The Duke's Willful Wife (7 page)

He was a fast friend and Sasha admired his zest for life
, loving the way he always saw the silver lining in any situation
.  But he was also a coward.  He saw how Riasa treated her and couldn’t bear to do the same thing
to
the love of his life.  Instead of putting
his fiancée
through another marriage nightmare
like Sasha endured
, Cristalo snuck away from the palazzo almost every weekend
and several nights a week
, spending time at some other location, just so he could be with
his lady love
. 
And he never confronted his mother about her treatment, never told her to stop.  He considered it Dante’s role as head of the family to put a reign on Riasa’s behavior and since his older brother wasn’t around, he didn’t pick up the responsibility.

Cristalo understood the life Sasha lived and came by to check o
n her, and try and talk to his
mother
in
to be
ing
nicer
without causing an outright confrontation
. 
After a while though, Sasha realized that i
t was useless and after one particularly horrible argument where
she
couldn’t escape Riata’s biting criticism any longer, she ran out into the garden. 
Unfortunately, r
unning into Cristalo on the way.  The tears streaming down her cheeks told him all he needed to know and he wrapped a demoralized Sasha in his arms and
led her deeper
into the garden, letting her cry on his shoulder and telling her it would all be better, that she just needed to hold on until Dante had a talk with their mother. 

Regrettably
, that’s exactly what Dante walked in on. 
If their position had been viewed from
the front, a person could tell that Sasha was crying and Cristalo was helping.  From any othe
r angle, it looked like a lover
s
’
embrace.  Since they were hidden in the farthest corner of the large garden,
their location
only added more evidence in Dante’s mind of her infidelity. 

And no matter what Sasha said to Dante, he refused to believe that she wasn’t having an affair with his brother.  In the end, she couldn’t get through to him, nor would she live with a man who didn’t trust her.  She packed up her clothes that very night and took the first train out of the city, leaving behind everything else, including her hopes and dreams of happiness with Dante.

Now, flying back into
Rome, she was determined to get a hotel room and spend as much time as possible with Nonna, praying that the elderly friend would somehow get through this latest
condition
. 

“She’s strong,” Dante said from across the table
in Dante’s private airplane
.  “And she’s stubborn.  She won’t die until she sees you.”

That’s exactly what Sasha was afraid of, she thought.  She didn’t want Rennata to die
at all, much less the moments after their reunion
.  The elderly lady was like her own grandmother, soft and sweet, always with a hug and a warm heart to listen.  She’d been there through the whole thing, had
listened to
Riata’s digs
, countering the woman’s criticisms
and
Rennata was never afraid to snap
back
at her daughter in law
when Sasha was trying to play nice. 

Sasha tried to focus on the moment and not worry about what could happen.  She had to maintain hope that the sweet, old woman would pull through this, and someday laugh off everyone’s concerns.  But
the truth was, Rennata was over eighty years old and her body couldn’t go on forever.  No matter how strong Sasha saw the gentle lady, there came a point when one’s body simply gave in and moved on. 
“Can I see her tonight?  Or would it be better to wait until the morning?”

Dante glanced at his watch.  “She’s probably asleep now so it would be better to wait until the morning.  I’ll drive you to the hospital myself.”

“No need.  I’ll just get a hotel room by the hospital so I can walk.”

His gaze sliced over to hers sharply. 
“You will stay at the palazzo,” he replied firmly.

She was already shaking her head.  “I’m not stepping
into
that house again, Dante.”

“You will not embarrass me by staying at a hotel.  You are my wife,” he replied angrily.  “You will stay at the house and I will be by
your
side when you talk to my grandmother.  Otherwise, I’ll make sure you never even get
into
t
he parking lot of that hospital and I’ll tell my grandmother that you refused to come.”

Sa
sha was stunned by his
anger and fell back into her seat.  “You’d
do that
to a dying woman?  Just to save your precious reputation?” 

“I will not be embarrassed.  You left me once and the rumors were all over the town about why.”

“Why didn’t you just tell everyone that I had an affair with your brother?  If you think it’s true, why keep my reputation so pure?”

“Family business is not fodder for the gossip mills.  I added nothing to the rumors by providing an explanation for your abandonment, nor will I provide any explanation for your current reappearance.”

“Isn’t that a bit inconvenient?  Why don’t you just divorce me and get on with marrying your mother’s selection?”

He turned away, dismissing her comments as if they were ridiculous in his mind. 
“My mother’s preferences in my personal relationships have no weight in my mind.  I wish you would keep your personal opinions about my mother to yourself.”

“I
have never spoken
to anyone about your mother.  Or about you.  Our marriage is over.  We should just get a divorce and move on with our lives.”

His features were tight with the anger he was restraining with her comments. 
“You’re my wife.  We do not divorce in this family.”

She looked at him curiously, wondering why he was being so adamant about an issue he must surely want resolved just as much as she did. 
“Isn’t that a bit archaic?”

He didn’t bother to respond since the plane had come to a stop on the runway and the flight attendant had just opened the doors. 
“Let’s go,” he said, standing up and walking out of the plane. 

