Page 69 of Third Degree

“I am starving,” she mused, grabbing a few pieces of salmon and putting them onto her plate.

“Me too, rosa mia. Me fucking too.”

She shot me a look, knowing exactly what I was referring to.

“What am I going to tell my friends?” Gianna sighed deeply. It was the first thing she’d said to me other than “everything is fine” since she started eating. It wasn’t about us, but it was a start and fuck, it was a question, so it had to lead somewhere.

“What do you want to tell them?” I responded, and she looked so sad, so despondent. I hated it.

“I guess I should tell them the truth,” she retorted.

“Thenwewill tell them the truth.”

Her lips were in a tight line, and it was hard to read what she was thinking.

“I have always been by your side, Gianna. Always.”

Her expression darkened. “No. You haven’t. I have lived many lives between then and now. You didn’t think I was worthy enough to understand whatever plan you had conjured.”

“Let me explain—”

She held her hand up to stop me.

“No. I am not ready to listen to whatever you have to say.” She looked down. “I know you think you are the knight in shining armor here rescuing me from the castle, but I had it together. I may have needed you when I was eighteen years old, but I am in my thirties now. You cannot treat me like a child.”

I tried to interrupt, but again, she held up the hand, and it took a lot out of me not to smile at her determination.

“This might seem like a childish tantrum to you, one of many I’ve had lately, but there’s one thing I want in my life. I want the freedom to make my own choices. I want the freedom to live my own life. You took that choice away from me. And yes, while I would have preferred to marry you over whoever my father had in mind, you’re no different from him. You kept me out of this arrangement, prioritizing business over me.”

She abruptly rose from her chair, declaring, “I’m done with tonight. You can pleasure yourself or whatever because I won’t be consummating this marriage. Andthatis a choice I do have.”

With that, she stormed off, heading toward one of the bedrooms and grabbing her bag from the entryway.

The door slammed shut.

I would give her everything she wanted and more if she just gave me another chance.

24

Gianna

I just wanted someone to understand me. If you had told me two and a half months ago that I would marry Elio, I would have been over the moon. He would be the savior I wanted from the lifestyle I was trapped in.

But it turned out he wasn’t any better than anyone else in my life. He’d kept me in the dark and took away any of the choices I could have made. That was exactly what my father had done my entire life. I needed him to see me as a grown-ass adult who could protect herself.

I threw myself on my bed and opened the bag I had quickly assembled earlier.

Honestly, this was exactly how I imagined I would spend my wedding night. Placed in the “guest room” and going to bed alone. I knew I should have let him explain why he did what he did, but I just needed the night to let my anger settle down.

Anxiety and frustration warred within me, and I knew immediately that my insomnia wasn’t going to let me crash. Too much adrenaline, and the swirling thoughts replaying what happened earlier today would never settle in my brain.

“Ugh.” I laid back on the plush bed and stared at the ceiling. Maybe a warm shower would settle my thoughts.

Once I had gotten all washed up, I dried off and slipped into a pair of pajama shorts and an oversized band t-shirt. Walking over to the windows, I could see the twinkling lights below, and the clock reminded me that it was well past midnight already.

With a sigh, I grabbed one of the books I stuffed inside my bag and attempted to start reading it, but the words on the page weren’t being processed through my brain.

I kept thinking about Elio. Months of being alone and how he suddenly just appeared and was now my husband.

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