25. Chapter 24 #2
A small smile crossed her face as a tear dripped down her face. “How do I pass a hymen check?”
“I’ll talk to my brother.” Her eyes widened and I put up a hand to stop her freak out. “I won’t give away your secret. I’ll just find a way to make him see that requiring that is stupid as fuck.”
Valentina’s head dropped into her hands. “There won’t be virginal blood on the sheets for the next morning.”
I laughed. Like, deep belly laugh. Long enough that she looked at me like I was crazy. “Honey, they don’t know where the blood comes from. Either one of you can bleed on the sheet so the old school assholes get what they want. And Sandro will cover for you.”
“Won’t he be mad if he doesn’t know ahead of time and finds out that night?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. But by that point, what choice does he have? Call it out for everyone to know? No, that would make him look bad. People would think he was naive for not requiring the hymen check, and they’d say he was a fool and had been tricked.
So he’ll go to his grave swearing his dick was red with your blood.
However, I think that even if you tell him, he’ll still go forward with the contract. ”
He needed a wife that would bring him a strong alliance. If that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t be getting married right now, and certainly not to Valentina. This arrangement was purely political.
There was a soft knock on the door, then Tucker came in. “Sorry. I didn’t want to interrupt but Sandro wants to meet in his office.” His eyes flicked to Valentina, then back to me. “All four of us.”
I had no idea what this was about, but I wasn’t nervous. Had it been my father, I would have been terrified. I would have been convinced that he knew that we were plotting to go against his orders.
I stood and headed towards my husband, Valentina, not far behind.
Just before we left the safety of our room, I turned to her.
“Remember, this is the only place not monitored. And maybe we should keep our newfound relationship a secret. You know, give Sandro hell a little longer.” With a wink, I turned and took Tucker's outstretched hand.
The door to my father’s office was open, Sandro behind the desk. I guess that technically, this was now his office.
That was so weird.
“Shut the door behind you.”
I stopped in my tracks, popping out a hip and tilting my head. “Would a please kill you?”
His jaw clenched. He was in full on mafia don mode. “Possibly.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that.” I shut the door and plastered a fake smile on my face. I loved my brother, but he was an ass at times. Especially when he had to be “on”.
“Thank you. Your care for my life is touching, truly.” He gestured for us to have a seat in the chairs across from him, and for Valentina to sit in the chair on his side of the desk.
“We need to discuss the line of succession. While my child should obviously be the heir to the Vitale family, I’m worried that if you two have a baby first, the line could be called into question in the future. ”
I rolled my eyes. “Our children will be heirs to the Givenchy family, not the Vitale’s. Trust me, neither one of us wants our children in this world.”
“That may be, but it doesn’t mean that they won’t try to take the throne on their own one day. That’s why I’m telling you to not have kids until I can establish an heir and a spare.”
First my father wanted me to have kids immediately, even before Sandro was engaged. Now, Sandro is basically demanding that we don’t have kids until his line of succession is established? Something was definitely off.
Knowing that Sandro was going to keep me in the dark pissed me off. “You can’t order us to do shit, Alessandro. We’re not part of the Vitale Family organization.”
Tucker took my hand in his. “We will agree to not try to have any children until we feel ready. In an ideal world, we’d wait a couple of years to enjoy our marriage, but when we feel ready, we will have children, whether you have or not.
You never know how long it can take to get pregnant, so we’re not willing to wait indefinitely. ”
I tilted my head up and raised a brow. “I mean, I could be pregnant right now. You witnessed the consummation and verified Tucker’s ability to do his part.” My free hand rested on my stomach. “I won’t abort a baby because you’re insecure in your position.”
Tucker squeezed my hand, trying to rein me in, but I was in burn shit to the ground mode. I hated being left out of the loop, and more than that, I hated how much it hurt that Sandro was keeping things from me.
“If you’re so concerned about this, maybe you should try to knock up your fiancée before the wedding day. Or get married at the courthouse tomorrow.” Even if my brother was being an ass, I was going to honor the truce I’d made with Valentina.
