For The Famiglia: Arranged Devotion (Complete)

Good Morning, Darling

I didn't know what time it was Santos must have closed the blinds because the room was still cloaked in darkness apart from the small beams of light passing through the cracks. Santos was asleep beside me, eyes closed looking peaceful and the temptation to kick him out of the bed was strong. Many other things played on my mind especially last night though it was almost like fate feeding into my temptations when he rolled onto his side giving me perfect leverage. Angling myself better and giving myself leverage as I lifted my leg before giving him a shove and watching him tumble from the bed with a slight smirk “What the f**k woman!” Santos exclaimed practically jumping to his feet with the sheet tangled around his legs his eyes staring daggers at me.

“Why did you say that last night? Did you want me to hear that?” I stood on the bed almost able to meet him eye to eye.

Santos scoffed, “I don't care what you heard last night, Catarina. What's done is done.”

“What's done is done!” I mocked “you manipulated me! You got me to trust you” I couldn't help the anger encasing the words coming out of my mouth.

“Look around, Catarina. Look at our world you are naive to have any trust for us. Perhaps you should be thanking me for giving you a lesson” I growled snatching a pillow from the bed and throwing it forcefully at his head but Santos was quick to catch it.

“THANK YOU!” I exclaimed, “you have some nerve thinking I would thank you.”

“What would you rather I had done? I did what I had to to make things easier for this arrangement” apart of me knew he was right on one thing in what he had said before I had been naive ‘he had done what he had to’ underlining the meaning of how easy it is for them to pretend “You would have preferred I be blunt?”

“Yes! I would have preferred you not lie to me. I was in the same position for God sake, Santos” I shouted keeping my ground on the unstable mattress.

Santos huffed kicking the sheets from around his legs and standing before me in just his briefs “It’s done, Catarina I did what I had to, we are married now” stepping closer to the edge of the bed his large frame standing just in front of me he seemed to try and change tactics to a more gentler approach “you will never want for anything fancy house, cars, holidays, shoes, clothes, jewels you name it and it will be yours” he was trying to buy me which was a little disheartening after the time we had spoken had he gathered nothing of what I really liked or wanted.

“You didn't get me the present did you?” he looked a little confused at my question “on my birthday the gift you gave me... You knew what it was but you didn't really get it did you? You got told to get it” it hurt a little to think such a thought but it was one I was gathering he had pretended and lied to me and obviously knew nothing with his offering of such blatant materialistic things.

Santos scoffed and turned away “it's not important” it was important though to me. A little part wanted to think that he had spared me one sort of regard instead of faking everything.

“Frustrating bastard” I snapped at him before jumping from the edge of the bed and marching to the ensuite bathroom.

“Stubborn f*****g girl” he shouted after me once I slammed the door “nice f*****g wedding night huh my darling?” he continued.

“f**k off!”

:::

We rode in silence in the back of the town car, Opposite sides of the back passenger seats. I stared out the window the entire time not wanting to endure looking at my supposed husband not that it mattered he spent most of the trip to his place on the phone discussing business. The first thing I noticed when we arrived at his apartment was that it wasn’t the same one he had taken me to before. This one was bigger, it took up the entire top floor, it was more of a loft-style apartment and the polar opposite to what I was used to. My life in New Orleans my home had always been warm and comfortable it stayed consistent with the style my mother had made it the apartment was modern everything was grey or white and I hated all of it “what happened to your other apartment?” I finally broke the ice as I wandered around the space of the large open floor plan.

“With us getting married I figured we would need a bigger place” a bigger place making it all the more easier to avoid one another.

“Oh...” I put down my bag by the large leather couch before making my way over to the floor to ceiling window. At least one thing about the place was nice, the view overlooking the lively city.

“Your things are upstairs in the bedroom the last door on your right” he explained while lingering by the front door “I have a maid she comes and cleans twice a week so there isn’t much cleaning to worry about. If you need anything I have a chequebook in the top drawer in the study which is next to the bedroom, there is cash and a credit card to” he carelessly shrugged explaining it “I have work to do so... I will be back tonight” I didn’t spare him a glance before he left me alone in the strange apartment not that I cared to be rid of him. I wasn’t sure how this was going to work anymore I had settled into the idea that it could but now knowing I couldn’t trust him as I thought. Perhaps everyone really had been right about them and how ruthless and cruel they were... Either way, I would certainly keep my guard up more now. I had been played either side of the chessboard and now all I wanted to do was figure out how to leave the game or at least manoeuvre myself from being used as a pawn again.