76

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked away. “What about Lily? She and Gianna share this suite with me. You’ve seen how Lily can be. She will flirt with Romero. She will do anything to piss him off . She doesn’t realize what she might get herself into. I need to know that she is safe.”
“Romero will not touch your sister. Liliana is playing games. She is a little girl. Romero likes his women adult and willing.
“And you don’t?” I almost asked, but I swallowed the words and instead nodded.
My eyes darted to my bed. This was a horrible reminder of what was soon to come.
“There’s something else. Are you on the pill?”
The color faded from my face as I stared at him. “Of course not.”
Luca peered at me with an eerie calm. “Your mother could have gotten you started in preparation for marriage.”
I was pretty sure I was going to have a nervous breakdown at any moment. “My mother would never do that. She doesn’t even talk to me about these things.
Luca raised an eyebrow. “But do you know what happens between a man and a woman on their wedding night?”
He was making fun of me, the bastard. “I know what happens between normal couples. In our case, I think the word you’re looking for is rape.
Luca’s eyes flashed with excitement. “I want you to start taking the pill.” He handed me a small package. It was birth control.
“Don’t I need to consult a doctor before I start taking birth control?”
“We have a doctor who has been working at Familia for decades. This comes from him. You need to start taking the pill immediately. It takes 48 hours for them to start working.”
I couldn’t believe him. He seemed really eager to sleep with me. My stomach clenched. “What if I don’t?”
Luca shrugged. “Then I’ll use a condom. In any case, on our wedding night you will be mine.”
He opened the door and motioned me to move. As if in a trance, I entered the living area of the suite. I had no intention of angering him, but by then it was too late. It probably wouldn’t be the last time anyway.
Umberto was standing next to Gianna and Lily, looking annoyed. He looked at Luca frowning. “What are you doing here?”
“You should pay more attention in the future and minimize your breaks,” Luca told him.
“I was only gone for a few minutes and there were guards in front of the other doors.”
Gianna smiled. Matteo’s eyes were fixed on her. “What are you looking at?” she blurted out.
Matteo leaned forward. “At your warm body.”
“Then keep looking.” She shrugged. “Because that’s all you can do with my warm body.”
“Stop it,” Umberto warned.
I was not looking at him, but at Matteo, who had a calculating expression.
“Romero will assume guard duty until the wedding,” Luca said. Umberto opened his mouth, but Luca raised a hand. “It is done.” He turned to Romero, who straightened up immediately. They moved a few steps away from us. Gianna insisted. “What do you mean?”
“Romero is my new bodyguard.”
“He just wants to check on you.”
“Shh.” I was watching Luca and Romero. After a moment, Romero looked at Lily, then nodded and said something. Finally they came back to us. “Romero will stay with you,” Luca said simply. He was so cold that I could have called him a monster.
“And what am I supposed to do?” asked Umberto.
“You can guard their door.”
“Or you can attend our bachelor party,” suggested Matteo.
“I don’t care,” said Umberto.
Luca shrugged. “Have it your way. Scuderi will come with us.”
Would my father go with them? I didn’t even want to know what they were doing.
Luca turned to me. “Remember what I told you.”
I didn’t say anything, just clutched the pill bottle in my hand. Without adding anything else Luca and Matteo left. Romero held the door open. “You can leave too,” he said to Umberto, who looked at him grimly but left after a moment. Romero closed the door and locked it.
Gianna gasped. “You can’t be serious.”
Romero leaned against the door, his arms crossed in front of him. He did not respond.
“Come on, Gianna.” I dragged her with me to the couch and let myself fall down. Lily was already kneeling in the armchair, watching Romero with rapt attention. Gianna’s eyes slid to my hand.
“What is this?”
“Birth control.”
“Don’t tell me that asshole gave it to you right now so he could screw you on your wedding night.”
I tightened my lips.
“You’re not going to take them, are you?”
“I have to. It won’t stop Luca if I don’t. He’ll just be angry.”
Gianna shook her head, but I gave her a pleading look. “I don’t want to argue with you. Let’s watch a movie, okay? I really need the distraction.” After a moment, Gianna nodded. We chose a movie at random, but it was hard to concentrate with Romero watching us.
“Are you going to stay there all night?” I finally asked. “You’re making me nervous. Can’t you at least sit down?”
He moved toward the empty chair and let himself fall down. He took off his jacket, revealing a white shirt and a holster with two pistols and a long knife.
“W ow,” whispered Lily. She stood up and walked over to him. He kept his attention on the door. She stepped into his path and he had no choice but to look at her. She smiled. She quickly slid into his lap and he stiffened. I jumped off the couch and yanked her off him. “Lily, what’s the matter with you?
You can’t behave like this. Someday a man will take advantage of you. Many men had difficulty understanding that provocative clothes and actions did not mean a woman was asking for it.
Romero straightened in his chair.
“He won’t hurt me. Luca forbids it, doesn’t he?
“He might steal your virtue and then cut your throat, so you can’t tell anyone,” Gianna said casually. I shot her a dirty look.
Lily’s eyes widened.
“I wouldn’t,” Romero said, surprising us with his voice.
“You shouldn’t have said that,” Gianna murmured. “He’s flattering you now.”
“Lily, go to bed,” I ordered her, and she did so with loud protest.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
Romero nodded. “Don’t worry. I have a sister her age.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty.”
“And how long have you been working for Luca?” Gianna turned off the TV to focus on the questioning . I settled against the backrest.
“Four years, but I’ve been an artificial man for six years.”
“You must be good if Luca chose you to protect Aria.”
Romero shrugged. “Knowing how to behave in a fight is not the main reason. Luca knows I am loyal.”
“Which means you won’t give Aria paws.”
I rolled my eyes at Gianna. Romero probably regretted leaving his place in front of the door. “Luca knows he can trust me with what is his.”
Gianna’s lips thinned. The wrong thing to say. “So if Aria came out of her room naked tonight and you got hard because you really can’t help yourself, wouldn’t Luca cut off your cock?”
Romero was obviously taken aback. He stared at me, as if he was really worried that I might do it.
“Just ignore it. I won’t.
“Where are Luca and the other men going for the bachelor party?”
Romero did not answer.
“Probably a strip club and then one of the brothels that Familia frequents,” Gianna murmured. “Why can men be prostitutes while we have to save our virginity for our wedding night? And why can Luca fuck whoever he wants while Aria can’t even kiss a boy?”
“I didn’t set the rules,” Romero said simply.
“But make sure we don’t break them. You are not our protector, you are our guardian.”
“Have you ever considered that I’m protecting boys who don’t know who Aria is?” he asked.
I frowned.
“Luca would kill anyone who dares to touch you. Sure, you could go out, flirt with a guy and move on, because you wouldn’t be the one Luca disembowels.”
“Luca is not my boyfriend,” Gianna said.
“Your father would kill anyone who comes near you, because he doesn’t want anyone to ruin his most prized possessions.”
For the first time I realized that just because I had been given to Luca did not mean that Gianna would not be forced to marry someone else. Suddenly I felt very tired. “I’m going to bed.”
I lay awake for most of the night, thinking about how to get out of the marriage, but the only option would be to run away, and although Gianna would definitely come with me, what about Liliana? I couldn’t keep them both safe. And what about Fabiano? What about my mother? I couldn’t leave it all behind. This was my life. I didn’t know anything else. Perhaps I was a coward, although marrying a man like Luca probably took more courage than running away.