His jaw clenched. “You know that I can’t get married at the courthouse, Arianna. I’m the don of this family. My wedding must be a big affair and witnessed by all five families.”
“You haven’t negotiated your contract yet, so I suggest trying to negotiate so that you can start working on your line of succession now.” I mean, that would suck for Valentina, but it’s surely better than risking a failed hymen check and bloody bedsheets.
Sandro pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know they won’t allow that. If I took her virginity and then for some reason the wedding fell through, it would ruin her for others.”
Bingo. This was how I baited him into not getting a hymen check. “Wow, Sandro. I thought you were better than that. You really believe that all she’s worth is that small piece of tissue inside her vagina? When did you become like them?”
Jaw clenched, his words came out as a growl. “I’m not like them, Arianna, and you damn well know it.”
“Do I? Because you just said the same thing I heard father say over and over again. If I had sex with my fiancé before my wedding and he backed out, I would be ruined. It’s such fucking bullshit and I thought you knew that but I guess I was wrong.”
I stood, and poor Tucker, followed my lead, probably confused as hell.
“Arianna, sit.” My brother’s words were harsh and cold.
My husband whipped around to face my brother, his face a mask of fury. “You do not get to order my wife around. You may be the head of the Vitale family, but I will not tolerate disrespect to mine.”
Sandro let out a deep sigh. “Please. I would like for us to finish the conversation and not leave here pissed off with each other.”
I sat, Tucker again following my lead. “Only because you said please.”
Valentina bit the inside of her cheek to keep the smile from slipping free.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you. You have no idea the stress I’m under right now and I really just need a few things to go my way. Including you all not having kids for a while.”
I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. “I don’t know that I can agree to that, Sandro.
I had hoped that you would be a better man than our father and run the family differently, but what I’ve seen in this office today makes me fear that won’t be the case.
Maybe being raised by the devil has turned you into one yourself.
Maybe it would be better for us to raise our children in Crestwood and then have them take over after you, ensuring that eventually, the Vitale name is something to be proud of. ”
It would never happen, but if Sandro was afraid of that happening, and afraid of being compared to our father, then I had to play into that insecurity to get what I wanted.
He let out a sigh and scrubbed a hand down his face. “What can I do to prove to you that I’m not him?”
I scoffed. “Well, for starters, make sure that a hymen check isn’t part of your marriage contract. If you can do that, I’ll consider that maybe you are the man I thought you were.”
His eyes narrowed and I knew I’d played my hand a little too hard. “I thought you two hated each other. Why are you advocating for her?”
He knew I was up to something. Sandro wasn’t stupid, so I knew I had to keep mine and Valentina’s new truce hidden and change tactics. Crying was often considered a weakness, but I’d learned to harness it as a weapon. That’s why my eyes stung as tears filled them and I looked at my lap.
“You don’t know how humiliating and demeaning it is to have an old, pervy man stick his finger in your vagina to make sure that little flap of tissue is still there.
To have men suggest that you have no worth beyond that.
” I looked up into his eyes, letting him see my conviction there.
“Even though I can’t stand this bitch, no woman should have to go through that. ”
There was silence as he studied me, looking for the lie, but he wouldn’t find it. I’d perfected my mask at a young age, just like he had.
Finally, he sighed and looked at Valentina before looking back at me.
“I can’t do that. We need an heir immediately.
If she ends up pregnant after a month of being married, if they don’t do a hymen check the week of the wedding, people could speculate that she was pregnant already when we got married and the baby isn’t mine.
” He looked at Valentina and I saw sincerity in his eyes.
“The hymen check protects you as much as me.”
Except, it didn’t. It would be a proverbial death sentence for her. But he did bring up an important aspect I hadn’t thought about. The child’s paternity would definitely be questioned if she got pregnant quickly and there hadn’t been proof of virginity before the wedding.
I shrugged. “I’m sure you can have her do a pregnancy test or something.
Either way, figure it out. This is my line in the sand.
If you want to prove you’re not our father, her contract won’t require a hymen check.
” I stood, putting a hand out for my husband, who took it without question and followed me to the door. “I hope to hear of your solution soon.”
God, was I ready to be back in Crestwood.