel that way around him.

Today, he abandoned his usual suits and went with a plain black button down shirt and trousers, exuding coolheadedness. I didn’t know how to feel with him being so confident that I won’t slip up. The story we’re going for was that one of his men recognized my face and contacted him. When he got in the house, my “kidnapper” already got away and his man was shot dead. I came out from a coma with no memories of the past but only of him.

I wondered if he actually had to kill some poor guy just to show proof that his fake story did happen.

I didn’t know I was bouncing my knees when he spoke up beside me. “Don’t be nervous.”

“Gee thanks, I didn’t know that’s all I had to do. My nerves are totally gone now.”

I thought he’d chastise me again but his following words were a comfort. “You’ll be fine.” He ruined it as he added, “as long as you keep in mind the rules I gave you. One more thing,”

His momentary pause made me look at him.

“Do not talk back to my father. Just keep your head down and nod when necessary.”

“I’m already meeting your family when I don’t even know anything about you other than your name.” and that you can be an ass most of the time.

“That’s all I really need from you to get this wedding done.”

Something deflated inside of me. Dante can be surprisingly gentle but then say the most biting words. I was well aware that he only saw me as his missing fiancé, Caterina. Maybe when that fantasy broke at times, he was reminded that I was just some random woman and took it out on me.

Caterina or not, I was still a girl who had high hopes for her own wedding. I’d always had a clear vision of how my dream wedding would go. But I guess he’s right. It didn’t matter in my situation.

I heard him take a deep breath before he put his phone inside his pocket. “What would you like to know?”

“How old are you?”

“29.”

My eyebrows raised to my forehead. He’s even older than Julian.

“A 7-year gap is not that bad.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course, you’d say that.”

His mood seemed to lighten up and so I took the chance to ask, “Where did you go last night?”

Last night, the headlights of his car lit the driveway around midnight as it parked. I tiptoed down by the stair and saw him heading straight to the bar and drank straight from a bottle, just staring into nothingness as if it was a funeral he was expecting and not his own wedding.

He cocked his head to the side, a humorless smile on his face. “Already acting the wife huh?”

“Well, that’s why I’m here, right? To act as your wife?”

“No, fiorellino. You’re here to be my wife,” he said, his voice low but firm. I didn’t miss the possessiveness in his eyes. It was Caterina he’s seeing now. “Give me your hand.”

I complied, my hand looking so small against his palm. He smoothly slid a diamond ring on my finger. It sat on my skin as though it was designed specifically for me.

“Fits perfectly,” he murmured. My skin seared as he pulled my hand to his lips. The chaste kiss ignited flames throughout my body. If a simple touch could make me feel like this, what more if those soft lips travel farther down my body?

I felt the car slow down and stopped before a gated estate. Dante’s place was much larger by comparison but the Georgian house gave a more elegant and haunting appearance like many generations of families had come and gone through it, and now the Romanos have forced its ownership over it. The jittery nerves returned, singeing me from under my skin.

“What if I slipped up? I don’t understand that much but I know you’re going down with me if they find out I’m a fraud.”

His large hand tightened over mine. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

The words rang inside my head like a promise of the past. A weird feeling churned at the pit of my stomach. Like I’ve been burned from it all before.

