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Bone deep.
Ana stared sightlessly at her hands. Scratches and blood were smeared all over them, reeking of him.
How strange.
Behind her, there was a hushed argument. Her aunt faced off with the austere old man seated at the desk, apologizing profusely to him. But he would not relent.
“I told you,” he spat. “All those years ago, I warned you and your soft husband of the disgrace of adopting her, but you did not listen. You let your husband sway you into bringing Ana here–into our house, into our family–all because of his useless pity for her!”
“Father–”
“Hush!”
His word was law, and everyone fell silent. The only sounds left were his harsh breaths, punctuated by his walking cane rapping on the floor as he stood up and circled around to Ana. Glaring at her hunched form.
“Centuries of pure Mancini blood tainted by a dirty little orphan.” Old, wrinkled eyes, brimming with fury, set upon her. “And look at what it reaped.”
Grandfather’s hand lifted and pointed straight at her.
“A filthy whore!”
Ana jerked awake, her eyes flying open.
Sweat dotted her brow, and her breaths came with much difficulty as she wheezed convulsively. Her hands searched blindly around the bed, which was empty, save for her.
Ana was frozen for several minutes, waiting for the fog of the dream to fully fade. No, not a dream. A memory. One she’d had to relive every night since that fateful night.
She’d had a brief reprieve from the dreams around the wedding, too caught up with the preparations and the anticipation of her big day to sleep at all. But since that Pennsylvania leadership meeting, where her grandfather had called her out in front of all the men, the nightmares had resumed with a vengeance.
Not that she was ever allowed to call him ‘grandfather.’ Even though her aunt, his daughter, had adopted Ana decades ago, he laid no claim to her. He considered Antonio to be his only grandchild and heir, tied by the one thing that mattered to him most–blood.
Ana pushed back her matted hair and came up to a sitting position. She hugged her knees and rested her head on her arms as sadness filled her. Her grandfather’s continued rejection and judgment should have become routine by now. But it still stung, even after all these years.
Filthy whore…
No matter how perfectly she behaved, she was never good enough for him. Her throat bobbed as she squeezed her eyes shut.
At least Gio wasn’t around to witness her sorry state after the nightmare. She’d quickly learned that he was one of those bizarre people who willingly woke up every day at the crack of dawn to exercise and prep for the day’s meetings. Ana, however, was a creature of the night. By the time she fell deeply enough into sleep, Gio was often ready to wake up.
It made it awfully easy to hide the nightmares from him. To hide herself from him.
A faint breath escaped her, and her eyes drowsily searched the inky blue sky. She scanned for some solace, for some answers. Wondering…if her aunt now regretted adopting her into the family…if what happened with the body that night would be discovered…and if Gio saw her as his wife or his duty.
An insult to her is an insult to the Family.
The pleasure of those words was dangerously alluring. It could have just been his pride and honor talking. As Don, Gio could never allow such a bold insult to his wife to go unpunished. It would make his men think he was weak.
But she hoped part of his response to Grandfather was due to his respect for her. Ana had no illusions about it meaning anything more–she certainly did not expect love. She had done without it for far too long to even miss it anymore.
And yet, the fact that he’d defended her, for whatever reason, elated her. It made her feel more secure in her place as his wife.
My wife. Your Donna.
Ana sleepily contemplated his words and his fierce defense of her until the sun slowly clambered up. It seemed like hours had passed, but she still could not wrap her head around her new husband. She could not make any sense of him.
Gio was as dangerous and unapproachable as her past–hidden in a dark sphere she could not reach. All she could do was tread carefully and stay away as much as possible.
Hoping that he would be busy at work and safely out of her way, Ana finally got dressed for the day.
