Luca

19 - A word with my mother in law

Sofia

“Wow, there are really that many of them?” I ask Marnie.

We’re sitting in the library, going over the notes she gave me about the family. I had no idea there was so much to learn! And I was under no illusion that there was a lot. But this is something else.

“Yup.” Marnie laughs. “Three hundred and eighty-seven of them.”

“Damn,” I whisper. I mean, I thought I had a big family, but this is something else!

Marnie had me going over the names of those family members. I got lost by the time I reached fifty! However, I need to learn who is who because almost all of them will be attending mine and Luca’s wedding.

God, this whole wedding is going to be huge. All of Luca’s family, then mine – then again, I’m not sure how many of my family members will attend. Sure, Papa wants this marriage to get close to Draven. But I doubt all of my siblings will come. I barely know my older sisters. They’ve never had anything to do with me, even if their husbands do work for Papa.

Isn’t that insane?

The fact that I know my sister’s husbands better than I know my sisters, I mean.

Papa hasn’t been in touch with anyone. Or at least, I haven’t heard anything. If he does know what Dray did to me, he’s probably saving the gloating for when I return home. That would be just my luck.

“Don’t worry,” Marnie smiles. “It sounds worse than it is. You will have to greet them all when they arrive, and it will seem like the line is never-ending, but you’ll be just fine.”

I nod and take a deep breath. I’m really nervous about this wedding. Not just because it’s going to be massive, but because I’m scared that it won’t be the pleasant experience Marnie thinks it will be. Plus, I’m terrified that Luca’s older family members won’t like me.

Stupid, isn’t it?

Not only that, but they’re also all going to hate my father.

Will they tarnish me with his brush?

What am I talking about?

Of course they will!

Who the hell doesn’t?

The past two days, I’ve done nothing but sleep. After Dray did what he did to me, I needed all the rest I could get. The painkillers knocked me on my ass! But Luca took care of me. When he had to go to work, Lorna stayed with me.

It was nice when Luca sat with me and talked about his childhood. I would laugh at the antics he would get up to with his brother.

Luca didn’t make excuses for Dray. In fact, he told me the truth that his brother is unhinged. Dray can’t control himself. He thinks he’s helping, but always takes things too far. Draven had told Dray to take me to the warehouse to test my loyalty, but he wasn’t supposed to take me yet. We hadn’t had enough time to get to know one another to even think about loyalty tests. However, Dray took it upon himself to drag me there before it was time.

Luca told me how he’d had words with his brother and his father about leaving me alone. Luca said that he won’t put up with anyone hurting me, and it doesn’t matter who that person is.

He said that Dray needs to learn to wait things out before acting on what’s been asked of him. I mentioned that if Dray takes over the business, acting the way he does won’t be good for the business. Luca smiled slightly and nodded. He agreed with me, but he didn’t verbalize it, so I said no more.

When I woke up this morning, Luca was sitting beside me, watching me sleep. He chuckled when I gasped and told me not to worry, he was just there to check on me before he left for work. He held me in his arms, kissed my head, and said that he was definitely taking me out when he returned from work.

I was so excited that I kissed him! I pulled away instantly and apologized. But Luca grabbed the back of my head and kissed me with such passion I almost melted!

Needless to say, I’ve been on cloud nine since Luca left. I’m not saying that I forgive Dray because I never will. But I’m not going to dwell on it either. My father has done much worse to me. Besides, Luca said that Dray would never touch me again, and I believe him.

As soon as I was dressed this morning, I came down to breakfast. It was just Marnie, Lorna, and me. The three of us chatted like old friends, and it was nice. Lorna said she had something to be getting on with, so left with Olga.

Speaking of Lorna, I thought she was going to kill someone with how angry she was with Dray. I had to talk her down from barging into his room and smacking him in the mouth! I love her for wanting to protect me, but she cannot be so loose-lipped here. This is Don Draven Vidal’s house, and no matter what his son does, he would never let Lorna live if she so much as said something to Dray about what he did.

Lorna sighed but nodded. She then hugged me and said that if anything else happens to me here, then she’s taking me home. I don’t want to go back to Papa’s house if I don’t have to. Marnie said she’d keep me here until the wedding. The only time I would have to be with Papa is the night before because it’s tradition. After that, Luca and I will be moving to our own house. So, I’m praying that Dray stays away from me from now on.

“Sofia?”

“Mhm?” I look away from the papers in my hand and at Marnie.

“I know I’ve already said it, but I’m so sorry for what Dray did to you. I want you to know that I didn’t know what they had planned. Draven didn’t tell me because he knew I wouldn’t have agreed.”

