Chapter 68

“Alessandra has made you soft Gino. You watch too many romance movies with her, and she has you thinking like a woman. Go home and let me deal with my business my way… my woman, my problem.” There’s a scuffing noise, and I get up, poised to run to my room in anticipation like a scared animal, ready to jump, yet I halt with another voice.

“He’s right, Alexi… She ran because she was scared. If you punish her for this, she will run further and faster. I doubt she will come back of her own free will next time.”

I recognise Mico’s voice and blanch. He has never seemed to like or pay attention to me, and apart from being Alexi’s cousin, he doesn’t know me. I don’t get why they are intervening unless they know precisely what Alexi will do to me and they are protecting him from going too far.

This thought makes me pale, and I can’t take it anymore. I get back up from my position on the landing, look over the staircase, silently tiptoe to my room, pull off my bag, and quiet