Page 50 of Sins of the Son

Like a fucking egotistical prick, I rushed in, assuming I could fix all her problems by simply gracing her with the Cavalieri name, not thinking about how I could make things worse. How it would look for me to hastily announce our engagement to staff, not family, with Milana looking every inch like I had fucked her sideways up in my office, instead of a formal, respectful announcement with close friends and family. By trying to salvage her reputation, I had actually shown her the ultimate disrespect and callous disregard.

Fuck her grandmother. If she were still alive, I would strangle that bitter old woman with my bare hands and relish in watching her take her last fetid breath on this earth, knowing my girl would never again have to hear her lips spew such vile hatred.

Milana pushed the visor back into place. “It’s fine. Everything will be fine. It’s better this way. People will know you weren’t serious about us being engaged.” She sniffed as she raised her chin. “They’ll know it was all just a joke.”

I flexed my fingers and gripped the leather steering wheel harder as I pressed my right foot down. The car surged forward, taking the next curve at a dangerous speed. The car fishtailed on the limestone gravel, but quickly regained its traction.

Milana cried out as she gripped the side door handle for purchase.

I edged the car faster.

In less than a minute, we roared past the villa and into the drive of my home. I barely waited for the car to come to a complete stop before I was tossing the parking brake on and throwing the door open. I stormed around the back and opened the passenger door.

Milana sat there frozen.

“Get out of the car, Milana.”

“I want you to take me back to my apartment. My actual apartment, not the cottage.”

“No. Get out of the car.”

“Fine, then take me to the cottage.”

“No. Get out of the car.”

“Then I’ll stay at the villa with Amara.”

“Wrong again. Get out of the car.”

Still, she didn’t move. As I was reaching in to drag her out, Amara came running. She must have been waiting for us to drive up. Goddamn it. Word traveled fast in this damn village.

Milana ducked out under my outstretched arm that was resting on the top of the car door and raced toward Amara.

Amara called out, “Is it true? It can’t be true. Is it true?” But as she and Milana got closer, her mouth dropped open. She lifted her skirt and sprinted the extra few steps to enfold Milana in a hug. Taking in Milana’s uncharacteristically disheveled appearance, she exclaimed, “My God, what happened to you?”

Amara cast an accusing look over Milana’s shoulder at me as she closed her arms protectively around my woman. “What the hell happened to her, Cesare? What did you do?”

The fingers of my right hand curled into a fist as my jaw clenched.

Amara was a friend.

A good friend.

A longtime friend… of both Milana's and mine.

I liked Amara.

My father loved her.

But that would mean nothing if she didn’t release Milana and let me handle this.

My voice was clipped and hard as I responded to Amara’s questions. “Yes, it’s true. Milana and I are getting married as soon as I can make the arrangements. And no, nothing happened to her. Now, if you don’t mind, Milana and I have several things we need to discuss.”

While I was talking, Milana was shaking her head vigorously. “No, it’s not true. We’re not engaged. It was just a… a joke.”

I never thought it was possible to actually both hear and feel your blood boiling in your veins, but in that moment, that was precisely what I was experiencing. If I wasn’t physically holding Milana in my arms in the next two seconds, I wouldn’t be held responsible for what happened.

Amara stepped in front of Milana, as if to shield her from me. “Don’t tell me nothing happened. Look at her!”

---