Chapter 27
Sofia
My closet is filled with so many new things that it’s going to be a struggle to pack for this trip to Greece.
Alessandro is taking me and those who directly report to him, so I get to finally socialize with people aside from Alessandro and Elena.
I had nice dresses and formal wear before coming here, but I still mostly lived in leggings and jeans.
It’s been an adjustment wearing something nice every day to blend in with the rest of the castle.
That’s right, I can go wherever I want to now.
It was a mini-vacation at first, exploring this place.
Alessandro said that the floor plan was intentionally laid out confusingly for security reasons.
It was kind of fun getting lost almost on purpose and trying to find my way back to our wing.
Ironically, now that I’ve explored every corner of this place, I rarely leave our home.
Marco’s wing is practically the size of a mansion within this castle, and it has everything I could ever need.
I run my fingers along some items in my new wardrobe and pull down a few evening dresses to pack away. They’re all more modest than I would typically wear, but that only brings a smile to my face. He never got over his jealous tendencies.
And I don’t care.
I always assumed the typical possessive tendencies that mafia men seem to have would irritate me, seeing that I’m… me. But it’s different with Alessandro for reasons I can’t put my finger on. All I know is that after that fight in the weight room, things have never been easier between us.
Sometimes I question whether everything is too easy and maybe I should be more apprehensive. Maybe I should walk right out the front door of this castle because I can now, and just go home.
But I don’t want to go home anymore. It’s not that I never want to see anyone again, but I realized I need some space from my family for a little bit. Once I got more comfortable with Alessandro and living here, I started having these thoughts like how fucked up it was that they sent me here.
They knew how sadistic and chaotic Marco was.
They knew of Alessandro’s reputation for terrorizing this city—which I know that wasn’t his choice and haunts him—and arranged a marriage for me and him, anyway.
But despite all of that, I think I’m falling for him.
And his baby might be growing inside of me, which brings up another topic about my family. I asked my mom whether I should get on birth control before coming here, and she suggested I didn’t. That I talk with Alessandro first and see if he wants to have children right away.
I just… went along with that. Me, someone who has a conniption if things don’t perfectly go my way.
I could have driven myself to the doctor and taken matters into my own hands to get on birth control, but I didn’t.
Because my family had me wrapped around their fingers without me realizing.
I don’t resent my mother for that conversation because I know she was probably parroting whatever she was told when she was about to get married.
So, I decided some time to myself and exploring my relationship with Alessandro is important to me. I want to keep my head clear of their influence, at least for a little bit.
I’m sure they aren’t that concerned. I sent them that message that I was okay and that they didn’t have to worry about paying Alessandro anything.
I grab a beautiful navy blue evening gown and turn towards the bedroom to put it with the rest of the things I’m packing.
But Alessandro lingering in the doorway makes me startle. He walked in so quietly I had no idea he was here.
“Don’t scare me like that.”
“Sorry.” He smirks.
He leans his head against the door frame.
My heart flutters in my chest at his facial expression because I can tell—he has it bad for me.
He’s not even trying to hide it anymore.
And I don’t mean this in a bitchy way, but Alessandro lacks the social finesse to fake this.
So, I trust his feelings are genuine even though I’ve been questioning every day if my family made me too na?ve to function.
He pulls a cell phone out of his pocket, extending it to me. “Here. I didn’t want you without one for this trip, in case we get separated.”
I reach for it, dumbfounded that I’m being allowed to have it. How much I longed for a cellphone in the early days of our marriage.
“It has only my number and the chief stewardess of the boat.”
“Aren’t you worried that I’ll call my family?”
“Gio set something up with it so that those are the only two numbers you can call, along with emergency services.” He tilts his head.
“Would you have called them if I had given you that freedom? You haven’t been bothering me to set up a FaceTime, so I figured you didn’t want to talk to them for some reason. ”
Something about how he said that pisses me off—reminding me I still don’t have complete autonomy even though I’m not a prisoner.
“You’re right,” I hiss. “But it’s not okay for you to do shady things like that.”
“It’s not,” he concedes. “And I promise I won’t make a habit of doing this sort of thing in the future. But things are… delicate right now between me and your family. The last conversation we had didn’t end well.”
I take a breath.
Don’t snap. Don’t snap. Don’t snap.
I want to scream at him for exerting that level of control over me and reminding me that our relationship is still screwed up even though I feel like I’m living my life as a normal wife. But I’ve been really trying to work on my temper around him.
“Why don’t you want to talk to them?” he asks as I continue working on calming down.
I sigh, taking a final deep breath and composing myself.
“I know how they’d react to what our relationship has turned into, and I’m dreading that conversation. I just want to give it time.”
“Good.” He pulls me in close to his chest. “We’ll sort it out when we get back.
Right now, I’m too distracted with work and this upcoming vacation to think straight.
And Elena pulled out of the trip and won’t give me a reason other than she doesn’t feel like it.
So, I can’t stop thinking about that, either. ”
That sucks. He told me he was beginning to feel back on track with her again, and I was looking forward to having her come on the trip. Elena keeps to herself, but we’ve hung out a couple of times while Alessandro worked.
He gives me a quick kiss on the lips and then gives me a smile that makes me melt. “I wish we could just go alone, just the two of us. But things aren’t stable enough for that.”
“I understand. I’m hoping we can sneak away… a lot.”
“Of course we can.” He winks.