Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Aurora
“How has Gabriel been as a husband?” Ginevra asks. We sit in the backseat of her car, a driver taking us to a shopping center. She gazes down at her red nails.
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable speaking on that.” I shift around in my seat. Next to Ginevra’s long legs and expensive pencil skirt and silk blouse, I feel shabby, even though I’m wearing the expensive clothes Gabriel gave me.
“Why not? We’re both women. We’ve both been with Gabriel. We can talk about this.”
The thought of Ginevra being with Gabriel makes my stomach drop to my feet. Why should I care about his past? I don’t care that he’s been with other women but I do care that he’s been with Ginevra, who’s flaunting it in my face.
“What Gabriel and I do is personal and I’m not comfortable sharing that with you.”
A look of annoyance flashes in her eyes. “I was just trying to get to know you.”
No. She was trying to get information. It’s obvious to me. But I’m only doing this to check in on my dad without him getting hurt.
“If you wanted to get to know me, you’d ask me what my favorite color is. Not what my husband and I do in the bedroom.”
She huffs. “I never asked about your bedroom activities. Presumptuous of you to assume I was.”
“You said we’ve both been with him. It was implied.”
“Not to me. You’re the one assuming things. I don’t appreciate that.”
I flinch, feeling like I was scolded. “You invited me out here.”
“Yes. And I expect you to be a nice guest. Right now, you’re being rude.”
“You can just drop me back at home.” I love my father but I’m not sure I can withstand a day of Ginevra trying to see if my dad is all right.
“No. We’re going shopping. So that’s what we’re going to do.”
We sit in silence for the rest of the ride.
Once we arrive in the city, I gaze out at the people walking on the streets.
How much freedom they have. They don’t have to worry about their father’s life on the line.
They don’t have to worry about their conflicting feelings for their husbands who they both hate and desire at the same time.
Ginevra and I get out of the car and before I even know what’s happening, a group of other women hurry over, hugging and chatting with Ginevra. There’s three of them. With Ginevra, that makes four.
“Who’s this?” one of them asks, looking at me with an upturned nose. Her long, jet black hair makes her striking.
“This is Aurora… Gabriel’s husband.”
The three women all give Ginevra sympathetic looks.
“So she’s the one, huh?” This comes from a tall blonde. Her tone is condescending.
Ginevra nods. “She’s the one.”
“The one… what?” I ask.
The blonde looks me dead in the eye. “The one who stole Gabriel from Ginevra.”
“But isn’t she married?” George’s dead face flashes in my mind and I quickly push it away.
“So?” A tiny brunette asks. “She was still Gabriel’s and he was hers… until he got married.”
“What is this?” I ask Ginevra. “Why did you bring me here?”
“These are my friends. Julia.” This is the blonde. “Bea.” The black-haired one. “And Gemma.” The brunette.
They all stare back at me like I’m the devil incarnate.
“You didn’t tell me there would be other people,” I say. “I thought it would just be us.” Meaning I thought it would be easier to sneak away from Ginevra and see my dad.
“Does it matter? My friends are my life. Let’s go. We have shopping to do.”
Julia sneers. “She’s coming with?” I can’t help but flinch at her tone.
“Yes. Aurora is one of us now. A mafia wife.”
I suck in a breath. “You’re all married to mafia men?”
“Yes,” Bea says it like I’m supposed to know.
“I wasn’t told,” I say, trying to defend myself. “Gabriel hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with information.”
Ginevra’s eyes light up at the news of Gabriel. “What has he been forthcoming about? Me?”
I can’t help but huff. “Gabriel never speaks of you.” It’s the wrong thing to say, I know it. But I will not let a mean girl break me down. Not when I had to put up with a mean girl at my café job who ostracized me from my co-workers.
“You don’t need to be rude,” Gemma snaps. “Ginevra was just asking a question.”
“It was rude. She’s trying to pry into my marriage. That’s not happening.”
Julia with her long legs and bright blonde hair stands tall. “You know, we could all be on the same side. Our husbands are powerful. You need us. I wouldn’t suggest insulting our friend.”
“Who are your husbands? I thought Gabriel was the boss.”
Bea huffs. “Just because our husbands are not mafia bosses like yours doesn’t mean you don’t need us. We can make your life a living hell or a paradise.”
“I would like to be friends but with people who aren’t being rude to me. You implied I stole Gabriel from Ginevra when she’s already married.”
