𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐓- 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐘𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎 - 𝟏𝟖+

CHAPTER ELEVEN

A N D R E A

I'd taken a shower, re-worn the hoodie he'd given me before he bolted, put the twins to sleep, and still, there was no sign of him. Lorenzo was gone with the wind, and I didn't even know when he would come back with his chilly breeze that'd make me shiver but want him close just the same. I sighed before closing the app I was scrolling through and left the room to get some tea for myself.

I'd only stepped inside the living room when I saw Alessandro fixing something for him in the kitchen, and not wanting to disturb him; I turned around to leave.

"Andrea, wait."

I looked at him over my shoulder before turning to face him completely.

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk?" I swallowed and nodded before taking a seat across the counter. "Oh, no, you don't have to be nervous. I'm not my brother."

Considering that he was willingly talking to me, he clearly was not. So I offered him a small smile and pulled the sleeves of the hoodie to cover my hands.

"Look, if this is about what happened today—"

"Wait," Alessandro set up a kettle and started making the tea before turning to me again, "I just wanted to say that if you feel suffocated, you should tell Renzo. But... uh... don't go out like this risking your life."

"I wasn't—" I exhaled, calming myself down, "I was with Alex."

"True, but you don't have the same training she does. She took a year off before college to learn, Alex is capable of getting herself out of sticky situations, but you are not. And frankly, Renzo was close to losing it today, and it is not how he normally behaves."

My heart was stupid and petty because the tiny knowledge that he'd felt something for me other than disdain was way more than anything I'd hoped for.

"I just wanted to breathe," I shrugged, hoping he wouldn't join his brother's crusade in making me miserable.

"I get that, but you being unharmed whenever Carlo is around raises questions and suspicions that my brother can't always save you from."

"Are you insinuating something?"

Alessandro chuckled before shaking his head, "No. I trust Renzo to tell us if you would have done something. I'm simply telling you this, so you don't unintentionally back Renzo against a corner."

"Noted." I hadn't intended for the bite to slip into my tone, but I couldn't help but feel like Alessandro was trying to warn me at best and threaten me at worst, and I didn't like feeling that way.

Alessandro raised his hands in surrender, "I'm not trying to antagonize you. I'm trying to be a friend to you. Renzo can silence his men but can't fight against our father if he starts to suspect you."

I narrowed my eyes as I brought the cup to my lips before taking a small sip from the tea Alessandro had just placed in front of me.

"Does he?" I swallowed, forcing the words to leave my mouth, "does your father think I'm the rat?"

Alessandro chuckled into his mug before placing it on the table and looking at my perplexed expression, "Sorry, it's cute how you think you know enough to be a rat. He just suspects Renzo isn't being honest, and dad doesn't like feeling that way."

"Oh..." I relented, knowing that he hadn't said anything. Perhaps it was my own guilt making me suspicious of everyone's intentions, even if they were pure.

Alessandro had offered me a drink halfway through the cup of tea, and with all that had been going on lately, I couldn't say no to alcohol. Since then, we'd moved our party to the couches, and I sat on the couch with my feet tucked beneath me, a glass of red wine clutched between my fingers. Alessandro sat across from me; his head leaned against the back of the couch as he nursed his own drink, laughing as he recounted one of their childhood stories.