Chapter 29
Luci
11 Days Until The Wedding
I love seeing this human side of Alessandro. The side that’s kind and enjoyable to be around. Leaving his house and going out has been the nicest thing we’ve done together. I look up from my plate, seeing the last person I’d expect over Alessandro’s shoulder: my mamma. She tilts her head toward the bathroom before disappearing in that direction.
A gasp escapes my mouth and Alessandro narrows his eyes at me suspiciously while I stare back down at my salad.
“What’s wrong?”
Unsure what to say, a lie escapes—a terrible lie. Stupid Catholic upbringing. “Nothing. I’m just shocked about how good the food is.” What? Shocked by how good the food is? Who am I?
It’s obvious that Alessandro knows something is going on. I don’t give him a chance to say anything else before I run off. “I have to use the bathroom.”
Knowing Enzo will most likely follow me, I disappear into the bathroom before he’s able to stop me. The three-stall bathroom is eerily quiet and if I didn’t know Mamma was waiting, I’d assume I’m alone. She appears from the last stall, eyes full of tears.
She pulls me into a tight hug, a hug only a mamma can give. “My Luci Girl! Please tell me you’re okay.” Pulling back, she surveys me making sure I’m physically okay. She steps back and sighs and I know she sees something she doesn’t approve of.
“Oh, Luci. When?”
My brows pull together, wondering what she’s talking about. “When what?”
Her tone is hard with her next words that make my stomach drop. “You let him lie with you.”
“What? What do you mean?” I stiffen up, trying to find something to focus on other than her disappointed face.
“I can tell by your hips, your breasts they’re different. You let him inside you. When did this happen?”
What? “You can’t tell by someone’s body when that happens. It’s not scientifically possible. It’s something the nuns told us at school to scare us.”
“I thought the same thing until your nonna knew mere hours later. Now, stop avoiding the question, Luciana Stella Bonacci.” Ouch. My full name.
I’m too fed up with fighting. Alessandro broke that out of me. “Several days before we had our lunch. I’m sorry, Mamma, it just happened.” I’m trying to keep tears from falling. Not because I regret laying with Alessandro, but because I’ve upset her.
“I knew something about you had changed. I thought I raised you to be different from me.” She shakes her head and lets out a deep sigh. One I only know is linked with an ‘I’m not mad I’m just disappointed’ expression.
“Mamma, I—” When trying to explain myself, she cuts me off.
“Nonno has a plan to get you out of this. We’ll go somewhere else and start over—all of us. I love you and I’m happy I got to see you. You need to go back and pretend nothing is wrong. I won’t tell your grandparents about what you’ve let Alessandro do to you, even though your nonna will know instantly. I will tell them I saw you and you love them.”
At that moment Enzo knocks on the bathroom door, cutting off any other words between us. “Luci, are you alright?”
Mamma presses her finger to her lips while shame washes over me with the disappointment in her eyes as she turns, going back into the last stall.
I blink away the tears from the ache of Mamma’s words, swallowing any cries so she doesn’t hear the shake in my voice when I answer Enzo. “Yeah, I’m fine. I need to wash my hands and then I’ll be out.” I grab the edge of the counter, watching the water swirl down the drain as I gather myself. I don’t acknowledge Enzo’s presence when I leave and walk back to the table.
Alessandro and I finished our lunch and as we’re leaving, I scan to see if Mamma has left or if she was waiting. A flash of shoulder-length dark hair on a slim petite frame crosses the street in the distance and I wonder if that’s Mamma leaving, upset and disappointed in my actions. The guilt racks me as we drive away, but what’s even worse is I don’t regret laying with Alessandro and I know I’ll do it again.
“What are we doing now?” Filling the silence with something so Alessandro doesn’t think anything is wrong.
He reaches over to take my hand in his, kissing my ring before responding. “I think it’s best if we go home.” Alessandro squeezes my hand, noting my disappointment. “But it’s getting close to Halloween and what you American girls call ‘Spooky Season.’”
I turn my head, leaning back as my eyebrows raise, noting the deep sarcasm in his voice and laugh. “Two things. One, us American girls? Two, you know about Spooky Season?”
“Yes, you American girls. Also, yes, I know about Spooky Season. I may not be American, but I’m not clueless either. Remember, I’m only a few years older than you and I’ve been here long enough to know things.”
“Well then. We’re spending the rest of the day watching classic scary movies. First, we need to go to the store and get snacks.”
We stopped by the store and grabbed the essentials for a good movie marathon and stuff our faces while watching them. The credits roll and by the expression on Alessandro’s face, I know he has questions. I take my feet currently laid over Alessandro’s lap while he’s rubbing my thighs and tuck them underneath me. “So?”
“So even though they list the ways to survive a scary movie, no one follows the advice?”
“Yeah, that’s the whole point.”
“And those two are the guys the internet is obsessed with.” He rewinds and points to the paused screen of the two bad guys.
“Are you telling me you have social media?” Who knew men like Alessandro had social media pages?
“I scroll sometimes. A guilty pleasure of mine. Are women attracted to the actors or these characters?”
I bite my bottom lip, contemplating how to answer the question. “Both. The actors are attractive in real life, even if they are in their fifties. Also, everyone loves the bad boy hot guy, regardless if they’re the killer or not.”
Alessandro picks up on my last statement, wondering if I’m talking about him. I am. “Everyone really? I remember you hating my guts and unless I see the wrong man in the mirror every day, I’m both hot and a bad boy. Is it because I’m not a man in my fifties? Because give me about twenty years and I will be.” He shifts, his body over mine as I lean back swinging my legs around until he settles between them, his obvious erection pressed into my center.
“Change of subject: Was it my touch or the movie that turned you on?” My mouth drops open, surprised that he even noticed that. I shouldn’t be. He notices everything.
“Don’t make that face. The heat from your pussy radiates off you and I could smell the sweet scent of your arousal. Now close your mouth before I put my cock in it and while I’d love to face fuck you, I think I want your pussy tonight.” I moan as he runs his hand under the big T-shirt I’m wearing, his T-shirt, and pulls my underwear to the side, pushing two fingers inside of me. He inches down my body until his mouth is against my clit, sucking and flicking as he gets me closer to my orgasm. I let out a sound between a mewl and a moan as I look into his deep eyes, ready to explode, when everything suddenly stops.
“Hey, Alessandro, I . . . whatcha doooooin?” Marco appears out of nowhere, pausing when he realizes what he interrupted. Alessandro and I turn our heads in that direction, ready to strangle him when he smiles and raises his eyebrows several times.
“What the fuck could be important enough that you needed to interrupt my time with Luci?” Alessandro throws a blanket in my direction to cover up as he jumps over the back of the sofa, ready to strangle Marco.
I’m ready to strangle Marco myself when I see that smirk on his face. Now I know why El wants to all the time.
“Your presence is needed for a meeting with Geno.”
“It’s midnight in Italy. What the fuck could he want?”
“All he said was business. You know him—It could be something important, it could be nothing. He didn’t sound thrilled, though.”
Alessandro groans, obviously annoyed at Geno’s request to talk to him. He turns to me, leaning over the sofa and softly kisses me. “You stay here. I won’t be long, then we can have dinner.”
As he leaves I turn on the next movie, and another, and another, waiting long enough that I fall asleep on the sofa waiting for Alessandro to return.