Griffin never came to bed last night. It was only my third night here and we were already in turbulent waters.
I decided to take the day away from him and give him a day away from me by going to Russo house to visit my parents. They would only be here for a couple more days before going back to California and I wanted to see them before that.
I got dressed in a nice off-white dress with little yellow flowers on it and left my hair down. For all the bad memories, Italy made it up with the nicest summer weather ever. And I would be lying if I said I didn't have some amazing memories here too.
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I informed mama before I left and when I got to Russo house, my mother greeted me with a wide smile.
"I missed you so much." She squeezes me in a hug.
"It's only been a couple days." I laugh as she leads me to sit on a couch in the living room.
"Well, it's never too early to miss my daughter. How are you? How is living with Griffin? And your in laws." She asks questions, one after another.
"It's lovely. Everyone is amazing, and I absolutely adore Ace and Aurora." I smile.
"That's wonderful. I hope you're staying a while. Your dad was missing you like crazy." She pats my hand.
"Yeah, I can stay. Where is he?" I ask.
"He had some work to take care of for your grandfather. Hayden is taking over as Capo soon. Something about that." She shrugs.
"Can I ask how you're so okay with everything now? I remember when you wouldn't talk about them let alone be so understanding." I sit up.
"I suppose I always kind of knew I would have to eventually except it. And when I saw how much it hurt you that we hid it from you, I felt incredibly guilty. It's my fault, I asked your father to hide it from you. But the truth always has a way of coming out. Nothing ever remains hidden. And you can't escape reality forever. At some point in life, it's better to just make peace with the reality." She smiles.
"You don't think we should fight for the reality we want?" I ask her.
"No, that's not quite what I'm saying." She brushes back a strand of my hair. "Im saying we have to pick and choose the non negotiables. For your dad, he was willing to leave his family, his heritage, all to be with me." She smiles fondly. "And as his wife, and someone who loves him equally, I shouldn've been a big enough person to accept, that even though I didn't like it, it was still true. And it was a real part of his life." She shrugs.
"I realized too late that life doesn't change for you, and when you accept what irks you the most, it becomes just a little bit easier." She smiles.
I breathe out a deep sigh.
I guess this was a sign from the universe. I just had to except things how they were with Griffin. My mom is right. There won't be a magic wand that gets waved and everything will suddenly be okay. I had to just accept that this was my life now.
And if I am being honest, I would have a 100 times harder time accepting anyone else as my husband. Atleast with Griffin it was familiar. And he was my first real relationship. The first man I had loved. The first- only, person I'd slept with.
I had to just accept that my love life would always be a mess, and move on.
Speaking of which, I had to hand in my resignation to my job and start looking for one here soon. And I had to start bringing my stuff here, it was getting harder to get dressed in the morning with such limited options.
No matter how much I tried to deny it, this was going to be my home for the foreseeable future and I had to start adjusting soon.
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My dad came home soon after and we had a great time hanging out. We had just finished dinner and I was getting ready to leave when my phone rang.
I answered the unknown number.
"Hello?" I asked, my tone confused at who would be calling this late.
"Deleting my number is low." He grunts. my stomach flutters. "Where are you?" He questions. I walk away from my parents to talk to him.
"Why? I thought you made it your business to know everything about me." I mock.
His dark chuckle makes my stomach flutter. Again.
This is our safe ground. Mocking and teasing each other.
"I do know exactly where you are. This was a curtesy call. I am picking you up in 5 minutes." He says.
"I can come back myself, just like I made it here this morning." I comment.
"You don't have to argue with everything I say, tempesta. Five minutes." Then he hangs up.
I say goodbye to my parents and get the bag I packed with more of my things and walk out, deciding to wait for him out there. But I run into Uncle Marco.
"I see you're still going through with this mockery of a marriage." He seethes, eyeing my ring.
"Leave me alone." I roll my eyes.
I started my period an hour ago so right now, I had cramps and zero tolerance for anything but some icecream.
"You know principessa, you could help me now that you are living in that house." His lecherous smile makes me squirm with unease.
"That house, is my home. And it'll be a cold day in hell when I help you with anything." I seethe, anger and frustration filling my veins.
He has some nerve standing here and even talking to me after what he did.
