Chapter 6
Chapter Six
ATHENA
C ursing his name with every nasty word to ever exist, during the fifteen minutes it takes me to walk home, I finally make it to the metal gates of my family mansion.
Punching in the code to the side gate, I blow out a weary breath when the lock clicks, pushing through it in the next second. I’m over today. It slowly progressed from good, to bad, to worse, my mood plummeting with every minute Matteo turned his wrath on me. I don’t know what I did to deserve his ire, but it was there in the car, so tangible it suffocated me.
He called me a whore .
Maybe not in as many words but it was exactly what he meant. Despite defending myself, it was in that moment I knew it was in vain. Matteo had made up his mind about me. And no matter what I said, it wouldn’t change how he perceived me.
I was done.
So fucking done being his punching bag.
Without thought, I asked him to stop the vehicle and got out. No way was I going to spend another second with him. I would rather stab myself in the eyeball with a fork than take any more of his shit.
It was during my walk that I made up my mind. I wouldn’t spend another ounce of my attention on Matteo Rossi.
Climbing the porch steps I pull my key from my purse, but before I get the chance to use it, the door is pulled open, revealing my mother. Her assessing eyes track over my body, taking in my outfit, before moving up to my make-up free face and wet, tangled hair. She scowls. It’s expected. My mother always requires perfection from me. If I am deemed anything less by her standards, then the nasty remarks commence.
“What the hell do you look like, Athena?” Her voice is like a whip against my skin.
Elouise Johnson is the last person I want to deal with right now. Especially after my encounter with Matteo in the SUV.
Sighing, I reach up, rubbing my temples with my fingers, trying to ease the headache forming. “I’m not in the mood for a lesson in your impossibly high standards, or your judgement about my appearance right now, Mother.”
Shoving past her, I head straight to the stairs, wanting to get as far away as possible from her and to my bedroom. But her next words stop me in my tracks. “Henry Weinrich is in your father’s office. You have a date with him tonight,” she states apathetically.
My shoulders slump, realization settling over me. Henry messaging me about a date wasn’t because he genuinely likes me, it is a set up. I shouldn’t be surprised. My father would do anything to palm me off to a man from an upstanding, wealthy family. I guess Henry ticks all those boxes for him. A bitter chuckle leaves my lips at my naivety, hitting me in the gut.
I genuinely thought Henry had asked me of his own volition, but it’s clear now, father is pushing for this union. The freedom I have been granted over the years has all been an illusion. Just like Allegra, my dad wants to force me into a marriage of his choosing. My feelings be damned. Its fucking archaic, but not unheard of in our circles.
My mothers pierces the fog of my warring mind. Glancing at her, I find her narrowed gaze on me.
“Go make yourself presentable,” she hisses.
And with no fight left in me, not after the argument with Matteo, I straighten my shoulders and become the dutiful daughter I was raised to be.
Climbing the stairs, each step feels heavier than the last as if I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. But still, I shove my emotions aside and head to my room to get ready for my date.