Page 4 of Vow of Desire
“Yes,” Gabriel answers for my father and me. “This is Luciana. The woman you’ll marry.”
I gasp. I turn to my father but he doesn’t look me in the eye. “What is going on? You found a husband for me? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Now is not the time for this discussion,” my father growls. It’s a harsh tone he’s rarely ever used with me before.
“Now seems like the perfect time,” I snap.
My father and Gabriel look shocked by my attitude. I’ve always been the dutiful daughter, never speaking out of turn. But it’s obvious to me that my father knew about this – about Matteo standing before me and the fact that he is going to be my husband – and didn’t bother telling me.
“I am going to marry this man?” I ask, nodding at Matteo. He’s been silent, just watching everything with an amused smirk on his lips.
My father’s eyes are filled with pain before he sighs. “Yes. It’s out of my hands, Luciana. You have to marry him. For peace.”
“Is this true?” I ask Gabriel.
He nods, ever stoic. “It’s true. Matteo worked for a man who was our enemy. But he’s agreed to make peace if you marry him. I thought your father would have told you before today. I am sorry for that, Luciana. If I had known, I would have told you myself before inviting Matteo over here. But you needed to know. You will be married to him.”
“But he’s a stranger,” I gasp out. I was raised my whole life to be prepared for an arranged marriage and yet now that it’s here, I realize I am not ready. I am not ready at all.
“That can be easily rectified,” Matteo says. “We can get to know one another. After we’re married.”
I blink. “What do you mean?”
“He means,” Gabriel explains, “that you and Matteo will be married soon. Within the month.”
“So soon?” I breathe out.
“Yes,” Matteo says. “I don’t want your father and Gabriel to go back on their word. The sooner the better.”
“My father is a good man. He would never go back on his word.” I turn to my father only to see him bowing his head… in shame. “Daddy?”
“I am sorry, Luciana,” he whispers. “I didn’t want this for you. I am so sorry.”
All the etiquette I was taught disappears in an instant. Without thinking, I hurry away from the party and back into the house. I just need to breathe. I just need a moment to think.
When I return to my bedroom, my chest squeezes at the sight of all the pink and stuffed animals. It’s no wonder my father didn’t want me changing anything. He knew I was going to be married off and he didn’t say anything. He clearly doesn’t want this to happen. It’s why he wants me to remain as his little girl forever.
But I am going to die if I have to remain as his little girl forever.
It’s because of that fact that he didn’t have the courage to tell me I’m finally getting married. To a stranger. To a man who worked for the enemy, judging by what Gabriel said.
I don’t know this man. I always thought I would at least know the man my father married me off to. And yet… I don’t know anything.
A scream erupts from my throat as I pick up my stuffed animals and throw them to the ground.
A sound behind me makes me whirl around and I see Matteo standing in my bedroom doorway. The dark glint in his eyes makes me tense.
It’s at that very moment I become fully aware that I am alone with a stranger in my bedroom.
A stranger who will become my husband.
Chapter Two
Luciana
The sight of Matteo standing in my bedroom doorway makes me breathless in a way I don’t understand. Maybe because he’s intimidating in his dark suit and strong build. Maybe because he’s incredibly handsome that it’s almost difficult to look at him. Or maybe it’s because I was just told I am going to marry this man who I have never met before.
His eyes sweep past me and look around my bedroom. They land on my stuffed animals on the floor. “Interesting. What did they do to you to make you so angry?”
