Page 99 of Urgent Vows
I'm not surprised Francesco found a way to tell them at the reception. Nor am I surprised that Lora Revello isn't about to spread gossip about her niece's disappearance. What does surprise me is how much Giovi seems to resent Francesco's treatment of Catalina.
CATALINA
As promised, Aria takes me to meet the kitchen staff. I spend so long learning about the division of cooking responsibilities between the morning cook and the chef who prepares lunches and dinners, plus getting to know everyone, we only have time to tour the main floor of my new home.
We don't go into the study or Miceli's office, but Aria shows me an amazing library which I know I will spend a lot of time in. There are five bedrooms on this level, including the master. One is already kitted out as a nursery.
My hand automatically rests against my lower stomach. One day I will have Severu's baby. If it is a boy, will he force him to learn to control his tears before he's old enough for preschool?
Pushing that depressing thought away, I return to our room and get ready for dinner.
I have to admit that I need more clothes. I'm so used to no one noticing if I wear the same thing to dinner every night for a week, it's a shock to realize that I don't want to wear the same navy skirt I wore the night I met the De Lucas for the first time.
Even so, I manage to put the shopping trip off until the day before the funeral. No one questions my need to heal. Even Severu hasn't tried to have sex with me since our argument.
Whether it is because he realizes my body needs the rest, or he's respecting the distance I have put between us, I'm grateful for the respite.
I need time to build up barriers around my heart before giving him my body again.
Chapter 32
CATALINA
I'm doubly glad I took the extra time to recuperate when I realize what power shoppers both Aria and Giulia are.
Giulia has stayed in New York so she can attend my father's funeral, but her husband and son returned to Las Vegas two days ago. I can tell she's missing them both and looking forward to the shopping trip as a diversion, so I do my best not to spoil it with my decided lack of enthusiasm.
At first, it's clear Aria wants me to buy clothes similar to what she wears, but though I am a don's wife, I am only twenty-five, not in my fifties.
I gravitate toward long denim skirts and outfits in citrus colors. Aria tries to gently steer me away and after the third outfit is nixed, I'm frustrated and feeling helpless. Only I'm not helpless.
No matter how hard my father tried to make me think I was, I never believed him. I had my quiet rebellions, but the time has come for me to rebel out loud.
I have a choice. I can allow Aria to do to me what my father did to my mother, and try to turn me into another mimic of herself, or I can stand up for myself and find my own style.
No I am not the slave to fashion that my sister is, but that doesn't mean I don't know anything about it. And even I know that dressing like my mother-in-law is more likely to have me mocked than admired.
"Excuse me, Aria," I say and turn back to the acid green sheer top and long skirt. I wave to the attendant who has been hovering in the background. "I would like to try this on."
She already knows my size. All of the stores we are shopping at today have been prepped ahead of time with our sizes and preferences. Only they don't have my preferences because no one asked me what they were.
"Oh, Catalina, I don't think—"
I don't let Aria finish. "My mother spent almost eleven years trying to emulate you for my father's sake. I'm not going to do that."
Giulia is trying on a dress she saw when we first came in, so this conversation is just between Aria and me.
The older woman's green eyes widen, shock filling them and then horror. "I don't know what you mean."
"I think you do." She was old enough to know who she was promised to and who she ended up married to.
Aria nods, her kind features cast in sadness. "I noticed the change in Sara's hair color, but it only became truly concerning when she started wearing those colored contacts. I tried to be her friend, but she never confided in me about what Francesco was doing to her."
"I believe you." I clasp Aria's hand and squeeze. "As much as I like you, I don't want to be a shorter, younger version of you."
"But neon green?" she asks.
"It's acid green and it's trending this season."
