Wed or Dead

XXXVI

"You don't have to, really. I'd rather-"

"Would you prefer Alicia to prepare food at home?" Rafael suggested. 

"Don't wake her up now for nothing," Eliana mumbled.

Eliana got out of bed and headed towards the walk-in closet, paused for a moment, and looked at Rafael.

Then I caught the glimpse of my alarm clock and paused.

"Nothing will be open at this hour"

"They will be open for us, you don't need to worry," he said with self-confidence. 

What did he mean by that?

"Fine" Eliana relented not wanting to fight with him. "What should I wear?"

"Wear the dress I bought for you"

Is this was his way of announcing that he bought her a gift?

"Where did you get this?" Eliana asked, looking at a gorgeous piece of clothing. 

"We went shopping with Casey"

"You and Casey. Shopping?" I repeated even more weirded out.

He looked at me with amusement. "Eliana. I was an ass to her for the past several weeks it was the least I could do"

"That's the impressive level of self-awareness Mr. Vincenti" Eliana responded finding it funny. He was probably the only person that would dare to refer to him in this way.

"Why it's good to know I can impress you, Mrs Vincenti"

Mrs. Vincenti... She didn't know if she can ever get used to the last name change. She wanted to keep her old surname "Snow" but Rafael said that this was uncommon thing in his world for women to keep their maiden name and we wanted to make our relationship look realistic. So she was Eliana Vincenti now... Vincenti... like him. For now. 

"If you knew you're acting like an ass why you kept doing it?" Eliana asked curiously.

"I can be very nice if people do as I say. But I have no trouble with their life harder if they choose to misbehave" he said simply.

"Good to know," she said drily and in return, she received an honest, sincere smile.

"I am satisfied with Casey's recent behavior, that's all. She finally learned some respect and if you hadn't notice as of late she made zero escape attempts. So to put it simply if I need to be an ass to get what I want I gladly take the role if I don't need to be the one that's also fine"

"So you like to use positive reinforcement. Noted. And what did I do to deserve a gift from you?" I asked referring to the beautiful silky dress that was now in my hands.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see you in this"

Eliana blushed at this honesty and she wanted to be happy but butterflies in her stomach were crushed when she remained herself what actually is in her fucking stomach.

She couldn't even smile. When she thought about it she felt like throwing up. 

The dress Rafael bought for me was indeed beautiful and Eliana wondered when did it happened? When did he started to care enough to buy her such gifts?

The dress was long and had a navy blue color. It had stars made from golden thread embroidered on the thick, dark material. Rafael was in a suit black suit with a bow tie and he looked too good to be true.

They ended up in very elegant restaurant in the city center. The restaurant was indeed open for us.

Only for them. There was no one else there. The interior looked fancy, too fancy.

***

As they sat down Eliana realised she can't drink alcohol now. 

"I'll just have water," Eliana said quickly and handed over a drink menu to the waiter. Rafael gave her a questioning look but ultimately didn't comment on her decision.

Eventually, she opted for a tomato salad with ricotta cheese & balsamic vinegar. Rafael ordered cannelloni for himself.

When the waiter left us they were sitting in silence for moment but then we filled the void with a brief discussion about the progress of the custody case. Soon, she will be assigned as Casey permanent guardian. At least in this area she succeeded.

Then, unfortunately he changed a topic.

"Why do you lack appetite? Are you feeling unwell?" Rafael asked, trying to understand why she haven't ate dinner today.

"Not at all, I'm perfectly fine. I just wasn't hungry." Eliana replied evasively and took a bite of her salad even though she still didn't want to eat.

"I see. Now care to tell me why haven't you've been picking up my calls?"

"Who are you, my mother?" Eliana asked irritated. Now, this question was sudden and she wasn't prepared. She can't tell him where she was.

"Mind your tone with me, Eliana" Rafael warned his eyes darkened. She immediately felt embarrassed. She was angry at herself and she was taking it out on him. 

"Don't try to control my tone" Eliana barked.

"Why are you trying my patience today? Is there any good reason for that?" he asked, very quietly. "Will you continue acting like a brat or calm down?"

Eliana didn't respond, she just looked away. 

"Why aren't you eating your salad?" he asked with suspicion. 

Eliana quickly started stuffing herself with a salad. Smooth, Eliana. Not suspicious at all.

The silence was killing her. Rafael didn't seem to mind. He was sitting them calm and collected, looking perfect and slowly consuming his meal. His table manners was perfect.

Eliana felt uncomfortable and she had to fill the silence with something so of course, she started the worst topic possible because why not? 

"Rafael?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think about kids?" 

❤️❤️❤️

Dear Readers,

Leave for Eliana your thoughts and prayers she's gonna need it 😂

Also I hope you know that without your comments this chapter wouldn't show up so soon? Your feedback really keeps me motivated and puts a smile on my face so thank you and I hope you will let me know what you think about this chapter.❤️