Weak!
So weak… and the memories had continued to torment me, the idea that all women wanted one thing from me firmly and irrevocably planted in my mind.
Throughout the years, her presence became more bearable, even though her touch was still repulsive. But I managed because she was still my sisters' mother.
Now…
Catalina's gone. Romina's dead. Augusta is far away…
There's nothing holding me back.
30
ALLEGRA
My eyes snapopen when I hear footsteps down the hallway. That can only mean one thing.
Enzo's back.
For three days he's been absent…three days in which I'd cried my last tears—for the idiot I'd been, and for the brilliant actor he'd turned out to be.
No more!
Getting out of bed, I open the door, coming face-to-face with the man who's been tormenting me from day one.
But the sight I find is not the one I expected.
He's wearing the same white shirt and black pants he'd been wearing the last time I saw him. His eyes widen when he notices me. My gaze moves over his body, and I note the shadows on his face, the slight growth of a beard on his jaw…
He doesn't look good.
As I step toward him, I almost feel sorry for him.
Maybe it was the grief talking.
Just as I tell myself that, I catch a whiff of the same perfume that had been clinging to his skin the last time—a woman's perfume.
He was with that woman again… He fucked another woman.
I don't even wait for the pain to settle in my chest as my hand stretches out, the echo of a slap resounding in the hallway. His face moves to the side, but he doesn't react. He just looks at me in a bored manner, his entire expression closed off.
"That was for last time," I start, willing my voice to remain steady. I'd rehearsed so many times the things I'd like to scream in his face, but as I look at him now, I find myself rather speechless.
"I told you once, Enzo Agosti, that I'll give as good as I get. If you ever think about bullying me again, then you'd better watch where you sleep."
He doesn't react to my threat, his shoulders angling up in a lazy shrug.
"Do your worst," he says, closing the door to his room in my face.
Speechless, I stare at the closed door.
What just happened?
The following day is even worse. Sunday is the only day of the week when we're all expected to come down for dinner—the only day Rocco himself is present.
Tensions run high as I make my way to the dining room. Rocco is seated at one end of the table, with Lucia on his left side. Enzo is seated at the other end, and I take my seat next to him as expected.
Everyone is silent as the dishes are served, but I detect a quiet smugness on Lucia's face.
