The Secret Between Us
Chapter 36

6 months later

In different religions and cultures there is a belief that every person has their destiny written before they are even born. In my case, I would prefer this to be false as my life has become a nightmare. Next to me sleeps a woman I do not love while the woman who is in my heart and who carries my child in her womb is far away from me. To seek her out or go near her would be to sign her death warrant, my father has her under surveillance and any move I make could get her and my child killed. I can’t stand the anguish that fills my insides, I just want to end this nightmare once and for all?

Unable to stand all this hell for another minute, I get out of bed trying to keep my so-called wife from waking up and I know that my relationship with her is a ticking time bomb. I don’t want to imagine what would happen if her father or she found out that the priest we hired for the wedding was a fake or even worse the legal documents, but it was either that or her father would end us.

I put on my trousers, grab my mobile phone from the bedside table, and leave the room trying not to make any noise. The house is completely empty and it’s too early for any of the servants to be hanging around. Taking advantage of this silence, I go out to the back garden and sit on one of the deckchairs around the pool, I’m tired of all this, the wall surrounding the house seems to be the bars of my prison and seeing one of Lorenzo’s men walking with his gun in his waist, reminds me of the reasons why my life has become like this. In my head I can’t stop thinking about whether Mia and I are going to have a boy or a girl… I can’t wait to hear from her about our child…

-Good morning, Mr. de Luca,” I hear Rosario and when I turn around, she is approaching me with a silver tray in her hands and a glass of orange juice.

-Good morning, thank you, but it wasn’t necessary.” I thank her and when I try to take the glass, I see that there is a white envelope on the tray. – I ask confused and she looks at me.

-For you, please, don’t let anyone see it,” she asks me and without further ado I take the envelope in my hands without stopping looking around me.

-Thank you,” I say and she just nods slightly and then walks away, motioning for me to be careful.

I take a sip of juice to cover up and then put the glass down on the small table next to the lounge chair. Seeing that the guy is watching me, I decide to go to the bathroom in the covered garden and once inside, I lock the door and open the envelope. I take out the sheet inside, unfold it and read the note.

“If you love my niece so much, help me get your father and father-in-law to fall. I am willing to help them to be together, the question here is, are you willing to betray them? If your answer is yes, I will meet you at the golf course on Saturday morning at nine o’clock, someone will distract your father-in-law so that you and I can talk.

M.M.”

《Mateo Morelli》I think while in my mind there is also a jumble of questions about his proposal 《Am I willing to betray my father?》.

At another time in my life, the answer would have been “no” immediately, but the truth is that today my priorities have changed. All I want is to be able to see Mia, to meet my son, to be with them… 《I’ll be there on Saturday》 I say to myself as I turn on the tap, wet the paper and then throw it into the toilet so that no one can see it and then go out.

When I get to the garden, I see her there and when she sees me she smiles at me as if we were the happiest couple in the world when it’s the opposite -Good morning baby- She greets me and I fake a smile as I hate it when she calls me that.

-Hello,” I reply and the distance disappears when she comes closer to me and gives me one of those k****s that doesn’t taste like anything.

I’ve been dreaming about Mia’s k****s for six months… it’s only the memories we’ve built together that make me smile and in these moments I understand that I’m capable of betraying my father, her father and whoever else just to escape from all this shit I’m in just because I carry the De Luca name.

She takes me by the hand telling me to go to breakfast and with this begins another day in this nightmare in which I was forced to live, I would give anything to open my eyes and realise that all this is a lie… what more would I want?