Luca

9 - She likes me!

Sofia

Marnie ushers me into another room and closes the door behind her.

I look around my surroundings. The room is nice. It’s the den, by the look of it. There’s a huge fire surrounded by marble, with a large mirror hanging above it. There’s a massive TV on the wall, soft brown furnishings dominate the room, and the couches are light in color. The room is so warm, especially with the huge ass rug in front of the fire that covers half of the floor. There are also many pictures on the wall of children of all ages, and it’s easy to see who’s who.

Daughters.

Sons.

Grandchildren.

I swallow hard and force myself to look at my, hopefully, future mother-in-law in the eye. She has such a sad look on her face. I have to make right what I did wrong. I have to make her like me, no matter what it takes.

“Mrs. Vidal,” I swallow hard again. “I am so sorry that I was so disrespectful yesterday. I never meant...” I don’t get to finish what I was about to say because she takes me by surprise and wraps her arms around me, pulling me against her.

My eyes widen in shock.

“It’s okay, sweetheart, I’ve got you.”

I blink back the tears burning in my eyes, nose, and throat. Marnie tightens her hold on me, placing one hand firmly around my shoulders and the other gently on the back of my head, guiding me closer until I have no choice but to wrap my arms around her back. She strokes the back of my hair so tenderly. I was not expecting this, and I can’t help the sob that escapes me.

I don’t understand what’s going on.

“Oh, Sofia. It’s okay, no one is ever going to hurt you again. I’m going to make sure of it.”

“I’m so sorry,” I mumble, pressing my face into her neck. She wraps her arms around me, cradling me the way I assume my mother would have if she were here.

There’s no way this woman hates me if she’s holding me like this. Marnie doesn’t strike me as the kind of Mafia wife who would ever hold a stranger like this for effect. There’s no one here but the two of us, so she has no reason to put on a show unless she’s trying to get me to drop my guard. That would be just my luck!

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Sofia.”

Now I’m crying harder because she just kissed my head, and I feel so beaten down by my father that I just don’t know what to do with myself. I’m trying to be strong, I don’t want to embarrass myself like this in front of this woman, but I can’t seem to stop myself.

“I know your father did this to you. I know he beat you because he thought I didn’t want this marriage to go ahead. I didn’t at first, but that was because I thought my husband was forcing this marriage on my son. I’ve been there in the days before Draven, and I didn’t want you or my son to be forced into something neither of you wanted. I had no idea what kind of life you had with your father. Sweetheart, I am so sorry.”

I don’t say anything for a minute; I cling to Marnie as though my life depended on it.

Finally, Marnie loosens her hold and gently cups my face, wiping away my tears with her thumbs. She takes my hand in hers and guides me to the couch. We sit down together, still holding hands.

“Mrs. Vidal,”

“You can call me Marnie.”

I smile at Marnie. I really like her. I don’t know what it is about Marnie, but she gives off such a kind feeling. Even when I thought she hated me, I liked her.

“I don’t know if Luca really wants this marriage or not, but I promise I’ll be good to him,” Marnie smiles at me. “I promise that I won’t deliberately embarrass him in any way. Nor will I ever cause you and the Don embarrassment. I just want the chance to prove that I’m a good person and that I’m not like my father.

“When I came here with my father, I had no idea which of your sons I’d been betrothed to, and I was beyond scared. I can admit that.” Marnie reaches over and tucks my hair behind my ear, and the gesture almost makes me cry. “I’m not scared of marrying Luca now that he and I have spoken. Just those few moments in your garden with him, I could tell that he’s a good man, and he won’t hurt me.” I lower my head and whisper, “He promised he’d never physically hurt me, and I believe him.”

“Look at me, Sofia.” I lift my head and look at Marnie. “I shouldn’t say this because I love my sons equally, but Dray and Luca are very different people. Yes, they are physically and feature-wise identical to the point that not many people, but family, can tell them apart, and not all of them can.

“However, their personalities and their beliefs are very different. Luca is kind and would never disrespect a woman. Dray, on the other hand, though he would never physically hurt a woman either, can be disrespectful in a lot of ways. When you walked into my house for the first time, my husband had chosen Dray as your husband.”

I narrow my eyes slightly while swallowing hard. I can tell just looking at Dray that if I were to marry him, my life wouldn’t be as happy as I hope it will be with Luca.

“The Don and I did not expect Luca to step forward and offer himself in his brother’s place. For him to have done that, he must have felt something special when he looked at you.”

“Why didn’t the Don say something?”

Marnie smiles. “He’s the Don,” she shrugs. “He couldn’t have his sons making him look a fool in front of your father, so he kept it to himself. Trust me, Luca got a dressing-down from his father no sooner had you left. For whatever reason, Luca wants to be the one to take care of you, Sofia. God makes no mistakes, and if he wants Luca to be the one, then who are we to ask why?”

I blink because I’m shocked. I don’t know Luca well enough for him to want to do this marriage thing with me. However, knowing that Luca does want to marry me puts my mind at ease.

“Will you tell me what happened to you, Sofia?” I bite my lip, my father’s warning swimming through my mind. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Your father will not find out what we’ve talked about. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I swear to you on the souls of my children that you are safe, and you can trust me.”

