Page 42 of Vincenzo's Promise
I nodded, and he kissed me on the lips before I walked off.
As I made my way to his study, the looks of curiosity were laughable. It was almost like they had never seen someone like me before. Walking down the long corridor that led to Vincenzo’s study, I gazed at the many portraits lining the walls. Although Vincenzo made out like his family wasn’t close, there were tons of family photos of him when he was younger with his parents, who I recognized from some I had in my home. I still hadn’t had the chance to have a conversation with my father about his best friend.
Vincenzo’s scent assaulted me as soon as I entered the massive study.
I closed the large wooden door. The masculine room was all him, from the dark leather furniture, deep ebony hardwood floors, and massive floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the front of his estate. Quickly making my way to the full bathroom, I shut the door and took a deep breath, bracing my palms against the marble vanity. I closed my eyes, releasing a cleansing breath. When I looked up in the mirror, I gazed at the woman staring back at me. This was a new day, a new step in my life. One I could say I was scared shitless to take, even though I was falling harder for Vincenzo. There was so much I didn’t know about this life. While I hadn’t received any backlash yet from our soon-to-be union, Vincenzo had. Now that everyone knew who I was, I was sure my turn was next.
“You have to be ready for anything,” I mumbled to the empty room while I fixed my hair and touched up the little makeup I had on. I washed and dried my hands and took one final cleansing breath before leaving the bathroom.
“You know you will never fit into this world,” a female voice spoke from behind me. I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face a beautiful, lithe brunette standing in front of Vincenzo’s desk. “No matter what your last name is.”
“And you are?” I asked. It was never my goal to fit into Vincenzo’s world. My goal was to be happy as his wife and his Donna.
“Daniella.”
“Daniella, how may I help you?”
“Do you know how many times I’ve had him down my throat in this very office?” she asked, looking around with a wistful look before turning her attention back to me.
I hope she doesn’t want me to really answer because I really couldn’t care less.
“Do you know how many times I’ve begged him for what he’s giving you now, only to be told it was impossible for him to love me?” she continued, her voice raising a little while tears pooled in her eyes. “But now look at him, smiling at you like you hang the fucking moon and the stars. Kissing you like if he doesn’t, he’ll take his last breath.” She chuckled, wiping the tears now falling down her cheeks with the palm of her hand.
“Daniella, I don’t—”
“Stop! Don’t say shit to me!” she yelled, raising a black gun towards me. “You stole him from me.”
How the hell did I miss that?
“He promised me that if I did what Vincenzo asked, Vincenzo would marry me, make me his Donna!” I held my palms out to her while the gun shook in her hand. “But I never thought I’d fall in love with him. Now, Vincenzo doesn’t even want me and it’s all because of you!”
As she was becoming more and more unhinged, I scanned the room to see if there was any way I could get the hell out of here before this woman killed me.
“Daniella.”
I spoke her name as calmly as I could while I continued to hold my palms out to her to show I wasn’t any kind of threat to her, no matter how much she perceived me to be. She was already frantic. She paced in front of his desk, mumbling to herself while tapping the gun against her head.
Damn it. I was in no hurry to die, especially at the hands of a jealous ex-lover.
“I’m sorry you felt like Zo didn’t care for you—”
“Zo?” She stopped pacing and whipped around to me, pointing the gun at me again. “Zo! His name is Vincenzo, you bitch!”
“Okay, okay,” I replied. “Vincenzo.”
I’ve got to get the hell out of here.
