Page 14 of Faking With The Frenemy

“Are you kidding me right now?” I finally said.

“What?” she asked, looking confused.

I forced myself to stay calm and keep my voice level. “Don’t you ‘what’ me? You know what you did! You disappear in the middle of the night without a word or reason. And then you walk up to me here to tell me I am your boyfriend? What the hell was that all about? I just want you to know that there was no reason for me to help you with whatever that situation was.”

She winced as I spoke. I realized that despite my efforts to stay cool, some anger had bubbled out of the pot and burned her. She looked properly chastened, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel any remorse whatsoever.

“I understand that you really had no reason to help me,” she said in a small voice. “I needed your help, however. I would not have done that otherwise. I am sorry.”

“Right,” I said, still trying to keep my voice level. “So, if you had not been in trouble, you would have pretended not to know me, is that it?”

She took a pause before replying, thinking about what I had just asked. “I am actually not sure,” she finally replied. “I didn’t count on seeing you here, and I came to you on impulse. I really didn’t think it all the way through.”

I laughed a sarcastic laugh. “You are absolutely unbelievable, do you know that? I can’t believe you, Alessia.” I shook my head, exasperated, turning away from her. She was right about one thing, though. What were the chances of us running into each other again in a remote town in Tuscany, six hours from Milan?

Which begged a more urgent question.: who was she, and what was she doing here? The man who had been with her earlier was someone I had seen with Enzo, and I knew they were close friends. She said she was from Italy. Was it possible she and Enzo were from the same town?

I shoved those other thoughts to the side as I considered why she had left me the way she did. What was her reason for sneaking out of my room like a petty criminal? I still remember how broken I felt when I found out that she was gone for real. She did not care about me at all. She had only used me for a moment, discarding me when it suited her. Still, I needed her to make sense of it for me. I needed the closure.

I was about to attack her with questions when she was suddenly swarmed by half a dozen middle-aged and elderly women. I was so confused, so I took a step back in shock. They chattered excitedly to her in Italian, which was too fast for my understanding. I observed, open-mouthed, not knowing how to react.

“Aunt Giulia! What’s this about?” Alessia asked, obviously as confused as I was.

“When you said you had a boyfriend, I thought you were joking, and now I confirm it is true! I am so happy for you, mia cara!” The woman, whom Alessia had called Aunt Giulia, turned to me, touching my cheek and speaking excitedly in Italian.

I chuckled nervously and looked to Alessia for help. She had covered her face in her hands in shame, visibly embarrassed. The excited women left as quickly as they had come, joining another group and having a loud conversation.

“Err… what was that about?” I asked, patting down my clothes with my free hand.

“I am so sorry,” she replied softly, rubbing her temple. “Giorgio still has a big mouth, it would seem. It looks like everyone at this party knows about our little ruse. Yay…”

I narrowed my eyes at her. She seemed genuinely worried that people had found out that she had claimed we were together. I did not understand what the fuss was all about, as we could always play it out. She looked spooked, however. It was major on my mind again, and I wondered who she was. Why did so many people know her at this gathering? I had a bad feeling about the whole situation and found myself growing more and more uncomfortable.

She scanned the crowd nervously, then took my hand to lead me away from the throng of people. I considered resisting, but decided against it, allowing her to tow me behind her to the outskirts of the gathering. I had a plethora of questions, but I remained quiet, not trusting her ability to answer any satisfactorily in her current state of unrest.

She glanced around, looking over her shoulder, before speaking, “I don’t know how you got here or who you are here with. But I feel you need to leave really soon. I think you should leave as soon as possible, please.”

I finally had enough of it. “What the hell are you talking about? Since I saw you, you've been acting strange and mysterious after leaving earlier. What the hell is going on, Alessia?”

“You don’t understand!” she shrieked. “I don’t have time to explain everything. I need you to trust me, though, and leave.”

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, I am sorry to disappoint you. I won’t be leaving just because you said so. I came here today for my best friend’s —”

“Alessia!!” a voice rang out sharply, echoing in the hallways.

I turned around mid-sentence, recognizing the voice as Lorenzo’s as it sliced through the air. I stared at him, then at Alessia, who was practically trembling in place. I looked back at Enzo as he stomped toward us and realized he also knew Alessia.

Everyone here seemed to know her, but who was she? And what was her connection to everyone? Hopefully, Enzo could shed some light and make sense of this whole mess for me.

7

Alessia

I could feel my whole body tremble like a cathedral bell. I felt a stab of panic as I turned to the piercing sound of Enzo’s voice as he called out my name. “Alessia!” He barreled toward Michael like a truck without brakes. “What’s this? I am hearing about you having a boyfriend?”

Michael turned toward the sound. He was not a small man by any means, but neither was Enzo. I knew what was coming next. My mind flashed back to that unfortunate night five years ago, and I hugged myself closely, growing so small I all but disappeared.

I could still hear the cries and screams as my father and Enzo rained kicks and blows on a man whose only crime was a sexual interest in me. I glanced at Michael; his eyes narrowed at my brother as he approached. I had no idea what was going through his mind; his expression looked irritated.

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