Chapter 1

Melisenda's POV

The gunsmith, Luca Romano, worked through the night to readjust the new guns, and everyone was called in to inspect them again.

Noticing Vincenzo Ricci and Siena Bellandi from a distance, I walked into the shooting range too.

Vincenzo stood just behind the firing line, his black sleeves rolled to his elbows, head lowered as he examined the gun Siena handed him.

He asked, "What do you think?"

Siena flexed her wrist. "It's way better. But I'd prefer the grip to be a little narrower."

Vincenzo called Luca over. "You heard what she said. Adjust it again."

Luca looked troubled. "Don Ricci, the whole batch?"

"Of course."

Someone teased, "One word from Siena, and the armory will be working overtime for the next two nights."

Another person chimed in, "What's so strange about that? Siena knows her stuff. If it were someone else, they probably couldn't even tell what was wrong."

At that, one of them shot me a pointed look, holding my gaze. "The Donna is here too."

Someone chuckled. "Wow, how rare. After all, the noble Donna spends her days tending to flowers. What's she doing in a place like this?"

Their remarks were provocative, and as Donna, I could punish them. But I just looked at Vincenzo.

I still held out hope for him.

But Vincenzo was still focused on helping Siena adjust her shooting position. "Ease up a little more here."

Siena did as she was told and gripped the gun again.

Vincenzo leaned in to check it once more. "Now shoot."

The gunshot drowned out the mocking laughter behind me.

It wasn't until someone walked over with a test report that Vincenzo finally noticed me.

"Melisenda?" He looked surprised, then walked over and wrapped his arm around my waist. "What brings you here?"

Then Vincenzo leaned in and kissed my forehead. "Filippo told me you were upset yesterday. You're probably still bothered by the fact that I helped Siena switch guns."

I sneered. "Did you come over because you're worried that I'd be bothered by Siena?"

He chuckled. "Oh, Tesoro, don't say that. What she mentioned is true, and I'm merely solving the problem."

"You know I'm not talking about guns."

Vincenzo looked at me innocently. "Then what is it about?"

I was about to speak when someone called out to him.

"Don Ricci, there's still an issue with the balance in the second batch."

Vincenzo instinctively turned around, then patted my waist. "I'll talk to you later."

Ten minutes later, those who had gossiped about me earlier arrived at the test range too. One of the young men spotted the gunsmiths surrounding Siena and joked, "Siena, your hands sure are precious. All you need to do is pout, and they have to rework 200 guns."

People around him laughed.

He got carried away and made several more jabs at Siena.

Vincenzo suddenly looked up, his face dark, and gestured to the Underboss. The next second, the man who'd been running his mouth was dragged away.

Realization dawned on everyone, including me. I suddenly found everything meaningless.

When people mocked me, Vincenzo ignored it for Siena's sake, but when someone jabbed at Siena, he immediately had them executed.

I wandered off to the lounge beside the shooting range in a daze.

Vincenzo came looking for me soon after and embraced me from behind. "Are you still mad at me?"

I pulled his hands away, about to speak, when Siena's voice suddenly came from behind us.

"Am I interrupting you?" Carrying a black gun case, she stopped in front of me.

"The gunsmith just finished adjusting this." Siena opened it up. "Do you want to try it? Maybe once you've tried it, you won't think Vincenzo had the guns changed for my sake."

I glanced at her. "No need."

"Oh, come on, Melisenda." Siena pushed the gun case toward me. "I don't want others to think that we're on bad terms because of a gun."

"Then you should definitely take it away." I moved to close it. As I did, Siena suddenly reached her hand in.

"Ouch!"

The heavy lid slammed down on her fingers, and blood immediately seeped between them.

Vincenzo immediately let go of me. "Siena!"

The others heard the noise and quickly gathered around us.

Siena's face paled from the pain, but she quickly shook her head. "Don't be mad at Melisenda. She didn't do it on purpose."

I stared at her in disbelief. "But you clearly…"

"Get the doctor." Vincenzo held up Siena's injured hand, anxiety written all over his face.

"But I…"

"Melisenda, her hand's bleeding." He paused. "Get the driver to take you home first. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

It happened again.

I watched them leave without saying anything else.

In four days, I wouldn't give him another chance to brush me off.