Emilia's POV
I sat on the poolside with my feet submerged in the water.
This was my first time trying out our pool. I really enjoyed the pool from the honeymoon so I decided to give this one a try.
I checked the time on my phone for the tenth time in the past two minutes.
Time was moving slowly.
I had nothing in particular to do. I was just bored and wanted the day to be over.
My last class for the day had finished over two hours ago and I had finished reading the article Professor Kate assigned.
Santo was gone all day. He made me breakfast this morning and left without saying a word to me.
He was really confusing.
I don't think neither of us understood the concept of marriage.
To make it even worse, this was an arranged marriage so it made things even more complicated.
I missed being back home, I missed my mother and father, I missed my old room, and I missed the simplicity of life before marrying Santo.
I picked up my phone and called my mother's phone.
"Emilia?" she answered the phone as I heard crying in the background.
"If you're busy I can call you back," I told her.
"I am never too busy to talk to my baby," she said.
"Is that Uncle Haze's baby I'm hearing in the background?" I asked and she smiled.
"Yes," she said. "Meet your cousin, Hazel."
When she showed me the baby, my heart melted. She looked just like Eve.
"Haze has a match and Eve went to do a photography gig. I told her to stay home and rest but she is always on the go," she complained.
I laughed. "That's Eve. She won't let anything stop her from doing what she's passionate about."
She laughed. "How are you?"
I stayed quiet as I thought.
I missed home so badly but papá said that I needed to be more independent. I also think I'm catching feelings that shouldn't have for Santo.
"I'm good," I lied.
"That's great Emmy," she said out of relief. "How's Santo?"
"Well, Santo is Santo," I said and she understood exactly what I meant.
"Emmy, I know that he seems like a lot of work but be patient with him," she told me.
"I'm trying," I said.
"Emmy, I know you've never been in a relationship before so I want you to be careful, okay?" she said. "It must be hard for you to go from being single your whole life to being married and living with a man you don't know."
She knew me so well.
"If you ever need a break and want to come home, your bedroom is still here. No one is going to use it," she said.
"Are you sure I'm even welcomed?" I asked. "Bella told me people are not pleased with me marrying Santo."
"Don't be ridiculous, Emilia," she said. "How could you ever not be welcomed? Your father is the leader, you should not care what anyone has to say."
I smiled. She always made me feel better.
"Thanks, mom," I said before I heard the baby crying some more. "You should go look after Hazel."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yes, send my congratulations to Haze and Eve."
"I will," she smiled. "I love you, Emilia."
"I love you too," I send before waving goodbye and hanging up.
It felt good talking to my mom. Ever since I got married we haven't spoken. It felt weird going from seeing and talking to her every day to barely being able to talk on the phone.
She and my father were both busy people.
My papá was mostly consumed with work and she with her dance studio. The only time I got to talk to them was when they were home, now we don't live together anymore.
I took my feet out of the water before standing up and going back into the house.
As I closed the door, he walked in while loosening his tie.
He walked past me before throwing his car keys and some files on the counter.
He finally acknowledged me by looking at me. "What?"
"Nothing," I answered before walking away and going back to my room.
That was the first thing he decided to say to me for the day? 'What'?
I began to laugh as I tied up my hair and turned on the shower to heat.
He was funny. He made me believe that he actually wanted to be friends. He made me think that he wouldn't act so shitty to me again.
He allowed me to cross a line which led me somewhere he didn't want me to go.
I took off my bikini before jumping into the hot shower.
My mom was right. I needed to be careful.
Santo is protecting his heart so I should too. I'm not going to give him the light of day anymore.
I'm going to protect my heart to he doesn't hurt it.
He's not my forever so he's not allowed to do so.
If he wants to play cold, I don't mind playing either. In fact, I loved to play games.
He doesn't know who I am. I am a mixture of Enzo and Elianna Mariano. I can act just as cold as him.
I decided to stop thinking about him as I continued to shower.
When I was finished, I changed into my pajamas before heading downstairs.
I walked into the kitchen to see him sharing our dinner. We placed the plates on the table and we silently started to eat.
Tonight he made a simple pasta dish and served it with white wine.
I hate to admit it but it tasted really good as usual.
I looked up and his head was down as he only paid attention to his food. I lowered my gaze back down to my food as we continued to eat in awkward silence.
The tension between us was almost unbearable. We weren't even like this when we first got married.
I drank down the last drop of my wine before getting up to begin washing the dishes.
Soon after he got up too and threw cat food into James' bowl.
Shivers were sent down my spine as I felt him stand behind me before his chest hit my back.
I gasped as my heart started beating faster from the pleasurably frightening feeling he had caused me.
I immediately turned to look up at him as he looked down on me.
He rolled his eyes before grabbing the towel in front of me and moving to the side to dry the dishes.
"You could've just asked me to get it for you Santo," I grumbled resentfully.
"I rather not ask you to do things for me Emilia," he spat back.
I immediately dropped the pot I had in my hand in the sink and turned to him.
"What the hell is your problem?"
He put down the plate and towel that he had in his hands. "My problem? I don't have a problem. I'm all good here. You're the one who has a problem."
I laughed. "Oh, I'm the one who has a problem? You're right, I do have a problem and you're it."
My statement seemed to upset.
"I'm sorry that you have a problem with me Emilia, but I can't help you. That seems like something you have to work out on your own."
My whole body started to uncontrollably tremble as anger built up inside me. He was driving me crazy.
Right now the angry side of me wanted to come out and stab him to death. I wanted to walk up to him and violently attack him because that's how angry he made me feel.
He was acting like he didn't know what I was upset about.
He picked up the towel and started drying the plate again.
Calm down, Emilia. Remember you're supposed to act cold. Don't make him see your emotions.
"I can't stand you!" I shouted out loud, ignoring my inner voice.
He slammed the plate on the counter and it immediately broke into pieces.
"Emilia, do you know how hard I am trying not to kill you?" he shouted back angrily. "I can't stand you either and you keep making things worse. You keep invading my space like a damn virus. I can't even have a good sleep because you invade there too!"
He turned around and started taking up the pieces of the plate he broke.
I felt like he had just punched a needle into my balloon.
I turned around and hurriedly tried to finish washing the last pot as I held back tears.
It hurt because I didn't know what I was doing wrong.
He described me as a virus that invaded his space. I didn't even know that I was invading his space.
I handed him the pot to dry before turning around and heading back to my room.
As I walked, I finally stopped holding in my tears.
This is what my mother was warning me about. Santo will only cause me pain for things I didn't even know I was doing.
I have to stop myself from getting carried away. I have to protect myself from being hurt.
I can't like Santo.