Chapter Six

Rose Pov

The day went by, with me spending most of it in the library reading some books. It was quite interesting to say; I was so engrossed in reading that I did not know when the sun set.

Hearing a knock on the door brought me out of my world. Unconsciously, I sat up straight, smoothing the dress I had on, which had been given to me earlier on by Sofia, before saying, "Come in."

" Rose "

I heard his voice before he pushed the door open, making his way into the room. My heart kept beating fast with each step he took. Deciding to count it as nothing, I assured myself that it was only because I was preparing myself to confront him.

"Wow!" "Would you look at who's home already if it isn't our Noble Marquis?" I spat at him. "It must have been fun fooling me, right?" I continued raising an eyebrow before glaring at him. 

"What's wrong?" he asked, giving me a surprised look. He was walking towards me when he stopped a little bit away from me.

"Oh, nothing at all; I'm just mentally tapping myself to wake up and not get fooled once again by an Italian man," I said, batting my eyelashes at him before I continued.

"After all, it's not surprising at all; deceiving others is what Italian men do best." 

Glaring a little, he took a little step forward before gently gripping my shoulders and then bending a little to match my height.

"Just because you were deceived by one Italian man doesn't give you the right to judge others." He said, glaring into my soul.

Shivering slightly, I saw the nice man from earlier this morning completely replaced with an icy-cold guy who was glaring at my soul. 

I composed myself and glared at him, raising my head a little so as not to look inferior to him. "I am not judging anyone, as you can see; I am just saying what I have clearly seen here."

"Well, you are misinterpreting whatever you say you saw," he retorted back, standing straight up.

I took a few steps towards him and stood in front of him, raising my head to look at him. "Really then, how do you explain the fact that you kept your title from me, making a fool out of me in front of your staff?"

Staring at me with an amused expression, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Seriously, that's it." 

"Well, I never thought it was necessary for Rose, and that's why I never mentioned it."

Looking at him suspiciously, trying to see if he actually meant what he just said—I mean, how sure am I that he was not lying? Definitely, I cannot let my guards down again; he's a man after all, and an Italian man at that.

Deciding to calm himself down for the moment, he led the way to the dining room so we could have our dinner.

Alfonso Tommaso Pov

Yesterday was a rough day for me, as I got a call from my mom. The urgency to get a wife was already here, and I was not yet prepared as I thought I still had a little bit of time left.

I had a deadline to meet in order not to lose everything to my reckless and manhole cousin. He was from the other side, or, as I like to put it, the other chain of the family, and I refuse to let a nobody get a fortune he or his father knows nothing about nor worked for.

I had been thinking about it all through the night, and I was left with one choice, I thought, slightly glancing at the lady at the other side of the table. Taking a deep breath, I considered whether to tell her my plan or not.

ruffling my hair a little bit, this won't end well. I thought about taking a deep breath once more.

"Okay, your royal highness, I know it's none of my business, but is everything alright?" She asked before stuffing a piece of pancake into her mouth. 

"Well, I'm glad you asked, and please call me Alfonso," I said. 

"Alfonso," she said, but it sounded like she was testing my name, and I liked the way it sounded from her lips. 

Pushing my thoughts aside, I looked at her with a serious expression to show that I meant whatever we were about to discuss. 

"I have a proposal that will benefit both of us," I said, still looking at her. "Would you like to hear it?" I asked.

Looking at me with a confused expression, she nodded her head. "Will you marry me?" I asked her again, watching her expression change from attentive to shocked and then angry. 

"What did..." 

"Wait! Before you say anything, hear me out first, okay?" I interrupted her. 

Frowning, she stood up and glared at me as I turned around to leave the dining room. Quickly getting up, I grabbed her arm. 

"Wait a sec," I said desperately, trying to explain myself to her, as I knew how important this was to me and that it could also help her a bit. 

Turning around, she looked at me, this time raising an eyebrow and waiting for me to continue.

I released her arm and composed myself before continuing. "I've been thinking, bambina, that you definitely will need help fighting both your ex-boyfriends, and who better to help you than me?" "I am wealthy and influential," I said, looking at her after I finished.

"And of course what's in it for me is that I am in urgent need of a wife; as you see, it's a win-win situation," I said, crossing my arms.

Looking at me curiously, she asked, "Why do you need a wife?" 

shrugging my shoulders "I can't answer that for now, but I assure you it's nothing serious or life-threatening," I said, as I did not see any reason to tell her about my family problems, especially when I wasn't yet sure if she was going to accept my proposal. 

Coming out of my thoughts, I looked at her as I noticed she was already looking at me with a contemplative expression.

"Are you serious?" she asked, looking at me with a poker expression on her face. Nodding my head, I replied, "Yes, I am."

"Alright, I will agree, but on one condition," she said, looking at me with an icy expression. 

"What's that?" I asked.

"We get to divorce right after we both get what we want," she said, to which I nodded my head. 

"And you don't get to touch me throughout the period of this deal," she added, adding a bit of red to her cheeks. 

Raising my eyebrows at her, I shake my head at her. "Absolutely not; you are going to be my wife after all," I said, trying to clear my thoughts as the memory of the image of her slender legs and slim body in my t-shirt flashes before my eyes.

Rolling her eyes at me, she said, "Alfonso, I will never let you touch me, so forget about it." She was glaring at me, the red in her cheeks never leaving them.

Going back to my chair, I sat down, crossing my legs, and looked at her before nodding my head. For now, I thought, just for now, Cara Mia.