The First Night
820 Words
The first thing I learned about being Alessandro De Luca's wife was that nothing in his world happened by accident.
Not the security outside the mansion.
Not the people who watched me from a distance.
Not the silence that followed him wherever he went.
Especially not the rules.
I stood in the middle of the bedroom that was supposed to be mine and looked around.
Everything was beautiful.
Expensive.
Perfect.
And completely unfamiliar.
A room in a prison could be beautiful too.
It was still a prison.
A knock came at the door.
I didn't answer.
The door opened anyway.
Of course it did.
Alessandro walked in.
No jacket.
No tie.
Just a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up, revealing the kind of confidence that came from knowing he owned every room he entered.
"Do you always enter without permission?"
His eyes moved toward me.
"Do you always ask questions you already know the answer to?"
I crossed my arms.
"I thought marriage was supposed to come with respect."
"It does."
"Then start by respecting my privacy."
A silence passed between us.
Most people probably would have looked away.
I didn't.
And maybe that was the first thing about me that interested him.
I wasn't afraid.
Not enough.
"You are angry."
"Congratulations. You noticed."
His jaw tightened slightly.
"You have every right to be."
That answer caught me off guard.
I expected arrogance.
A threat.
A reminder that he had control.
Instead, he surprised me.
"I didn't ask for this either," he said.
I stared at him.
"Really?"
"No."
He walked toward the window.
"I don't enjoy forcing people into situations they don't want."
I almost laughed.
"That's exactly what you did."
"Yes."
He didn't deny it.
And somehow that made it worse.
"Then why?"
His back was turned toward me.
For a moment, I thought he wouldn't answer.
Then he said:
"Because there was no other way."
"There is always another way."
"Not in my world."
I looked at him carefully.
There was something different in his voice.
Not anger.
Not coldness.
Something heavier.
"What happened to you?"
His shoulders became still.
The question had reached somewhere I didn't expect.
"Nothing."
"Liar."
He turned around.
His eyes met mine.
"Be careful."
"There it is."
"What?"
"The part where you try to scare me because you don't know how to answer a simple question."
His expression hardened.
"You think you know me?"
"No."
I stepped closer.
"But I think I know when someone is hiding."
For a few seconds, neither of us moved.
The distance between us felt smaller than it should have.
Dangerously smaller.
Then Alessandro looked away first.
And I noticed.
He looked away.
The man everyone feared had avoided my eyes.
That small victory felt strangely important.
"You will have your own room," he said.
I blinked.
"What?"
"I heard you."
"I thought..."
I stopped.
Because I wasn't sure what I thought.
His expression softened for the briefest moment.
"You thought this marriage gave me the right to take whatever I wanted."
I said nothing.
"Elena, I have many flaws."
A bitter smile appeared.
"But I am not that man."
The honesty in his voice unsettled me.
Because it was easier to hate him when he was a monster.
It was harder when I saw pieces of a person.
"I need rules," I said.
His eyebrow lifted.
"Rules?"
"Yes."
"You're making rules for me?"
"I am making rules for this arrangement."
A small spark appeared in his eyes.
Amusement.
"Go on."
"No lies."
"Impossible."
"Then try."
A pause.
"No unnecessary control."
He looked almost offended.
"I don't control you."
I raised an eyebrow.
He sighed.
"Fine. Less control."
I continued.
"And no pretending this is a real marriage."
Something changed in his expression.
Something I couldn't name.
"Why?"
"Because it's not."
The silence that followed was uncomfortable.
Finally, he nodded.
"Your rules are accepted."
I was surprised.
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
I studied him.
"Why?"
His answer came quietly.
"Because I need you to trust me."
I froze.
Trust.
That was not a word I expected from him.
"Why would you care if I trust you?"
He looked at the ring on my finger.
Then back at me.
"Because one day, Elena, you are going to discover the truth."
My heartbeat changed.
"What truth?"
His face became unreadable again.
"The truth about why I really chose you."
Before I could ask another question, he walked toward the door.
"Goodnight, wife."
I hated the way the word sounded when he said it.
Not like a possession.
Like a promise.
When the door closed behind him, I looked down at the ring on my finger.
I had married a stranger.
A dangerous man.
A man with secrets.
But the most terrifying thought wasn't that Alessandro De Luca might destroy my life.
It was the possibility that he might be the only person capable of saving it.
- Writer
