Beautiful Lies

Chapter Four

Lorena

"What are you doing here?" whispers Dante as he opens the door just slightly. "I wanted to ask if I could pick up the cheque for my mother." "Who's at the door?" a voice calls from the office.

"Play along! I'll double your mother's salary," he says. Confused, I look at him, but before I can say anything in response, he yanks open the door. "My future wife Lorena. Lorena meet my father Alfonso." 

My eyes almost fall out of my head. Did he just say wife? I'm pretty sure he said wife. On the armchair sits an elderly man who looks very sick. This is supposed to be Dante's powerful father, who is forcing him to marry someone. He actually looks quite nice.

"Nice to meet you," I say as I try to put on a genuine smile. "Ah, now I understand why you want to marry her," he says as he looks me up and down. A shudder comes over me as I feel his lust filled eyes stare at me. I take it back, he's not as nice and innocent as I thought after all. 

"Father!" growls Dante. "We can discuss the rest at another time. I still need to speak with Lorena before she leaves." He pulls me out of the office down a hallway.

We come to a halt in a bedroom. It looks like it was Dante's bedroom. The whole room is dark. I tear myself away from his grip and say, "What the hell was that?" "What do you mean?" he asks me. "You just introduced me as your future wife. Did I somehow miss the proposal or our non-existent relationship?", I ask laughing. 

Frustrated, I run my hands through my hair while waiting for his answer. "Calm down, mia cara. I can explain everything to you."

"As I have told you before, my father is looking for a wife for me. Since I don't want to marry one of those trashy women, I figured since you need money anyway, I'd suggest you," he says as he eyes me disdainfully. I suddenly feel uncomfortable. I know I don't have much money and I have to work hard for it, but I don't like the way he reduces me to that.

"And why don't you see me as one of the trashy women? After all, I would marry you only because of your money. The others might really like you. Which I find very hard to imagine," I say while looking everywhere but at him. 

"That's exactly the problem! With you I would know what I'm up against, with the others I would have to pay attention to their feelings and take care of them so that they leave me alone. With you, I give you the money and we live our lives independently. Why not think of it as a win-win situation? You marry me and in return I'll pay you so much money that your mother will never have to work again."

I look at him in disbelief. "You don't think I'm for sale. You still think all women are whores and as soon as you wave a little money around, they all come crawling."

"Well, I wouldn't say it's a little money. For every year that we stay married, you get a million dollars. I would give you half now and the other half when the first year is over."

I have to swallow loudly. A million dollars? We would be redeemed from our problems. My mother wouldn't have to work anymore and I could afford a ticket to Connecticut without a guilty conscience. "I'll have to think about it," I say. Even though it goes against my morals, I have to look at the bigger picture. I wouldn't have to worry anymore and I could take care of my mother.

"No, that's not how it works mia cara. If you walk out that door, the offer expires." He looks at me, waiting. "You know you need me just as much, if not more, or isn't it that you've already told your father we're getting married," I say as I cross my arms.

We stare at each other, and he gives in with a sigh. "24 hours. If I don't hear from you in 24 hours, then I'll assume you won't accept my offer." 

We stand so close that the tips of our noses almost touch. I feel his warm breath against my cheek. My gaze falls to his lips. They look so soft and pink. Before I can continue my thought, he says: "Come, principessa. I'll drive you home," I nod slowly, but don't move yet. There is a loud bang and I hear some men swearing. This wakes me from my stupor, and I walk to the door.

 "Don't forget the check and write double the amount on it." I say and wink at him.

---

"I don't understand what that means. He wants to marry you and offers you so much money, but he could have anyone else." "Ouch, thanks mom. That boosts my self-confidence a lot." "You know how I mean that mi amore. I don't understand why he chose you." 

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was go into my mom's room and tell her about Dante's offer.

"Mom, you know this could change our lives." "Yes, of course I know that. But after the incident with Matteo, I would have liked you to find the love of your life and marry him. I don't want you to give up your happiness for money." A shiver runs down my spine.

 As soon as I hear the name Matteo, it takes me back in time. My eighteenth birthday comes back to my mind. I was so looking forward to that day. I babysat every day for six months so I could afford my dream dress. I wish I had stayed at home that day.

"I will think about it, but I have to go now. Ti amo mamma. " I give my mother a kiss on the cheek and leave the house. While walking, I put headphones in my ears and concentrate fully on the music. However, images of Dante's lips keep coming into my head. Annoyed, I shake my head and continue walking.

Arriving at the center, I push open the door and go inside. "Lorena!" a child's voice shouts. "Timmothy, I missed you so much," I say as I kneel down to him. "Look, I can already roll my wheelchair by myself," he says proudly and demonstrates it to me. "Wow, I'm really proud of you," I say with a smile. "He's been talking all week about finally being able to show it to you." Smiling, Conner looks at me. He is also a counselor at this center. I love working at this center. The kids always make me feel loved.

Dante

"You need to calm down. He'll never talk to you like that," Mauro says. I don't stop and keep hitting him. Today is not my day at all. I'm in a worse mood than usual. "Graham, you've been here over a week. I'm starting to run out of patience. Either tell me what we want to know, or we'll dispose you. It's that simple," I yell. He starts laughing dirty.

"All right, bastardo." I pull out my gun and shoot him in the head. He was pissing me off anyway. "Are you completely losing your mind? We were going to make him talk," Mauro says, upset. "Mauro, I would watch how you talk to me. Today I don't even have patience for your babbling."

I take off my gloves and go to my office. It is 11:45 pm. In 15 minutes, Lorena's deadline expires. I never thought it would make me so nervous. I was so confident that she would accept the offer without hesitation, but now I'm not that sure about it. I pour myself a scotch and sit back. I close my eyes and massage my throbbing head.

Just when my body wants to relax there is a knock at the door. "Lasciatemi in pace, Mauro," I shout. The door opens and just as I'm about to say something, I see red hair. "To what do I owe the honor?" I ask, looking at Lorena. She's wearing a cute dress with a floral pattern on it.

"You might as well stop grinning so stupidly," she says while rolling her eyes. She sits down in front of me. From here I can see directly into her cleavage. The dress looks great on her and every curve fits. I feel like a schoolboy who has a crush on an older girl. "What, can't I be happy to see you." "Yeah yeah, I don't have all night. What did you have in mind?"

"I understand you want to get right down to business. As I told you yesterday, I will give you one million dollars per year that we are married. We must be married for at least one year. After that we can look further. As soon as we sign the deal, I'll transfer half a million to you right away. Other than that, there's nothing important except that you accompany me to events and, of course, don't work."

"I don't want to stop working. What am I supposed to do all day?" she complains. "The wife of the future Capo of the Costa Nostra can't work," I say harshly. 

"Well, since you have expressed your conditions, I will now express mine. I will give up my job at the supermarket and at the nursery, but I will continue to work in the Center for handicapped children. And the most important condition, which is not negotiable, is that I will leave once a month. You are not allowed to follow me, you are not allowed to ask me questions and the most important, you are not allowed to stop me."

What have I gotten myself into.