Page 24 of Tears Like Acid

Heidi slaps her hands on her thighs. “Look at the time.” She pushes to her feet with another sigh. “I better get the laundry done. Are you sure you won’t eat a little more?”

“No, thank you,” I say, offering her a weak smile. I would’ve offered to help, but Heidi has her instructions. She needs to make sure I stay locked up in this room.

“Can I get you something from the library to read?” she asks, collecting the tray.

“That will be kind, thank you.”

She stacks the dishes and the untouched toast on the tray. “What kind of reading material do you prefer?”

“Can you get me some recipe books?”

She does a double take.

“I know.” I laugh. “Seeing that I’m going to live alone, I better learn.”

Her face falls as I so bluntly state the truth, but there’s no denying it. Mr. Angelo Russo isn’t going to fall in love with me and give me everything my heart desires. This time round, the union isn’t going to turn into a fairytale, neither a wanted nor an unwanted one.

“I’ll bring you a few books,” she says, averting her gaze as she crosses the floor. She closes the door on my, “Thank you.”

Long after she’s gone, I still consider the story of Teresa and Santino. Was Teresa unspirited for not fighting back, or did she just fight cleverly? Or maybe she wanted to marry Santino. From what Heidi told me about Teresa’s family, she could’ve been happy to escape her circumstances. Whatever the case, her silent obedience won her favors. It won her the heart of her husband. Is that a lesson I could learn? Is that a strategy I should consider? Seeing that I can’t change my situation, I may as well stop fighting. It will be so much less tiring. To simply not care. To keep to myself. To give Angelo his due and hide the rest deep down inside me. Because one thing is for sure, if I keep on expending energy on battles I can’t win, there will be nothing left of me in the end. Nothing for me. He wants to reduce me to less than the dirt under his shoes. He made that clear when he banished me and told me with a cruel smile on his sensual lips that I’m not worthy of uttering his name. Unless he commands me to say it. Unless I come.

So, I make a decision.

I’ll give him obedience. I’ll give him my body.

I’ll pay that price.

But I’ll never give him my heart or a child.

And for as long as I live, I’ll never speak his name again.

Chapter

Eight

Angelo

* * *

The cliffs that carry the big house with its towers and ramparts like a model castle on a pedestal grow smaller in the distance as the yacht speeds across the sea. I stand on the deck in the glacier wind, imagining the cliffs on the other side of the property, the ones that aren’t visible from here. The ones that are now the official home of my wife.

Unable to resist the urge, I check my phone again. Except for Heidi’s message to say Sabella didn’t eat much at breakfast, there’s nothing new. Locked in her room, my wife’s activities are limited. Reading or watching television are the extent of her entertainment.

My mother would’ve been appalled. I’m glad she’s not here to see how I’m forced to treat my wife. Sabella only has herself to blame for the unfortunate need to keep her behind lock and key. There are too many documents and files in my study, too much she can get her hands on. The most sensitive information is locked in the vault, but it’s impossible to move everything into the fireproof room. Besides, I’m not going to rearrange my whole house and the way I work just because my wife can’t be trusted.

When only blue water stretches around the yacht, I go inside. Uncle Enzo and Gianni are in the lounge. Both are on their phones, my uncle reading something and Gianni playing one or the other idiotic game. They look up when I close the door but say nothing as I go to the sideboard where refreshments are set out.

Needing the caffeine, I pour a big mug of coffee. Black, no sugar. Not like Sabella. I smile when I recall her stunt of this morning, how she provoked me by planting her luscious lips on the rim of her mug on the exact spot I touched with my mouth. The act was suggestive and intimate, a daring tease that hardened my cock instantly. I have to be careful. She can’t know how much she affects me. I can’t afford to give her that much power.

My smile is gone before I face my family. They watch me with wary expressions, waiting.

I comb my fingers through my hair to tame the windblown strands. “What’s the status on yesterday, Gianni?”

He puts his phone down. “Nothing happened.” He glances at his father before continuing. “Nothing noteworthy.”

I study him. “Sabella didn’t leave the house?”

“No.” He digs a finger in the collar of his rollneck sweater and pulls it away from his throat. “She just hung around inside.”

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