Chapter Seven
Arianna’s in the shower; she’s barely spoken since she turned up with Bellino and Matteo.
It’s raised emotions from the beginning.
We fought, we argued, and our truth came crashing down around us.
Father had manipulated us, but that doesn’t replace the years of abuse and torment knowing all of this.
It’s gonna take time, but will we ever trust each other?
Bellino and Arianna were whispering like they had a secret, their hushed words spoken aggressively as they gritted their teeth and scowled at each other.
It frustrated me, wondering if she wished she’d married him.
Matteo is down in the basement, but she hasn’t been down there.
Luca feeds him and takes him water, but she hasn’t left the office except to eat, and then she barely eats.
She locks herself in there for hours at a time.
I can’t wait around trying to get what’s going on from her, so I make my way downstairs, intending to talk to Marianne, but my feet keep going, bypassing the kitchen altogether, and I head to the basement.
I don’t know why. I need to find out how we got here, how he wanted her, but then tried to sell her to my brother.
The lock clicks and the door groans as I push inside.
His head slowly moves to the side, but when he sees me, he sits up straighter.
There’s almost a grin on his face, his eyes twinkle, and he follows every step I make as I walk around him, grabbing a chair, dragging it towards him, turning it so the back faces him, and slowly taking a seat.
I cross my arms, resting them on the back of the chair.
I rest my chin on my arms and just watch him.
I assess him, and yet he says nothing. There’s something though, his face looks smug almost, and yet he’s in no position to feel that way.
“Why?” I whisper out.
“Now isn’t that a loaded question?” His voice is scratchy; it sounds dry from being unused. I know Luca refuses to talk to him, so he’s been here alone for days now.
“Just answer the question,” I bark at him as I sit up straighter now.
“Why, what?” He shrugs. “Exactly what is it you want the answer to, Mr Bianchi?” He spits my title at me, and I smirk.
“Why did you double-cross her?” It’s what confuses me.
“She didn’t want me; she was enamoured with you.” He growls. “I was not going to sit here and watch you fuck her, everywhere.”
“Is that what this is? You couldn’t fuck her, so you betrayed her?” I stare at him, trying to find the logic in the betrayal.
“Who says I didn’t fuck her?” His grin is cruel, spiteful as he watches my reaction.
I know they never fucked. I know Arianna told me they never even kissed.
It was all long looks, mild touches, and almosts.
“Is that what she told you?” He chuckles.
“Ahh, the lies.” His vicious smirk tries to get under my skin.
“So you’re saying you did fuck?”
“Fuck yeah, we did.” He grins, his shoulders back, his posture proud.
Leering at me, he laughs. “I was the last man she fucked. I bet she hasn’t fucked you since she’s been back.
You want to know why that is? I’ll tell you because we fucked.
Since you’ve been married, she couldn’t resist me any longer.
She was gagging for it. Clawing at me like she’d never had a real man, like she’d never been fucked properly before. She wanted it so badly.
“How the fuck does it feel to know you weren’t the last man she fucked, huh?” He laughs. “That my cum was the last cum she had inside her because I can guarantee, since I fucked her, she hasn’t wanted anything to fucking do with you.”
He grins. “Not so fucking cocky now, are you? She chose me. She fucking chose me. Why do you think I’m down here?
Because she wants me and can’t figure out how to get rid of you.
I bet my cum is still inside her. Fuck you and your superiority.
You’re fucking nothing. She chose me!” he screams as I stand and slowly make my way out of the room.
I close the door and click the lock in place. I can’t bring myself to believe it, but there has been something untoward since she’s been back.
She hasn’t come to bed until well after I’m asleep. When I wake up, she’s gone. She spends all her time in her office with the door locked. She won’t let me in, barely talks to me and says she’s working on a plan with Bellino.
I don’t know what her plan is, what they’re doing, has she changed her mind? Is she with Bellino? Is Matteo right? Did they have sex? I make my way up to the room and step inside. She’s drying herself with her robe. The small towels she used to use are gone.
Since she came back, she has been wearing a big, baggy robe and baggy clothes. I walk up to her and slide my hands around her, but she steps away from me and walks to the other side of the bed.
“We need to talk,” I whisper.
“We will once I’ve sorted everything out.” She barely glances at me.
“Sorted everything out? About what?”
“Bellino.” She swallows, blowing out a breath. “Matteo.” She doesn’t look at me when she says his name. She moves further away.
“Ari?”
“Yes.” She glances over her shoulder.
“Take off the robe.”
“I’m not in the mood.”
“I didn’t ask if you were in the mood. Take off the robe.”
She turns, but she’s clutching it tightly against her body. The bruising on her face is yellow with a purplish edge. “No.” It’s the only reply she gives before she turns away.
“Did you fuck him?” If she’s honest, then maybe I can get past it if it’s true. But there’s clearly something.
She huffs a laugh. “Yeah, he fucked me, Vittorio, he fucked me real good.” The disgust on her face tells me I don’t know everything.
I take a step back from her. I feel like my world is about to implode.
She takes a step towards me, pure venom spilling out of her.
“He fucked me so hard and came inside me so much that it’s all I can feel.
” She takes another step towards me. And I can’t, I can’t accept that she would do that to me.
The words feel wrong. They feel empty but loaded.
“Arianna, please tell me what’s going on.”
“I just told you. He. Fucked. Me.” The look on her face is raw. Anger seeps out of every micro expression, while disgust fills the rest.
I step back towards her. “Ari, did you fuck him?” She says he fucked her—not they fucked, he fucked her, and if I think she’s telling me what I think she is, I’m about to go nuclear. My voice shakes as I whisper. “But did you fuck him?”
“What do you want to hear, Vittorio?” She sounds exhausted.
“The truth, Ari. Us against the world, remember? Always the truth.”
“No, Vittorio. I didn’t fuck him.”
I turn on my heel and head for the door. “I will fucking end him!” I yell.
She slams herself in front of me. “Don’t, please don’t.
I will end him myself. I just need… time.
” Her voice cracks on a sob, and she drops to the floor.
I catch her, wrap her in my arms as she sobs against me.
I pull her onto my lap, my back rests against the door, and I hold her.
I hold her tight. And she breaks, she holds me close and just fucking breaks, and there’s nothing I can do but hold on to her.
I try to hold all the broken pieces until we can patch them back together.