Chapter 18 She Was Jealous

Lucia curled up into a ball and buried her head in her knees. She told herself that it was nothing and that she should have known this was coming early on. She was just a replacement and a pawn to pay off debts. Alessandro was the Don of the Rossi family, and he could have all the women he wanted. This had nothing to do with her. She only had to play her part as the soulless Ms. Bellini and the fitting wife of Don Rossi until her family crisis had passed. She kept repeating those words in her heart in a desperate attempt to convince and numb herself. However, the burning rage and piercing pain in her chest simply refused to be suppressed. Lucia recalled Chiara's innocent face and how sweetly Chiara had called her "Donna Lucia". Then, she remembered how kind and protective she was of Chiara. She thought of Alessandro as well. She remembered him shielding her and also the contrast of his cold pistol against his warm palms. She recalled the jealous look in his eyes as he stood at the