Font Size:  

“We can go for two walks a day,” Carlotta says from where she sits on the sidelines. “We usually do an afternoon walk around the estate. We can do a morning one.”

I want to roll my eyes, but I resist. I’m not against more exercise. I’m against being treated as though I’m some science experiment in need of constant babysitting. Doctor Romano said I’m putting myself in my own bad mood. How can he blame me when every waking moment of mine is monitored?

“That sounds like a great idea, Carlotta!” Doctor Romano cheers. He places the end of his stethoscope to my chest and checks my heartbeat. “Finally some positivity. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it, Mrs. Sorrentino? It’s not always about what you want. Sometimes you have to be a little open if you want to succeed.”

“I never said it was all about what I want. I just don’t want to feel like crap all the time.”

“More food. More sunlight. You follow those orders and you’ll be feeling much better. Who knows? Youmighteven smile. Now let’s check to see how the latest injection went, shall we?”

I walk out of the appointment as aggravated and worn down as usual. Carlotta comes up on my side and puts an arm around me.

“Just hang on,dolcezza,” she says. “One of these days, you’ll attend a checkup like this and find out the treatment has been a success.”

I used to think so too.

As scheduled, come five o’clock, I’m in a sparkling cocktail dress, my curls long and thick down my back, makeup painted on my face like a mask. I sit at the vanity and savor the last few moments I have before the evening begins.

Before I’m stuck socializing with the wives in attendance and fake-laughing at their husbands’ stale jokes. The beautiful doll on Giovanni’s arm for the occasion.

When dinner’s over, we try like we do every night. Yet another part of theschedule.

Voices down the hall pull me out of my weary stupor. Giovanni’s smooth and authoritative voice is like leather to the ears. He’s ordering around Dante, one of his newest soldiers assigned to overseeing our estate’s security.

Curse words and commands later, footsteps thud down the hall.

He’s headed for our bedroom.

It’s the size of some people’s home, so much space it’s almost like we don’t share the space at all.

I rush to fix the vanity countertop, ensuring the perfume bottles align and no single tube of lipstick is out of place. Giovanni has a knack for picking up on the slightest thing that’s not how it should be.

My ring.

My heart thunders in my chest as I scramble for the diamond-encrusted band worth more than a million bucks. I slip it on at the exact moment the door opens and he busts into the room. Smile on, I rise from the vanity stool and greet him with a kiss.

He grabs hold of my waist and draws back far enough for a careful study of me. Anassessmenton how I’m doing, if I’ve been taking care of myself in the manner he wants, including taking my prescribed meds. There’s no softness to be found in his hard and scrutinizing expression. His jaw sets and his electric eyes narrow.

I fill the silence with empty words. “How was your day?”

“Very busy. As they always are.”

“That tends to happen when you’re a King,” I say, giving a flirtatious tug of his collar.

His hard expression doesn’t change. He lets a second pass by and then decides to knock the air out of my lungs.

“Why haven’t you been wearing my ring?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
Articles you may like