I place the papers on the small table beside me and turn in my seat beside Marnie. “Marnie, I don’t blame you. I knew that I would need to go through something like that.”

She smiles slightly. “Regardless, Dray went too far. Sometimes, I wonder if it’s my fault that he turned out the way he did.”

I shake my head. “Marnie, Dray is a grown man. He grew up surrounded by people just like him. It was bound to affect him. But that doesn’t make it your fault. I’ve seen how you are with your children, Marnie. The love you have for them shines so brightly.”

Marnie smiles at me. “You’re a sweet girl…”

“I wish I had a mother like you,” I whisper.

“Oh, Sofia,” Marnie brings my hand to her mouth and kisses my knuckles. I smile because the gesture was so motherly. “You have me now.”

“And you have me.” I don’t know what good I would ever be to Marnie, but I will always be here for her if she should ever need anyone.

Marnie tucks my hair behind my ear. “How did such an awful man create such a sweet daughter?”

I don’t know if she’s asking me that question or just throwing it out there. But I smile regardless.

“I didn’t know my mother, but I like to think I got it from her.”

Marnie smiles slightly. She knew my mother, Marchello told me. Marchello also told me, many years ago, when asked about her, that our mother wasn’t as nice as I would like to believe. Mom wasn’t as bad as Papa, but she could be cruel sometimes. She didn’t put up with shi.t from anyone, and she wasn’t afraid to put someone down if the need arose. Papa always painted her as the perfect wife, even though Marchello said that Papa would beat her relentlessly. He said that Mom would take out her frustration on her children, blaming them for being stuck with Roberto. She could be evil if pushed. I can see from the way Marnie is looking at me that she knows it too.

“Have you not wondered how identical twins can be so very different?” Marnie asks.

I bite the inside of my cheek and nod. I have wondered that, though I know being identical doesn’t mean mentally the same.

She takes my hand, and I smile. I love the way this woman is with me. She treats me like a daughter, and it makes me feel special.

“I’m going to tell you something that I don’t like to talk about. But I will because I want you to know that I understand how you feel.”

“What is it?” I ask.

Marnie sighs. “When I came back to Draven and my girls after I finally got away from my abusive ex-husband,” she blows out a breath. “I was pregnant with Luca and Dray, and two elder members of Draven’s firm had my bodyguard kidnap me and take me to the warehouse you were taken to.”

I swallow hard as I listen to Marnie tell her story.

“Back then, I didn’t know about Dray. I thought I was only pregnant with Luca. I was terrified, and I just wanted to protect my unborn baby. Those men had me believe they were the enemy. They wanted me to give them information on Draven that would help bring him down. Back then, I didn’t know anything worth telling them that wasn’t common knowledge. So, I couldn’t tell them anything, not that I would have, even if I did know anything.

“I begged them to let me go. I wanted my baby to be safe. But they didn’t care. Those men told me that they were going to keep me there until I gave birth, then they’d sell my baby on the black market.”

“What?” I gasp.

Marnie smiles slightly. “Yeah, that wasn’t a very nice feeling.”

“Did they hurt you?” I ask.

Marnie nods. “They had me tied to a furnace pipe. They tortured me.” She whispers. “They used a cattle prod on me.” My eyes widen in shock. “It hurt so much, and I was so scared for my baby. But they didn’t care. They kept questioning me about things I couldn’t answer. They also kept feeding me lies about Draven not loving me. I tried so hard not to let that get to me. But there’s only so much torture you can take before you begin to question everything you ever knew to be true.

“They threw gunk all over me. It smelled so bad that I vomited. They threw insects on me, ones that bit and burned my skin. There were snakes and spiders, freezing cold water, and even more shocks from the cattle prod. It felt like it would never end. One of them said that they would let me go if I just went against Draven and told them what they wanted to know. But I knew that even if I did say something, anything to make it all stop, they would never let me go.

“They repeated that Draven didn’t care about me. But I realized that wasn’t true. They would say anything to get inside my head, and I couldn’t let them. My bodyguard even told me that Draven had ordered him to hand me over to those men. But I didn’t believe that either because Draven would never have said something like that. I loved him, and I knew that he loved me.

“I believed that I would die there along with my baby. There was no way out for me. No matter what I did or said, they wouldn’t let me go. I knew right then that I would never betray the man I loved. But then,” she smiles dreamily. “Like a white knight on horseback, there he was. Draven shot my bodyguard dead and got me out of there. I found out later that those men worked for Draven. They had taken it upon themselves to test my loyalty to the Don, even though Draven had given strict orders that no one was to touch me while I was pregnant.”

My heart is pounding! “What happened to those men?”

Marnie smirks. “Let’s just say, they went up in flames.”

My eyes widen.

What the hell?