I peered up at him, aware he expected me to pretend and satiate all those curious glances. Conversing didn't come natural to us, but we couldn't act like strangers in a room full of people so I parted my lips and twitched them into a sour smile, taking the opportunity to speak my mind without having to fear his instant retaliation. “You appear to be quite the humanitarian, Alessandro,” I replied in a cold measured tone.
He grinned and shook his head. “Does that surprise you, Olivia?”
“No,” I retorted quietly, refusing to give him the impression I had fallen victim to another one of his tricks. “I find it hard to be surprised by anything these days.”
His black eyes bored into mine, entirely too intrigued by my answer. “And why is that?”
I shrugged and said in a distant tone, “I have come to expect the unexpectable, I guess.”
He smiled and removed a lock of hair from my face. His sudden movement provoked a reaction that contradicted my earlier statement. I flinched, failing at the very first test. The motion was too subtle for anyone else, except for Alessandro, to notice. But, he didn’t taunt me with my show of weakness. Instead, he ignored it and leaned closer, keeping that smile glued to his face. “The unexpectable being the discovery you might not be married to a total bastard?” he probed with strange interest. “Is it possible your heart might be warming at least a little in my direction?”
I gulped, wondering why he spoke to me like that when he hadn't bothered to talk to me in months. When he failed to acknowledge my existence away from the bedroom. When he’d made good on his threat and condemned me to a life of pain and loneliness. “That's not what I meant,” I admitted curtly.
“So it appears I was slightly too enthusiastic, but do enlighten me...piccola...what was it that you meant, then?” he requested softly.
Piccola...little one. It was a term of endearment he hadn't used in a long time and, though I sensed he was using it now to provoke a certain reaction within me, I was determined to keep an impression of cool indifference. “It doesn't matter.” I refused to talk about it.
“Of course it does,” he insisted. “Come. Indulge my curiosity. Since when does it hurt to talk? I’ve been wondering for some time what’s going on in that pretty head of yours. Besides, it's been a while since we acted civil toward each other.” He smiled and once again played with the strands of my hair. “So, why not start tonight?”
I bit my tongue and tried to keep the words to myself, but found it was getting more and more difficult to ignore his provocations. “Do you really want to know, Alessandro?” I demanded quietly.
He smirked in a seductive manner and leaned closer. “Yes, Olivia...I really, really do.”
I took in a deep breath and held his black gaze. “What I meant was that...after all of these years, the shock value appears to be growing thin,” I muttered, expecting to see a change in his composed demeanor, but there was none.
Instead, he grinned and reached for his glass of wine. “So, you don’t think I have it in me to keep things interesting between us?”
I arched my eyebrows, and refused to be intimidated. “Like I've said, the shock value is growing thin.”
He smirked and his eyes lit up with a sheer amusement I recognized all too well.
“Could it be that perhaps...you’re trying to tell me you have finally settled into our marriage?” he inquired in a mysterious voice, brushing his knuckles against my cheek. “Either way, I want you to know I don't give up on anything without a fight and where you are concerned, tesoro, I’m a long way off from surrender. That shock value might just return to work to my advantage once you find out I have quite a few aces up my sleeve left to convince you not to stir anymore trouble.”
Stunned by his directness, I parted my lips to ask what he was talking about, but an older couple approached our table and I was forced to remain silent. I didn't recognize the man, but the woman was the same one who had praised Alessandro on the stage.
“That was quite a speech you gave us, Mr. Damiani,” the woman complimented, then her attention shifted to me. “Who is the lovely lady?”
Alessandro smiled with unhidden contentment. “My beautiful wife, Olivia.”