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“Getting married, duh?! How else would it be?” She throws her head back in laughter and I'm about to let out a sigh of relief at having freed myself from the fate of being pregnant, every nine months, to produce children for some kind of cult when Alina speaks again. “And didn't I say I had good news? He has already set the date!”
“What?” I ask, and my body reacts to the statement by shaking all over again. “What?”
“Your grandfather found the perfect groom for you.”
“I’ve heard it the first time, what I couldn't understand was what you meant,” I say with much more emphasis than I intended, and Alina's lips twist in reproof.
“Calm down!”
She scolds me like I'm a child demanding candy before dinner, and I continue to stare at her for several minutes after the last syllable leaves her mouth, expecting that, at any moment, she's going to say she's joking.
Her lips part, and I hold my breath, waiting anxiously for her next statement.
“I’ve already picked your dress; would you like to see it?”
CHAPTER 64
________
Gabriella Matos
The door is unlocked.
I find out when I wake up on the morning of my third day undrugged. Still lying in bed, I look at the half-open crack, wondering what kind of sick game I will be subjected to today. After the almost meaningless conversation two days ago, Alina didn't show up yesterday.
A maid brought me meals that I didn't eat and, today, this. What do these people expect from me? I close the eyes I barely opened and wonder if it wouldn't be better if I slept again. In my dreams, I'm still at home.
In them, Rafaella and I chat in whatever free time my friend has, and I can see and feel that she is alive and well. In my dreams, I spend hours in the stables, talking to Galard and Kira, trying to convince them to get along.
In my dreams, Vittorio comes home suddenly, telling me that he found Raquel, and I throw myself into his arms in an emotional mess that he is the only one capable of supporting. In my dreams, the life I built is still mine, and that choker has never been ripped from my neck.
In my dreams, I declared myself to Vittorio that night in the library, the moment I felt completely claimed by him, I screamedthat I loved him. In my dreams, I don't feel alone again, nor do I wonder what the point was in wanting to live only to have everything that made life worth living ripped from my hands.
I dry the tears streaming from my eyes and, as if my crying was some kind of invitation, Alina enters the room.
“C'mon. C'mon! Stand up!” She practically shouts, clapping her hands. “You will sit at the table today. Who knows, maybe if you see us eating, you will be convinced that there is no poison in the dishes.”
I continue lying down despite the clear order. There is only one person whose orders I am happy to obey. Alina lets out a deep exhale when I don't move, and I imagine she's rolling her eyes because I don't move.
“Get up, Gabriella!”
“Or what? Will you rescue me?” I ask, now, looking at her, and her eyes narrow.
“Don't be ungrateful!”
“Or what?”
“Or I'll call your grandfather!” she threatens, and the smile that appears on my face is not happy, but it is definitely satisfied.
“I'm sorry to say, but I think you're at least thirteen years too late for this kind of threat.”
“If you don't start eating, you'll starve to death.”
“I can't wait for such a blessing!”
“Gabriella!” I grit my teeth.
It's the prospect of being able to look at the house, looking for some escape route, that makes me get up despite the desire to surrender and just go back to sleep. I don't allow myself to think about what I'll do if I actually manage to escape. Where would Igo? I don't even know where I am. Even if I found my way back to Vittorio, if his plan all along was to sell me, would it make any sense to go back to him?