He
didn’t
even look back to see if she was following but went directly to the waiting limousine. 
Sasha took her time, not wanting to hurry out behind him like some little puppy eager to please.  She gathered up her purse and re-stacked the magazines, purposely trying to stall just to make sure he had to wait for her. 

She slipped into the vehicle, proud of standing up for herself, even if it was a bit petty. 

“In addition to infidelity, I see you’ve learned to make me wait for you.”

“That’s rich,” she scoffed, instantly furious.  “Do you have any idea how many cold dinners I endured because I was waiting for you to come home?  And those were only the nights when you told me you’d be there.  Let’s not even talk about the nights you spent eighteen hours at the office.”

“We’re not rehashing this.  I’m a busy man with important issues to deal with.”

She looked at him, astonished.  “You realize what you’re saying, don’t you?”

“That I have a great deal of responsibility?  Yes,
I thought you understood that.”

She tried to keep the hurt out of her
voice but she wasn’t sure she was able to keep
it from her eyes. 
“No.  You’re actually admitting that you consider work more important than me.  That you think all the other people who needed a portion of your time were higher on the list than your wife.  Is it any wonder I would rather stay in a hotel, than to endure that kind of attitude?”

“You’re being ridiculous.
”

“Ah, the standard response whenever there’s a complaint.”

“And you had plenty, if I remember correctly.”

“I sure did.  As soon as we arrived in Italy, you became a stranger.  And wouldn’t let me in.  So what was I to do?”

“I gave you a generous allowance.  I didn’t care how you spent it.”

“I had my own money! 
I wasn’t some dependent that you needed to coddle.  I was your wife and wanted your time. 
I didn’t need an allowance from you.  I never spent any of your damn money.”

He raised a sardonic eyebrow at her response. 
“Then where did that closet full of clothes come from?  Always new ones appearing and every event showed you in a new outfit.”

Another sticking point, she thought with resignation.  And this was one she’d never had the courage to bring up with him.  She’d been too embarrassed by her lack of style an
d elegance to tell him about Riasa’s
demoralizing comments. 
“Your mother determined what was appropriate for me to wear.  She actually laid out my clothes
for most of the events we attended
.  The few times I ignored her and made my own selections, she criticized me so unmercifully that I didn’t dare try it again.  Public humiliation isn’t my cup of tea.”

“My mother would never embarrass you in public,” he snapped back.

She looked over at him, contemplating the benefits of trying to convince him.  She had no idea what words she could convey to him to explain the small, snide comments his mother tossed her way when they were out on their social calls, visits his mother insist
ed
Sasha accompany her on as a member of the Fuitello family.  But there really was no way she could repeat the words Riata had said, nor the pitying looks the others had tossed her way after
hearing
the other woman’s scathing comments.  Only one of two things would happen.  In the slim possibility that he would believe her this time, he would become angry with Ria
s
a and confront her, which would only cause more tension between Sasha and Dante’s mother.  Since Sasha planned to be in Rome only for the small amount of time Nonna
Rennata needed her, it would do no good to create enemies between a mother and her son. 
Their time was over so what good would it do to create strife in their relationship? 

And if he didn’t believe her, she wouldn’t be in any better position than she was now.  So there really was no benefit to this conversation. 

She shrugged and looked out the window.  “If you say so.”

Dante watched her profile for a long moment as the city lights sped by outside the car.  She was an astoundingly beautiful woman and he didn’t blame himself for falling for her allure.  But blaming his mother for her unhappiness was really beyond the pale.  He’d always thought she was more intelligent and fair. 

He cursed and turned to look out his own window, trying to dismiss her from his mind.  She’d bewitched him once and that had caused a betrayal that had gone deeper than she would ever know.  Better to get her to the hospital and out of Rome before she caused any additional damage.

As the luxurious car pulled up to the palazzo, Sasha’s whole body tensed with the fear of
facing
the woman who had created so much strife.  She wanted desperately to go to a hotel but how could she
do
that?  Perhaps she could slip out later tonight, catch a cab and find a hotel close to the hospital
and Dante didn’t need to know anything about it
. 
He was rarely home anyway so she might be able to pull it off. 

With a sigh, she realized that wasn’t a good plan.  Besides the security system Dante had installed in his home was top of the line and Sasha had never been able to figure out how to shut it off, she really didn’t want to hurt or embarrass Dante right now.  He genuinely loved his grandmother and
Rennata
was such a sweet woman.  Sas
ha could deal with anything Riasa dealt out as long as she got to see Rennatta in the morning. 

“You’re clothes are still where you left them,” he said as he left the car. 

“
I won’t need any of them since I’ll only be going back and forth to the hospital.  And
I’ll sleep in a guest room,” she said, head bowed and walking straight ahead.

He didn’t even bother to turn around to acknowledge her comment. 
“Whatever you choose
,” he said as he walked inside, nodding distractedly to the housekeeper as she opened the door upon their arrival. 

Sh
e shivered as she felt his hand at the small of her back and tried to walk faster to
avoid
his touch.  But the housekeeper was standing at the entryway, smiling benignly.  “
Buena
s
era,
Signore
, Signora Fuitello.”

“Bu
e
na sera,” Dante replied instantly.  “My wife will require dinner before she retires,” he said and then disappeared into his office, leaving Sasha standing awkwardly in the entry way.