11

"Stop over-worrying, Clara. You'll be fine." I said as Clara smoothed her peach dress again.

"I don't want to do this. I can't do this. His family are even worse than him; he'll feed me to them, and they'll devour me without thinking." Clara panicked as we walked into the foyer. "I should pretend that I'm sick again. I'm sure I can convince Lorenzo this time. I can say I have the flu or a cold or a brain-eating virus or—"

"Stop." I stood in front of her and grabbed her shoulders. "Overthinking won't help you. Hell, you'll end up more stressed."

"I know, but I just can't help it. You don't know these people. They're vile. Silvano might not acknowledge me, but at least he doesn't insult me. His family, on the other hand..." She muttered and pressed her lips into a thin line.

"I might not know them, but I know the universal rule of all b*tchy people: if you're timid and fearful, they'll finish you. But if you act confident and show them you aren't intimidated, they'll back down. You need to toughen up and show them you can't be messed with. Be b*tchy if you have to. Show them you aren't afraid of their sh*t."

"I can't do that. I can't be confident and bold like you—"

"Then the Bonifilio are going to eat you like bread. And they should." Lorenzo said from behind me, and she stiffened.

"You're not helping." I turned around and frowned at him.

"It's the truth. If you can't grow a spine, then you deserve to be trampled on. It's disgraceful that a Raimondo is such a coward." He crinkled his nose at her, and she winced.

"Don't talk to—"

"It's alright, Gwen." Clara tugged at my arm and gave me a small smile. "I'm going now. I'll try to follow your advice."

"You'll be fine." I hugged her tight, and she sighed.

"Ok," she whispered and let go of me. She gave Lorenzo a curt nod and walked out of the door.

"If you didn't have anything helpful to say, you shouldn't have talked at all." I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms over my chest.

"So you can keep pampering her." He scoffed and began walking away.

"I wasn't pampering her. I was trying to encourage her. She’s already terrified of going, and you just made it worse." I argued as I followed him.

"Clara is too timid for her own good. You can't keep begging her to do what she ought to do. You have to be stern and forceful, or she'll never learn. She's continued to be a p*ssy who's afraid of her own shadow." He claimed.

"Can you f*cking stop being such a bitch to her?" I scowled, standing in front of her and blocking his path. "Clara is many things, but she's not the mousey, scaredy cat you're painting her to be. If she were, she wouldn't have had the guts to run away from here when she was a child. Sure, she's terrified of some things, but do you even care why she is? Do you even try to understand what's going on with her? Give the girl a break; she just returned to a life she tired so much to escape, dragged her best friend along, and she's being forcefully married off to a man she hates."

"It doesn't matter if she doesn't like Silvano. It's her duty as a Raimon—"

"Who gives a f*ck about duty?" I snarled. "I don't know if you'll be fine with being married into a family where your supposed spouse doesn't give a shit about you and their family are bitches, but I won't be. It's easy for you to say it's her duty because you've never had to give up your happiness for one. You probably had everything you wanted handed to you on a diamond platter. You don't know what it means to labour."

"Mind the way you talk, Gwen. This is my house, and I will not be insulted." He growled in my face, anger flickering in his eyes.

"Isn't this Clara's house also? You can't be insulted, but she can?" I shot back, planting my hand on my hip. "Clara is going through a f*cking lot, and you're not making things better by glaring and insulting her. If you aren't going to be part of the solution, then f*ck off and don't make it worse."

"Your whining or b*tching won't change anything. Channel your energy into teaching her to cope with her situation because it's not changing anytime soon." Lorenzo seethed and stormed away.

Not if I could help it.

He should watch, Clara and I would escape right under his nose, and he would regret underestimating us.

~•~•~•~•~•~

My door swung open, and I looked up from my laptop.

"You're back." I smiled as Clara walked into my room.

"Yes, I'm back. Finally." She sighed and sat beside me. "I thought it would never end."

"Was it as bad as you thought it would be?" I asked as she took off her heels.

"No..." She whispered, and I grinned.

"You stood up to them, didn't you? See, I told you that would work—"

"No, I didn't." She shook her head and twisted her lips. "It was... strange."

"What do you mean by strange?" I asked as I dropped my laptop on the bedside table. "Were his family suddenly nice to you?"

"No, they were as vile as always." She snorted and rolled her eyes. "But... Silvano defended me. He shut them down, literally threatening them to treat his fiancée with respect, or he would slit their throats."

"Oh! Tell me that looked as hot as it sounds!" I grinned, kicking my legs like a child.

"Threatening murder isn't hot, Gwen. I swear you're psychotic." She hissed, slapping my thigh, but I caught the blush on her cheek.

Liar! She found it hot too!

"No, but defending you is. Are you sure he doesn't have any something something for you?" I wiggled my brows at her.

"Oh, please. It's obvious he doesn't. He’s a mafioso. Some of them believe disrespecting their wives meant disrespecting them. You know, no one can hurt my property except me, kind of thing." She huffed and flopped on the bed. "And after lashing at them, we proceeded to have the most awkward lunch ever because his family found it really hard to be nice to me, and he didn't even say a single word to me either. Can you believe it? Ugh, I'm so glad it's over."

"Good for you. I hope I'll have better luck than you." I patted her and stood up from the bed.

"Better luck for what?" She asked, raising her brows.

"Today's my first day of my new job. I hope I do well." I said and stretched my body.

"Oh, I almost forgot. You don't have anything to worry about since Lorenzo has already approved you."

"Yeah, right." I gave her a sheepish smile.

That was if he wasn’t still salty about the tongue lashing I gave him a few hours ago. But hey, if he couldn’t take a bit of constructive criticism, it said a lot about his character, not mine.