Page 23 of Savage Proposal

“Isn’t every little girl who grows up on Disney?”

She flicked her fingers and pointed at me. “You know, I’ll bet that’s why my mother never let me watch those kinds of movies.” I couldn’t tell if she was serious or not, and that must have shown on my face because she laughed. “Of course, I watched Disney,sfigato. My mother filled my head with so much romance nonsense for years, but then she was the one to breakmy heart when she told me that my marriage would be arranged by my father.”

“So, you getting to pick Elio in the end was a good thing? Because he was your choice?”

Amalia smiled, obviously happy with herself. “Funny how life ends up, you know.” She sighed and shook her head. “We can’t all end up like Lorenzo and Sienna, after all.”

The world slowed. She and I both heard what she’d said at the same time, and I watched her eyes grow wide. Her face filled with fear.

“Who is Sie?—?”

Amalia held up her hand to stop me. She looked at all of the doors to the kitchen. “Don’t,” she said, her voice dropping low. “Please, don’t say her name.”

“Who is she?”

“My cousin,” she said. Her face was pinched with regret. “Lorenzo’s wife.”

He had a wife? My stomach flipped inside out. Bile rose up into my throat: he was married, and if Amalia was to be believed, he loved his wife. Truly loved her. So, what in the hell had he done with me?

Maybe that’s why he kicked you out in the middle of the night.

“Where is she?” I asked. “Tell me.”

Amalia shook her head. “I can’t,” she said. “We aren’t supposed to talk about her, even when Lorenzo isn’t here. Understand? Youcannotmention her to him.” She grabbed my arm,squeezing so hard that it hurt. “Promise me that you won’t say anything.”

I patted her hand. “Of course,” I said. “I promise I won’t say a word.”

She relaxed but didn’t let me go. “Good, thank you,” she said. “Just forget I said anything. Forget all about her.”

CHAPTER 15

Isabella

Icouldn't stop picturing Amalia’s face when she mentioned Sienna’s name. She was terrified, like Lorenzo would be summoned with just a mention of the woman.

What had happened to her? Lorenzo didn't seem like the type of man who would simply let a woman go. Even though he had been ignoring me for days now, I was one hundred percent certain that if I tried to leave, he would stop me.

But trying to get Amalia to answer my questions was like talking to a brick wall. Beyond her admitting that Sienna was her cousin, Amalia had refused to mention her again and begged me to drop it. “Nothing good can come from asking those kinds of questions,” she had said, and now, she was avoiding me too.She would talk to me if we happened to be in the same room together, but she seemed to be making sure that we were never in the same room for more than five minutes. The only time I spent with anyone was at meals, and those had become increasingly silent.

I was lonely and having nothing to distract me had made it even harder to let Sienna go.

Had I slept with a married man? That was the question I kept coming back to. He wanted me to be his surrogate, and she wasn't staying at the estate as far as I could tell, so obviously, Sienna wasn't in the picture. Yet that didn't mean they were divorced.

Or that she hadn’t been put away somewhere.

“You look lost.”

I jerked from my thoughts. Cristian was seated at the piano in the corner of the formal living room. Since coming to the estate, I had never seen anyone play it. Or even sit on the bench. But it was always immaculately clean, and I was sure that it was kept tuned and ready. “I feel a little lost,” I admitted.

Cristian’s smile was warm. It was the kind of smile that you could tell all of your secrets to, which I supposed was the point, given that he was going to be a priest. “I’m waiting for my brother, but he seems to be running late.” He motioned for me to come sit beside him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I shook my head but drifted closer to the piano anyway. “I don't think one day has passed since I came here where I didn't feel lost,” I admitted, wrapping my arms around myself. “I'm supposed to be working off my father's debt, but I haven't been allowed to leave the house, so how am I going to ever work it off?”

You know how you're going to do that. But Cristian might not know about my deal with Lorenzo, and I wasn't going to be the one to tell him. “You don't need to lie,” he said after a long pause. He pressed at one of the piano keys, and it trilled softly, echoing in the quiet room. “Lorenzo told me about the surrogacy.”

Well, that made things easier, and I felt my shoulders relax. “Besides one consultation with an IVF doctor, he hasn't made any other arrangements.” I rolled my eyes. “Not that it might matter anyway, but?—”

“Why is that?”

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