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Oscar suddenly leaned forward and removed the espresso cup from my hand.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” I felt the rage bubble up inside of me. “Do you have any idea what they’ll do to her? What they are capable of?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “Don’t forget, I grew up in that house. I lived a lot longer in that hell than you did.”
“Careful,” Oscar warned, but Ugo dismissed him.
“Elenora, your daughter, my cousin, is much stronger and smarter than you realize. She’s not going to the Coppola mansion to join the family. She’s going to learn about where she came from, yes. But she wants to worm her way behind enemy lines so she can implode the Coppola syndicate from the inside out. She’s doing this for herself, for you, for…” He stopped himself, and I held up a hand.
“Finish that thought.”
“For all of us. She’s doing this so we can all be free.”
I knew there was more, but I needed a moment to digest it all. I pushed my chair out and slowly wandered over to the window. I felt Ugo and Oscar follow me.
“How long has she been there?”
“A few days.”
“Good Lord,” I muttered and pulled at my necklace, feeling the terror race through me.
I closed my eyes and remembered when I’d first arrived in that house…
“This is your new room.” Theo’s caporegime struggled to hold all my bags. “Get moving. These are heavy.”
Somehow, I forced my leaden feet to start moving and swallowed past the impulse to scream and kick up a fuss. Maybe if I did, they would see they made a mistake, that they chose the wrong woman. But then my parents’ faces flashed in front of me, and I knew their fate rested on my shoulders. It was a heavy load.
“Bed there,” he pointed, “toilet and bath in there, balcony, sitting area, closet, and whatever the hell that is.” He motioned toward the vanity. “If you need to go anywhere, you come to me, so remember my face. Understand?” I nodded, and he pointed at my bags. “Get unpacked.”
Then I was left alone, in a quiet room, with no idea what was expected of me. The room was dull and lacked any sense of decor. The furniture was outdated, the curtains smelled funny, but at least the bedding seemed new. I opened one of my suitcases and pulled out Francesco’s sweater and wrapped it around my shoulders, needing to feel him with me. My heart ached for him, but he’d hurt me, and I wasn’t good at letting that stuff go.
I skipped unpacking and leaned back and closed my eyes. In spite of my heavy lids, tears ran in streaks down my cheeks. I hadn’t been that close with my parents; they weren’t exactly warm and fuzzy. Hugs and kisses were rare, but they mattered, and I thought they loved me. The fact that they had sealed my fate with their mistakes was unforgivable. I wondered how I was going to get through this.
I spent the next two days in my room, unsure of where my place was in the house. The staff brought me food but barely glanced in my direction. Surely, someone would wonder about me. Not even Theo had shown himself. I started to grow annoyed with their complete indifference. Anger began to simmer, then my temper began to rise. I was going to do them a favor by sleeping with their whore of a son, just so he could win the race of having the firstborn son. I was sick over the thought of his hands touching me.
When I was finally brave and pissed off enough to venture downstairs, I came face to face with the lady with the cane. Her clothes were just as dull as my room. She smelled like bean sprouts, and her paperwhite skin reminded me of undercooked dough.
“Elenora?”
“Yes.”
“You will address me with, ‘Yes, Nonna Coppola.’” She pointed to a wooden chair. “Sit.” I did, and she sat across from me. “You are here merely to produce an heir. You will not be given the same rights as the other women here until you’ve earned my trust. You will not leave the property for the next two weeks, and when you are allowed to leave, you must ask for permission and will always have an escort. You will respect Theo and the others in this house. If you don’t, there will be consequences that, I can assure you, you won’t like.”
So, she’s blunt. Ouch.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, Nonna Coppola,” I said quietly when I was really cursing at her inside as I plotted her death with that stupid cane. She didn’t even need it. She sat tapping the foot she pretended to need the cane for. I’d seen her hop up and walk perfectly fine. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I also needed her to not hate me. It was, after all, the first time I’d met this woman in person.
“You may tour the grounds today, but when Theo arrives home from his trip this weekend, you will attempt to conceive immediately.”
That explained his absence. Wait, what? “But we’re not even married yet!” My mouth dropped open. I hoped I had some time before that would start.
“Then perhaps we need to move up the wedding, if your moral compass is struggling.”
She played dirty, and I saw I needed to amp up my game if I was going to survive this.
“Does Theo have a favorite color?” I went for a sweet demeanor. “I would like to make sure I dress appropriately for the occasion.”
