𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖆

⁰³. 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤, 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝

''  ˢᶦˡᵏ, ˢᵖᶦᶜᵉˢ, ᵃⁿᵈ ᵃ ᵍˡᶦᵐᵐᵉʳ ᵒᶠ ᵍᵒˡᵈ ''

After spending a good portion of his evening reading through the documents that his personal assistant Luca had kindly dropped off for him, Vincenzo leant against the banister running around the balcony of his new bedroom. His gaze rested on the dark horizon, thoughts jumping from business matters to the events that had happened earlier that day. He was still struggling to come to terms with it all.

A glance to his right told him that the woman stuck in this castle of ice with him was still awake. The furthest window of the mansion was glowing, the curtains drawn over it doing little to hide the light seeping from inside.

The words that Don Fabio had told him back in the wedding hall swam up to the surface of his mind in that moment. Miss Rivera is rather different to her parents, he had said. She has a certain warmth about her that they do not possess. Whether you choose to bask in that warmth or shy away from it is up to you, but do not—by any means—put it out. I will not ask you to force yourself to love her, but I will ask you to remember that she has been forced into this arrangement just as much as you have. If you cannot be loving, then at least be civil. And not just for the sake of our family, but for your sake too.

Vincenzo thought over those words for a moment before letting out a sigh of defeat and pushing himself away from the banister. Throwing on his suit jacket, he switched off the light in his new room and stepped out into the corridor. A battle raged in his mind as he put one foot in front of the other and forced himself to advance towards the honey-haired woman's bedroom—a battle which the kinder side of him won just as he came to a stop outside of the door.

He rapped his knuckles against the wood and listened to the shuffling of feet coming from the other side. Despite carefully planning out what he would say, he found himself unable to utter a single word once the door finally opened. 

"Mr Cassano...you came after all," the woman said calmly while Vincenzo's widened eyes lowered to the thin silken chemise that she was wearing now, leaving little to the imagination and making his thoughts scatter like knocked down bowling pins. "I didn't think that you would," she continued while opening the door wider and gesturing inside. "Come in. Make yourself comfortable."

Tearing his gaze away from her, Vincenzo cleared his throat and turned to scrutinise one of the hinges in the doorway as though it was the most intriguing thing on Earth. "Who were you expecting to see when you opened the door?" he asked, voice slightly strained as he struggled to stay focused and keep his gaze from straying. "Only you and I are currently residing in this house."