Six
DARIO
“You’ll live, Red. It’s a kick to the balls, not a bullet to them,” Silas says, rolling his eyes as he passes us in the living room. Red sprawls across the couch, an ice block wrapped in a towel resting on his crotch and a pillow covering his face to hide his pain. He looks like an absolute twat.
Yanking the cushion from his face, he death-stares Silas as he walks away. Throwing it, he hits Silas’ legs, stopping him in his tracks. “You try being booted in the balls by her. She’s fucking lethal, man, I’m telling you.” Turning his head to me, he adds, “You’ve got your work cut out for you. God only knows what she’s like in bed.”
“Redello!” my mother screeches from the kitchen doorway before inching towards us. “Don’t speak about women like that.”
“I’m not the one sleeping with her,” he says, his tone defensive. “And after that, I’m glad. She’s got some serious strength in her legs.”
Walking quicker, my mother reaches us in seconds, swatting him on his forehead. “Watch your mouth, Red.”
“What, the back of my head isn’t accessible, so you whack my forehead?” he asks, rubbing his head.
“That’s exactly what it is,” she retorts, pushing his legs off the couch as she settles beside him. “Whether you like it or not, Liana is here to stay, Red, and it’s obvious, she has a rather deep hatred for you. Start wearing a cup if you want to protect your jewels.”
“I shouldn’t have to protect my manhood,” he says, a look of disbelief on his face. “She should keep her extremities to herself.”
My mother rolls her eyes. “You know I love you like a son, Red, but you’re an asshole sometimes. You wonder why you’re single and moments like these prove why.”
“Did you need something, Elaina, or did you come in here to hit a man when he’s down?”
“It looks as though Liana’s hit you enough for all women,” she replies with a matter-of-fact attitude. “But yes, I came here for a reason… the annual ball,” she continues, turning to face me and I slide down into my spot on the lounge chair. “It’s just around the corner and no one has organised anything. Do you plan on doing it anytime soon?”
“I don’t think you could exactly call it an annual ball, Mama. You started discussing it last year. We haven’t even held one yet. It’s a bit presumptuous of you to think it’ll be big enough of a hit for it to continue.”
“I’m hopeful it will be. You won’t know until you throw the ball.” She forces out a breath. “Things are changing now, Rio, and it’ll be good publicity for us. You’ll be married by then, and showing her off will reveal the changed man you’re becoming.” Her eyes plead with me, almost as if that’ll convince me.
“I’m not changing, though, am I?” I counter, pushing myself back upright. “This, along with this annual ball you speak of, is being forced onto me to fit your standards. I know it worked for you, but marriage isn’t something I need. It won’t look good on me.”
“It doesn’t have to look good on you for it to happen and believe me, it’s happening. Like I said, Liana is here to stay and once you recognise that fact, the change won’t be as difficult as you’re making it out to be.”
“One son is already married; isn’t that enough for you?”
“I want to die knowing my children aren’t going to die alone. I want to know that you’ll live through the best thing in life, that is parenthood and marriage, and inevitably be buried next to your soulmate. If I died tomorrow, I would be turning in my grave knowing you’d call off this wedding just to spite me.”
I sigh, rubbing my hands down my face. “Then you do it. You’re more into this ball than I am. It could be a way for you to get to know Liana a little better. You, Liana and Kat would do a better job than any of us could.”
Her eyes light up. “You’re right; you wouldn’t be able to meet my expectations anyway.”
“Wow, thanks, Mama.” I laugh softly.
“You have no sense when it comes to decorating. I mean, look at your house, there is no colour here except black and white. You’re living in an old movie.”
“What’s wrong with that? Black is my favourite colour.”
She rolls her eyes. “Black isn’t even a colour, Dario, it’s a shade. It doesn’t look like a woman lives here.”
