THE BRIDE - By Shaxee
Chapter 34
There is such a special sweetness in being able to participate in creation. -Pamela S. Nadav
Marco Orsini’s POV
“Signore! Signore…” Francesca’s loyal secretary blocked my way again like the first time I went to her office and asked the young widow to find me a bride. “You can’t just barge into Signora Marcolini’s office without an appointment. Plus, my employer has being in a foul mood since she arrived. She’s out for blood—your blood precisely.”
I raised an eyebrow in her direction while I ignored her and continued to walk towards Francesca’s office. My sole purpose was to see the woman who has formed the habit of slipping out of my bed without waiting for me to wake up. I want to have a word with her on that matter.
I opened her office door and shut it firmly in the secretary’s concerned face. “Francesca…”
I instantly ducked when an object flew straight in my way. What was that? I asked myself silently as I tried to calm my heart from the adrenaline that surged through me. This crazy woman nearly killed me if I didn’t bend. I looked down at the shattered crystal paper weight on the floor.
“What is wrong with you, woman!” I snarled at her, while she stood behind her table with murderous intent in her eyes. “You nearly fractured my skull with this thing!”
“You are a monster.” She said throwing things— whatever her hands could get on her table—towards my direction. “You are a brute! I will kill you, Marco Orsini. Just wait till I get my hands on you.”
“What’s with this icy welcome, my love?” I asked as I dodged the object flying straight at me. “Only last night you were so warm and cuddly. What happened, my beautiful Francesca?”
“I should have had killed you last night when I had the chance!”
I tried to give her a winsome smile once she’s done tossing things in my path. She’s really heart-breakingly beautiful when she’s angry with me, her eyes sparkle with fire. The love of my life. My soulmate. “Before you murder me, darling. May I know the reason, what I am guilty of?”
She opened her drawer and pulled out something and once again she threw it in my direction harshly. I looked down at the small white rectangular thing on the ground. Curious at what that thing must be I picked it up and laughed.
Finally, every cell in my body sighed in relief as I stared at this small object clearly announcing to the world that Francesca is finally pregnant. I first thought that there was something wrong with my virility because I couldn’t create a child fast enough. But I guess it takes time to see the result.
“Yours?” I blurted out like an idiot because I am dumbstruck at the news that I am going to be a father at last.
“No,” She said acidly, her pretty brown eyes snapped with inferno. “That’s my secretary’s. You made her pregnant.”
“Very funny, il mio amore.”
Francesca still glared at me intently. “You are a liar. You promised me—promised, Marco! That I will not get pregnant.”
I stared at the clear two blue lines on the object in my hand. Trying to be sure that she’s really pregnant with my child. “There are some risks when you have unprotected s-x, my darling.”
She expelled a heavy breath. It seemed that energy left her body straight away. She leaned her bottom on her heavy desk for her support and rubbed her forehead. “I was so dumb to believe you that I will not get pregnant. I always believed that you didn’t want to have a child with a woman who was just having an affair with you.”
I want to go to her side and take her in my arms. But she wasn’t ready yet. She will just push me away. I need to reassure her first that everything will be alright if she will just trust me.
“Shh…” I reprimanded her tenderly. “Don’t say ‘unwanted’ our baby might hear you, Francesca.”
She gave me a strange look which I couldn’t decipher. I hope that she wants to keep the baby as much as I did. That is the proof of our love growing inside her belly right now.
“Marco…”
“We have to get married now, Francesca.”
She looked me straight in the eyes. “No.”
“What?” I asked in bewilderment. Trying to ignore the pain my chest at this moment by her rejection to my marriage proposal. “You don’t want to marry me?”
“We don’t have to marry each other because we will have a baby now, Marco.” She replied squarely. Her eyes told me her decision was resolute. “We can raise this child without tying the knot.”
“Are you serious?”
She looked away from me. I knew from that moment she’s lying. She couldn’t even look me in the eyes for her answer. “Yes.”
“You want our child to be born illegitimate?” I decided to play dirty with her. If I need to use her conscience to make her surrender so be it.
“Do not say something like that.”
I moved where she stood. I need to handle this situation with care. “Then what’s the reason behind your refusal of marriage, Francesca.”
“I—I…”
“Is it about your previous marriage?” I prodded when she hesitated to answer. “Don’t you trust me enough to be your husband?”
“Marco…” She gasped. I could see her beautiful eyes gleam in the sunlight. “Don’t say something like that.”
I stared down at her beautiful face. “I want our baby to be born in wedlock. Time flies so fast nowadays, Francesca. Before you know it this little guy will have his crush at his play school. When that time comes I don’t want people to question his paternity.”
