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“Nikita.” Benvolio warned.
I threw my napkin onto the plate of food. "No, Ben." I turned my chair, so I faced Enzo. "I don't want to be welcomed and certainly don't want to marry your arsehole son. You had no right to demand I belong to your son and my father had no right to agree to such a ridiculous proposal. You are every bit as much an arsehole as your fucking son." I pushed up from the table. "I'm not hungry."
I stormed out, hurried upstairs to my room, and slammed the door. Seconds later, Benvolio barged into the room.
I stepped back as he stalked towards me, his rage wafting from every pore. He took hold of the tops of my arms so hard I cried out.
Benvolio shook me slightly. “You impertinent, rude, arrogant little bitch. You fucking disgust…”
I heard a knock, muffled by the raging, and Lucia entered. I felt relief, unsure of what Benvolio would do if we were alone.
“Benvolio…Out!” Lucia shouted.
He released my arms, giving me a slight push, and I stumbled backwards to land on the bed.
“Benvolio!” Lucia glared at her son before crossing to where I sat.
Benvolio glared at me before spitting, "The name is Benvolio." He gave his mother one last disgusted look before stomping from the room.
***
Lucia settled beside me on the bed, we turned to face each other, and she took my hands into hers. Feeling the touch of a woman who seemed to care had me missing my mother more than ever.
“I’m sorry, Sweetheart.”
“For what?” I asked.
“For the heartbreak my husband and son are causing you. Would you allow me to speak? I would like to tell you a little about me and Enzo. You and I have a great deal more in common than you know.”
“Of course.” I relaxed for the first time since being in Benvolio’s home, curious about Lucia’s past.
"Thank you. Fifty years ago I married Enzo against my wishes. I was in love with a boy I'd met at university...Ryan Pallister. Father dismissed my feelings, insisting on the union between me and Enzo for reasons I won't go into. I fought against the arrangement, even ran away twice, and told my father and Enzo's father that I would not say 'I do' at the ceremony."
"Did you say it?" I asked since I'd threatened my father and Benvolio that I wouldn't either.
“No, but it made no difference, the priest still pronounced us man and wife. He was under the influence of Enzo’s family like most people of position in this city.”
"But isn't it illegal for a priest to accept a union if one party doesn't consent?"
Lucia shook her head. "Not when it comes to the Abruzzenesa family. I couldn't beat them so in the end I accepted my fate, but I didn't make it easy for Enzo or his father. I detested them both. I never spoke to my father again and I regretted that decision when he suddenly died of heart failure. I spent a lot of time alone in Casa Del Lupo because I was so angry, no one wanted to be in my company."
“House of the Wolf,” I murmured.
"Yes. Enzo was known as the wolf and his bite was much, much worse than his bark. Anyway, I spent hours wandering the gardens, sitting by the pool reading, and watching boats on the harbour wishing for freedom. When passenger ships docked, I used to dream they were here to take me away to a foreign country where I would meet my true love. I was alone and lonely, and I'd brought it on myself."
“Enzo didn’t attempt to spend time with you?”
“He tried but I was so angry, eventually he got sick of the abuse and focused on his work.”
“What changed?”
He found me in the garden one day, I was crying my eyes out because a wild rabbit I'd spent weeks sneaking food, and taming, had died. I found the bunny lying on the bed of straw I'd put under a lavender bush. Enzo lifted me into his arms and rocked me while I sobbed. We'd been married almost six months and it was the first time I'd been held by anyone since our wedding day." Lucia lifted her eyes to the ceiling and when she looked back at me, there was a dreamy look. "We kept the rabbit in a cooler while Enzo had a wooden box made with gold lettering that read 'Buttons'...the name I'd given the creature. The day after Buttons died, Enzo's men stood around the lavender bush where a hole had been dug, and my husband held me close while he said a few words about how special Buttons had been, even though he had never known the creature existed before then. We buried the box together and Enzo covered it with dirt before placing a marble cross with Button's name carved into it on the mound."
“At least he had some heart, unlike your son.”
"Oh, Sweetheart, don't be too harsh when judging Benvolio. He has a generous heart, you just need to give him a chance. My son is every bit as angry about this situation as you are, and despite his power, he is powerless to do anything about his father's agreement. For a man like my son, being powerless is the worst possible weakness."
"I know nothing about him and yet I'm being forced to be his wife. I always believed I'd be deeply in love with the man I was to marry."