“My husband is dead,” she snaps. “So I’m no longer married.”
I tense. Does Ginevra know what really happened that night? Gabriel informed me that he made George’s death look like an accident. It’s scary to think how easy it was for Gabriel to do that.
“But you were married when you tried to sleep with him,” I snap in return. “And he’s married. He’s not yours. And I never stole Gabriel from you. I was just trying to save my father from him and he forced me into a marriage.”
Ginevra’s eyes light up once more. “He forced you into a marriage. You mean, you didn’t want to marry him? So you don’t even want to be with him then. So why are you fighting for him now? Give him back to me. We can come to an arrangement.”
“Gabriel is rightfully Ginevra’s,” Bea says. “She had him first.”
I can feel all of their eyes on me. Their intense, judgmental eyes. “Does that matter though when I’m his wife now? He didn’t marry Ginevra.”
“Only because she was married,” Julia snaps. “It was an arranged marriage to George. Ginevra didn’t have a choice.”
“I didn’t have a choice either but I still don’t appreciate any of you acting like my feelings are not valid. My husband is my husband now. I’m not just going to give him away.”
Ginevra huffs, rolling her eyes. “You just can’t stop being a little bitch, can you? I invited you out here today to put the past behind us. To be friends and you just have to act like this.”
“You’re trying to take my husband from me.”
“The husband you don’t even want,” Gemma mutters, sharing a secretive smile with the other women.
“I didn’t come out here to be insulted.”
“So then why did you come with me then?” Ginevra asks.
“You said you wanted to be friends.”
“Well, I lied.” She says it so simply – no remorse in her voice – that it takes me back.
“I was hoping you’d be more forthcoming about your relationship with Gabriel but I see I was wrong.
You just made an enemy out of me and my friends.
All powerful women with connections. I hope you’re happy.
Come on girls.” They start walking away from me.
“How am I supposed to get home?” I ask. “You took me here.”
All four of them look at me like I’m gum on their shoe.
“Figure it out. It’s not my problem.” Ginevra’s words make all the women laugh, shutting me out of their little circle entirely. The four of them leave me behind, stranded in the middle of the city.
I managed to make it to my father’s house on foot from Gabriel’s mansion but both of those places were more in the countryside. This is the city. I haven’t spent much time here. I never could afford to come that often.
There was one time, when I was little, my father saved enough money to take me to the ballet and it was the most magical night of my life.
When I asked to go again the next year, he had to tell me he didn’t have enough money to go.
It broke my heart. I was so angry with him at the time but now, I cherish the moment he took me to the ballet for the first and only time.
I have to get back to my father. Make sure he’s eating. Make sure he’s surviving without me.
But I have no money. No ID. And to walk to my father’s house from here would take hours, going well into the night.
This was a pointless endeavor. I have no one to help me.
Except… that isn’t true. I have my husband.
Gabriel did give me his number in case I ever needed to call him. Well, it was Maria who gave me his number – not Gabriel himself. But the point stands.
My father would come running if I called him and I want it more than anything. But can I put him in danger just to see him for a moment before returning to my husband?
I find the nearest café and ask to use their phone. I hesitate over who I should call.
But I know in my gut I have to see my father. I need to make sure he’s ok.
He doesn’t hesitate to answer and he doesn’t hesitate to tell me he’ll come to me after I tell him where I am. The sound of my father’s voice makes me want to cry but I hold it back.
I wait outside the café for my father to arrive. His beaten down, old car looks out of place in the opulence of the city.
“Aurora,” he says, running out of the car and pulling me into his arms. “Did you manage to escape Gabriel?”
“No,” I murmur. I let myself stay in his arms a moment longer before standing back. “I just had to see you. I had to know that you’re ok. That you’re eating.”
He nods. Never have his eyes looked this tired before. “I am. I am fighting to get you back, Aurora. Trust me on that.”
The thought of returning home to my dad fills me with happiness.
But there’s the tiniest bit of… sadness there, like I don’t fully want to go back home.
My life with Gabriel – while confusing – isn’t as bad I thought it would be.
I get delicious food and nice clothes. A warm bed to sleep in at night. The freedom to move around the house.
I just have to deal with a stoic, closed off husband who lights my body on fire while also terrifying me.
“I know, Dad. I know. But I might never get the chance to see you again so I took it today. I had to see you. Let you know I love you.”