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I chuckled to myself in glee:Take that, asshole,my mind shouted, as I strutted a catwalk-style stride along the edge of the pool, drawing even more attention to my misdeed—and thus maximizing Lorenzo’s humiliation.
He was so mad that there was absolutely no way he’d want to marry me now, I thought in triumph.
Ha! Take that, you moggy-murdering, too-cool-for-a-sombrero, Mr. Lorenzo Marchiano!
CHAPTER 7
LORENZO
I was raving mad. “This girl is not wife-material!”
We had abandoned the party and swiftly returned to the Veneti mansion. I was now standing in Napoleone’s study, still dripping water from my expensive black suit and my handmade shoes squelching noisily with every movement. I hoped the chlorine from the pool water was ruining Napoleone’s fucking antique rugs, I thought bitterly.
Marco stood next to me, also clearly pissed at the evening’s turn of events.
It was clear as day that the girl’s actions had been deliberate. First she’d shot at me, now she’d pushed me into a pool.
Anni and Ma Veneti stood on either side of Napoleone as he sat back in his leather chair behind his desk, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
“Your daughter’s behavior is unacceptable,” I snarled, my hands clenched in tight fists. “She’s obviously too young and too irresponsible to be a good wife and a mother to my children.” What the hell had I been thinking agreeing to this bond?
“It was an accident,” exclaimed Ma Veneti. “I saw it all with my own eyes—Annunciata was leaning over the pool and lost her balance, pushing into you.”
I looked at Ma Veneti carefully as she gazed at me with her guileless eyes.
Had it been an accident? On the way back to the house, I had asked Marco what he thought, and he had said that even after witnessing it himself, it was impossible to say if it had been deliberate or an accident.
“Anni wouldneverdo such a thing deliberately,” carried on Ma Veneti.
Perhaps I had been too rash? I unclenched my fists and rolled back my shoulders. “Accident or not,” I said forcefully, “some people within the Fratellanza may still have their doubts. Therefore, your daughter’s actions cannot go unpunished. The wedding is due to take place in two months. I suggest we move it up to two weeks’ time; that should satisfy our people.”
Marco nodded at my suggestion.
“Very well,” Napoleone agreed. And upon hearing this, Anni’s face dropped.
“Well,” I said, trying to gather my shreds of dignity back together, “at least Annie Oakley here didn’t pull a gun on me this time.”
“It’s Anni without an ‘e’!” snapped my fiancée. She turned to her father. “Papà, why are you making me marry a man who can’t even get my name right?”
My blood roared through my veins. Her reaction and words made me think the pool incident probably hadn’t been an accident. The matter, however, had been settled now; we would marry in two weeks, the revised timeline being her punishment.
“Anni,” her papà said tersely, making it clear that this was an end to the matter, “why don’t you show Marco and Lorenzo out?”
“I’ll be with you in a minute,” Marco said to me, hanging back to discuss another matter with Napoleone.
Anni reluctantly complied with her papà’s request and walked me to the front door.
As she opened the heavy oak door, I turned to face her. “You know pushing me into the pool was childish, right?”
“You know refusing to wear your sombrero was childish, right?” she said, mimicking my tone.
"Next time you try to push me into a pool, I'll drag you down into the water with me." My tone was harsh. "And don't think that I won't. Because know that I can't wait to see youdripping wetin front of me."
Her face fell at my last sentence.
And I knew I'd got my point across. One way or another, she was going to learn to obey me.
Walking over to my car and opening the door, I sighed as I sank into the driver's seat.
