The Duke's Willful Wife (11 page)

Sasha laughed as her bubbly friend hurried down the street, eager to see her husband.  Sasha was
envious
, remembering a time when she would have hurried home to see Dante, excited to see him and be in his arms
, hear about his day and tell him more about whatever she was working on
.  That time pe
riod had been short lived, and she missed that a lot
. 

She glanced at her watch and realized that Rennata was still having the tests done so instead of wandering back to the hospital or going back to the palazzo, she strolled down the street, window shopping and considering ideas for her latest work.  It was turning out to be quite extraordinary
and she loved the light in the studio Dante had built for her at the beginning of their marriage. 
For all of Dante’s frustrations with her work, he’d really gone out of his way to create a space for her that was ideal for painting.  All the natural light and the open space was wonderful. 

At one of the
shops
, she spotted a beautiful emerald green
,
satin dress that she knew would be perfect on her.  She’d spent so much time in jeans and old
,
flannel shirts, it would be nice to dress up for Jenna’s dinner party tomorrow night.  Maybe it would refresh her spirits
as well as get her out of denim and flannel
. 

She slipped into the store and found the dress
in her size
.  Once she tried it on, she knew that she had to have this dress.  It would actually be perfect for Jenna’s party with the fifty’s style sheath cut that made the whole thing look dramatic and yet simple and elegant.  She found a pair of shoes and earrings that would match and when she left the store, she had a new hop to her step.  Nothing like a new dress and the promise of a night out to brighten one’s spirits, she thought. 

She spent another few hours with Rennata when she was
brought
back to her room, reading her short stories from a book she’d picked up in her shopping
trip
.  Sasha read to
Rennata
quietly until she fell asleep, then slipped out of the room to let her rest. 

Glancing at her watch, Sasha knew it was time to vacate the area.  She
had figured out
that Riasa visited at this time of the day and there was no way she would be there when that woman strolled in.  As mean as Riasa had been before, she was ten times worse now, always sniping at Sasha no matter where they were in the house or who might be listening.  Unless it was Dante, of course.  Then the woman simply ignored Sasha, which was fine with her. 

For her part, Sasha did her best to stay out of the older woman’s way.  They didn’t have anything to say to each other, so it was better to just let the days pass without any kind of communication. 

Back at the palazzo, she stored her new dress in the bedroom closet and went back up to her studio.  Donning her paint shirt, she picked up her brush and was happily working away at the scene in her head
for a while and making wonderful progress
when Dante stopped by
just as the sun was setting over the horizon
. 

“I think I left you here this morning,” he said with a grim expression on his handsome face.  “It would be nice if you could join us for dinner.”  With that, he walked out, barely even looking at Sasha. 

She considered ignoring his request, wanting to get the painting done.  But thinking that it wouldn’t hurt to just be polite,
she might as well go down and at least make an appearance.  She wasn’t particularly hungry, but she’d make the effort.  Besides, if Dante
was going to be at dinner, it
wouldn’t
be too difficult. 
Surely Riasa would have to behave during the meal.  There would be tension but
Sasha told herself she
could deal with it
, and rise above any catty comments that might be issued
. 

Having made the decision,
she carefully cleaned her brushes and took off
her
painting smock.  She even pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a nicer shirt,
a very small nod
to Riasa’s preferences
even though jeans were still guaranteed to horrify the woman
. 
I
f that
lady
had her way, Sasha would be wearing diamonds and silk for dinner. 

As soon as she stepped into the living room where Riasa and Dante met prior to dinner for a drink, Sasha knew that the
tension had cranked up a bit although why, she couldn’t fathom. 

She walked over to the bar and poured herself a glass of seltzer water, not that she really wanted something, but more to have something to hold in her hands. 
For some reason, s
he felt less awkward that way
.  P
erhaps it was a symbolic shield she could hold in front of her
to avoid Riasa’s verbal jabs or maybe the glass would be a convenient way to avoid conversation.  Either way, she felt much more comfortable with the glass in her hands as she turned to smile openly to both her husband and her mother in law, who was just entering from the hallway. 

Riasa glanced at the crystal glass of seltzer with disdain. 
“There’s wine already opened,” Riasa said as she walked into the
formal living room
amid a cloud
of
thick, obnoxious
perfume. 

Sasha glanced
to the right
and found the woman approaching in an elegant black and white pant suit with pearls at
both
her neck and ears.  “Good evening.  How was Rennata when you left her tonight?” she asked, genuinely curious but suspecting that Riasa wouldn’t even answer.

Riasa’s eyes snapped to Sasha’s
, already angry and accusing
.  “The book you left there this afternoon is tripe.  Try and find something better to read to her,
please
.  Something that might interest her and not just something you want to read.” 
With that, she poured her glass of wine and moved across the room to
take a seat on one of the silk covered sofas while she
flip
ped
through a magazine. 

Dante walked in a moment later, Sasha still stinging from Riasa’s latest barb, which really hurt since now Sasha was doubting the value of the book she’d chosen.  Had Rennata said something to Riasa about the book?  It had seemed as if the other woman was enjoying the stories.  Some were funny, some sad and others inspiring and amazing
and they’d had interesting conversations after some of the stories
. 
Had she only been polite?  Was the book irritating the sweet woman? 

