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“Thank you,” I say again.
“You’re very welcome. Goodnight, Miss Sophia.” She retreats from the room, leaving me to my own devices.
I immediately go for my suitcases. In the side pocket, I find my phone and turn it on. It chimes as text after text, and a slew of missed calls appear on the screen. Most are from my sister Arianna, a few are from Ginevra and my cousin Ravenna.
I quickly scan the texts before swiping over to press the call button. Arianna answers on the first ring.
“Sophia, are you okay? Papa told us what happened. I can’t believe he just let that man carry you off like that! Mama is giving him hell.”
“I’m fine. He took me to his home in the country.” At least, I think I’m okay, all things considered. “I don’t think it’s Papa’s fault. I’m pretty sure Roman’s blackmailing him or something.”
“Of course. That makes more sense.” Ariannatsks. “He should never have started doing business with a man like Roman De Luca.”
That piques my interest. “What do you know about him? What do the aunties say about him?”
She hesitates, and the moment of silence sends a chill down my spine. Usually Arianna is forthcoming about the gossip she hears. If she’s hesitating to share what she’s heard, then it must be horrible. This is bad. Really bad.
“Arianna?” I prompt. I don’t really want to hear what she has to say, but I have to. I need information, even if it’s gossip.
She sighs. “You have a right to know, especially since you’re in his house. I’m sorry I’m the one to have to tell you this, but… Roman De Luca is a very mysterious man. He comes from old money. That shipping business he owns, he inherited from his father. He’s an only child. His father is dead, but his mother is still alive. That’s all I really know about him, that's fact.” She pauses. “Then there are the rumors.”
I mentally brace myself. “Go on. Tell me.”
“Okay. Take what I have to say with a grain of salt. I’m not sure how much of it is true. But, you know, there’s usually a kernel of truth in these types of rumors.”
“Arianna,” I bite out. “You’re stalling. Tell me what you’ve heard.”
Another sigh.
“Okay, okay. Years ago, Roman was married.”
Oh. I blink, taken by surprise. He seems like the perpetual bachelor type. Brooding and moody, a loner who generally hates people and hides away in this secluded estate. I never would have guessed he once had a wife. Who would marry a man like him?
Arianna continues in a low voice, “Supposedly it was a love match.”That’s doubly shocking. “But it didn’t last for very long until things went horribly wrong. He became possessive and jealous, and when she tried to run, he hunted her down. He killed his own wife. Worse, her body was never found. It’s probably buried in the woods at his country estate.”
Oh my God.His country estate is exactly where he’s taken me. Is his late wife buried in the gardens out back, or deep in the woods that surround this place?
I glance over my shoulder and peer into the shadowy corners, half expecting a vengeful spirit to come flying out of the wall. Does she haunt this place? My arm hairs stand on end, an otherworldly chill seeping deep beneath my skin.
Did Papa know who he was giving me to?
“Sophia, are you there?”
I startle. “Yes, I’m here. I’m just…processing.”
“He’s a wife-killer. He committeduxoricideand got away with it.”
“Yes, I understand, thank you.” I begin pacing at the foot of the bed. “What am I going to do?”
Roman wouldn’t answer my questions earlier. I don’t know why he wants to marry me, but what if he wants to make me his wife in order to murder me and burymybody in the woods? Is he a serial killer? How many other women has he married and offed?
Arianna speaks in a hushed voice, “If I were you, I’d run.”
“Run where? Papa won’t take me back while Roman’s alive. No one will help me.”
“We will.”
I frown at my phone in confusion. “What do you mean, Arianna? Who’swe? You’re always on Papa’s side, he won't let you come to my rescue.”
