Chapter 4 Bring your wife...

Caleb

"Cosa?" Valerie asked me, I could see the rage building up in her eyes.

"She's Ava Morano, we got married yesterday."

Valerie's mug of coffee came flying at my head and I easily dodged it. I expected that reaction, after all I've known what her temper is like ever since we were little kids.

"Spero ca sia na brutta faccia!" She got up so fast, her stool fell over.

I saw Ava flinch and back away immediately, staring at Valerie in fear and confusion.

I guess she's just scared of everyone.

"It's not. She is my wife."

"Figlio di puttana!" Valerie came charging towards me but I sidestepped her, catching her arms and securing them behind her.

"Come on, let's talk."

She struggled to get free, screaming all the Italian curse words in her vocabulary, but I didn't let her go as I led her out of the kitchen and up the stairs to my bedroom. Once the door was shut behind me, I let her go.

"What the fuck, Caleb?!" She yelled in my face. "You've really got to be kidding me."

"I told you I'm not. I am married to her, it just happened."

"What just happened?! Are you trying to tell me that tiny spineless thing forced you to marry her?"

"Don't talk about her like that."

"Don't... what?" She paused, studying me. "Hold on, she's not even your type, so it can't be that she got pregnant. We've been fucking for years now and you're strict with protection, there's no way you'd fuck someone like her without one."

"She's not pregnant. I haven't touched her yet."

"Then what the hell is going on right now? Was it your grandfather's orders? What family does she belong to?"

"She's not Italian. I don't know what to say to you, Valerie. You know I've been asked to get married already, I am now."

Her hand came up to slap me, I effortlessly caught it mid-air. I don't even know why she tries.

"Sei un stronzo, Caleb. You know that, right?"

"Always."

She snatched her hand away.

"Why the hell have you been keeping me close if you'd just go behind my back to marry some little white bitch? What am I to you? Your sex toy?"

"You've always known our relationship is only physical. That was exactly what you proposed when we got into it."

She nodded slowly, her eyes blazing in rage.

"I see." She chuckled but it didn't even reach her eyes. "I see." She said again and then picked up her clothes from the floor, throwing them on.

I stood there with my arms crossed and watched her. When she was done, she threw the bathrobe in my face and walked out.

It was easy to tell what was going through her mind, I knew her in and out. Besides having a really short temper, Valerie was batshit crazy and would always go above and beyond to get back at her enemies.

Of course she knew she couldn't do anything to me, so the next person on her list would be Ava. I had to keep them away from each other.

I went back downstairs to the kitchen, Ava was still standing in that same spot while the Chef, Gia, was trying to get her to sit to the breakfast she laid out on the kitchen island.

Ava shuddered when she saw me and Gia looked worried.

Great! Now, she'll make my staff think I gave her those bruises.

"Sit and eat." I told Ava.

She quickly obeyed me, going over to sit on a stool on the far end. It was clear she was trying to stay out of my way, but I sat right next to her.

She stilled.

"Eat."

She reached for a plain piece of toast and bit into it, not chewing.

What the hell's her problem? Did Bryce mess her up so bad that fear was the only language she understood?

"Ava, look at me."

She turned to face me, but kept her eyes down.

"Look at me." I said again. It took a moment, but her eyes slowly lifted to meet mine.

"I haven't properly introduced myself, so I'll do it now. I'm Caleb Morano." She stared blankly at me. "This is my home and it's now yours. You can relax here, no one is going to hurt you, do you understand?"

She kept staring, but now her eyebrows furrowed slightly, giving away her confusion.

I gave up.

"Eat your breakfast. I'm heading out for a bit." I said as I got up, leaving the kitchen.

It was still too early and I had nothing planned for the day, but I needed to leave that house and collect my thoughts.

Luckily, Naldo texted me to meet up with him at a bar in town. I knew why he was calling me out to a bar that time of the day, Valerie already told him about Ava.

I got dressed and headed out, arriving at the bar in less than half an hour. It was almost empty, as expected.

I spotted Naldo, tapping away on his phone at the counter, a cynar was already in front of him.

"I'll have a campari." I told the bartender as I sat next to Naldo.

Naldo saw me and grinned, keeping his phone aside.

"You crazy, dude. What did you do to Valerie? She's fucking furious and she wants blood."

"She didn't tell you?" I asked.

"Man, she was saying a whole lot of shit, switching between English and Italian, I didn't understand a thing."

I could picture it.

"I got married."

Naldo chuckled.

"And I got grandkids."

Seeing the bored look on my face, he straightened, then burst out laughing.

"Seriously? How are you still alive right now? You told Valerie to her face that you're married to someone else and she didn't stab you?"

"She was mad." I picked up my glass of campari and sipped from it.

"So, who is it? I thought you and Valerie would be endgame. I mean, she's my cousin and I know she can be a handful most times, but she's usually a different person around you."

"Our relationship was physical, she was aware of that."

"I told you it wouldn't end well, didn't I? I thought maybe she might grow on you or something. Clearly that didn't happen, so who's your wife?"

"Her name's Ava. Used to be Ava Jenkins. Before you ask, she's completely American."

Naldo burst into another fit of laughter.

"Tipo, you're killing me. You really married a white chick?!" Naldo paused to study him. "Your family has no idea, do they?"

"It happened last night, but I won't be surprised they've already found out."

"Wouldn't this be a problem?"

I shrugged a shoulder, taking another sip.

"They asked me to get married, I did."

"But to a white woman, though? You understand what you're bringing her into, don't you?"

I didn't reply. I was very aware what I was bringing her into. It might be a lot worse than what she was going through with her stepbrother, but... No, it'll be a whole lot worse.

"Well, I hope you have planned ahead."

Planned ahead? I didn't even plan to take her away from Bryce, it just happened.

My phone buzzed and I took it out of my pocket to check it. It was a text from my Dad, just what I was expecting.

It read:

'Dinner with the family. Bring your wife.'