Page 93 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

To which Gio’s uncle argued, “the only thing a woman needs to be focused on is her husband and her children.”

Where the hell did this guy come from? The eighteen hundreds? “You know, some men chose to stay at home with the kids nowadays.”

Aldo swung his gaze my way. “Those aren’t men.”

Wow, so he was a misogynistic prick. “And what is your idea of a man?”

“Nova,” Gio warned.

“It’s alright.” Aldo waved him off. “This is the problem with your generation. There is no idea of what a man or woman is. There is only the roles nature intended.”

Uh huh? “And what is that exactly?”

“Well, a man provides for and protects his family, and a woman serves the man.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Take Kendall,” Aldo lifted his hand and waved down the table to where she was seated. “She takes pride in her appearance, is obedient and knows her place. She will make a dutiful wife.”

My gaze narrowed when both Romeo and Kendall rolled their eyes.

Wait a minute… was Kendall supposed to marry Romeo? How was the possible? I hadn’t seen them say a single word to each other all night. Even Gio and I talked and we hated each other.

“You will need to be broken in.”

Broken in? What was I, a horse? “You know, for someone who has all these opinions on marriage, I don’t see a wife sitting beside you.”

The table went quiet as all eyes turned on me. Suddenly I was seven-years-old again, having my artwork judged by teachers. Apparently drawing a bear having a snack was a big no no. Sure, the snack was a person, but in my defence Kato should’ve never let me watch that movie.

I waited for one of the Mancini men to say something to me. That didn’t happen. Instead they spoke to each other as if I wasn’t there.

Gio’s uncle looked at his dad. “I thought you said she would make a good wife?”

“She will.” Cesare insisted.

To which the uncle rebutted, “good wives are obedient.”

“Giovanni, will teach her.”

I couldn’t hold back the snort, which made Gio, his dad, and his uncle all swing their eyes my way. None of them were impressed, but come on. What exactly was Gio going to teach me? How to be obedient? I wasn’t a dog.

“I’ve known girls like you. In fact you remind me of one I met a couple of years ago.” The uncle wagged his finger at me. “She had a lot of spirit like you. Do you know what all that attitude got her?”

“A cool catchphrase and a starring role in a reality tv show?”

“It got her smart mouth full of cock.”

I don’t think I’d wanted to hit anyone as much as I wanted to hit this guy right now. But I chose to take the higher road.

“You don’t have to worry. I’m nothing like that girl.” I leaned back and gave him a sweet smile. “I’d have bit it off.”

The uncle braced his forearms on the table and leaned in. “You should be careful how you talk to me.”

Gio squeezed my thigh and gave me a shut the fuck up look, but it was too late. The words were already coming out of my mouth.

“I’m sorry, do I need to use smaller words?”

I had barely finished speaking when Gio’s hand shot out and grabbed the back of my neck. His fingers dug into my flesh as he twisted my head to look at him.

---