“School?” She asked with a laugh. “Aren’t you thinking ahead of yourself? In addition, we are being sidetracked from the real issue here.”
“So what’s the problem, my darling?” I asked gently.“Maybe you don’t love me enough to agree to marrying the man who made you pregnant.”
She glared at me. Her eyes filled with hurt. “I love you so much that I think my heart can’t bear it.”
“Then why?”
“I’m scared, Marco.” She confessed finally her reason of refusal. “I’m scared that we are moving faster in this new chapter of our lives. What if you wake up one day and realize that you feel trapped in our marriage I don’t think I can bear it.”
“Oh, darling…” I tucked her in my arms. The most precious thing in this world for me is in my arms. I will protect this treasure with my life. “You are the love of my life, Francesca. The very air I breathe, without you I can’t breathe.”
“Truly?”
“Yes,” I smiled at her. “So you will agree to marry me, darling?”
“Where’s the ring?” She asked with a smile.
I smiled ruefully. I should have bought her the engagement ring a long time ago. “Actually, I don’t have it with me now. The last thing I expected when I came here was to propose to you, Francesca. But I promise you I will buy you a ring.”
She laughed wholeheartedly. “I am just kidding you.” She said. “I don’t mind if I don’t have an engagement
ring but does this mean we are now officially betrothed?”
“Not yet.” I said as I kissed her nose affectionately.
“Not yet?” She repeated with a frown.
I shook my head. “Not until I buy you a ring and give you the proposal you deserve.” I placed my palm on her still flat belly. “Are you sure you are pregnant, il mio amore?” I want to be sure.
She eyed me dryly while an odd blush crept to her cheeks. “I have at least half a dozen pregnancy test in
my drawer do you want to see them?”
I grinned at her. Oh, how love her tart mouth. “I’m going to be a father, at last. I want our first baby to be a girl with her mother’s pretty eyes then we’ll have a boy after two years. I don’t want this baby to grow up as an only child.”
“Marco—”
“I love you, Francesca.” I said before I dipped my mouth to kiss her squarely in the lips.
The next morning unknown to Francesca I left the country for a very important appointment with one of the most important persons in her life. According to my secretary, this is where that woman resides with her second husband.
I stared at the magnificent chateau, the wealthy French banker named Alain Broussard owned. I walked slowly at the marble foyer that leads to the grand receiving room where the maid ushered me. I took a slow measured breath. I am so nervous meeting this woman, she’s Francesca’s mother and I have to ask her something. I dressed carefully for this day I wore my best suit.
“Please, wait here while I call madam.” The maid said in slightly accented English.
While she ascended on the grand staircase I was left alone to admire the grandeur of the castle-like home of the Broussard.
After a while I saw a fashionably dressed woman in her late forties descending regally from the staircase. I stood from the sofa and took a deep breath.
“What can I do for you, young man?”
Now I know where Francesca got her beauty. I can do this, I reassured myself silently once Francesca’s mother stood a few feet away from me.
“I—I…” I swallowed hard and cleared my throat. “I came here, madam, to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage.”
Lianna Broussard eyes lit with naughtiness. “About time I finally met you. I’ve been waiting you for months since my dear daughter took an unexpected visit here…”
Alfonso Orsini’s POV
“If you keep staring at those baby clothes they are liable to vanish one of these days.” I commented dryly when I saw my wife looking in her personal memory box where she hides Marco’s baby clothes.
“Time flew so fast, Alfonso dear.” She said with a quiet smile on her face, she ran her hand over the decades old garments. “It feels like it only happened yesterday, when Marco still fit in these clothes. I remember it clearly when I first held my grandson in my arms.”
It never failed to set my heart to accelerate when she’s like this. The gentle woman I fell head over heels in love with more than fifty years ago…
“I wonder what is taking them so long to create a child for me.” Her outlook changed instantly. The tender woman I saw in our bedroom reminiscing the past was instantly replaced by this impatient lady who was cunning with her matchmaking skills. “You hit the target with astonishing clarity when you made me pregnant with our Alessandro. Why does Marco seem to be having a difficult time?”
I looked away from her as I fought the stain that wanted to spread in my cheeks. “I don’t know what you are talking about, mia moglie.”
“I am starting to lose my patience in waiting for my great-grandchild.” She said tucking away the baby clothes of Marco. “When I see them again I will hint that I want to see my great-grandchild before I die.”
She’s really frightening when she wants to be. If I were you my boy, I will start making babies for your Nonna. She will not stop until you have presented your first child to her.
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