Mine to control - 3

I used to be told that brides were found the happiest on their wedding day, joyous in such moment, but otherwise it was for me as I waddled down the walkway onto the waiting vehicle, looking as ever-dejected as I had been since the first crow of day.

My family looked to be experiencing this newfound happiness; they all had youthful appearances, which stood in stark contrast to my wilted one.

Maybe it was the joy they had experienced, making them all smile broadly and act as though they had just won the lotto.

It could be my own funeral, and such exuberance which they exhumed was sure to remain.

Whatever was the celebration for? They were sending me to my own death, and they were all merry about it.

As I was being escorted to that Ford, Anne and Suzy were standing there, staring at me the entire time.

Suzy's gaze never left mine for a little period, and perhaps my confused state caused me to see things, but I swear I saw tears welling up in her eyes. However, a moment later, a pout replaced those red-stained lips, and brows tugged at a frown.

She should be the happiest person alive. Ultimately, she maintained that I was a sickness within our own house and that she was eager to get rid of me.

At last, that day had arrived, and she ought to be grateful that it did so earlier than anticipated. Why, therefore, did she appear as though she misplaced a treasured item?

Please! We both know how much my guts annoyed her, so it must be a godsend in her life that I'm gone.

Walking out of the hall, I noticed how many happy figures were waving at Luca and I.

It had been a minute since our hands had been clasped together, our bodies pressed closely together, as we entered the car that Aldo Bonnucci had gifted us. It had a huge red bow on the front and a crimson heart protruding from it. It seemed like he was endorsing our affection. But how much of a true expert on love was the man?

He was not like love. A guy of his deeds did not properly become acquainted with it.

He had no idea, that was the case. Or should I take into consideration the emotional abuse he inflicted on his own wife, compelling her to stay with him? Could it possibly be what he passed off as love?

Monsters! That's all they were. And they would watch me dig my own grave, before I succumbed to the same means Cara Bonnucci did.

It would be the death of me before I turned a slave of the Bonnuccis, and Lord knows I wasn't to go the same path Luca's mother took. Oh, that I would make certain of.

I pushed into that vehicle at once, eager to get rid of the ruckus caused by the hyper crowd.

One could still hear their cheers and squeals even as we got into the car, and the minute Luca seeped into the seat next to my figure, he snatched his hands from mine, gaze averted.

"Let's go" I heard him say to the driver.

And for the first time since I arrived here, I felt somewhat calm.

Perhaps it was the silence which prevailed between our forms that had me thinking such, but surely, I knew of the tautness I had gotten free of.

With Luca staring out the window side of his own seat, and I, mine, we both lingered in the silence, neither uttering a word to each other, only surviving in the quietude which came about.

If he chose it that way, who was I to have a say in whatever his business was?

You're his wife! That voice in my head snapped, leaving me in the reality that was, but at once I shook it off, deciding I wasn't to wallow in that.

I wouldn't be the wife to a man who chose not to look at me. That, I refuse.

