THE BRIDE - By Shaxee

Chapter 26 

One usually dies because one is alone, or because one has got into something over one’s head. One often dies because one does not have the right alliances, because one is not given support. - Giovanni Falcone  
Marco Orsini’s POV
“Francesca…”
“Oh, good thing you are here now.” The young widow said as she grabbed her handbag off her office table and smiled at me. “I was about to come meet you at your office.”
“You were?” I smiled in her direction, pleased at the thought that she was going to visit me in my office. Then I happened to glance at her wrist.
I smiled silently when I saw my gift on her birthday. It suits her, I thought with satisfaction. The love bracelet in pink gold paved with diamonds. I chose the most ostentatious one, it glittered whenever it caught lights so everyone with eyes would immediately notice it.
The handcuff of Marco Orsini, I thought deviously.



“Are you going ask me out for lunch?” I asked when silence filled her office.
Her laughter was a little off in my opinion. I suddenly feel that something is about to happen that I will not like.
“No, silly.” She said avoiding me gaze. I could see that she’s nervous. “I want to tell you that I finally found you a suitable bride.”
I couldn’t help but to smile. Does she finally realize… “Oh, really?”
“Yes,” She glanced at me with pain in her eyes before she blinked them away like I just imagined it. “You are going to like her. She’s a woman you can introduce to your adorable grandparents with pride. She’s Laila Fiorenza of Ragusa, Sicily.”

What the bloody hell… I just stared at her in stunned silence. What in the name of heaven was this woman babbling about? I think I didn’t hear her right.
“Care to repeat that?” I asked, finding it difficult to keep my voice in a calm manner. My ears were just playing tricks on me. I am sure of it.
“I said I have finally found the perfect bride for you.” She repeated calmly as if she was just discussing the damn weather with me.
I stared on her in horror. This is not happening, I told myself silently. I am sleeping in my bedroom and having a nightmare.

“She’s a rich heiress.” She added with a reassuring smile. “I can guarantee she’s not a gold-digger. She will be the finest wife you can be proud of. Although she has a twin sister, Laila Fiorenza, is the perfect choice, no scandal attached to her name. Unlike her twin, Leila, who is a trouble maker, rebellious and the darling of the Sicilian tabloids. I don’t think your grandparents will appreciate that.”
Rage. Disbelief. Violence. All swirled inside me as I looked at this maddening woman.

I am now officially halfway to throwing her out of her office window. I might be prosecuted when she accidentally breaks her neck in the process but it will be worth it.
I cannot go out in the streets in my current condition. I am a hundred percent sure I will slug everyone I come across. So I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

“Francesca, darling…” I started when I thought that I had finally calmed down. “…is this some kind of a sick joke?”
 “Joke?” She repeated with a frown on her pretty face. “Why would I fool around like that? I am serious, Marco. Besides, your Nonno’s birthday is a few days away.”
I rubbed my forehead to ease my growing headache. I had almost forgotten that ultimatum of Nonnos. I was too busy wooing this crazy woman, now everything had backfired on me.
“Not interested in meeting her.” I said briskly, taking a deep breath. I need something to dull this strange pain in my chest. A bottle of whiskey sounds good to me.

“Really, Marco.” The maddening woman chided. Dio, I am tempted to strangle that pretty neck of hers, truthfully. “You can’t find fault with this woman this time. She has the perfect lineage that dates back almost to the fifteenth century.”
“I don’t care if her family was the one that started the civilization on planet earth!” Did I just shout at her? Apparently, I did, because she cringed. Now I feel guilty but it wasn’t my fault, she’s the one spurting nonsense to me.
 This aggravating woman, one day she will be the cause of my death.

“Marco…”
“Is this really what you want?” I asked her furiously, stalking towards her. She instantly took a step backwards. I smile silently, we’ve play this game countless times. “To see me married to someone else?” “Yes.” She whispered a little breathlessly, looking away from me.
Now you are lying, my sweet one. “Then why can’t you even look at me in the eyes?” I inquired in a dangerously low voice.

