Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Aurora
Gabriel doesn’t talk to me for a few days. In fact, I barely see him except for in passing. I know why he’s doing this. Because I saw him in a vulnerable moment and he must hate that.
“Maria,” I say, after going into the kitchen. She and Alex are working on dinner while Charles sits at the table, reading the newspaper. “Do you know how Gabriel got his scar?”
She stops chopping the carrots and turns to me. “Mr. Romano is very secretive about that. None of us knows. And it’s better to not know. He hasn’t shared it so I suspect he doesn’t want you knowing.”
“I saw him have a panic attack.”
All three of them look at me with complete and utter shock.
“You saw… Mr. Romano having a panic attack?” Alek asks, setting the roast into the oven. “That doesn’t sound like him. That man has never shown any kind of emotion in all the years I’ve worked here.”
“Panic attacks are not real,” Charles says with a scoff. “You children just make up stuff to get attention.” He flips a page in his newspaper. “Mr. Romano is a man we do not gossip about.”
“He’s my husband. I’m allowed to know who he is.”
“So I suggest you try talking to him instead of entertaining rumors,” Charles snaps.
I flinch and Maria gives my arm a comforting squeeze. “Gabriel doesn’t open up to me. He forced me to marry him. I am not in the wrong here for wanting to know who he is.”
“I agree,” Maria says. “But we don’t have the answers you’re looking for. He hasn’t told us how he got his scar. And as for a panic attack… well, I’ve never seen him have one, so I can’t talk on that matter.”
“It was worth asking. Thank you.” I turn to leave the kitchen when Maria speaks.
“How are you settling in now that you’re married? You’ve been withdrawn these past few days. Mostly keeping to your bedroom.”
“I was forced to marry Gabriel and never see my father again. How would that make you feel?’
Maria’s eyes widen before she quickly nods. “Of course, child. But stay strong. That’s all I can offer you.”
I leave the kitchen with more questions than answers. Gabriel hasn’t shared the deeper parts of himself with his staff but there has to be someone he has shared things with. But who?
My mind flashes back to Ginevra at my wedding. How she told me Gabriel likes to leave women bloody. Either she was lying or speaking from experience. Does she know more about Gabriel?
It’s not like I can leave to ask her though. I’m stuck in this house forever.
Fate intervenes when Ginevra and George arrive at Gabriel’s house the following evening. I come down for dinner to find them at the dining table, talking to Gabriel. He didn’t invite me, I notice. I wasn’t told about anyone coming.
“She’s finally arrived,” George says, sipping his wine. “You’re wife doesn’t respect your guests, Gabriel.”
“You tried to put your hands on her. I wouldn’t speak out of turn right now.”
George flushes. “That was before you were married. I am sorry for that.”
I stop in the doorway, unable to get my body to move. “I didn’t know you had company.”
“I don’t share everything with you,” Gabriel says in a hard tone. He hates that I saw him have that panic attack.
“Do you want me to eat in my room?” I ask.
“Stay,” Ginevra says, giving me a smile that isn’t exactly comforting. “I want to get to know Gabriel’s wife better. See how he’s been treating you.”
I look to Gabriel. It’s his permission I need. After a long beat, he nods. I sit down at the other end of the table, as far away from those three I can get.
“So how has the honeymoon gone?” Ginevra asks. “I remember when I first got married. Me and George christened every room in the house.”
I frown, not quite sure what she means by that.
Ginevra lets out a sharp, piercing laugh. “You do know what I mean, don’t you? Are you that na?ve?”
“Aurora is innocent,” Gabriel explains. “Our marriage wasn’t built out of love.”
“More like possession,” I say.
“Still just as feisty as I remember,” George comments. I ignore him. After what he did to me, I never want to see him again.
“Oh, so you two haven’t fucked yet.” Ginevra’s comment is not a question. It’s a statement. One that makes me blush and fills my stomach with an unusual feeling I can’t explain.
“That is none of your business,” Gabriel says.
“Well, considering we used to fuck, I would say it is my business.”
I stare at the table like I’ll be able to see through it if I just look hard enough. Ginevra confirmed it for me. Gabriel and her have a past relationship. I shouldn’t care. Gabriel has given me no reason to care about him.
And yet… I’m not sure how I feel about his ex-girlfriend here, in his house, eating at his table with me right here.
George looks uncomfortable by Ginevra’s words, clenching his hand around his steak knife.
“Ginevra,” Gabriel warns.
