Page 7 of Scar

Suddenly the door flies open, and Lucky enters, giving us both a disapproving look before shaking his head. He may act like a saint, but he's no better than me.

“So let me get this straight,” he says, circling around me after Didi flees the room, holding her dress to her chest shamefully. “You took her by force from her family. You wanted her but you don't want her now.”

“You know why I married her,” I reply through clenched teeth.

“Yes, the damn blood oath,” Lucky scoffs. “But she's just a kid, Scar. A good kid who doesn't deserve this.”

“Well, look at you coming to my wife’s rescue! Good kid or not,” I remind him icily. She’s still a Marone.”

“Fuck me to hell and back, Scar!” Lucky snaps back. “That happened thirty years ago and has nothing to do with this poor girl!”

My brother is defending the enemy, which only fuels my anger. But he continues, knowing exactly what's on my mind.

“She's not the enemy,” he argues. “Her father is. And even our own father let it go, so why can't you?”

“There's no way of knowing if he really let it go,” I retort. “Just because he stopped talking about it doesn't mean a damn thing. I've been hearing about that fucking feud for thirty years!”

“At the very least, if this is how you were going to treat her - cheating on her, ignoring her, locking her up...”

I can't take any more of his words and raise my hand to silence him before he can say anything further. My jaw is clenched tight and my teeth grind together as his words dig into me.

He gives me a hard look, one filled with conflict and regret. Maybe Brando isn't the only one in this family with a moral compass. Because it seems like everyone is jumping on that bandwagon now.

As Lucky turns to leave, his parting words strike me with anger.

“You could have at least given her to one of us. There's no way I would treat a girl like Allegra the way you're treating her.”

Alone with my thoughts once again, I slump back in my chair and bury my head in my hands. Somehow Allegra has managed to gain my brothers' sympathy. But their sympathy ends with her and turns into outrage when it comes to me. And I can understand why. We've never had a female presence around here before, and if the situation was different, I'm sure Allegra would be well-liked by them. But the circumstances are what they are; she's still my prisoner and I still own her.

CHAPTER 7 – ALLEGRA

I avoid any chance of running into my husband by spending most of my time holed up in my bedroom, avoiding any exploration that Juliana, my new best friend, suggests I do. Despite her attempts to make me feel welcome and show off the beauty of the gardens and house, I can't bring myself to step outside of my haven. The only place I venture out to is the kitchen, where Juliana seems to always be baking something delicious. As she kneads dough or expertly chops vegetables, I sit on a stool and watch her with fascination. Noticing me picking at the blueberries in one of her famous muffins, she scolds me for not eating the whole thing and brings out a punnet of fresh blueberries for me to enjoy. She even offers to create gluten-free treats for me due to my intolerance, but I dismiss her efforts because I don't plan on staying here long. Instead, I stick to simple salads and watch Juliana work her magic in the kitchen. She suggests I go relax by the pool, but after four days of isolation in my room, all I want is some human connection. Someone who isn't a Gatti.

“Let me help you, Juliana.”

Juliana finally gives in and assigns me to chopping duty. As I grip the knife, my fingers tense around the handle. Her eyes narrow as she watches me bring the blade down onto the board.

“Do you always have this much anger?” she asks, pursing her lips disapprovingly.Woman, you have no idea. “I know there's a lot going on but taking it out on those vegetables isn't going to solve anything.”

“I have every right to be angry,” I retort, gesturing with the knife towards the door where my husband is likely lurking somewhere. “Being forced into a marriage and trapped in this house against my will? That's enough to make anyone angry.”

Juliana shrugs nonchalantly, as though she doesn’t understand what the big deal is. “There are worse things than being married to him,” she says.

“Name one,” I challenge her.

“He hasn't hurt you, has he?” she counters.

“He forced me into this marriage,” I remind her bitterly. “That’s already hurtful enough. And now I'm stuck here, locked up like a prisoner.” I chop at the vegetables more forcefully now, fueled by my anger. Juliana shoots me fearful glances as she continues kneading dough nearby.You know I would never hurt you, Jules.

“I've been working for them for almost twenty years,” Juliana suddenly speaks up, breaking the tense silence between us. She keeps her eyes focused on her task as she talks. “After Don Gatti Senior passed, I stayed on to take care of the boys. They had all moved out by then, but Scar recently moved back in. He's always here though; they all are.”

“Here? I haven't seen anyone except for you and Don Gatti,” I say incredulously.

“That's because you lock yourself away in your room all day,” Juliana points out. “And they respect your privacy.”

I scoff at her words, like she’s just said the most absurd thing, and she gives me a stern look.

“No matter what you think of them, they're good boys,” she defends them.

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