Chapter 46 Sophie
Sophie
The kitchen at Dragovari Tower is warm, fragrant with oregano and garlic, and I’m in my element. Siena’s birthday deserves something special: osso bucco with saffron risotto, her absolute favorite, plus roasted vegetables with balsamic glaze and a tiramisu that I made last night.
I’m arranging the antipasti when Giovanna waddles in, one hand on her very pregnant belly. “Sophie, this smells incredible. How do you do this every time?”
“Practice,” I say, smiling. “And love. Lots of love.”
The party fills up quickly. Siena glows, only weeks from her due date, while Matti hovers protectively.
Tommy keeps refilling Giovanna’s sparkling water.
Some of Siena’s friends from her old job are here.
Even Valentina is here, draped across a chair like a bored cat, her eyes tracking and judging every movement.
Olivia, the adopted sister of Vin and his brothers, helps me carry platters to the dining room. She’s sweet, hilarious, fun and nothing like the hardened men she calls brothers.
The only one missing is Vin.
I keep glancing at the door, my stomach tight. He never came back to the safe house last night and I haven’t heard from him all day. But when I found out that Matti and Tommy weren’t with him, I texted him about the party. He didn’t respond.
“Sophie, sit with us,” Siena calls, patting the couch beside her. Giovanna and Olivia are already settled, conversation flowing.
Somehow we drift to the topic of love.
“Sophie falls in love so easily,” Siena says, affection in her voice. “She has the softest heart of anyone I know.”
I set down my wine glass carefully. “What are you talking about?” I laugh. “I’ve never fallen for anyone else before.”
The word hangs there. Anyone else. I cringe.
Siena’s eyes widen. “Anyone else? What does that mean? Are you saying you’re in fucking love right now?”
I press my lips together, heat climbing my cheeks.
“Sophia!” Siena sits up straighter despite her belly. “Please don’t tell me you’re in love with fucking Vin! Please!”
Valentina’s laugh cuts through the room like broken glass.
“Oh, this is too good. Sophie Bellamorte in love with Vincenzo Demonio?” She examines her nails, smirking.
“Sweetie, have you looked in a mirror lately? You’re adorable in that wholesome, farmer’s market kind of way, but Vin doesn’t do wholesome.
He does this.” She gestures vaguely at herself.
“Valentina!” Giovanna starts, but Valentina talks over her.
“Oh, I’m the asshole now? Tell me I’m lying. Seriously, tell me that all of you aren’t thinking the same thing.”
The women glance away. Even Siena. Even Olivia.
My face burns. She’s not wrong. I said it the first night he was at my place: he can have anyone. Why would he choose me?
The door opens and when I see Vin’s massive frame, my heart leaps. Then it plummets.
Vin stumbles in, hair a mess, eyes bloodshot. Liquor and cigarette smoke cling to him, but there’s also something floral and cloying.
Perfume. Women’s perfume.
He won’t look at me.
I stand, moving toward him automatically. “Vin, are you—”
“Don’t.” He’s loud, shrugging me off him.
The room goes quiet.
Siena’s voice is careful. “Vin, Sophie made my favorite, the osso bucco you love. Why don’t you—”
“I’m not hungry.” His words slur slightly.
“Since when?” Siena presses, splitting a look between us. “Try it. Tell her how good it is. She worked all day.”
“It’s fucking food, Siena,” he says flatly. “I’m sure it’s fine.”
I’m sure it’s fine. He’s moaned over my cooking, closed his eyes in bliss. I have no idea what’s happening right now?
Siena stands, no easy feat at eight months pregnant, and punches him in the shoulder hard. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Vin doesn’t flinch. His eyes are on me now, dark and cold.
“Did I do something wrong?” I ask quietly, hating how small my voice sounds.
He laughs. The sound scrapes like metal on stone. “You really want to do this here, princess?”
Princess. He does call me that sometimes, but not in this light, mocking tone like he’s making fun of me.
“Do what?” My hands twist together.
“This.” He gestures between us. “Your bullshit routine. Using men. Manipulating them with sex and food like some kind of strega. How many men have you pulled with this witch shit?”
“Vin.” Matti’s voice holds a warning.
“What?” Vin rounds on his brother. “You all saw it. Sweet little Sophie with her big eyes, quiet, manipulative. No one sees her coming, right?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Tommy snaps.
But Vin won’t stop. He’s a freight train hurtling at me, and I’m standing on the tracks.
A wave of sickly perfume, alcohol, and the cigarettes he said he was quitting hit me.
“Maybe you should go home,” I say softly. “Shower and come back when—”
“When what?” He steps closer, looming. “When I’m sober enough to pretend I give a fuck about you?”
I feel like the floor slips under my feet.
“I told you who I was.” His smile is cruel. “They all told you who I was. Are you really surprised? You knew this wasn’t going to last.”
“What’s happening right now, Vincenzo?” My voice barely works.
I don’t know why, but my response enrages him.
He grabs me, slams me against the wall, his hand wrapped around my throat.
Matti and Tommy shoot to their feet, on him in an instant, pulling him off me.
“Don’t fucking talk to me like that. My mother is the only woman allowed to talk to me like that.
” He throws them off him and moves in close, his face inches from mine, breath reeking of whiskey.
“Did you really think I’d be interested in you long-term?
You’re a cook, princess. I’m about to be the boss of a family.
I told you from the beginning: I’m marrying for an alliance. What the fuck did you think this was?”
Valentina’s watching with barely concealed glee. Giovanna looks ready to cry. Olivia stares at her lap. Siena is frozen, one hand on her belly, fury and helplessness warring across her face.
“So I’m no longer your queen?” I ask in Italian.
He blinks then slams his hands on the wall on either side of my head and towers over me, looking down at me with a sneer. “You never were.”
The look in his eyes, I’ve never seen it before, not even when he was being rough, degrading, using me. This is different. This is disgust. This is hate.
Matti and Tommy drag him back. Siena is screaming. Someone, Olivia maybe, puts a hand on my shoulder and ushers me away from Vin.
I can’t breathe.
Every man I’ve ever been with has treated me like this eventually. Good enough to fuck. Good enough to cook for them. Never good enough to keep. And some of them get physically aggressive, abusive. Just like this.
I swore I’d never let it happen again.
And I won’t.