32. Lucy
Lucy
“ Y ou’re going to be the most beautiful woman there,” Adriano murmurs on the car ride over to the Union League. It’s a private, invitation-only club with a long list of prestigious members.
And exactly the sort of place I hate.
“That can’t be true, but I appreciate the sentiment.” I lean across the car and kiss him. He smiles back at me, and I swear, I need to thank Frank.
Ever since that old bastard tried to kill him over two weeks ago, Adriano’s been in such a better mood.
It’s weird. That night in his office, I thought he was going to push me away. But I realized that if I wanted him, I had to stand up for myself.
No more letting others dictate what my life was going to be like.
I have my own wants and dreams. I don’t need to bend them to accommodate everyone else all the time.
Screw him. When he tried that whole I’m too dark and broken and bad for you bullcrap, I just didn’t take it.
Instead, I made him see what’s right in front of his face.
We fit. We work. I don’t even get why, but we do.
It’s that bizarre trick of human chemistry. It’s what makes love so incredible.
When it happens, it’s straight-up magic.
And we’ve had that spark ever since.
He takes me out to dinner. Showers me with presents. Fucks me until my body can’t take any more every single night. The man’s insatiable, and I’m completely here for it. When he looks me in the eye and tells me that he thinks I’m perfect, I actually believe him.
It’s incredible. I’m giddy all the damn time.
Kennedy says I’m in love.
And maybe I am, but so what?
I’m allowed to fall for my husband, even if he is a monster.
A young man named Dante is driving Adriano’s car these days.
He drops us off at the corner and goes to park.
I grip my little clutch, and I can feel the foil-wrapped stick hidden at the bottom.
My stomach twists a little thinking about it, and I’ve been such a damn coward about this stupid thing.
I don’t even know why I’m carrying it around.
Just get it over with .
“Are you alright?” he asks as he leads me into the club. Other well-dressed couples are scattered all around. Older women with diamonds at their throats, men in fancy suits. Adriano makes them look like peasants. He’s model-gorgeous in a bespoke Italian suit.
“Just a little distracted is all.” I smile and take his hand. “I haven’t been to one of these events in a long time.”
“It’s politics.” He scowls at the word. “Vittorio and Luca are both inside already. We just have to make an appearance and let people know that we’re still open for business.”
“Easy for you to say. You didn’t grow up with these jackals.
” I grimace when I spot a girl I went to high school with.
She’s wearing an expensive and conservative blue dress, and her perfect blonde hair is up in an elaborate twist. Her makeup is perfect, and she looks hot enough to read the weather.
But Marcy Taylor DeLuca would rather die than stoop so low as to get a job .
She’s married to a man named Richard DeLuca, a deeply well-connected lawyer with ties to everyone in the city.
“You don’t have to worry about them now,” Adriano murmurs as the leggy witch spots me and comes over. Her bland upper-crust husband follows after like a trained dog. “You’re with me.”
“Oh my god, Lucy Willing-Morris, is that you?!” Marcy gives me a kiss on the cheek and demurely introduces herself to Adriano. “You must be the husband. Adriano Marino, right?”
“Nice to meet you,” Adriano says, barely glancing at her.
She waves her husband over. Richard’s smile is much more charming. He’s at least twenty years older, with a grizzled smirk and a lanky frame.
“Good to see you again, Adriano,” he says, shaking my husband’s hand. “There are a few other people you should meet.”
Adriano shoots me an apologetic look as he’s pulled away. I’m tempted to grab onto his ankle and beg him not to leave me like a toddler, but I’ve been through worse. I can totally handle this.
Marcy leans in closer. “I hear your wedding was incredible, despite the little fiasco at the end.” She beams at me like a car bomb is barely more than juicy gossip. “Are you here to support Vetrie Milano?”
Behind her, big banners with hot-looking modern models wearing stupid sunglasses are draped all around the Union League’s interior. In theory, this is some kind of designer grand opening for a new brand. But mostly it’s just an excuse for rich people to show off all their wealth and power.
“Can’t wait to get a pair,” I say, smiling politely while imagining how easy it would be to jab a knife into her eye.
“You’ll look so good with them.” She slips her arm into mine.
“Come on, why don’t we go try them together?
” Before I can stop it, Marcy drags me to a display table nearby and starts picking up the various shapes and colors.
“You’d look so good in these,” she says, handing me the ugliest pair I’ve ever seen in my life.
“I mean, you’ve got the big cheeks for it, you know?
Really round? God, Lucy, I’m so amazed at how natural you are.
Like, all those flaws. You don’t even mind it. Good for you.”
I boil inside. This is high school shit all over again.
When my family fell on hard times and my parents blew their lives up into smithereens thanks to their drug addictions, all the popular and wealthy girls turned on me.
I thought Marcy was a friend, at least until she stopped returning calls and texts and acted like we’d never seen each other before at school. I hated her then. And I still do now.
“No thanks.” I shove them back at her. “I think you need the biggest pair you can find, actually. Better to hide all your bullshit.”
Her eyes widen. “Excuse me?”
