Page 14 of Unworthy Ties
I lost my balance just as I reached the closet, stumbling forward with a gasp. A desperate hand shot out, grasping the doorknob just as my knee buckled. I grimaced, biting back a whimper as my injured foot barely brushed the floor. But I held on, regaining my balance once again.
There were only three boxes left for me to unpack. I wasn’t sure which one he was in, so I bent down to the one nearest to me and started rifling through it. A couple of purses, my high school yearbook, a collection of romance books—I made amental note to hide those where Rocco couldn’t find them—but no Giuseppe.
“Goddamn it,” I muttered, hobbling over to the next box.
The second box was heavier, filled with my photography equipment. I actually spent a lot of my downtime taking photos, but had put it on the back burner since the whole arranged marriage thing. It was hard to find inspiration with a dark cloud looming over me.
Just as I was about to stop, I saw Giuseppe’s grey ear sticking out from under a tripod.
“A-ha!” I said, ripping him out of the box with triumph.
I hobbled back to the bed with Giuseppe cradled in my arms. I felt a pang of relief at his familiar, worn texture. Each small patch and stitch were signs of our shared history, reminders of countless midnight confessions and whispered secrets.
“Do you even know how much you’ve missed?” I said, pointing an accusatory finger at him. As if it wasn’t my fault I packed him into the wrong box.
I carefully set Giuseppe beside me and began to recount the recent events. His button eyes stared back at me, filled with silent understanding. They always knew how to listen.
“Can you believe I just had to get married to him? He’s practically a stranger!” I said, having a one-sided conversation with my stuffed animal.
I stared into Giuseppe’s button eyes, which always gave me a rational perspective, a silent counsel in times of uncertainty.
“Well, no, he’s not terrible, and he is attractive. B-but,” I sputtered, turning bright red. “I’m only attracted to him because of Felix, obviously. If Rocco wasn’t a mirror of his brother, it wouldn’t be like this at all.”
He didn’t respond, obviously.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I said, crossing my arms and falling into the comforter. “What the hell am I going to do?”
I poured my life problems to him for another five minutes before there was a knock at my door. Shit. I hope whoever was on the other side didn’t hear my conversation.
“I have to go. Talk to you later,” I said, feigning a phone conversation in case they could hear me.
After shoving Giuseppe under the pillow I called, “Come in,” trying to sound casual despite my racing heart.
It was probably whatever goon Rocco had hired as a bodyguard for the day. Rocco probably gave him strict instructions that I ate, and it was almost eleven am and I hadn’t left the bedroom.
The door creaked open, andFelixstood there, his strikingly handsome features framed in the soft morning light filtering through the hallway. His green eyes, identical to his brother’s, softened as they met mine.
“Hey,” he said, shooting me a playful smile.
“Hey,” I responded. I tried to match his playfulness, but I couldn’t ignore the pang in my chest as I looked at him. He was everything I had wanted, but now he was everything I couldn’t have.
“Breakfast?” he asked, holding up a bag from a local pastry shop and a steaming cup of coffee. I nodded, the smell of fresh croissants making my stomach growl despite the turmoil in my head.
“Sounds great.”
“Good,” he said, passing me the bag. “Rocco would kill me if I let you starve.”
“Ha, probably,” I agreed, accepting the bag with a grateful smile. The aroma of buttery, freshly baked croissants was intoxicating. Felix moved to sit on the edge of the bed, coffee in hand. He was silent for a while, watching me as I took a tentative bite from a croissant.
It was awkward. I wanted to talk to him, but what could I say? Normally, I had always flirted with him and tried to get his attention, but now things were different.
Felix broke the silence. “Y’know, I still remember how you used to follow me around like a shadow when you were a kid. Every time I turned around, there you were with your wide eyes and pigtails.”
I choked on a bite of croissant, coughing as I tried to swallow. “I did not follow you around. I was just curious about the world. You happened to be in it.”
That was one of the biggest lies I had ever told. At that time, he was my entire world.
Felix chuckled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Is that so? Well, I’m glad to know I was just a part of your worldly explorations.”
