Tainted Faith

Ten: Dieci [re-written 21/03/21]

Their honeymoon was a short one. Marcello could not afford to be away from his business for longer than he had already, apparently. Not that this bothered Liliana in any way, she was eager to escape Belize and be surrounded by other people once again. Days of being alone with solely her idiot husband was driving her insane already.

After that first fight she had kept her distance from him - and he hadn't objected. He'd buried himself entirely in his work, spending the days on his laptop or shouting in a vicious spew of Italian into his phone as he paced the length of their villa. They had barely even spoken, other than for Marcello to tell her to pack her bags for they were leaving to New York today.

Where in New York, she didn't know. Liliana had no clue as to where the D'Onofrio's called home, or what she was to expect. Considering their wealth, she doubted it would be the modest comfort she was used to living in her aunt's small home. No, if she had to guess, she imaged the D'Onofrio's lived in lavish extravagance.

"Are you ready?" his gruff voice came from the doorway. For once his mobile wasn't in his hands, which were buried deep in his pockets, as he leaned against the doorway to their bedroom. His eyes stared dully into her own as she numbly zipped up her last bags. Her firm nod had Marcello standing straighter as he waited for her to reach his side and then he was slinging her bag over his own shoulder and taking her hand in his much larger, warm one.

Baffled, she allowed her husband to drag her along to the front door and out onto the beach. This was the most chivalrous he had been all week.

But before long her confusion was answered as Liliana caught sight of a pair of island staff waiting by a boat to take them back to the mainland. It was all an act. She had to play the part from here on out.

Liliana approached the boat with hesitance, stomach churning as she ignored Marcello's offer to help her on board. It was a small boat they were on, no real seating, leaving Liliana to stand by the side and clutch tightly onto the railing for dear life. She couldn't imagine anything being worse than the first ride out here but somehow being in the company of her husband surpassed all her expectations.

From here she could see the nearby villa across the water - the one her family had resided in. She never would have imagined that her aunt, grandfather and cousins would leave without saying goodbye, or checking that she was safe. But it was clear Liliana didn't know much of her family all that well. After all, her father had seemingly given her away without so much as a thought.

Just as the boats motor began to hum loudly and short whimper escaped Liliana's lips, to her own embarrassment. But it was quickly over shadowed by the startled yelp that escaped when Marcello trapped her against the rail - his chest pressed tightly to her back and his two muscular arms boxing her in. She held her breath as she felt the lightest graze of his nose tickle down the length of her neck and back up again until his lips settled by the shell of her ear. The dance of his hot breath blowing against her sent a shiver through Liliana's body.

"I understand you may be missing your family. Don't fret; I will allow them to visit once you've settled," he said, voice too low for anyone else to hear above the engine of the boat.

Her cheeks flushed, and she tried terribly to swallow back the anger that surged within her.

"How kind of you, to allow my family to visit," she said laughing sharply, the sarcasm in her words unavoidable. "How gracious of you to seize control of when and where I can see my very small family, the only people whom I am close with."

As they surged across the sea towards the mainland, the wind whipped viscously through her hair, biting icily at her cheeks, serving well to drown out her poisoned words. But Marcello could hear her perfectly, as was evident by the way his body tensed around her - a cage to keep her in place.