Chapter Seven

Valentina

"This life," Caterina started, her voice clipped with precision. "is not for the faint of heart. As the wife of Matteo Nevarro, your every move will be watched, scrutinized. You must be strong and calculating."

I sat in the grand, dimly lit library, my back straight, my hands folded neatly in my lap.

Caterina sat across from me, speaking in a measured tone.

She knew what happened yesternight, and she didn't approve of any.

She didn't approve of my discussion with Luciana.

I nodded. "What if I don't want to be cold and calculating?" I asked, my mind not even close to present.

Caterina had been relentless, arriving at the stroke of dawn, then proceeding to cover everything from the proper way to address certain men to the subtleties of surviving this harsh world I found myself in.

Where were those lessons when I needed to talk to Sophia, Matteo's sister.

"Then you should consider the next possible option. Divorce."

The silence between us stretched, the only sound in the room being the faint ticking of a grandfather clock in the corner of the room.

Just when Caterina was about to move to another topic, the door to the library burst open, the heavy wood slamming against the wall.

Panic clawed at my chest as my mom stormed in. Her usually impeccable appearance was slightly dishevelled, her eyes blazing with a fury I grew up with.

I never knew Matteo would allow anyone into the estate. Or was it reserved for family members?

Behind her, one of the men I saw around the estate hesitated in the doorway. He was probably uncertain whether to intervene or leave.

"What is the meaning of this?" Caterina snapped, rising to her feet with a glare directed at my mom.

"I need to speak to my daughter," mom said, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion - anger maybe. "Alone."

I was pretty sure no one ever spoke to Caterina that way.

Her eyes narrowed, but she nodded curtly and turned to me. "We'll continue this later," she said, her tone leaving no room for argument.

I watched as she exited the room, her footsteps echoing in the hallway until the door shut firmly behind her.

An uneasy silence settled in the library, the tension thick enough to be cut with a machete.

"Mother," I started with a bit more caution than necessary. "What's going on?"

What's so important that you couldn't send me a text?

Mom turned to me, her expression a mixture of desperation and determination. "I need your help, Valentina," she said, her voice an octave lower. "I know you met Giovanni at the party you went to last night..."

Oh no.

Was she?

"Giovanni?" I repeated, planting my hand on my hips. "What do you want to do with him? Are you monitoring me?"

"Yes, Giovanni," mom hissed, stepping closer. "If you were more technology strivy, you would know the party was posted online, and I saw a clip of both of you together."

I took a step backwards.

"What do you want with him?"

Her laser stare burned through her giant shades and right into my skin.

"Information from my sources said he had something to do with your father's death."

It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room.

Suddenly, I couldn't breathe.

My dad's death. The catalyst that led to the situation I'm in. It had always been a mystery, a wound that had never fully healed.

The idea that someone, the man I met last night, could be involved was just too much to bear.

"And what exactly do you expect me to do about it?" I asked, my voice icy. "You forced me into this life, remember. Was it to gain information about Giovanni?"

"You sold me off to a man in love with my sister, just so you could save yourself."

Mom recoiled as if I had struck her. "I did what I had to do," She said, ever the defender. "We would have been in serious trouble if a bride with the Russo bloodline did not appear."

"We were in no danger."

"You have no idea what it's been like!!" Mom shot back, like a cornered viper. "We were alone. There was no money. I was desperate."

No money?

Alone?

"Well, I can't help you. I just had to present myself to him, nothing else." I said, bitterness evident in my words. "I'm nothing more than a trophy wife. A replacement for my sister."

Tears welled up in my mom's eyes, but I felt no sympathy. My mom had done a lot of things to me, but giving me to Matteo was the last straw.

"I need you to talk to Matteo," mom tried again. "He has the power to deal with Giovanni, to find out the truth about what happened to your father."

I laughed. A harsh, bitter sound.

"Matteo would never agree to deal with Giovanni. He wouldn't even help me find my sister."

The woman he's in love with.

"Please, Valentina," mom whispered, her voice cracking. "I can't do this on my own."

I stared at my mother.

The last time I saw her, she couldn't give me a farewell hug.

Just shipped me off like a fucking doll.

"No," I said without much emotion. "You made your bed, Mother. Now lie on it."

She reached for me. I had no idea if she wanted to hit me or fight me. But she reached, and in my haste to avoid her, I slipped and fell, my ass landing harshly on the floor.

"Valentina...."

The door to the library suddenly opened again, and we both turned around to see Matteo standing in the doorway.

His dark eyes flicked between my mother and I, assessing the situation with detached calmness.

“What’s going on here?” Matteo asked, his voice low and dangerous.

I felt a shiver run down my back once I heard his voice, but I kept that away.

Holding Matteo's gaze, I replied. "My mother was just leaving."

Mom opened her mouth to protest, but Matteo held up a hand, silencing her. "I think it's best if you do what my wife says," He said, leaving no room for argument.

I felt bad for doing it.

I should have listened to what she had to say. I should have helped her out.

But I didn't. I watched her walk away from the library, a shell of herself. Crumbled.

As the door closed behind her, the tension in the room shifted.

Matteo stepped closer to me, and I stepped backwards.

"You did well," he finally said when he realized I wasn't backing down.

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?"

"You did well."

I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything other than that.

"She would have hit you. If I hadn't arrive on time, she would have done something more than talk. You need to learn how to defend yourself."

I swallowed hard, my emotions a tangled mess inside me. All I wanted to do was scream and cry. To lash out at Matteo for his vain decision of not helping me find my sister.

But it wouldn't bring my sister or father back.

"Teach me then. Teach me how to defend myself."