And while the vehicle zoomed out the area, conveying us on a journey I couldn't tell of, I wondered if this was what it was like to get married.

~~~

April 12th.

David and I had scheduled a vacation to the country on this same day a week prior.

I sensed what was about to happen that night when he enveloped his body in mine and announced that we would be spending the following weekend at a little farmhouse located far from Shaftesbury.

The news cried out to me in my mind.

He was going to make a proposal. After discovering that small box tucked away in his drawer and learning that he wouldn't allow me to have a look inside, I should have known better.

I'd sworn that he would be the only man, and he only, would I walk down the aisle to meet, and perhaps he sought to make that true, after his inquisitive self went on intruding my peace, seeking to know what would be my perfect calm.

A farm house.

"A farm house with just you and I in it, surrounded with open fields and a stead of lambs" was what I had mentioned to him that night. It was my joy, and David was to make that come true.

He was my love and my peace, everything I could have asked for. My home was David Roseling, and it had undoubtedly been taken from me.

And on this same day, 12th of April, I found myself in a car with Luca Bonnucci being led on to his own home.

If I had been told that on the day when I was supposed to be reeling in the thrills of being David's fiancée, I would be instead tied to another fellow, I would have spat in the face of the speaker, laughing in their folly.

Yet, here I was, the one to dabble in said folly.

I was married, and every part of me burned.

"We're here"

The driver announced, bringing the car to a halt.

Luca got out of the car quickly, slapping off the cutout red heart that was sticking at the door, and stormed out.

If I wasn't amazed by what I saw, if the massive structure that resembled a palace didn't leave me fascinated, maybe I wouldn't have paid much attention to the fury that Luca continued to display. But trust me, reader—even I was unable to ignore the brilliance stood before me

The Bonnuccis were well-off, but I used to believe that was just hype and nothing more.

I never had come to be in a mansion before. Even as wealthy as father was, I knew when wealth differed.

This piece right here threatened to have me lost, lingering in the awe. But apparently, my own heart stood brave before it, pulling back thoughts of David, and how being in his company was the only luxury I wished for.

My gaze skimmed the surroundings, skipping from the fountain of water mounted at a center of the yard, to the garden house on the other end.

Lots of greenery that was to have one enthralled, yet I felt a wreck pushing my figure onwards.

And at once my gaze found rest on that form proceeding to the entryway of the home. He hurried into the house, barely sparing a glance at that figure tagging behind his-Mine.

I caught onto those low huffs coming from him, those grunts which followed, and while he went into the space of the living room, I made sure to keep at a safe distance, stepping into the area.

"Okay, let's get straight to the point" He spun around to me at once.

"I don't like you" Those words dropped flat.

Surprise!

Was I to be surprised? I believe we were far past that after you refused gazing at your newly-wed wife, and even breathing the same air as her, so appeared to be abominable for you.

"I don't even know you" He went on. "And hell! I would dig my own grave to act like all is well when I've been bound to some scav I know not a thing of"

"Excuse you-"

"So let's just cut to the chase" He had cut whatever words threatened to pour out my lips, eyes squaring mine.

"They expect us to act proper, like every married couple would do, loving and adoring each other and you might not have realized it..."

Believe me, I tried so much hiding that rage which rushed to my eyes, but at each word which poured out his lips, I could swear I was a minute close to venting.

"Trust me, they are stood right outside that gate, waiting to ear your cry of pleasure while I apparently make love to you"

He took a pause, sucking in a breath, and only then did the words go stumbling out my lips.

"What makes you think I appreciate being in here with you? You think I want you to lay with me?" My own tone went raised following each word pouring from me.

"Oh, don't go flattering yourself now" He puffed a breath. "If it wasn't for our fathers' agreement, I wouldn't be caught in the same room as you. Now do yourself a favor and listen to my proposal"

"What agreement are you talking about?"

I watched him snatch his tie off, tossing his jacket onto the couch, then coming to stand before me.

"For as long as required, we'll both have to go on with whatever this married life is..."

"What agreement do you speak of?" I cut in.

"Out there, we'll be just what they expect us to be, but the minute we are within these walls, we turn to our own selves" He made sure to ignore me yet again.

"You can choose not to stay in the same room as me. Have your friends over, whatever keeps you happy. Go on sleeping with whomever you please to, even. I wouldn't care"

Bloody Tosser!

"You think that's who I am?!" Came my bellow. "One so loose?....So loose, that you think engaging with multiple fellows is all I'm about"

"I wouldn't care, Isabella" He called sharply

"Do all you have to do, all I require is you leave me to do mine"

Such intent stare was all I was left with, alongside the sound of those heavy breaths pouring out his lips.

"And why ever should I do as you say?" Interjected I.

"I have a life!"

"And you think I don't?" I came to stare into that gaze of his, not daring to look away. "I have every joy outside here" I could feel my own voice wavering, breaking, and for a second in that gaze of his, I felt those eyes soften.

But I swore not to break in front of this stranger. I would kiss the ground before having him see my tears.

"I had all one could ask for, and you stole that from me!" There came my bellow.

"You stole my bliss" I corrected.

I watched him turn away, moving to gaze out the window, and for a long while, the silence was all that prevailed between us.

The hush already having me uncomfortable even more than his presence was. And in a moment, he spun around, coming over to me.

His gaze remained intent on my form, eyes traveling through every bit of my face.

"I'm not the cause of your pain, Isabella" Those words stung more than the pain of being away from David.

"And I'm certainly not the one who persuaded your father getting into such contract that was only bound to have him beaten"

"You are a collateral" He dropped those words, eyes matching mine "And as far as I know, you're my own piece"

"My possession"