I don’t know why, but I believe her when she says that. Though I’m scared that this room could be bugged, and that my father could be listening right now, the words just fall out of my mouth.

“I’m not going to tell you that my life is anything but miserable with my father, because I know you’ve already worked that out for yourself just what it’s like for me.” Marnie nods. It’s obvious that she knew. Anyone with eyes can see it, even if my father believes they can’t. “Papa was so angry with me when we got home last night. He said that I’d been so disrespectful to you that you now hated me. I didn’t understand what I’d done wrong. I tried so hard not to be rude.”

Marnie’s thumb strokes over the knuckles on my left hand rhythmically, and it’s soothing. “Sofia, I do not dislike you. In fact, I like you very much.” I smile at that; it makes my heart skip a beat. “It was nothing against you, sweetheart. As I said, I was forced away from the man I loved because my father was racist. I had to leave my twin girls with their father and marry a white man, a man I didn’t love, a man who beat me all of the time.”

I swallow back my emotions. Now I understand why she was so against this whole thing. Marnie was trying to protect me, to give me a choice. That means so much to me, and Marnie will never know just how much. Not many people have ever cared what I want in life, but she does.

“My son would never raise a hand to you, Sofia. But being stuck in a loveless marriage is not what I wanted for either of you. Sure, anyone can fall in love or even find some way to love one another in situations like that. However, there would also be resentment, especially if either of you ever fell in love with someone else, because there would be no way out of this marriage once you were in it, Sofia. Divorce and the Mafia do not happen.”

I know that. My father has told me often enough. I thought my life was over, that it would never be my own. I thought my dreams were done because I’d have to marry some guy who’d put a stop to everything I wanted to be in life, just as my father had. I thought the man I married would want me barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen for as long as he could keep me there.

Crazy, right?

Not everyone is so old-fashioned. However, in the way of the Mafia, you never know what kind of man you’ll be married off to. Every wiseguy and Don are intense. You have to do things you don’t want to do. You’re followed around for your own protection, told what to do, where to go, and even what to wear. It can be suffocating.

But what choice do you have?

“I know now that my son will be falling in love with you before he knows what’s hit him,” Marnie tells me, and I smile despite myself. “Now, tell me the truth. Did your father beat you last night because he thought I didn’t like you and that you’d been disrespectful to me, or something else?”

I bite my bottom lip again and look Marnie in the eye. If I tell her the truth and she confronts my father, he will kill me. He’ll drag me out of this house and beat the hell out of me. If that doesn’t kill me, he’ll sell me to one of his contacts, and there will be no way out of it this time.

“Please don’t be frightened, Sofia. I meant what I said, you can trust me, I promise you. I swear on the lives of my children and grandchildren that it will not get back to your father. He will not hurt you. I know you have no reason to believe me, but I promise you that I won’t let him hurt you again.”

“But I have to leave here with him, Marnie. If he even so much as suspects that I’ve told you anything I shouldn’t, he’ll kill me.” I breathe deeply. I know she understands; she probably suffered the same hell with her own father. However, I doubt her father would have sold her the way mine would sell me.

I shouldn’t tell this woman anything, but I have to trust someone. It’s the only way.

What do I have to lose?

“Don’t be afraid, Sofia. I know that’s easy for me to say, but it’s only easy because I know my husband. He won’t allow your father to hurt you anymore. If I have to, I will keep you here with me until the wedding. I’ll tell your father that you and I need bonding time, that we have a wedding to arrange.”

“You’d do that for me?” I don’t understand why she’s being so kind to me.

Marnie cups my face, stroking the bruises beneath the makeup. “Yes, because I know what it’s like to have a father who didn’t give a damn about me. Your father did this to you for more than one reason, didn’t he?”

Reluctantly, I nod my head.

Marnie nods her head as if to say, I knew it. “Would you like to stay here with us, where you’re safe?”

“My father won’t allow it.”

“You leave your father to me.” Marnie doesn’t give me a chance to reply; she pulls me into her arms, my head on her shoulder, as she pulls us both back against the couch. I wrap my arms around her waist with my eyes closed. She strokes my hair and hums a lullaby, and I let the tears fall.

Marnie reminds me so much of Lorna and the way she takes care of me. I’m not a weak woman, or maybe I am right now, but everybody needs someone they can lean on – someone to care for them.

I need this right now, even if I don’t know this woman very well.

Marnie is probably the nicest woman next to Lorna that I have ever known.

Lorna!

“Marnie?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“I can’t stay here with you. I want to so much, but I can’t leave Lorna. She’s the only mother I’ve ever known. She’s not my birth mother, but she took care of me my whole life.”

“You’ll miss her?” I nod my head, unable to speak. “Then I’ll make sure she’s here with you,”

I look up at Marnie. “You will?”

She kisses my head tenderly. “Yes, Sofia, I will. Then we can all get on with arranging your wedding to my son.”

I close my eyes and breathe deeply with a smile on my face. I trust this woman. I don’t know why, but I do. I just hope my father listens to her.