Point of no return

Chapter 7

Luca walked into his father's study and immediately went to pour himself a drink.

'How's she doing?'

How did he even answer that?

'Not good.'

He took a swallow of the ouzo and let it just sink into his body and flow out into his veins, hoping to abate this terrible feeling he was feeling.

'I left her crying on her bed in her room. She hates me more than ever.'

'Luca you have to understand-'

He slammed down his glass and interrupted his father.

'I do understand. I understand that she hates me. I understand that she's angry. I have stolen her away from her life, from her country. She does not want to be here, and she does not want me. I understand all of that. But it still changes nothing for me.'

He refilled the glass.

'I lost my temper with her, and I shouldn't have.'

'Agreed.'

His father took a sip of his own glass and said.

'But we have to come to some sort of understanding with the girl. I know its early days. My god she only got here this morning.'

The same thought had occurred to Luca as he'd been walking away from her. It had been less than a day, and he already lost it. He was going to have to do a better job to make this work. She was upset, he should have just taken everything she'd thrown at him, and kept his own mouth shut.

He and his father had always had very clear communication. They had always been able to be completely honest and open with each other. And for the third or fourth time today it looked like he wanted to say something but didn't know how to say it.

'Just say whatever it is. Let's not start complicating our relationship as well.'

'Did you really smile when you found out her husband had died?'

Luca flung out his hands in a gesture of frustration.

'Jesus Christ. Yes, I smiled. I was happy; I had just seen a woman I felt to the very core should belong to me. And all of a sudden her idiot cousin Samantha starts talking about her husband. I felt my heart sink to the ground. I even had a chance to think, shit you're going to have to get rid of him. So I lifted up her hand, saw there was no wedding ring. And that's when she told me she was widowed three years ago. And I fucking smiled. Shoot me.'

'Calm down Luca. It's just insensitive.'

'How would you have felt when you met mom if you were told an hour in that she was married?'

His father's face showed the answer to that question. He got him.

'We will think of a solution to this situation.'

'I already know what it is. I'm going to marry her.'

'Do you think that will solve anything?'

'She'll be mine. I will have her with me, at some point acceptance will come.'

His father didn't say anything which Luca didn't find very reassuring. Surely it would come, arranged marriages happened all the time, even in this day and age. And they were just as successful as normal ones.

'Let's take it one day at a time. Leave her alone for the remainder of the night though. I think after the day she's had she needs some time to just rest. Hell, she was lucky. Throwing herself out of a moving car and barely so much as a scratch, that's very lucky. '