Emilia's POV
I smiled as I finally finished writing my introduction. It took me two hours to come up with the key points for my essay.
With the limited information I had on Santo, I decided to close my laptop and call it a day.
I had not seen him all day. When I woke up, he was gone.
I looked at his cat who was lying on the ground, playing with his toys. "How does it feel to have my husband love you more than he loves me?"
"Meow," James said before he continued playing and I gave him a jealous look.
His life was simple. He was fed three times a day, all he had to do was play, and Santo treated him with respect.
Those three things were the bare minimum, yet I was jealous.
The door opened before Santo stormed in.
"Get dressed," was all he simply said before picking up his cat and leaving.
I quickly got up and followed him to his office. He seemed angrier than usual.
"Get dressed for what?" I asked so I could know how to dress.
"My father wants to meet you," he said as he petted his cat.
His father? This was the first time he mentioned him.
I nodded hesitantly. "Okay," I said before going back to the room and getting ready.
I curled my hair and did my makeup before slipping into a black, satin dress.
He opened the door. "Are you ready as..." he trailed off as his eyes landed on me. He had changed into a black dress shirt with matching dress pants.
"How do I look?" I asked nervously. I wanted to make my first impression memorable.
He cleared his throat and looked away. "You're not an eyesore," he said and I contemplated whether to take that as a compliment or not.
"Let's go," he ordered before walking out.
I smiled before following behind him to his car.
The drive started silent between us, as always. I've noticed that he's not much of a talker.
"Santo," I started. "What's your favorite colour and food?"
I needed to gather all the information I could get.
He turned to me looking confused. "Why do you want to know?"
Because I'm secretly writing a thesis on you.
"No reason in particular," I answered. "I just thought it would be nice to know you."
We fell into silence again and I decided to look outside the window.
"Purple and Arancini," he said and I turned to him.
"What?"
He looked at me for a second before returning his attention to the road. "You asked what my favorite colour and dish are, no?"
I tried not to smile. "What is Arancini?"
"You don't know what Arancini is?" he asked surprised and I shook my head.
"It is the best Italian dish ever created," he said. "It is fried rice balls. My mother always used to make it for me when I was younger."
"My mother grew up in America so she is clueless when it comes to Italian dishes," I laughed and he slightly smiled.
"I didn't know that," he said before looking at me again. "So what's your favorite dish, spoiled princess?"
I rolled my eyes at that stupid nickname he gave me.
"Risotto," I answered and he began to look confused. "Oh come on, don't tell me you don't know what that is!"
"Never heard of it," he said and I began look to at him distorted. He never got to taste such a masterpiece?
His lips slightly upturned and I realized he was trying to hold in his laugh.
"You were messing with me?" I asked and he smiled.
I folded my arms as he turned into an estate. "I can't believe I believed you."
He stopped in front of a mansion that was roughly the same size as ours. The only major difference between the two is that ours was more modern whereas this had an older look.
"We're here," he said and we both got out.
We walked up to the door and knocked until a woman opened the door.
She smiled at us before Santo walked past her without saying a word. She must have been the maid but she was still a person.
"Nice to meet you," I said to her before catching up to Santo.
He knocked on one of the doors before an older, bearded man appeared. I immediately knew that it was his father. The two looked identical.
"This is Emilia," he said and the man smiled.
"It is nice to meet you, father," I said as I stretched out my hand and his smile grew wider.
He shook my hand. "What a well-mannered daughter I have. You are way better than the trash my son keeps himself busy with."
I could see Santo's jaw tick as he stayed quiet.
His father started walking. "Let us eat," he said and we both followed him to the dining room.
The maid brought our food to us and we began to share our plates. She returned with the drinks before sitting down with us.
I smiled at her again. His father is so sweet to allow the maid to eat with us.
"Oh Emilia," his father said and I looked on him. "This is Santo's mother."
My eyes widened as I turned pale. "Oh my gosh, Mrs. Valentino. I am so sorry," I said as I felt terrible.
She smiled. "What for, dear? Call me mother."
The way how Santo walked past her I didn't know that she could be his mother. I turned to him and he took a sip of his drink.
"So Emilia," his father said and I returned my attention to him.
"Yes, father?"
"What were you doing before you married my son?"
I cleared my throat. "Well, I'm actually going to college."
Santo immediately snapped his neck at me. "You what?"
His father smiled. "You didn't know?"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Santo asked with annoyance in his tone.
I stared at my food. "It's not something I tell people."
"So you didn't think your husband should know?" he asked and I angrily turned to him.
"It's not like you gave me the chance to," I spat and he glared at me.
"Enough!" his father shouted before throwing an envelope in front of us. "You two go and learn about each other. I do not want to hear people talk about your constant bickering."
Santo looked inside the envelope before throwing it back on the table. "No thanks."
I picked up the envelope to see two tickets to a honeymoon in Fiji.
"Why not? Don't be stubborn," his father said.
"You want me to leave for a week?"
"Don't worry," his father said. "Dante and I will handle things until you come back."
"No," he said and I could feel the tension between us.
"This honeymoon cost me a lot of money so you two will be going," his father insisted in a rather dismissive tone.
Santo pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes out of frustration.
He was always angry.
I smiled. "Dinner is lovely, Mrs. Valentino."
She smiled. "Thank you, dear. I'm glad my daughter enjoys it."
"Emilia," his father abruptly said which startled me.
"Yes, father?"
"Do you know that Santo has an older brother?" he asked and Santo opened his eyes. "He was supposed to take over the mafia but ran away and so the role was thrown on his baby brother that day."
I turned to Santo who was practically fuming next to me. He gripped the knife on the table tightly.
His father shook his head. "I don't know what I deserved to get such useless sons."
Santo stood up. "I'm going to stab you to death."
As he started to move forward I grabbed him.
His father started laughing hysterically.
"Let go of me before I kill you first," he said to me as he stared at his father.
"Can't you see he's teasing you?"I asked and he finally looked at me.
When he dropped the knife, I let go of him.
He smiled before picking up the envelope. "You know what? A honeymoon sounds great."