Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
It would explain why there was not a lot of information about her in the public eye. He couldn’t help but wonder if her father was embarrassed by her. Where the whole world talked about equal opportunities and women having the same as men, equal pay, his own daughter just wanted to stay home.
Luca wasn’t disappointed in what she’d told him. He was intrigued. In all honesty, until Tillie had walked into his office a few months ago, he never planned to get married. He didn’t trust women. Tillie was different. From the moment she walked into his office, he couldn’t deny his overwhelming need to possess her, to take her as his.
He didn’t know the first thing about being a husband. In his life, he’d not seen many happy, loving couples, just men and women who would gladly use children to make a quick buck.
This certainly opened something up for the two of them. “Why don’t we try it?” Luca asked.
“Try what?” Tillie was a little distracted as she carried her large pot of boiling water over to the sink and began to drain it.
“Being married.”
She finished draining the pasta and poured it back into the pot before returning to the stove. “I don’t know what you mean. We are married.”
“I know, but we’ve not been acting like it, have we? We’ve been living pretty much separate lives. You spend a lot of your time in the kitchen and wandering the house. I go to work, I come home, and we’re apart.”
“Yeah, but I figured that was what you wanted.”
Luca had never been open with anyone, but he had a feeling he could trust Tillie. She was, after all, his wife.
“Look, Tillie, I’ve never been married. I don’t even know what marriage is supposed to mean. I’m trying my best with what I know, and trust me, it’s not a lot.” He ran fingers through his hair, and then in that moment he knew he needed to tell her about himself.
****
Tillie finished preparing their meal, and was still a little taken aback by the fact Luca was there, helping. Other than their wedding day, and of course the day in his office where she decided to make the change, they’d never shared a meal. Oh, there was also today at lunch, but for some reason, that didn’t seem to count. Her father’s disappointment put a damper on everything.
They moved into the dining room, and she noted Luca putting her food on the place next to his. He held her chair out for her, and she lowered down and offered him a smile before he took his seat. She waited for him to pick up his fork, and then when they were both ready, they started to dig into their meal.
Luca reached out, and she didn’t pull away from him as he wrapped his fingers around her hand and held onto her.
“I was never raised in a loving home, nor the same home for long periods of time. I was moved around.”
She didn’t dare speak. There was not a lot of personal information about Luca online, only what he was prepared to do when it came to the business side of everything. She waited patiently.
“I was in the foster system. I don’t know who my parents were. By the time I got out, I wasn’t interested in looking for them. I decided if they didn’t care about me and were willing to leave me in that place, then I didn’t need to know who they were.”
Tillie held onto his hand as best she could, trying to show him support.
“Some of the kids got adopted and I believe went on to have amazing lives. I wasn’t so lucky. I was never chosen by parents and I was moved from place to place, never getting the home they always told me I would. At least, that’s what they told us when we were kids, not so much as teenagers. I think it became common knowledge that no one wanted teenagers, and they were right. Some of us got chosen, others didn’t.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t need pity,” he said. He didn’t sound cruel or mean, just being honest, and she could live with that.
She couldn’t imagine growing up like that. She had a lot of difficulty with her mother because they wanted different things, but it wasn’t hard. Awkward at times, but nowhere near what Luca described.
“I’m not offering you pity,” she said. “It’s awful what you must have gone through.”
“It made me what I am today. From a young age, I knew I couldn’t rely on anyone, so I didn’t.”
Tillie wanted to tell him that it couldn’t have been a great way to grow up, or to feel. She’d witnessed true love with her grandparents, and lived in a good home. Her parents, although not on the same level, loved one another. She was close with her brother. She couldn’t imagine waking up every day knowing you weren’t wanted.