Chapter 6
Serena
I watched him come around the corner and my heart sank to my toes. Were my parents kidding me? Was this the man they were about to hand me off to? This man who threw his money around and didn’t give a damn about the women in his care? My father was shaking his hand and embracing them like they were already family. Like he had already sold me off to the highest bidder and they were coming to claim their prize.
His lips against my skin were like ice. I knew what was behind them. Nothing but lies and deceit and faked respect. That man had showed me none of it this morning. He thought cleaning my clothes and calling me a cab was respect. But that wasn’t respect. That was neatly getting rid of the mistake he had made the night before. I turned my gaze to the wall, ignoring the verbal jabs of my father as Enzo’s hand wrapped around mine.
I was disgusted that this was the man my parents had chosen for me.
My mother led us into the kitchen and sat us all down for dinner. I knew I would be required to participate in the mindless conversation. I drew in a deep breath as Enzo sat across from me, his eyes dancing along my form as he licked his lips.
Was he kidding me? Did he really think I would be okay with any of this?
My mother served up our plates, walking around the table like she was some servant. If Enzo thought for one minute I would do any of these things for him, he was sorely mistaken. I had a career I loved and a schedule I was already living. I’d bear him one child, no matter the gender, then I’d get on with my life. So, if he wanted a son, he better make our wedding night a good one, because he wasn’t touching me after that.
“Serena, you look wonderful in that dress.”
My eyes rose to Enzo’s as I nodded absently.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Serena?” my father asked. “Do you have something you want to say in return?”
I glared at him before I cleared my throat.
“I like the seat you’re sitting in,” I said.
“We can trade places if you wish to sit here,” he said.
“No thank you. I’ll take it once you’re gone.”
“Serena!” my mother exclaimed.
“Mind your tone, young lady,” my father said.
“It’s fine. I enjoy a woman with a bit of fight in her,” Enzo said. “It would be no fun winning her affections if she gave them to me automatically.”
“Or ever,” I said underneath my breath.
“So Serena, your father tells me you’re a grade school teacher.”
I turned my gaze to Enzo’s father and took a good look at him for the first time. They were eerily similar in a lot of ways. The shape of their eyes and the slope of their shoulders. Enzo was just as big as Mr. Gambani, and it seemed the only difference the two of them really had was their eye color.
He must get his amber eyes from his mother.
“Kindergarten, yes,” I said.
“How long do you plan on working?” his father asked.
“However long she wishes,” Enzo said.
“I can answer my own questions, despite what you might think,” I said.
My father glared at me as his fork dropped to his plate.
“Why don’t we go into the other room?” my mother asked. “I’m sure everyone has something they wish to talk about. Serena might simply feel… overwhelmed with all eyes on her.”
I bit down on the inside of my cheek as my father looked to Enzo’s.
“Luca, I have a fabulous vintage Scotch waiting for us. I’m sure there are things we need to discuss about some upcoming ventures. Would you join me?” my father asked.
I watched the two men get up as my mother shot me a look. I knew that look. It was the ‘obey yourself and behave’ look. I got it a lot as a child, but rarely did I ever get it as an adult.
And now, it was being handed out like candy.
Everyone cleared the table, leaving only Enzo and I sitting there. I picked around at my food, my appetite long gone as he cleared his throat. I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t want to be around him. All I wanted to do was get this over with and get back to my life. My work. My passions.
Without him staring at me from across a table.
“Serena-”
“There’s nothing you could say that would ever make me want to have anything to do with you,” I said.
I whipped my fiery gaze up to him as Enzo drew in a deep breath.
“We might be forced to marry, but we will never be a thing. Whatever my parents have and whatever your parents have, it won’t happen for us.”
“If you would give me a chance to-”
“No, because I know men like yourself. You’re smooth talkers and big promisers, but none of you ever follow through on anything. You say what’s necessary to get past the rough patches, then you leave when it’s convenient for you,” I said.
“I am going to be your husband. I will never leave your side,” he said.
“Funny, you were very anxious to do that this morning.”
“Is that what this is about?” he asked. “I treated you very well this morning. Did you not feel welcomed in my home?”
“I felt like a decoration you got tired of the morning after.”
“It’s not like I could afford myself to get attached, Serena. I was meeting my future wife. I’m looking at her right now. What did you think was going to happen this morning? You were going to stay and we were going to fall in love?” he asked.
“And now you expect that to happen? After cleaning my clothes, buying me new underwear, and tossing me into some town car after leaving me alone in a place I wasn’t familiar with on a side of town I’d never been to? Is that how you think respect works?”
I watched him clench his jaw as he sat back into his chair.
“You left me, Enzo. And I didn’t expect you to keep me around or let me stay, but you threw your money around thinking it would somehow make up for the fact that you left me in a place that wasn’t mine, stuck me in a car that wasn’t mine, and left in the care of a driver whose name I didn’t even know. If you had a daughter and a man did that to her, what would your reaction be?”
I watched him bristle as I sighed.
“Exactly,” I said. “You think it’s respect because the transition was smooth for you leaving, but it wasn’t for me. You respected your need to get me out of there, but you didn’t respect how any of that made me feel. We will never be a thing, Enzo. Ever.”
I watched him turn his head towards the window as I sighed. I picked up my glass of iced tea and brought it to my lips as I tried to keep my tears at bay. I didn’t expect love. I didn’t even expect a man to care. But I expected my parents to find me a man that would at least respect me. That would at least take my feelings into consideration when making decisions. But instead, they were passing me off to the biggest playboy on the damn block. And for what? Business? Money? Connections?
Sometimes I hated the family business.