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Giana’s eyes widened. “Oh, what a shame.”
God, I could fucking strangle Serafina. “I am not ashamed of my wife. She’s just in a dangerous situation right now, and the fewer people know about where she is, the better.”
“My lips are sealed.” Giana pretends to zip her lips and throw away the key. “You can trust me, Dario.” She pats Leonardo’s stomach. “Can’t he trust me, Leo?”
He grunts.
“See?” she says. “You can trust me. I’d like to have dinner with this new wife of yours.”
“Ooh, goodie,” Serafina says, clearly sarcastically though Giana either doesn’t hear or chooses to ignore it.
“A dinner would be lovely,” Adelina says, grabbing Giana’s hand. “Let’s get you settled in the living room.” She motions for Leonardo to follow and guides our aunt and uncle away.
Once they’re out of earshot, I spin to face Serafina. “What the hell is your problem?”
She shrugs. “I don’t have a problem.”
“Why do you have it out for Pia so much? She’s done nothing to you.”
“Because I don’t like some random bitch coming into our home. Is that so hard to understand?”
I grip the bridge of my nose to calm myself down. Otherwise, I might say something I’ll regret. “Do you know what Pia’s life has been like? Do you?”
“Spoiled, like mine, I’m sure.” She turns to walk away, but I grab her arm, stopping her.
“Not spoiled, actually. Her father locked her up in a tower for her entire life. He’s beat her, whipped her. I rescued her from there. If it weren’t for me, she’d still be in there. She doesn’t need you being mean to her, too. She’s faced too much abuse as is.”
Serafina’s face freezes. “I didn’t know that.”
“Exactly.” I let go of her arm. “So think about the things you say before you say them. I know it hasn’t been easy on you and Adelina since mom and dad died. I was never cut out to be a father to you two. I made some mistakes. Clearly, given how annoying you are.” She makes a face. “But that doesn’t give you the excuse to be rude to my wife. You got that, Serafina? I’m still in charge of you until you’re married.”
She scoffs. “Whatever.” She walks away. Sometimes Serafina is like a brick wall—you can never get through to her.
I go upstairs to get Pia, knowing I can’t keep her hidden. I don’t want her to think I don’t want my relatives to meet her. I just need to make sure Giana and Leonardo don’t mention where she is to anyone.
Pia is asleep on our bed, wearing a simple white sundress. After the pool incident, I carried her up here, and she didn’t let go of me until we were in our room. While it felt nice knowing she needed me, it also made me nervous. She clearly has trauma from her father, and I need to get to the bottom of it for her sake and to see if I can’t glean any information that could help me take down Tommaso.
“Pia.” I gently shake her shoulder. Her eyes blink open, and when she looks at me, a small smile passes her lips. Yeah, it feels fucking good knowing she sees me as her savior and someone to trust. “Are you feeling better?”
She nods, stretching out.
“Good. Because there’s something that I need to tell you.”
Sudden panic fills her eyes. She signs something with her hands that I can’t make out.
“It’s ok. Nothing to worry about. My aunt and uncle are here. They showed up announced. They want to have dinner with us and meet you. Do you think you’re up for that?”
She grabs the new phone I laid out for her. I have a bunch of extra ones around the house, and she couldn’t keep using mine.Are they anything like Serafina?
I chuckle. “Thankfully, no. But my aunt, Giana, is a busybody. She’ll want to ask you a million questions. Are you prepared for that?”
She thinks about it for a moment before nodding.I’ll do my best.
“I know you will.” I bend down and kiss her. Fuck, I could kiss Pia forever. But we have guests to attend to, so I pull back. “Let’s go.” She takes my hand as I help her up, and we head downstairs.
Pia is clinging to me as we enter the living room, where everyone else is situated. Adelina is chatting away with Giana. Serafina is scrolling through her phone. Leonardo is practically asleep on the couch.
“Giana, this is Pia.”
