Whatever Happened to Lorenzo? Part 1 (Finding the Perfect Girl)

 This is a Flashback Friday for Finding the Perfect Girl but also has overlap with The Offering and its Flashback

The Padre was dead. The grand leader of Femini, a tiny town located somewhere between Milan and Palermo, had left this world behind. Their patriarch was gone, bested by a fatal heart attack on his own wedding night, and just like that, the townspeople were mourning the only man amongst them – or so they thought...

Lorenzo sat in his satin bridesmaid dress, his long hair still scraped back into a tight bun, pondering what to do next. Giulia, the Padre's daughter, and the woman who had claimed him as her own had spent hours dressing him for the ceremony, rubbing lotions into his smooth olive skin, carefully crafting his hair, and of course wrapping him in the elegant gown that matched her own. He had feigned indifference throughout, but he had never been able to fool Giulia. She knew he hated it – just as he had always hated being her plaything. She knew him like he knew the back of his own perfectly manicured hand. From the very first time he had sneaked into Femini, easily fooling many of the local women into thinking he was one of them, she had immediately seen right through his disguise, recognising his discomfort and seeing him for what he was – an embarrassed boy in a dress. So little had changed.

But, now the Padre was dead. The man whose retribution Lorenzo had lived in fear of for years was no more. But what did that mean, really? Was he free? Could he just leave? The Padre left behind a queen – his brand new bride, Donatella. Surely, any women that could tame the Padre must be fierce in her own right, and with the wound of the patriarch's death still fresh, and emotions running high, now could be a fatal time to anger her – especially as a man in a woman's world.

Lorenzo sat in thought as the material of his dress clung to his legs in the humidity of the evening. If now was the wrong time to run, then when? He hated being Giulia's toy – her doll, but he could stick around a little longer. She loved to humiliate him with the endless and extravagantly feminine outfits, constantly teasing him with imminent exposure, but like many of the women in relationships in Femini, she observed the chastity that came with her faith – and so Lorenzo did too. Alright, she did make him wear a chastity cage, but with the many beautiful female servants milling around the Padre's enormous home night and day, that was probably for the best. More often than he would like to admit, he even yearned for Giulia to touch him. He just knew that the day she did would be the day his debasement was turned up exponentially.

“There you are!” Giulia entered the courtyard where he was sitting, her matching bridesmaid dress flowing behind her. It was clear she had been crying, but she was as stunningly beautiful as always. “All of this has made me realise how short life is? We mustn't wait any longer, Lorenza. Let me make you my princess. Please tell me it's a yes!”