“Up until a week ago, there wasn’t,” I remind her. “Kat has tried to get me to redecorate for years, and failed each time. I highly doubt Liana will be able to convince me. ”
“Your wife shouldn’t have to convince you to let her spruce up her home, and yes, it’s her home now, too. You can’t live your life being so straightforward and frugal when it comes to things that used to be yours. This marriage will bind everything you own with her holdings and they’ll become both of yours. There is no ‘I’ in team, and a marriage is two people coming together to form their own. You’ll get your very own little players soon enough that you’ll have to share. You might as well practise now with the smaller things.”
I know what Mama wants from me, but change isn’t easy; not of this proportion. I feel as though I’m suffocating. Knowing I have absolutely no say in how I choose to live my life and that my mother is forcing me into a marriage that is only convenient for her, makes me sick.
None of my brothers offer their input into the conversation. Red’s too busy comforting his balls. Silas is probably relishing in my pain, as he does with everyone else. Cassian is just leering in the corner, hiding in the shadows, pretending he’s not here.
“Let’s stick to the here and now, mother,” I finally say after a few seconds of deafening silence. “We aren’t even married yet. Children aren’t going to happen for a while, and you’ll have to come to terms with that, I’m afraid.”
The look on her face says it all. She doesn’t like my answer in the slightest. “Fine, but at least tell me you’ll try. Your brother can’t be the only one with children—it’s not how we Vitales work. Traditions and—”
“I know what traditions and our ancestors would tell us, but things are changing, Mama. It's not the 1800s. When and if the time is right, the children will come; until then, you’ll have to sulk.”
She rolls her eyes, standing back up. “Please promise me you’ll try to put aside your differences and make it work with Liana. She’s a good girl and doesn’t deserve the bad side of you.”
I sigh and nod. “ Si , Mama. I’ll always try if it means you're happy.”
A small smile lifts her lips. Walking closer, she stops a few steps in front of me. “I’m happy if you’re happy, my sweet boy. I know your marriage isn’t what you had initially imagined, but if your father and I hadn’t intervened, you’d be single until you died. I won’t have my children—any of you, including you, Red—dying without at least a taste of fatherhood. Your life has more meaning with your children in it, and I will die with that fact.” She cups my cheeks, placing a delicate kiss to my forehead before disappearing back through the doorway she emerged from.
“She’s crazy,” Red breathes, grabbing another pillow to place over his face.
“That’s my mother you’re talking about, dickhead,” Cass says, finally revealing himself from the corner of the room.
“I was wondering when you’d show yourself. It was getting kinda creepy.”
“How the—” he stops himself, before exhaling as if annoyed. “You try hiding in the shadows surrounded by people that know you best. It’s proving to be an impossible task.”
A deep laugh rolls from Red’s lips. “All in due time, Cass. You’re only twenty-three; you have plenty of time to perfect your methods. Not everyone is creepy by birth, like Silas.”
“What a compliment,” Silas says, a smile pulling at his lips. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“It wasn’t meant to be a compliment, you fucking weird twat. It was a statement. You’re bordering on psychotic.”
“Then our new addition would be right. All of us are psychotic in our own ways.” Silas glances over at me, his eyes boring into mine as the wicked smile grows.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve asked you to stop spying on me in my office, Silas, but apparently, I have to ask again. Just because you have access to the cameras doesn’t mean you can use them for your own pleasure.”
“Hey,” he says, holding up his hands in defense, “you knew what you were getting yourself into when you asked me to install those cameras. The least you can do is let me watch the footage. It’s not like anything interesting ever happens. Except that little spitfire showing Red what she thinks of him. That was the best cinematic performance I’ve ever witnessed. Pure gold.”
“Just wait until it’s your turn to piss her off. You won’t know what hit you.”
“Lucky me, I have front row seats to your pain, so I think I have a rough idea.”
Red scoffs, burying himself further into the cushions of the couch.
“She’s awake, Rio,” Remi says, bursting into the room.
“Who’s awake?” I ask, rushing to my feet at his sweaty appearance.
“The girl in cell 2B. She’s awake and won’t stop fucking screaming.”
“Alright, lead the way, Rem,” I reply, darting towards him before he takes off running again.
Without hesitation, Cassian follows behind, then moves in front, slipping through the soldiers’ house door ahead of us.