Chapter 2

"All right, baby! I know you want to see me."

Matteo smiled as he answered her, completely ignoring me.

"I need to get the wedding to Elena over with first. Everyone from both Families is waiting at the church."

Then he finally hung up.

He turned to me and asked, "We left early this morning. There's a place on the way to the church that sells the lemon cake you like. Want me to stop and get you a slice?"

I thought I had misheard.

Minutes earlier, he had been joking with Ilaria about my miscarriage and my marriage.

Now he was acting like nothing had happened, casually asking if I wanted cake.

"How can you act like nothing happened?"

My hands were still shaking.

"You slept with her last night and now you expect to marry me today? Matteo, you swore on your honor that you'd never hurt me the way Luca did!"

When the tears came, I did not wipe them away.

Matteo used to reach for a tissue before my tears even fell. He would tell me that no matter what happened, he would fix it.

This time, he only looked at me.

"If you'd chosen me when our Families first proposed the marriage, maybe none of this would have happened.

"You gave Luca the best years of your life. You only came back to me after he betrayed you and cast you aside.

"Why should I still treat you like you're the love of my life? Don't be so naive, Elena!"

Matteo picked up the box of tissues and set it on my lap.

"Elena, you can't have it both ways."

That was when I realized he'd only made me look like an even bigger fool.

We met through our Families' business. Years ago, when our Families first proposed a marriage between us, both Rossi brothers told me they loved me. I chose Luca, the warm, outgoing one.

Matteo came to our wedding. Afterward, we made sure to keep our distance.

That changed after Luca cheated, I lost the baby, and I fell into severe depression.

Matteo found me a doctor and removed anything from the house I could use to hurt myself.

He drove me to every appointment and back.

When my Family ran into trouble, he stepped up and helped my parents through one crisis after another.

So, I let myself believe he truly loved me.

"If you resented me for choosing Luca, why did you pursue me at all? Why spend three years making me believe you would never hurt me?"

Matteo was silent for a few seconds.

"Because I thought I could get over it. Then we started planning the wedding.

"You remembered every detail from your first wedding. Every clause in the contract. Every part of the ceremony. Even the seating arrangements. You knew exactly what we needed to bring today without checking once.

"Every time you handled something without even thinking about it, all I could think was that you'd done this with Luca before. I love you, Elena. But I can't pretend your past doesn't bother me."

His voice grew more agitated with every word.

"Give me a year. Just one year to do whatever I want. I decide who I sleep with and how I live. When the year is over, I'll cut every other woman off. Then you'll be my Donna. After everything I went through because of you, that's only fair."

Tears blurred my vision. One landed on the back of Matteo's hand.

"That is not fair!

"You had every right to have a problem with my past. You could have told me before we signed the marriage contract! But you don't get to spend three years protecting me, wait until I'm finally ready to marry again, then cheat on me and call it your right!"

I took off the wedding ring and set it on the armrest.

My chest hurt so much I could barely breathe.

"Matteo, I'm not marrying you!"

His eyes dropped to the ring, and his face went cold.

"The priest and both Families are waiting at the church. You don't get to call off this wedding by yourself.

"You want to call off the wedding? Not happening. If you don't want to be my Donna, then you can be my lover. Either way, Elena, you're mine. You're not leaving me."

I stared at him and refused to back down.

Matteo's face darkened. He signaled for the car to pull over.

He unlocked the door and unbuckled my seat belt.

He shoved the door open and pushed me out.

"I'll tell everyone the wedding's postponed. Then I'm going to see Ilaria. You can decide whether you want to be my Donna or my lover. Those are your only choices."