Page 9 of Arranged & Unhinged
She sighed in relief, making me look at her curiously. “Oh thank goodness. Then I don’t have to worry about you sleeping with my sister.”
Lorenzo and I looked at each other and just started laughing.
Okay, so maybe I was going to like Sophie.
Somehow we ended up on the topic of our families and childhood.
“There are three moments in my life that made me who I am today.”
Sophie looked at me thoughtfully, then nodded.
“I share mine, if you share yours.”
She looked from me to Lorenzo and shrugged. “Nothing worth hiding, so okay.” She turned to Lorenzo and frowned. “But I figured you would know everything about me, since you’re Geronimo.”
Lorenzo went to respond, but I cut him off.
“My dear cousin likes and respects you, so he didn’t want to share any of the deets with me.” I pouted.
“Dammit Aria!”
Sophie’s expression softened at Lorenzo. “Thank you, but you didn’t have to do that.” She shrugged again. “I’m pretty much an open book now.”
“And why is that, Sophie?” Again, I was testing her.
She looked at me blankly. “I didn’t ask for the life I was given. I sure as hell didn’t ask for any of this marriage garbage, but yet here I am. I figured if I was going to be stuck with a situation, I might as well go all in, yeah?”
I smiled wickedly at her, and her expression tightened a bit. “I think I’m gonna like you too.” Then I winked at her.
She chuckled at me, and appeared to relax a little.
I told her about the situation with my brothers where I was caught wrestling with them. She asked me an interesting question after I mentioned it.
“Why do you think you didn’t submit and stay that way? The way you talk about the experience, it’s more like you were following a role or something. And eight years old is awfully young to be so resistant to the ways we were raised.”
Lorenzo answered before I could. “She has a very strong personality. Some personalities cannot be changed. And I, for one, am glad for that.”
I looked at Lorenzo and smiled at him.
“This heathen is another defining point in my life. I would have to go with my brothers to their trainings because my mother would leave me behind to go shopping, or whatever else it wasshe was doing to avoid my father and his mistresses.” I rolled my eyes. Sophie had a soft look on her face. “Don’t you dare pity me. I don’t think I could have stood being around my mother for long anyway because she was just so over-dramatic. And she tolerated that shit, so it’s her problem.” Sophie actually smiled at me. She really was pretty. Honestly, she looked much prettier than her skank hoe sister.
“Anyways, one time my brothers insisted that Lorenzo here babysit me while they trained. It was like my second time going along with them. They would send me off to this isolated barn on the property they trained at. Lorenzo’s brother, Alonzo, would train with them, but since Lorenzo came out as gay around that time, his father stopped having him train too.” I glared at nothing before continuing. “My uncle is afottuto stronzo!”
Sophie threw her head back and laughed. I smiled at her while Lorenzo chuckled.
“Well the day Lorenzo got stuck with me, he caught me throwing axes for fun.”
“She was dead on withallof her shots. It was insane!” He looked almost giddy as he bragged about me. Sophie had a wide smile on her face.
“I was in the barn throwing axes when my brothers and cousin came to find us. They pulled Lorenzo aside and interrogated him. He had admitted I was throwing axes, but he did the most shocking thing.” I glanced at Lorenzo who had an affectionate smile on his face, then turned back to Sophie. “They were threatening to beat him up if he didn’t tell them what I was doing and how I was with it. I was mad and scared all at the same time, waiting for him to rat me out. But he didn’t.” Again I glanced back at Lorenzo, and smiled softly at him. “He told them, ‘she throws like aragazza’ and he was all dramatic and whiny.”
We all laughed at that.
“After that I knew I would have his back.” I smiled wider. “And I taught him how to throw an ax, use a knife, and shoot a gun.” I winked at him. “But know this. He is awful with an ax and knife.” Sophie laughed. “But a damned good shooter.”
We were silent for a few minutes, me remembering, Sophie soaking it in. Then she spoke up.
“And what was the third thing?”
