Chapter Four
Elsie slowly came out of sleep, and she was aware of the man beside her. She didn’t want to move an inch, because the last few days he’d been awake even before her. She couldn’t make out if he was snoring or not.
That first night he’d brought her to this cabin, he refused to sleep anywhere else. As Massimo liked to remind her, they were married, and he was not going to sleep anywhere else but by his wife’s side.
She tried to complain, tried to tell him there was no way she was sleeping with him. There had been no sex. She’d tried to budge him out of the way, which didn’t work. Massimo was a brick wall of thick muscle, and there was no moving him, no matter how hard she tried.
Then, he advised if she had a problem, to go sleep on the couch out in the main sitting room. He knew she was never going to do that. No matter how stubborn she was, she’d made a vow with herself to always sleep in a bed. Years of having to sleep on hard furniture or the floor made sure of that.
So, she’d snuggled down, trying to keep as much distance between the two of them as possible. Only, it hadn’t worked. Sure, she could try to keep distance and not sleep with him, but that would only work for so long.
Waking up with his arms wrapped around her, she had to force herself to think about him holding Isabella D’Angelo. She had never witnessed her husband being anything more than civil to Isabella. Actually, that was not accurate. She’d witnessed her husband being civil, while Isabella tried to garner his attention every opportunity she had, whether it be at a dinner or some other social gathering.
Elsie had noticed Isabella was either seated beside her husband or opposite him. During one of the dinners, Elsie had been able to sneak away and check the seating arrangements, only to find when it came to dinner, they’d been changed. On one occasion, her seat beside her husband had placed her right next to Isabella’s father. Massimo wasn’t having that, and he refused to eat dinner until his wife was beside him. Isabella’s father made her move, and it had caused embarrassment.
In most situations, Romero made sure he was seated next to her, and she didn’t know if Massimo was aware, but he also went out of his way to reassure her that nothing untoward was going on.
She didn’t know what she believed anymore. Was she in the way? She was an outcast, but had been all her life, so this was nothing new.
“I can hear you thinking,” Massimo said.
Elise turned her head to find Massimo had moved a little closer. She missed her opportunity to try and escape. She knew she wouldn’t get very far. Massimo had the only key to the main door, and he probably had changed the security code.
“You’re awake.”
“Do you want to tell me what is going on in that head of yours?” he asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“Nothing?”
She nodded her head and then refused to look at him.
He sighed. “Do you remember a time when you would tell me every single detail of your life?”
“I’m sorry about that,” she said.
“Damn it, Elsie, you don’t have to be sorry about that.” He threw the blanket aside and climbed off the edge of the bed.
She tried not to look at his body, but Massimo was not known for wearing clothes to bed. He’d been sleeping naked for a long time.
As for her, she was used to being bundled up in pajamas. Since she’d been married to Massimo, he had insisted on her being completely naked at all times when they were alone, especially in bed together.
He had way too many staff at his main home for her to freely walk around naked. The cabin was a different story. Their honeymoon had been spent without any clothes, and the truth was, she’d loved every second of it. Massimo had made it a honeymoon to remember. He’d not been able to take her abroad or to a luxurious hotel. His cabin had been all she needed.
Elsie tried not to be aroused, but Massimo was her husband. Glancing up, she caught sight of his body, including his erection as he stood at the edge of the bed.
“Nothing fucking happened. Nothing is going to happen. I do not even like Isabella.”
“You don’t have to like her to have sex with her.”
He glared at her. “You’re right, I don’t have to like her, but I at least have to want her, and I don’t.” He wrapped his fingers around his length. “You see this!”
She didn’t want to look, but he didn’t continue so she knew he was doing this on purpose. With very little choice, she glanced down at his erection and saw just how thick he was. There was a soft glow coming in from the sun, and she saw the tip was already glistening with pre-cum. She didn’t want to want him, and yet, that was exactly what her body was craving. Him and him alone.
He gripped his cock tightly within his fist, and began to work it up and down. “You’re the only one I want, Elsie. I’ve broken rules for you. I’ve done everything I can to show you that you mean the fucking world to me, and I’m never going to screw that evil bitch. You told me if I ever stuck my dick in another woman, we were over. I believed you. The courtesy you could give me is believing me and actually trusting me.” He let go of his cock, and then walked away.
