Chapter 17

Alessandro’s POV

I tapped my fingertips against the small booth table in front of me, an offbeat rhythm emanating from beneath my hands. It sounded awful, and I knew Matteo’s constant musing in the back was because of it. But what was I supposed to do? It was the only way I could stop myself from charging into the very same backdoor Isabella marched into a couple of minutes ago.

Minutes? At this point, it felt like hours, too many hours if I was being honest.

“What’s taking her so long?” I muttered to no one in particular.

Yes, Matteo was behind me, but I had an inkling his attention span was nowhere around me. In the past minutes and more, I’d watched Matteo’s eyes as he trailed each and every one of the serving girls up front. I could bet a million dollars that if I wasn’t here with him, he would have definitely walked up to a couple of them if not all.

“Don’t you think fifteen minutes have passed already?”

I got nothing in response, just