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)
Crossing to the table, I placed it in front of her, then sat with mine.
She barely looked up as she slurped a forkful of pasta past her lips before muttering, “Grazie.”
“Prego.”
Finally, she looked at me. “Is that from Father?”
I raised my fingertips to my cheek, then nodded.
“Honestly, Ella. When will you learn to just stay out of his way?”
“Says the girl who’s being forced into marriage by him?”
She shrugged. “You’ll figure it out. Besides, I saw Matteo last night …”
“You did?” My stomach twisted as I braced for her response, watching her closely for any change in expression.
What would I do if she suddenly raged at me for fucking her fiancé?
I could argue the finer point that I didn’t technically have sex with him—I only sucked his cock after he whipped me with his riding crop and made me come with the dildo handle.
Yeah, that was way better than if I had slept with him. Sigh.
She twisted a forkful of pasta against the bowl of her spoon. “He’s pretty freaking sexy. All those muscles and those callused hands. Plus, you know how much I like my men tall. I bet his cock is huge.”
I raised the back of my hand to my lips after choking on a sip of espresso. When I could breathe again, I struggled to keep my voice calm and casual. “You shouldn’t say such things, Toni,” I advised, using my nickname for her.
Antonia rolled her eyes. “God, you’re such a fucking prude, Ella. Maybe if you were willing to put a piece of wood other than that stupid cello between your legs, you’d finally attract a man.”
There were countless reasons why I shouldn’t fire back that I had sucked her man’s cock the night before. For starters, it would ruin everything. Not to mention that Matteo thought I was Antonia when he propositioned me. There was every reason to believe that if he knew I was the “boring” twin, he would have stayed away even if he wasn’t about to become engaged to my sister.
Spinning my empty espresso cup between my hands, I said, “So, have you changed your mind about marrying him?”
If she said yes, I’d have to tell her about last night.
If she said no, I would keep my mouth shut … Ironically, what I should have done last night.
Focu ‘ranni.
She kicked back her espresso in one gulp. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Dammit. What was I supposed to do with maybe?
“You honestly want to move to the middle of nowhere in Abruzzo or worse yet, up north in the Dolemites, where his father has a ranch?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Of course not. If we married, he’d have to move here, or maybe we'd live in Rome.”
“That’s not going to happen, Antonia. His family has a massive winery business in Abruzzo. Everyone knows the Cavalieri men physically work at the winery along with their staff.”
I sent a quick apology prayer to the Holy Madonna before pressing on. “And they expect their women to do the same. I heard the wives and girlfriends even slog through the muddy fields during harvest time.”
She pulled a face and let her fork clatter to her plate. “Eww. But they have money!”
I collected her plate and espresso cup on my way to the kitchen sink. We only had a few more minutes before the staff arrived to start preparing for dinner.
We used to have live-in staff, but after Mother’s disappearance, Father fired them all and initially refused to allow anyone in the house. He said it was because he couldn’t stand the noise.
I knew what he really couldn't stand was having any witnesses to how he treated Antonia and me.
Any witnesses to what he—
I shook the disturbing thought off as I ran her plate under the faucet. “So? Money isn’t everything.”
She tossed her napkin aside. “Speak for yourself. It should be illegal for a man who has billions to make his wife work. I’ll just tell Matteo I refuse to work. That as his wife, it’s his duty to provide for me and obey me and buy me whatever I want.”
After finishing her plate, I leaned a hip against the counter. “Yup. That’s exactly what it says in the Bible.”
Another quick apology prayer.
“But … I heard the Cavalieri men are cruel to their women and really, really cheap! Matteo’s cousin, Cesare, didn’t even buy his fiancée a diamond engagement ring.”
Antonia gasped and rose from her chair to approach me. “What?”
I nodded sagely. “It’s true. He gave her a simple gold necklace. And not even a new one! He repaired some old zodiac charm she already owned.”
Antonia placed her hand over her heart as if she had just heard he tortured puppies or kicked the homeless. “That is disgusting.”
Eavesdropping on the staff while they gossiped after learning about Antonia possibly marrying into the Cavalieri family was paying off.