“It’s just a fact. Everyone knows it.” I can feel her looking at me. “Unless… your little wife didn’t know. Did you not tell her about our past, Gabriel?”
“No. I did not. Now, drop it. You and George showed up uninvited. I let you in because I am a good host. But you do not get to come into my home and disrespect me.”
“Fine,” she replies in a clipped tone. “But I have to know. Why haven’t you claimed your wife yet? Is there something deficient about her?”
“No. Aurora is perfect.”
I startle at Gabriel’s compliment and look up at him to find him gazing at me with a hard expression. For once, I have nothing else to say. My tongue is caught in my mouth.
“Mmm.” Ginevra scowls. “Well, I see. You were fine using me and bedding me for your own pleasure and yet you can’t get yourself to corrupt your wife. Why?”
“I said stop,” Gabriel warns again. “So stop, Ginevra. Aurora, get your food from Maria and go eat in your room.”
My body responds to his command on instinct. Besides, I don’t want to be around George longer than I have to. But I have questions for Ginevra and I’ll need to find a moment to get her alone.
I collect my dinner from Maria and go back to my room and wait and wait and wait…
An hour passes by. Surely they’re gone by now.
I poke my head out of the hallway but don’t hear anything.
That’s when I go exploring. I check the dining room but none of them are there anymore.
It’s then that I hear Ginevra’s laugh come from a room down the hall.
Checking it out, I see that she and Gabriel are in a large ballroom.
I didn’t even know he had one – that’s how huge this house is.
Gabriel sits at a piano and tickles the keys while Ginevra lounges on the top like she’s a jazz singer. Where is George? I don’t see him anywhere in the room.
To my surprise, Gabriel begins to play a somber, beautiful song. I didn’t know he could play but then again, there’s a lot I don’t know about the man I am married to.
Ginevra gets off the piano and slips her dress off her body, showing that she has no clothes on underneath. I’m so startled by it, my body goes completely still.
Gabriel stops playing. “What are you doing?”
“I want you to fuck me again. We used to have a lot of fun together.”
“We did.” Gabriel resumes playing, keeping his eyes on the piano.
“But now you’ve married that girl. Why? Was I not good enough for you?”
“You’re married to George. Not me. You belong to another mafia man. Not me. We were always just for fun, Ginevra, but we both knew it wasn’t serious.”
“But George doesn’t even care we’ve fucked. We can do it again. Right here. Take me on this piano. Fuck me until it hurts. I need it,” she whines. “Please.”
Gabriel slams his hands against the keys. “We are done. Aurora is my wife now. I don’t want you anymore.”
I press my body against the wall, holding my hand over my heart.
I don’t know how to make sense of any of this.
Confusion. A strange sort of contentment that Gabriel is choosing me over Ginevra.
And the slight pang of jealousy knowing he’s been with her before.
But why would I care if Gabriel has been with another woman?
I shouldn’t care. I shouldn’t care. I shouldn’t care.
If I repeat it enough times, maybe I’ll start to believe it.
Ginevra storms out of the room before I can walk away. She spots me immediately and walks right over. “Were you listening in? It’s not polite to eavesdrop.”
“You were trying to get my husband to cheat on me. I don’t think you get the right to lecture me right now.”
Her eyes narrow, becoming dark. It sends a tingle down my spine. “You think you’re so clever? I told you on your wedding day that he will fuck you bloody. He did it to me. Your husband is a monster.”
“So why were you asking him to have sex with you then?”
She stands back, clearly shocked I would even ask this. Ginevra doesn’t know who I am. That I’m not afraid to stand up for myself. “Because I liked it. But an innocent little girl like you will hate it. You’re not equipped to handle him. I am.”
“But he doesn’t want you anymore. He just told you that.”
“You’re a little bitch, you know that?”
“Ginevra, wait,” I say as she starts to walk away. “I just have to know something.”
“Why would I tell you anything?”
“How did Gabriel get his scar?”
She stares at me for a long moment before she laughs sharply. “You think I know that? No one knows why. And even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you a damn thing.” She storms away and I don’t stop her.
I glance into the ballroom to find Gabriel playing the piano, looking lost in his thoughts. A part of me desperately wants to go in there and talk with him and another part of me is absolutely terrified. So terrified I can’t even move.
I finally make a choice and walk away from the ballroom, leaving him to his piano.
Fresh air is what I need. I make my way to the backyard and settle in the garden, breathing in the scent of the flowers.
Late at night with the moon out gives everything an eerie but beautiful glow.
I feel that way about Gabriel. Both eerie and beautiful.