Chapter 2

Lorenzo's hand freezes in midair.

He stares at me, his face getting darker by the second.

"You gonna keep dragging this out?"

"Over something this small?"

My eyes sting.

"You think this is small?"

Lorenzo looks at me.

Then he suddenly laughs and nods.

"Yeah."

"I slept with her."

"So what?"

I don't want to hear it.

But those words still burn themselves into my head.

Lorenzo seems to have finally dropped the last bit of his act.

Somehow, he looks more relaxed now.

He sits back down, leans into the chair.

"Come on, Alessia. You love this, being stuck between the two of us."

"Watching us fight over you."

"If you can have that, why can't I have both of you?"

"The DeLuca Family doesn't have some rule saying its Don can only love one woman."

I can barely believe what I'm hearing.

Two women.

One man.

He actually thinks that as long as the Family allows it, there's nothing wrong with this.

Lorenzo keeps going.

"What's wrong with that?"

"The three of us can stay together."

"You get to keep being spoiled by both Families."

"Isn't that what you like?"

I stare at him.

Can't get a single word out.

This is really how he's seen me, all these years?

He's not done.

"Remember that beach party?"

"You and Isabella were running around on the sand."

"She was way out ahead, didn't even notice you'd passed out behind her."

"I punched her right there."

"Asked her why she wasn't watching you."

"Carried you back to the house myself."

"She followed the whole way back."

"Once you were settled, I turned around and her whole face was wet."

"Split lip too. From where I hit her."

My eyes narrow a little.

I remember that day.

I passed out from low blood sugar.

So out of it I never even noticed Isabella got hurt.

Lorenzo looks at me.

There's something accusing in his eyes.

"And you?"

"When you woke up, did you say one word for her?"

"Feel bad for her? Even ask if she was okay?"

"You didn't."

He smiles.

Nothing warm in it at all.

"I put the medicine on her lip myself."

"Her lips are so small and soft."

"Couldn't help it. I kissed her."

"That's when it hit me..."

"She's a woman too. No different from you."

My chest tightens.

Hard to breathe.

So three years ago, they already betrayed me.

Lorenzo looks at me, and now he's actually defending her.

"Isabella's always been the most level-headed one out of the three of us."

"You have any idea how much she's put up with because of you?"

"She's got feelings too. She's a woman too."

"No matter how capable she is, she still needs someone to spoil her."

"You ever think about any of that?"

Tears fall before I even realize it.

I look at him.

"So..."

"You're gonna be the one who spoils her? Loves her?"

He doesn't answer.

I nod.

"Fine. You've got it——"

He doesn't even let me finish.

"You don't need to put on the wounded act either."

"Now that you know, at least I don't have to keep hiding it."

"Don't have to find the right time to tell you anymore."

I sit there, quiet.

Like I'm hearing a stranger plan out my life.

Then he tells me, "Don't worry. I'm not breaking off our engagement."

"Isabella won't go for that either. She never wanted to actually hurt you."

He pauses, glances at her.

"We already talked it over."

"The Family wedding's still happening this year, same as planned."

"You still marry into the DeLuca Family. You're still my Donna."

"But I'm giving Isabella her own wedding too. Overseas."

"Private estate in France."

"Nobody there knows us. Nobody's gonna say a word about it."

"It's just a ceremony. Just something for her."

I say nothing.

Lorenzo keeps going.

"And the kid."

He pauses.

"I'm only having kids with Isabella."

"My mother already signed off on it."

"Once the baby's born, the Family registers him under your name."

"You raise him."

He looks at me like he's doing me a favor.

"Alessia."

"You get your standing."

"You're still the Donna of the DeLuca Family."

"That should satisfy you, shouldn't it?"

I look at him.

Suddenly the whole thing is so funny to me.

"Guess I should say thank you?"

"Thank you both for planning out the rest of my life without asking me a single thing."

Who I marry. Who my husband loves. Who gets to have his kid. Who raises that kid after.

My life. My marriage. My future. All decided, top to bottom.

The one thing nobody ever asked. What I wanted.

Lorenzo frowns.

"No need to thank me."

"Alessia, grow up a little."

His tone softens.

He reaches over, ruffles my hair.

"Your Family's not powerful."

"Nobody's gonna treat you like some princess."

"Drop the fantasy."

He finally runs out of that same bullshit.

I look him in the eye. A long time.

Then I say:

"Okay."

Lorenzo smiles.

Satisfaction in his eyes.

"There you go. Finally getting it."

I smile too.

Yeah.

Now I get it. Get it completely.

Isabella's the other woman.

And Lorenzo's more worried about her getting called out for it than anything else.

They want me to stay in the Family. Be the nice, clean cover for their mess. Hold the marriage together. Raise the kid for them.

Dream on.

I lower my head, take out my phone.

Text my uncle Matteo, all the way over in Spain.

[Matteo. That engagement you mentioned before...]

[Still on the table?]