I guided her face to look at me. My face was now only inches away from hers.
“Tell me to my face that this is what you want.”
“I want you to be happy with…”
“Liar.” I said with the amusement on my face before I claimed her mouth in a heated kiss.

I put all the frustration I felt in the kiss. I bit, played and teased her mouth until she moaned with pleasure. I sneaked my arms up her spine and drew her closer to me. I will seduce her mouth until she couldn’t think straight.
“Stop…” She managed to remove her lips from mine. We were both struggling for breath. I looked at her with satisfaction.

I could see that her eyes were now clouded with desire but my plan affects me too for now I feel the fire in my groin as a certain part of my anatomy has started to camp in my trousers.
“I am just doing the job that you asked of me.” She said taking a few steps backward until she was trapped to her office table. She ran her hand through the strands of hair that escaped from the perfectly styled hairdo—a sign that she’s nervous. Good, let her be nervous around me, I thought darkly.
My gaze traveled from where she’d been standing. I debated inside my head if I should make love to her here inside her office on her office table. Will that not be great so she can forget this ridiculous idea of hers?

“Now tell me again that you want to see me married to that princess.”
“This has to stop…” She said firmly ignoring my question, her caramel eyes glinted with fierceness. I will give her credit for that, this widow has a backbone unlike the other women I’ve met before. But this time it’s out of place. “…this thing between us.”
“Things between us…?” I asked in maddening manner. “I’d like to know, what is this thing between us, my Francesca?”
“Stop playing games with me!”
I feigned the look of innocence. “I am not playing games with you, cara mia.”
“Yes, you are!”
I smiled in a way that I knew she hated. The kind of cynical smile that didn’t care about the world. “So tell me about it, my love.”

“We have to stop this.” I almost believed her when I heard the resolution in her voice. But I also detect the sadness in it. “When you finally ask for Laila Fiorenza hand to her father we cannot…”
“We cannot what, Francesca?” I asked when she stopped halfway through her sentence.
“Share a bed, damn you!”
“Are you saying that you feel nothing for me?”
“Absolutely.” She said softly.
“Ah, yes.” I agreed, hardening my heart against the pain. “When the old Fiorenza agrees that I can marry his daughter, we will not share a bed anymore.” I looked at her meaningfully. Is this what you want, Francesca? Fine, I will play your games. “I think I’ll just have to look for another woman who is willing to share my bed.”

She gasped. I could see the jealousy in her eyes but I remained firm. “That’s a horrible thing to say. What will your fiancée say about that.”
I eyed her coldly. If she wasn’t so stubborn we will not have this problem. “I will inform her that this union is a completely business transaction and even if we marry I will still take a mistress.”
Francesca flashed her eyes at me with complete hatred. “That is despicable.”
I shrugged as if I don’t care. “That’s life, Francesca. You have to face the reality that there’s no real life fairytales.”
“I just remembered how much I hated you before.”

Hate me all you want, the evil voice inside my head whispered. But it doesn’t change the fact that you are mine and I will never release you. “Are we going to meet this Sicilian princess now?” I asked in a pleasant tone.
Brown eyes narrowed in my direction. “What are you planning?”
“Nothing.” I told her innocently. “I thought you said that you had finally found that perfect woman for me? Why not meet her now.”
“Are you sure?”
I gave her a reassuring smile. Let see if this plan of yours will not backfire at you in the future. “Of course.”
After a moment of studying me she finally gave in. “Very well, I will just make a phone call to Cesare Fiorenza.”
“Take your time.”

After a few hours I stared at the old town of Ragusa. The town that had almost forgotten of modernization. The town that still favored using the old Sicilian dialect.
A black sedan car pulled up in front of us. The chauffeur said he was sent by Signore Fiorenza.
“Where does Signore Fiorenza live in this part of town?” I asked the driver when we were safely inside the cool interior of the car.
“He lives in palazzo di Fiorenza.” The driver nodded in the direction of the imposing castle on the top of the hills.
“Great…” Was my last thought before I settled back to endure the rough journey on the old road going to the hills of Ragusa.
I couldn’t wait to meet this princess.

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