Page 116 of Fake Dark Vows
He laughs and turns to me, then cups my cheek with one hand. “Tesoro, you know that kind of stuff doesn’t matter for people like us, no?”
With those words, reality crashes amount me again.
I’m marrying this man.
Who is older. Who knows more than I do.
I feel small and afraid. I pull back and wrap my arms around myself. “Yeah, I guess,” I say in a small voice.
His eyebrows push together. “Hey, is everything okay?”
“Yeah. It’s fine.”
“Oh tesoro,” he takes another step toward me, but doesn’t continue when I step back. “It’s okay. You can tell me.”
“Um…” my father’s words flash in my mind. Be a good wife. Don’t upset him. Make sure that he feels like he’s in control.
I don’t know how to do that.
I’m not even a good sister. I’m kind of a good daughter, in the sense that I get good grades and I don’t talk back to my parents.
I have no idea how to be a good wife, much less manipulate Elio into doing something or acting in a certain way.
His eyes harden. “What have you heard about me?”
“Nothing, really,” I frown. “I remember you hanging out with Marco from some parties when we were kids. He tells me that you’re a nice guy.”
He laughs. “From Marco, I guess that is a compliment.”
“It is. And that’s about it.”
“Well then, cara,” he smiles. “Let me tell you more. I am Elio Rossi. I have a degree from Harvard Business School in economics. I’m the oldest son of the Rossi family. And soon, I’m going to be Caterina De Luca’s husband.”
I glance at him through my lashes. “I thought I was going to be your wife?”
“We belong to each other, cara mia,” he says with a smile. “This is a job that’s been given to both of us. And I very much intend to do a good job.”
His smile makes me blush, but I also feel the same kind of helplessness that has marked this whole situation for me.
“Thanks. I… it’s nice to hear,” I say.
“But you are still unhappy.” Elio frowns. “Is there… is there someone else?”
His words darken slightly, and I shake my head, lest the wrath of Elio Rossi come down on some poor guy who made my coffee or something. “No. There’s no one else. It’s just… it’s all so unfair, you know? We’re adults. We’re our own people. And yet here we are, getting married, just like our family wants us to.”
He sighs. “That’s life. It’s the life we live. There’s nothing to be done about it, so we might as well make the best of it.”
“But don’t you think it’s unfair?”
Elio shrugs. “What I think about it doesn’t matter. What it is matters.”
“Oh, come on. You don’t have any opinion? You were forced into this as much as I was!”
“And I’m happy to be here, cara mia,” he grins.
I roll my eyes. “Well, yeah, but seriously Elio. What if we don’t get along? I mean, I haven’t even kissed you!”
“Do you want to?”