“We both know you’re the fakest bitch I’ve ever met in my life. Don’t you remember the way you treated me back in the day?”
“That was high school.” She has the nerve to look shocked. “Don’t tell me you’re still holding on to a grudge?”
“No, I’m not. I’m just remembering what kind of person you are. And it’s clear you haven’t grown up yet.” I toss the sunglasses onto the table. “Great seeing you again, Marcy. I hope your dickhead husband finally has a heart attack and you lose all your money in the stock market.”
She gapes as I turn away. And run right into Adriano.
He’s grinning like an absolute maniac. Before I know what to do, he sweeps me into his arms and plants a massive kiss right on my stunned mouth. Marcy gets a little show before she storms off in a huff.
“Good for you,” he murmurs, pulling me away from her.
“You’re not mad? I’m making enemies. Her husband is kind of a big deal.”
“Fuck that girl. Richard DeLuca’s nothing to me.
I don’t care how well connected he might be.
I’ll burn a thousand bridges if it makes you happy.
” He hugs me against him as we move deeper into the large banquet room.
There must be a few hundred people here, and I feel incredibly overwhelmed all of a sudden.
I’m flushed and my heart’s racing. I can’t believe I just told Marcy off back there.
But I’m happy that Adriano’s proud of me.
“I need to hit the bathroom. Do you mind mingling alone a little bit more?”
“Just don’t be long,” he says as another group of men beckons him over. “God, fucking rich leeches.” He kisses my cheek. “Present company excluded.”
“Don’t worry, darling. You’re the rich one in our relationship.” I extract myself from his arm and hurry off down the hall.
I lock myself in a bathroom stall and lean against the wall.
There’s nobody else in here, and for a moment I can breathe.
I must’ve lost my mind back there. I never talk to people that way.
Grandmother basically burned the idea of being meek and polite at all times directly onto my brain folds.
But it’s like now I’m married to vicious Adriano, and a little bit of that strength is wearing off on me.
And I like it.
My hands shake as I open my clutch. The plastic stick is at the bottom. I’m feeling strong and running on adrenaline, and I want to ride this wave while I can.
I rip open the pregnancy test and stare at it.
This isn’t the right venue. I should do this at home, in privacy, where I can react properly. But I’ve been putting this off for a couple of weeks now, and it’s way past the point where I find out the truth.
There have been signs. Some morning sickness. A missed period. My breasts are tender and swollen. Little things, but hard to ignore. I keep thinking there’s no way, there’s no way, but of course it happened.
Adriano’s been coming inside of me without protection from the moment we met.
The guy’s been trying to breed me. The freaking psycho.
With a deep breath, I sit down and pee on the stupid stick. It’s not easy and not ideal, but once it’s done, I clean it off, put the cap on, and wait.
The bathroom door opens. Multiple women come inside and go straight to the mirror.
I hear them, my heart racing when I recognize Marcy’s voice.
“Seriously, the stupid little peasant bitch married that Italian mobster scumbag and now she thinks she’s all tough.
I wanted to smack that look off her dumb face. God, what a pathetic loser.”
“Didn’t her parents, like, murder-suicide each other?” another girl asks. I don’t know who that is. My blood runs cold and sweat prickles my skin.
“No, I think they just overdosed? Pathetic drug addicts. Her whole family is fucked up. Her older brother runs that failing hedge fund and her grandmother is the stuffiest, nastiest bitch in the city. God, I don’t even know why I was talking to her. I feel like I’m dirty.”
The other girl laughs, and the subject changes to how annoying they find their husbands.
I stay in the stall, feeling sick, all that powerful adrenaline from standing up to her slowly fading away.
I watch, sinking into depression, and feel so weak and pathetic, trapped in a bathroom stall, too afraid to come out.
Until the door finally opens and they leave.
I burst out toward the sinks. God, I hate them so much. I hate everyone like them. Marcy and women like her care only about bank accounts and social standing. But I learned a while ago that those things are about as solid as smoke.
I grab the pregnancy test without looking.
I can’t do this here. I’ll take it home and check when I’m alone.
This was such a dumb mistake, and I feel like a moron for doing it.
I hurry out of the bathroom, down the back stairs, and out an emergency exit.
I prop open the door as I breathe in the humid Philadelphia air, trying to calm myself down.
There will always be sneers. They’ll never think I’m one of them.
And maybe it’s better that way. I can be stronger without them.
I can find a lasting, good relationship with Adriano, outside of their world, if only I can be strong enough to grab hold and never let it go.
I start to feel better and steel myself to return to the party when a man appears at my elbow.
I flinch away and turn. In the process, I spill my clutch, and the test goes clattering to the ground.
“What’s this?” He stoops over and picks it up. Demir frowns as he holds it up to the light. “Pregnancy test?”
“What—you are—how are—” Panic slams into me so hard I can’t form a coherent sentence.
He smiles nastily as he hands the test back to me. “I suppose I should say congratulations.” He leans in close, showing his teeth. “But unfortunately for you, I’m going to cut that fucking baby from your belly and replace it with one of my own.”
I open my mouth to scream, but he punches me straight in the jaw.