Act like my wife

7. Trouble in paradise

   We all sat at the table as dinner/breakfast was served by a maid I had never seen; A truly gorgeous girl I must admit.

I kept my eyes fixated on the plate in front of me mostly to avoid Ian's burning gaze on the side of my face. Whenever I mistakenly looked at him, he smiled at me. He must have recognized me too because that was the smile dancing around his red beard; The torturous smile of a man trying to remind me of the time we shared.

Chris had hooked me up with Ian some months back, and we spent two nights together. He is an intelligent man, and for a man in his early sixties, he was quite active. My problem with him was his creepiness; he would see a teenage girl and start drooling over her. I have a little daughter, and men like this made me scared for my child.

"Mira" Someone called from beside me. It took me a second to realize. I looked up to see Bambi staring into my eyes. "What are you thinking about, Amore mio?"

I shook my head. "Niente" "Can I be excused?"

"Of course"

I got up and made my way to the bathroom upstairs. I wanted so badly to talk to my daughter even though it was still 4 am. I walked to the kitchen to find two maids gossiping. They did not see me because they had their backs facing the door. The gorgeous maid who served us food, and a chubby mature woman whose name I think is Maria. I was about to get their attention but paused when they said something about me. My curious mind wanted to know. So, I listened...

"She's a slut and will be out of here in no time, Hannah. Why would you think it's permanent?" Said Maria in a consoling voice to the gorgeous blonde girl with baby-blue eyes.

The girl, Hannah laid her head on Maria's shoulder. "I can't stand her in this house. If she doesn't leave, I'll poison her food myself"

"Hey, Shut your mouth!" Maria covered her mouth and looked around in panic, that was when she saw me and froze. "S-signora?" Hannah also froze when she saw me but she knew it was too late to pretend, so she walked out of the kitchen, hitting me with her shoulder on her way out.

"I need to call my daughter. What phone can I use?"

"Oh, here, Signora" Maria handed me a wireless landline. I moved to the far end of the spacious kitchen and dialed Natasha's number.

"Hello?"

"Nat"

"Veronica? What the hell happened to you? Why didn't you send a text or something?"

"I can't make a call or send a text with my phone. Please, Nat, can I hear Bella's voice?"

"She's finally asleep after crying for hours waiting for you. But wait, aren't you coming home today?"

"I can't, Nat. I'll be home in one week"

"What?!"

"Please, Nat, this will be the last time. He's gonna pay off my debt."

"Then you'll be a free woman?"

"Yes!!"

"Ahhhh!!!" Nat screamed excitedly over the phone. "Just be careful, baby. I'll try to pacify Bella. Just make sure you call often"

"Thank you, Nat, you're an Angel" I hung up and dropped the phone on the island, and left the kitchen. I got downstairs but didn't find the men. The broken pieces of ceramic on the floor were a dead giveaway that something bad must have happened.

I heard screaming from the backyard. Swallowing my fears, I followed the sound to the backyard and hid behind a small bush, where I witnessed trouble. Mr. Ian was on the ground begging for his life while Bambi held a gun to his temple.

"She's not worth it, Don Patrizio!! She's just a whore, nothing more!" Ian let out in his defense, except it didn't make the situation any better for him.

"How dare you call Mira a whore? Just because you are my father's friend doesn't mean I cannot kill you-"

"Wake up, don Patrizio! Mira is dead, that girl is just an insult to her memory. Your son deserves better" Ian wasn't ready to back down, and neither was bambi or don Patrizio.

Don Patrizio handed the gun over to Leo. "Finish him".  Suddenly, his sharp brown eyes connected to the bush that I was hiding. He walked up to me and grabbed my hand. "Who said you could spy on me?" He dragged me back into the mansion and up the stairs to his bedroom. When we were safe in his room, he let go of my hand.

He stared at me with concern. "You haven't eaten anything since last night. I'll send for Hannah" He picked up the telephone and spoke to someone for a minute, then hung up.

I didn't know how I finally gathered the courage to say it, but I did... "I want to leave"

He paused. "Why?"

"I...I can't stay here anymore." It was getting harder for me to breathe. Old memories started to replay in my mind. How can I be so unlucky after all these years?

Slowly, he took short strides toward me. "You belong to me now, Mira"

"Veronica. My name is Veronica" I stated firmly.

He frowned at me and forced me closer to himself. "A while ago, you were happy to be in my arms, what changed?"

"That was before I knew you were THE Don Patrizio."

"So? I'm still the man who paid off your debts to Chris"

"And I'm grateful for that, but I don't wanna be here. Please" I was a crying mess at the point... the guilt was eating away at my soul and I needed to fight back. I moved away from him and practically ran to the wardrobe and started to gather my things. To my greatest surprise, he didn't try to stop me. But as I was about to leave through the door, he said something that nailed my feet to the floor...

"You're Geraldo's widow" He stated confidently.

I turned to him. The smirk on his face spoke volumes, I wanted to wipe that smirk off his wickedly handsome face. "You bastard! You must be enjoying this. Sleeping with the wife of the man you murdered!"

Translation:
Amore mio: My love
Niente: Nothing
Signora: Ma'am.