Elsie didn’t like the feeling that spread within her chest. That horrible feeling of guilt.
****
“You look pissed off,” Romero said, coming to the main front door.
Massimo opened his arms, and his brother stepped in them, hugging him back. “It has been a long few days.”
“Is she still not budging?” he asked.
“She is, we’re talking now, which is a step up. She hasn’t poisoned my food, and she is still making me food and coffee.”
“Do you want me to take a sample back to a lab and have it checked out?”
He couldn’t help but laugh because the truth was, he was so tempted.
“No, that is fine.” He knew Elsie wouldn’t attempt to poison him. Even though she had told him that story about what she did, he also knew it had affected her to the point that she didn’t want to hurt another living soul.
“Did all the Christmas supplies arrive in time?” Romero asked.
“They’re up.”
“And?” Romero asked.
Massimo smiled. “She wanted to know why Christmas was being delivered to the cabin.”
“She is stubborn. You knew this when you married her.”
“I knew she was stubborn, but I didn’t think it would come to bite me in the ass the way it has.” He ran a hand down his face. Massimo didn’t know what to do. Not to prove to Elsie that he loved her and her alone, but for her to understand what she meant to him.
“She’ll come around,” Romero said. “You know you’ve got to be patient with her.”
“I’ve not even done anything wrong.” He’d not looked at Isabella. He found the woman irritating, and if he was honest with himself, all he wanted to do right now was fucking kill her. He couldn’t stand her. He’d never wanted to marry her, and he had warned Franco that he had no interest in the man’s daughter.
“I know, but you also know what Isabella is like. Unlike Elsie, she is used to getting what she wants. Be warned, this is probably not just one incident. Elsie’s been having to deal with Isabella’s disdain from the moment you were married and announced it. Also, Isabella hasn’t been shy about telling her that you and she were meant to be married.”
Massimo ran a hand down his face.
“What did you do to reassure Elsie?” Romero asked.
He looked at his brother, giving him a glare. “Whose side are you on?”
“I’m on your side, but I’m making sure you did everything you possibly could to make it right. Did you?”
“I shouldn’t have to,” Massimo said.
Romero nodded his head and then put his hands up. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say shit like that. You know it pisses me off.”
“Because I’m right.”
“Fuck you.”
Romero began to laugh. “Look, all I’m saying is we know Elsie’s not like a lot of women. She came from nothing. She had no parents, no chance at a start. Then you’ve got Isabella, who has had everything handed to her on a plate. She flaunts it. She makes sure Elsie is very much aware that she is not one of us, while Isabella is this golden goddess, waiting to be snapped up.”
Massimo didn’t even need his brother to continue, to know Isabella must have been saying shit behind the scenes. The woman was a calculating witch.
“Elsie not only has her to contend with, but people look at her like she is not one of them. They see her as a gold digger, and let’s face it, you don’t like it, but they still whisper ‘whore’ when she’s close by. You don’t hear it, but she does. You can’t always be there for her. Remember that.”
He didn’t want to know, but he knew it had to be true. Many nights when they had gotten home after a dinner, he’d pulled her in close, kissing her.
She’d pulled away, just slightly, and looked him in the eye. “You know I’m not after your money, don’t you?”
“Babe, where is this coming from?”
“It’s nothing, but I want to make sure you know.”
“I know.” He would go in for another kiss, because all he wanted to be was balls-deep inside his wife.
“And you know I’ve not been … with anyone else.”
“Elsie, I knew you were a virgin. My virgin. I know there is not going to be any other man.”
He would kill any man who would even try to take his woman from him. Elsie belonged to him, and he was not about to lose her.
“I know.” He knew the people around him were vultures. The wives, the daughters, the girlfriends. They were all after any kind of blood they could get, because none of them could get it from the men in their lives.
“Tell me what you have learned,” Massimo asked.
He would take care of the family once and for all. Time would put an end to their bullshit. Also, the moment he put a baby inside her, he was going to make sure no one ever even fucking whispered the word “boo” to her.