Made of Steel

19. Touch the Sky

Cassandra Reid

The car stops in front of the facade fountain and I am exasperated by the gorillas's ridiculous security protocol to get out.

At the end of litany, I take the steps two at a time and enter the house like a gale.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Di Lauro", The house keeper keeps up with me. "How...?"

"Where is my husband?" I cut her off instantly.

"Mister Di Lauro has not yet arrived. Do you want to...?"

"When he arrives, tell him to look for me in the library", I interrupt her again. I am aware that I am being very rude, but I don't care. My blood boils with rage.

I walk from one side of the library to the other as I go through the documents again. Adriano has bought thirty-five percent of the hospital and he has put them in my name, which makes me the majority owner of it.

'Why has he done it?'

'Does he intend to control me?'

'If so, I'm not going to leave him.'

It's ridiculous that he stresses over and over again the need to stick to stipulations of our contract when he's the first to overstep bounds.

"What is the urgency?". The cause of my fury finally appears.

"This". I throw the papers at him. "Can you explain to me what this means?"

"I thought you were a clever woman.'

"Apparently we've both made a mistake by underestimating each other", I counter.

"This", he picks up file from the floor, "is a copy of the shares's assignment and property titles of Palermo's.

"I know how to read", I point out with marked irony.

"You don't know how glad I am to hear that", he humors me, which infuriates me more. " You were starting to scare me."

Why can't he be mad too? Why does he never have any expression on his face? Why is he always so indifferent? Will he be made of steel as his pseudonym indicates?

"Stop playing games", I snap sharply. "You know exactly what I mean. Why did you do it?"

"Money is mine, I have plenty of it and I can do what I want with it", he declares in a neutral tone. How can he control his emotions like that? "Now you own the hospital, no one can throw you out anymore."

"That's not how to fix things, Adriano", I rebuke him. "You promise me freedom and force me to have a painful confrontation with my parents. You try to make it up to me and you bribe them. Don't you dare deny it", I silence his protests before time, "I know you offered them something in exchange for them to accept our marriage."

Without realizing it, I'm getting closer to him little by little.

"You want the world to respect my position and buy me a hospital as a wedding present", I continue. "What will be next?". My angry green eyes meet the icy blue of his. "The Nobel Peace Prize? The Roman Coliseum?"

"If you want them, I'll buy them."

"You can't buy everything!", a scream escapes my throat.

"Yes, I can", he objects in a voice that floods my senses. It's not arrogance what exudes his attitude, but power. "There are no limits to me, Cassandra. No price is too high. What I want, I get it...eventually."

"I'm priceless, Adriano", I clarify firmly. "You can't buy me."

"And who said I intend to buy you?". He brings his face close to mine until his breath hits the corner of my lips. "No, cara. I want to please you, possess you", he begins to enumerate as he lowers his tone and brushes his lips across my cheeks until he reaches my ear, "take you to absolute ecstasy."