She looked down at her glass, trying hard not to worry about it.  She told herself that Riasa was just trying to get to her and Rennata would say something if she didn’t like the book.  Wouldn’t she? 

“What’s wrong?” Dante asked and came to stand in front of her, looking down at her with concern
in his eyes
. 

Sasha took a deep breath and shook her head. “Nothing,” she replied and turned to take a seat by the window.  “How was your day?” she asked tentatively. 

Sasha heard the snort from Riasa and looked over to see if Dante had overheard.  He was pouring a glass of wine and didn’t appear to h
ave noticed, so Sasha also pretended that she hadn’t heard.  And that the noise didn’t make her feel self-conscious
. 

“
My day was f
ine.  Why do you ask?” he
replied
as he came to stand next to her again. 

Sasha shrugged and looked out the window.  “You asked me to come down and join you for dinner.  I was just trying to not have a silent meal.”

He stared at her hard, noting the tension in her shoulders and the hint of unshed tears.  Were they crocodile tears or had something happened
?
  He hated that he even cared.  He didn’t want to notice
these things about his wife.  He wanted to be oblivious, to have a hard heart towards her.  She hadn’t cared when she’d betrayed him, he owed her nothing now. 
“Do you even care about my day?”

Her head spun around quickly and she looked up at him, worried that he might think she didn’t care. 
“Of course!” she replied heatedly.  “I’ve always been fascinated by what you do.” She said the words quietly, hoping Riasa wouldn’t be able to hear.  “Was it
a
difficult
day
?  I’m guessing whatever problems came up you were able to resolve easily.”

“Why do you say that?”

Sasha pushed her hair behind her ear and looked up at him, trying to be cheerful, but quiet
enough that Riasa couldn’t overhear.  The last thing Sasha needed right now was another derisive snort
.  “Because you’re home early.  I remember you working so many late nights before.  I was told you were working on big problems that needed to be resolved.”

He was quiet for a long moment
as he watched her expression, trying to discern if she really cared or if she was simply making conversation
.  “Did that bother you?”

Sasha tried very hard to think of a diplomatic answer
, something that wouldn’t hurt his feelings or make him feel defensive, but that
also
wasn’t an outright lie
. 
I
n the end, she decided that she was finished trying to fake a life she hadn’t wanted.  “Yes.  It bothered me a great deal.”

“Is that why you turned to
Christolo
?” he asked, moving slightly closer, his eyes serious.

She knew exactly where his mind had gone but she wasn’t going to relent on her innocence. 
“It i
s how a friendship between
Cristolo
and I developed, yes.”

His voice was a bit softer, almost gentle as he said,
“And you found comfort in his arms because I wasn’t here to give that comfort to you.”  He said it as a statement and sighed heavily. 

She immediately shook her head and stood up, wishing he weren’t so tall. 
“Don’t turn this around Dante.  I turned to Cristolo as a friend.  There are things about him you don’t know about so don’t assume anything.”

He looked down at her curiously.  “Will you tell me those things?”

She shook her head. “
I wish I could, but they
aren’t things I
have permission to
share with you.  Cristolo is his own man.  Talk to him if you want to know something about his life.”

He quickly dismissed her suggestion and turned away to refill his wine glass. 
“Cristolo and I talk only of business these days.”

Sasha shook her head with sadness. “That’s a loss that is completely unnecessary.  Did you even try and talk to him
after I left
?
  Didn’t you want to know what happened last year?
”

“What’s there to talk about?  He was having an affair with my wife.  He betrayed me almost as much as you.” 

Sasha started to say something, but he interrupted her and turned away.  “We should head into dinner.”  He walked over to his mother’s chair and offered his arm.  Sasha considered just walking away, but she was hungry and the meal smelled delicious.  Besides, just being in the same room with Dante was nice, even though he still thought of her as a Jezebel. 

Why was he so quickly to judge her?  And why hadn’t he spoken to his brother?  Why not confront the man he thought had betrayed him. 

And then his comment sunk in.  Cristolo had betrayed him “almost” as much as she had?  What did that mean?

She f
ollowed a bit more slowly, suddenly
not
so
sure
that
a hot meal was worth what she was about to endure. 

The meal turned out to be extremely nice, even though she didn’t get a chance to talk very much.  Riasa and Dante discussed various business issues and Sasha learned a great deal about what Dante was up to lately.  Sasha knew that Riasa was trying to show how much more connected she was to Dante than Sasha, but there was no competition there.  And Sasha got to know her husband just a little bit more, which was nice. 

Once dinner was over, she excused herself and went back up to her painting.  She didn’t start anything new, but walked around
her studio
, enjoying the
view of the
night from the
expanse of
windows and the
calming
silence without the criticism. 

“I’m sorry about tonight,
”
Dante said
from the doorway
and Sasha spun around, startled that he’d come up here. 

She tried to see him more clearly in the light from the moon and stars, but he was mostly in shadows. 
“Excuse me?”