His room felt as dark and as brooding as him. It's large, dimly lit and very clean . It has dark wooden furniture. The thick curtains block out any external light from penetrating the room. I believe there's a balcony.
I look down and feel a thick persian rug under my bare feet. He made me take my shoes off at the door. There's a faint scent of cigar that fills the space and it feels like I've entered a sacred space that no one is allowed to be in.
"Welcome, wife." His raspy voice reaches my ears and I remember I am not alone.
I feel him come close and wrap his strong arms around me. I freeze. His closeness to me is making me feel things I cannot explain. More than anything I want him to keep his distance but I'm too scared to speak. My life is now in his hands and I was trying to not offend the mafia king.
He wraps my hair around his fist after letting it down from my the hair pins holding it up.
Then in one swift move he turns my face to his. His breath fans my face and I can smell the slight hint of whiskey in his breath.
"Take your clothes off,"
"What?"
I wasn'rt sure I heard correctly.
"You heard me."
"Jace-"
"It's Mr Romano to you,"
"Huh?"
"I don't repeat myself."
I swallowed. "Mr Romano-"
In one swift, unexpected move he tugged down the zipper of my dress and pushed the fabric down until shoulders were bare.
"Please wait," I said, desperately trying to cover up.
His eyes stare into mine with such intensity, I almost succumb and take everything off.
"I'm so tired. Maybe some other time."
His chuckle is dark and it sends goosebumps on a rampage over my body in the air conditioned room.
"No woman says no to me. Especially not my wife." He growled lowly.
He came closer and I took steps back fearing in my heart that he was going to force himself on me and there was nothing I could do about it. He was a feared criminal drug lord, involved in even more heinous crimes. There was no stopping him from getting what he wanted.
"I'm in a good mood today so I'll let you be," he said, his eyes sweeping over me.
"But the next time I tell you to take your clothes off, you do just that. Got it?"
I nodded quickly.
"Words," He growled.
"Yes Mr Romano." I blurted out quickly.
He turned and walked away after that and I sank to the floor in tears. I felt relieved yet at the same time scared of what I had gotten into.
~~~
I went to the bathroom after I had stopped crying. It was fancier than anything I had ever experienced. The patterned walls drew me and when I stared at myself in the mirror, I saw that my eyes were red and bloodshot.
I washed off my makeup and just stood there looking at my bare face.
I felt trapped in this space.
I looked at the glimmering ring on my finger and sighed. This looked very expensive. Maybe if I ran away and sold it, it would give me a small fortune.
But knowing how powerful the Italian mafia is, I figured there was no point trying to escape, they would find me and probably kill me. I was not ready to die. I didn't want anything to happen to my brother either.
I managed to take a shower after that.
Then I entered the closet and and saw that my new stuff had been arranged.
This man only wore dark clothes. There was no trace of color in his closet. And it seemed like I would bring the pop of color. But even my clothes were neutral tones. Beige, nude, white, black. Nothing stood out.
I wondered if it was a rule to wear plain toned outfits once you belong to the mafia. It was boring and very unlike me but from the looks of things, I had no choice.
I picked a plain pajama and went straight to bed. It had been a long day.
I could not bring myself to sleep even when I wanted to. I tossed and turned on the large bed waiting for him to come back into the room but minutes turned into hours and there was no trace of him.
This bed felt strange. It felt like I was being drowned in it. How was I supposed to cope.
Then I remembered I had not seen my phone in forever. I wondered where it was taken to.
I got on my feet and searched around the room for it. Luckily I found it in one of the bedside drawers.
I turned it on then sat back in bed scrolling on social media till I could get some sleep. I could not post anything about my wedding. It was supposed to be a secret. No one could know where I was so I would not be a target.
How did I know about this? My new mother in law had told me during the week as we prepared for the wedding.
This was my new life. My new reality and there was nothing I could do to change it.
If only I knew how chaotic my life was about to get.