Chapter 30 THE DISASTER CHILD.
\~~~LUCIANO MORETTI.
“Raina…”
Raina started, but choked, and I watched as her mother stood from her seat, rushed over, and handed her a glass of water.
“Easy, my dear…” she parted her back.
After Raina was collected, her mother returned to her seat, and then Arthur answered. “Raina is… she’s not around. We weren’t informed of your visit beforehand so she is staying the night at a friend’s place.”
“Raina?” I picked up my fork. “I thought you said she was out of town, baby girl?”
Raina gasped again, and I smacked my lips.
These people are doing a very terrible job at managing their emotions.
Aside Arthur though.
I mean, he is called Arthur Monroe for a reason.
He is one who could bury a body and get away with it.
There was literally no change in his expression as he looked up to meet my gaze again.
“She did? I guess you two haven’t been talking well, Talia. Your sister got back yesterday, and is at her friend’s place.”
My eyes dropped briefly on Raina, and her hands were pulling her dress so tight like she was going to rip it off.
Her knuckles were red, and so her face was even redder.
“Talia,” came her father’s voice.
She almost didn’t answer. Perhaps she had forgotten that the name was hers now.
“Talia, dear. You should eat your food, it is getting cold.”
Swallowing hard, Raina raised her head and then picked up her spoon.
“Of course.”
Ah. Playing the quiet, wounded girl now?
As if she didn’t have a choice in this marriage.
As if someone forced her into this life.
Oh, come on.
Any woman would do anything and everything to be in Talia’s shoes.
Anyone would bend themselves into knots just to marry me.
And my little Cinderella here is no exception.
I dropped my fork and leaned back slowly.
“Why?” Evelyn asked carefully. “Is the food not to your taste, Mr. Moretti?”
“It just occurred to me that I can’t stomach anything here.”
Arthur and his wife exchanged glances before they looked at me again.
“I am a bit indigested, you see? May I use your bathroom?”
“Certainly. Talia, will you escort your husband?”
Raina almost feigned deafness.
Oh, I’ have known that woman for a while now, and I knew she was most displeased to be accompanying me on my little bathroom trip.
“Why not?” She clasped her hands together and then stood up.
I stood up slowly too, and then walked after Raina who marched forward like we were going to a war.
_____
“You may ease yourself in the bathroom here. This is… was… my room,” she swallowed hard as soon as we entered the room.
I looked around the room that screamed everything that suited Raina, and I knew I was indeed in her room and not Talia’s.
There were numerous stickers of cartoon characters plastered across the wall, and that was not all.
The room interior had every shade of purple and the only thing that wasn’t purple was the wall which was painted white.
“I thought your favorite color was pink,” I said.
“And purple,” she shot back, rolling her eyes as she leaned against the wall.
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really. Whenever we are home, you hardly visit the restroom, but we are here and the first thing you wanna do is to visit one.”
“Why?” I shrugged my shoulders off, crossing the room slowly to where she was.
“Would you like it if your husband’s bladder burst?”
“Not like I give a fuck, to be honest,” she whispered… loud enough for me to hear.
Oh, my little angry bird.
I stopped so close in front of her, and then my hand gently dropped on her black, silky hair.
“You have been on edge since we entered these premises. Do you not like being home?”
Raina sniffed, turning her head slightly as my fingers slid through her hair.
“Why would I not like being here? I grew up here,” she whispered.
“Of course, you did,” my fingers now slowly trailed down her neck.
“Tell me, what is your sister like? Raina, I mean.”
“I thought…” she sniffed.
“I thought you wanted to use the restroom.”
“I can still spare a little time to hear about my wife’s family.”
“Oh, Jesus please,” she groaned.
“So, tell me, what is she like?”
“Cool,” she answered curtly.
My lips slowly hovering around her ear, I said, “Oh, come on. She is your twin sister, you surely know her better than anyone else.”
“Raina is… awesome. Perfect.”
“Oh, really?” I wrapped my arm around her tiny waist.
“Yes.”
“And?” I pulled her closer, her body now resting on mine.
“S… smart…” she stuttered, her eyes finding mine.
“And?”
“And… Raina is…”
‘Me’
Can she not say something so easy as that?
Oh, shit.
Her almond-shaped eyes blinked at me slowly, almost dazed, and her full lips pressed together like she was holding back a truth… or a scream. I don’t know which. Maybe both.
And the worst part?
This is the first time I have actually stopped long enough to look at her.
Really look.
Her face wasn’t loud or dramatic like I was used to.
It was just… there. Soft, clear, and almost glowing in the late afternoon light seeping into the room.
And hell, I hate that I noticed.
I hate that I was close enough to see how her lashes trembled.
I hate that her breath caught when my eyes stayed on her.
I hate that for a moment, I forgot she was the replacement bride, the Monroe disaster child, and the last person I should be paying attention to.
Why does she look… different?
Why does she look like…
Like a woman.
A real one.
Not the clumsy, overstressed, and messy girl they pushed into my life but a woman who suddenly filled the space between us in a way she never had before.
And I don’t know what annoys me more…
If it was that she looks like that today, or that I noticed.