I already knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.

~~~

Rio Romano was anything but the image I conjured of him. There was no pot belly in sight and an evil mustache on him. In fact, looking at him was like seeing Dante in 25 years. Still handsome and fit, the only difference was the presence they exude. When Dante walked in the room, everybody instantly knew he’s not someone to be messed with while his father has that hidden. He seemed the type who would greet you with open arms only to put a gun to your head.

I was waiting for that gun as I obeyed Dante’s orders and just listened in on the conversation over the dinner table. It looked like I was not the only one who’d rather be anywhere else than there. Lorenzo Romano kept his mouth shut unless his father asked him about his law degree. Apparently, he was the only Romano who graduated college and from what I’d heard, has kept away from the family business. He only showed up here for the wedding but hadn’t even glanced my way the entire night.

Completing their family was Ada Romano, the middle child. She filled the room with chatter of her recent escapade in East Asia with her husband. She was chirpy and glowing with merriment. A complete antithesis of her own family. She seemed a bit ditzy as she continued talking. If I hear one more word about the failed plastic surgeries of their associates’ mistresses I might just pull my hair out and sew it back in. Still, I’d rather go through dinner with her mind-numbing gossips than to draw attention to myself.

I thought I could finish the dinner unscathed when I felt Rio Romano’s heavy gaze fall on me. Earlier, I couldn’t tell what he thought of me as Dante introduced us but right now, he didn’t hold back the expression of displeasure on his face.

“She doesn’t remember anything, no? Whoever that man that kidnapped her must have done a number on her head. Make sure you put many bullets in that fucker before shooting him on the head, ” he grunted.

My palms began to sweat but Dante remained chill beside me as he cut through his steak.

“I’m already planning on it and worse.”

My heart dropped when I realized it was my father he was casually referring to doing harm. I wanted to take a drink but I was afraid my trembling hand would expose the fraud that I was.

“You know the mess you made with this girl? You made me look like a fucking fool to those old bastards.”

“C’mon papa, let’s not bring business to the dinner table.” Ada chided lightly but they ignored her.

“This just proves that the traitors are more powerful than we think. The Russians may already have involved themselves in our personal business.”

“I don’t give two shits about the Russians when my own family lies to me,” Rio growled, his hooded eyes looking like he was about to strangle Dante. The tension in the room became so palpable, I could almost taste it as it hung heavy in the air.

He put down his knife and fork. I had a sudden itch to hide them away before this could turn bloody.

Dante remained level headed though. “I have always been loyal to this family.”

“And yet you kept your mouth shut when you had this girl in your own house for days.”

“I had a plan. Clearly, it’s been shitted on.”

“Clearly,” his father drawled. Out of the corner of my eye, Dante’s hand formed into a fist.

“This is the last time you lie to me, you got that?”

“Yes, it won’t happen again.”

My focus was on my plate but I just knew that wasn’t the end of it. Rio Romano didn’t sound like the man who’d let go of betrayal that easily even from his own family.

“All of those old bastards will be at the wedding. You better make sure no blood is spilled tomorrow in my lawn. Those old dogs may have been fond of her mother in the past but this one is just a pretty doll that doesn’t know anything.”

There’s that gun. Usually people kept their mouths shut when someone pointed a gun to their head but my mouth must have had a death wish as it opened before I could think.

“I assure you, it’s just my memories with you people I don’t remember. I still understand the English language and I dislike being talked about as if I’m not in the room,” I said calmly, staring right into Rio’s stony gaze.

The room’s temperature dropped to what I imagined the seventh hell felt like. I could feel Dante tensed beside me and even the expressionless Lorenzo looked up from his plate, his eyes wide.

There was silence like the stillness before a thunderstorm.

He only further insulted me as he ignored me and addressed his son, “Dante, I see you haven’t taught your fiancé how to behave properly. That Caruso blood in her needs to be tamed.”

He was about to finish off his glass when Dante snapped. “How I deal with her is none of your business.”

“It is my fucking business or have you forgotten it was me who got you her in the first place?” Rio asked, his voice threatening but Dante wasn’t deterred.

“As I shoot and kill people for you.”

“And you will continue to do so to show your fucking gratitude and loyalty to me.”

He slammed the glass on the table, the impact of it broke the stem and the bowl fell on the ground. The shattering sound echoed in the completely hushed room. Neither of the two backed down as they glared at each other.

My heart almost popped out of my ribcage when Ada suddenly clapped her hands.

“I think it’s time for desserts. Kelly, bring in the mousse.” She signaled to one of the help. She then turned to me, all smiles as though the tension in the room was nonexistent. Under the dim lights, I felt like I was being initiated into a whole lot of craziness.

“Do you like mousse, Caterina? It’s my specialty. Everyone says it’s to die for.”