Chapter 5

AURELIA

“What the fuck did you do to me, you fucking son of a bitch!”

I hit his sleeping form as hard as I could.

He groaned, his eyes fluttering open, and I hit him a second time for good measure, clutching the bedsheet tighter against my chest. My head throbbed from the hangover, and there was a huge gap in my memory. Every time I tried to think about how I had ended up in this bed, my stomach lurched and I thought I might be sick again.

“Fucking hell,” I snapped. “Explain yourself. Why are you in my bed? Why am I naked? What did you do to me, you pervert?”

Enzo rubbed his jaw where I had smacked him. He swung his legs out of the bed and stood, stretching lazily, completely unbothered by my shouting. He was shirtless, and I tried not to look but my eyes betrayed me, darting down to the outline of his erection against his shorts. My face burned, and when I looked up, he had already caught me staring.

He smirked. “I should be asking the questions here, seeing as you stumbled into my room last night and crawled into my bed.”

I spluttered,  “Wha… what do you mean?”

In the morning light, I saw that the room was clearly his. The furniture was masculine, and the air smelled faintly of his cologne. My eyes landed on a tipped-over box of size XL condoms on the bedside table, and my stomach dropped. He wasn’t lying. I had wandered in here drunk out of my mind.

His smirk deepened when he saw the realization spread across my face. I refused to let him have the satisfaction. “Why am I naked then? Did you undress me?”

He ran a hand through his messy blond hair, his voice flat with irritation. “Should I have left you drowning in your own puke instead? If you couldn’t handle your liquor, maybe don’t drink half the damn bar. I cleaned you up, wrapped you in the blanket, and went to bed. And before you ask again, no, I wasn’t going to sleep on the floor in my own room.”

Truly, there was a dark stain on the otherwise impeccable rug. It felt my face go red hot with shame. 

“I… I’m sorry,” I stammered,  “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to.”  I started panicking. If Rafael or Leone found out, I didn’t know what they would do. “Please, don’t tell them. They can’t know.”

For the first time, his expression softened into concern. “What did Rafael do to you?”

His phone rang before I had to answer him.  He grabbed it off the table, answered, listened for a few seconds, then dropped the call. His face had gone pale when he turned back to me.

“Our family is barely five minutes away,” he said quickly. “They’re coming to see the bloody sheets.”

My stomach dropped, cold washing through me as the blood drained from my face.

Shit.

Of course, it wasn’t going to be enough that I had been humiliated last night, it had to be put on display for their fucking extended family.

Still I had no choice. I rushed out of the room, still wrapped in the blankets as I tried to prepare for their arrival. I didn’t look too good from my hangover, but it would have to do.  

It didn’t take long. Ray Moretti arrived soon after. Behind him trailed a line of people I didn’t recognize, mostly women in fine dresses and men in suits, all wearing polite smiles that didn’t reach their eyes. I guessed they were cousins or wives who had married into the family.

I stayed behind the brothers as they greeted the guests stiffly. Watching them struggle through the niceties gave me a strange, bitter satisfaction. At least I wasn’t the only one uncomfortable.

The bloodied sheets had been hung up, displayed proudly for everyone to see. My stomach turned at the way they all looked at it like it was some sort of family trophy.

Ray stepped closer, inspecting it with an approving smile before turning to me. His teeth flashed white against his tan skin. “I hope my sons weren’t too rough,” he said, pausing to look me over. His eyes narrowed slightly. “You have dark circles under your eyes. Forgive me, I should have taught my idiot sons how to make love to a lady. Also, my daughter sends her apologies for not being here.”

I forced a nod, unable to meet his gaze. Even when he smiled, there was something cold about him, something that made my skin crawl. Just like his sons, Ray Moretti had a reputation that preceded him. People said he could break a man’s bones with his bare hands, and seeing him up close now, tall and broad-shouldered, I could believe it.

“Father, let’s move to the dining room. I ordered a feast to celebrate,” Rafael said. He reached for me, wrapping an arm around my waist as if we were the perfect couple.

I flinched, but his hand tightened on my side, firm enough to make it clear that I wasn’t going anywhere. He leaned close, his breath brushing my ear. “Smile, Piccola. You’re doing a terrible job at pretending.”

I drew in a shaky breath and forced a smile, hoping it didn’t look as fake as it felt.

We followed Ray into the dining room. The long table was already set, covered in platters of steaming food. I was seated between Rafael and Leone, with Enzo directly across from me. It was the worst place I could possibly sit, surrounded by the people I wanted to avoid most.

I kept my eyes on my plate, pushing the food around with my fork, pretending to eat so I wouldn’t have to speak. 

Leone was the first to speak. “Now that the wedding ceremony is out of the way, what about the transfer of business?” 

Ray grunted, setting down his fork with a dull clatter. “I don’t know.”

Rafael’s head snapped up. “What do you mean you don’t know? The agreement was to transfer ownership once we got married.”

“Watch your tone,” he said. “The agreement was to transfer the business once I was sure the two of you could stand within two feet of each other without trying to kill each other. Until then, nothing changes.”

Rafael let out a dry laugh. “Bullshit. You made a deal. You can’t just change it because you feel like it.”

Ray frowned, “Leone, talk some sense into your brother before he says something stupid. He’s been losing screws ever since that bitch died.”

“Keep Lucille’s name out of your mouth,” 

Ray looked completely unbothered by the outburst. “You’re married now, Rafael, I expect you and your brother to act like it. You will forget Lucille. Until I’m satisfied with how the two of you handle yourselves, nothing changes.”

The mood turned sour after that, and shortly after Ray left, followed by a fuming Rafael. Enzo looked between us, unsure of whether to follow or stay. He gave me a small awkward smile before sighing and heading after Rafael, leaving only me and Leone at the long dining table.

I sat still for a moment, not sure if I should leave or wait for him to say something. I’ll go to my room,” I said quietly.

Leone’s voice stopped me halfway to the door. “You don’t have to come to my room. Or bother yourself with… whatever idea you have about pleasing me.”

I turned back to face him, confused. “What do you mean?”

 “I mean you don’t owe me anything. I don’t expect anything from you. Let’s just stay out of each other’s way.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. Out of all the brothers, Leone was the hardest to read. Rafael was cruel in obvious ways, and Enzo seemed like the kindest of the bunch, but Leone had barely spoken to me since the wedding. Still, there was something about him that made it impossible not to wonder what went on behind that cold exterior.

When he suddenly reached out his hand toward the table, I flinched before I could stop myself. He froze and then slowly picked up his glass of water. 

“You’re scared of me,” he said after a moment.

I didn’t deny it. “Is it true? Did you kill Lucille? Your brother’s wife?”

His expression turned grim. “No, I didn’t kill her. But I wish I did.”