Her Secret

35|Done Being Nice

Elianna's POV

He held the door open for me as I stepped out of the car.

"What is this place?" I asked as I watched the burnt remains of a building.

"My old house," he said as he shut the car door and started walking into the property.

"Romano burnt it down," he admitted with no emotion.

"I'm so sor-"

Before I could finish my sentence he grabbed my neck.

"Don't."

I looked down at his hands which were closely wrapped around my neck.

"You can let me go now," I said and he immediately let go. "Doing stuff like that makes you a jerk."

"It's a habit," he admitted. "I'm sorry. I just can't stand pity."

"It's ok," I told him. "I'm not here to pity you."

He smiled. "Come on, let me show you the back."

I followed close behind him as we walked through the debris.

I smiled when he stopped walking.

In front of me was a beautiful view of the country.

We were on a hill so it gave great access to the scenery of Italy.

"This is who am. This is where I grew up," he said as the strong sea breeze blew on us.

"It's beautiful," I said as I tried to take in everything.

I could see the cars going on their way and the beautiful houses closely packed together.

I see the sea from afar as well.

He sat down on the dirt we stood on. "My mother used to garden here. She would watch the sea and busy streets as she planted her tulips and roses."

"What was her name?" I asked eagerly to know more about who my mother-in-law was.

He stayed quiet and he looked like he was struggling.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

He shook his head. "I shouldn't have brought her up."

I frowned as I stooped down to help him.

"Don't sit down on the dirt," he said.

I paused. "Why?"

"You'll get your nice outfit dirty."

I blushed. "You think my outfit is nice?"

He smiled a little. "It's not ugly."

"You know you are allowed to compliment me right?"

He cleared his throat. "You look very nice, Elianna."

I smiled. "Thank you, husband."

He stood up. "Where to next, wife?"

"Anywhere?" I asked and he looked at me a bit skeptically.

"Sure, why not?"

I smiled and he immediately shook his head.

...

I stood in an empty room in the dance studio.

"Elianna, this is not where I imagined we would go," he said with a serious look on his face.

I smiled. "You agreed to go anywhere."

"Not this. Anything but this," he begged.

"Come on," I said. "It will be easy!"