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Adrian is still screaming my name.
Ripping myself away from Eleanora, I run out on the boat's desk. "Adrian!"
"Are you fucking crazy?" the guard groans in despair. "They'll see you! Go back inside."
I shut up, but I can't leave. I watch Adrian stripping off his clothes and getting in the water. If I jumped out now, I could swim and reach him in no time at all. We could stay here... together, and Eleanora and the guard would be able to get away.
But I don't jump.
I just watch the distance between the boat and the shore get bigger and bigger. Adrian's figure in the water soon disappears. We've sped away, and there's no way he'll be able to catch us now.
I don't know why, but there are tears burning the back of my eyes, threatening to fall as I mentally say goodbye to my home of the past few months.
I never thought leaving Adrian would be this heard, not after Bruno killed my parents and I knew I had to hate his whole family. Now, my heart hurts like never before. It didn't even hurt this badly when my parents were killed. This amount of pain is unimaginable, immeasurable. I'm lost in a never ending loop of remembering what I've done with horror and the fear of my new life with Vitto and Luigi.
What have I done?
What the fuck have I done?
I shake my head. I can't let myself think that way. I need to believe this was the smartest thing to do. After all, I did overhear that conversation between Adrian and his father... And he was going to marry another woman today. He was going to betray me in the worst possible way. If I had stayed, I would've been branded nothing but a whore, a plaything. The other woman.
The tears that have been stinging my eyes for a long time are falling again.
Eleanora sits next to me, leaning her heads against my shoulder as I start to cry. She seems to understand how badly I'm hurting. Somehow, she just gets it.
I take comfort in her calming nature and allow her to help me calm down. My heart slows down. Now, the only thing pumping through my body is dread.
I do my best to remember Vitto.
The last time I saw him, he seemed kinder than when we were children. But is he going to be a good husband? Will he be like Adrian, eager to give me what I want and show me my own limits? Or is he the same cruel, angry boy from the docks I remember, who will use any chance to hurt someone?
While the boat is out at sea, I find myself drifting off. I barely got any rest last night, and sleep pulls me under easily, enveloping me in a dark and depraved dream with the two men who are after me—Adrian and Vitto. Before I get the chance to see which one is going to win, Eleanora gently shakes me awake.
We've arrived.
I get off the boat along with the two of them and walk to the boat where a man is waiting for us with a shiny black car.
"There's one more than we thought," he barks at the guard. "We don't need the extra weight."
"She stays," I hiss, grabbing Eleanora's arm and pulling her closer. "She's not going anywhere."
The man looks at me, weighing my words before finally nodding.
We get in the car.
It feels fucking good to have some power again.
After the car took off, I press my forehead against the window, my thoughts circling over the events of today.
I hope I'm wrong about Vitto. I hope my feelings and instincts telling me to turn this car around right now are wrong.
Even if they are, though, there's nothing I can do anymore.
My choice has been made... I'm no longer Adrian's plaything.
Now, I belong to Vitto Donatti.
37
Adrian
Today is the day I marry the woman I don't fucking love.
I spend the day away from both Marzia and Nicoletta. Tradition is, I'm not supposed to see my wife on the day until she walks down the aisle. I'm eager to see Marzia, not Nicoletta. Eager to whisper in her ear one last time, to tell her I will come back for her, that I will claim her one way or another no matter what happens at the wedding today.
As the tailor does my final fitting for the suit, I find my mind racing through a myriad of scenarios, unable to focus on one. Should I stand up to Father and decline to marry Nicoletta? How the fuck am I going to get out of this? A part of me knows I can't go through with the wedding, not if I want to stay true to my heart. But knowing Father, he won't let me walk away from this. Not without a damn good reason.
