Page 43 of Unwanted Marriage with the Mafia Boss

Memories that I’ve thought I’d forgotten assault my mind. Somehow, I find a restroom and push my way through the door. It’s empty, and I sit down on the floor because everything’s spinning. I hug my knees and close my eyes tightly shut.

Filippo’s hands are all over me, and I want to scream, but I can’t. His fingers wind into my hair, ripping a few strands, before my head collides with the edge of the desk. He throws me on the bed and unzips his pants. I try to push him off me—

“Chiara!” I hear Adriano’s voice as he enters the restroom.

I screwed up. I screwed up so bad. The lock clicks as Adriano closes the door.

Tears stream freely down my face. Now he’ll hurt my parents because I ran away from him like that, but he doesn’t know it wasn’t about him. I look up at him through the tears, trying to explain, but I’m choking. My mouth can’t form any words, and my whole body is trembling.

“Chiara, breathe!” Adriano takes my hands in his. “It’s okay. Just breathe.”

But it’s not okay. Filippo is out there, and Adriano is...

“What’s wrong?” Adriano places his hand on my cheek, wiping away my tears.

His other hand is still gripping mine, and it’s the only thing keeping me from drowning in my own dark thoughts.

“What happened?” His voice is so soft and gentle like never before.

It’s almost hard to believe it’s still him. My mouth refuses to move, and I just shake my head.

“It’s that guy, isn’t it? The one who smiled at you. You know him.”

I’m surprised that he noticed, but I guess Filippo was staring at me. Nothing escapes Adriano’s eagle eyes.

“What did he do to you?” Adriano’s voice turns harder, his eyes more intense and darker.

“He’s... um, he’s my ex, Filippo.” A sob rocks my body, but I can finally breathe again.

Adriano is like my anchor to this world. I have to focus on him. On his eyes. On his mouth.

“Okay, and?”

I take a deep breath. He’s probably asking because my ex could be a potential threat to our fake marriage story. Why else would he care?

“Tell me.” He caresses my hand.

“He and I... We used to live together. He would... get violent. Physically. Sexually.” I swallow hard. “He usually didn’t leave any bruises in visible places, but when he did, he’d lock me up in our apartment until I could cover them with makeup.”

What is Adriano thinking now? Maybe that I’m lying. He’ll probably judge me for enjoying our time at Amore Bruciante after finding out about this, and he’ll be on Filippo’s side. He’ll say the same thing as Filippo did.... that I must’ve liked it. That I must’ve wanted it.

“Why is he here and not in prison then?” Adriano’s eyes have turned icy cold.

“Because I never reported him.”

“Why not?” His brow furrows.

“Because... Because I didn’t want my parents to find out. It would’ve broken their hearts. I didn’t want to talk to anyone about it. Not all the details, anyway. I don’t want to relive... I just... Look at what happened when I saw him... If I had to tell someone and describe everything that he... I’d probably freeze up, and just... People would never look at me the same way. He pretends to be so nice to everyone. I don’t know who would believe me. And I was afraid he’d find me and kill me before the cops got him. Before, I thought about getting a restraining order against him, but a piece of paper isn’t going to do anything. He’d know exactly where to find me. In the end, I was just glad I got away from him and that he stopped looking for me.”

“Stay here.” Adriano pulls me up to my feet. “Get cleaned up. Lock the door behind me and don’t open it until I return.”

“Why? What are you going to do?”

“Just stay here, okay?” He storms to the door.

I lock the door behind him and lean on the sink. Filippo can’t get in here. I’m safe. I stare at my reflection in the mirror. My makeup is smeared all over my face. Will Adriano get Filippo to leave? I guess.

Adriano doesn’t want me to break down in front of everyone again. At least I hope so. His story would go up in flames and we’d be in all the newspapers. I don’t want that kind of attention either.

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