A Sicilian Marriage [PUBLISHED]

Chapter 3: The Spencer Clan

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.

-Richard Bach

Rafe Moretti's POV

I still don't know what 'misfortune' was until I met this bold English woman in a certain bar the previous night. Since our paths crossed I have been plagued. Now early this morning I am driving her to their family home after madness possessed her and announced in broad daylight she's moving with me after just practically meeting her less than twenty-four hours.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I seriously regretted that I have chosen that bar to forget my problems with alcohol. If I stayed in my hotel room-if I just went to another bar-if I just ignored her when she tried to make small talk with me-if...

"Hey," She said in the painfully silent car. "Don't you think our atmosphere is somewhat somber? It's like we're attending a funeral. Would you mind if I turn on the radio?"

I'm surprised to learn the fact that this woman knew how to ask questions. It was already on the tip of my tongue to refuse her because I like driving in silence but before I have a chance to utter a single word she turned on the radio and search for a station that has the genre for her taste of music.

I mentally cringed when she sings along with the loud music coming from the radio. She has a good timbre of voice but she sings the song at the top of her lungs like she's the only person on the planet.

I gave her a sideways glance hoping she would see my disapproval but she's too occupied with her singing that she hasn't noticed my disapproving looks. After a moment I gave up and focused my gaze back on the road. She reminded me so much of Leila Fiorenza and her wild days back in Sicily when Laila would come to our home and asked for my help in searching for her rebellious twin sister in Palermo. Laila and I would search club after club to look for her twin sister.

Most of those nights we have to drag the overly drunk Leila out of the bar and I have to threaten her date from stopping us from taking home the wild woman. On the ride back to Palazzo di Fiorenza Leila would sing a song at the top of her lungs on the silent car ride. I would thank my luck if she didn't throw up in my car after such singing. If she wasn't that drunk to pass out on her seat she would start lecturing us about life that her sister would not be able to get a decent husband if she stayed in Ragusa all her life.

That time I felt like Leila's words were like insults to me. I was there, in love with her twin. I was just bidding my time to profess my love until I was certain that Laila is ready. I guessed I was wrong and Leila had been correct.

My dearest love found her happiness outside Ragusa and with a different man. Despite my heartbreak in her marriage I tried to be happy for her. I would always be here whenever she needs me. I gripped the steering wheel tightly. If that man she married breaks her heart I would end his life with my own hands.

"You seem awfully quiet," the woman beside me had remarked. That's when I realized that she stopped singing and staring at me intently. "Something is bothering you?"

I schooled my features before looking at her. "What makes you say that?"

"I've been staring at you for quite some time now and I can see anger in your face." She answered. Her lucid blue-grey eyes were focused on me. "What's wrong? Are you disturbed because of my singing or perhaps, I am really such a bother to you?"

It was on the tip of my tongue to say that she's a bother to me so she could stop plaguing me. But I was surprised when my mouth muttered a different answer. "No, you are not bothering me, Signorina. Believed me I heard far worse singing than you. I just remember something from the past."