17. Lucia

I watch the blood as it swirls down the drain, my mind still blank after what happened an hour ago. Two weeks ago, I was nothing but an orphaned virgin girl who grew up in a convent; now I’m the wife of the most powerful man in the criminal underworld.

It didn’t hit me until I stepped underneath the hot spray; this is my life now, and I’ll always have a bright red target on my back.

Anna helped me remove the splintered glass from my face and arms, then she gently brushed the splinters from my hair before I got into a hot shower. I thought it would be a simple act of washing the blood away, but the more I stand here, the more I wish I could curl up into a tiny ball.

Every time I close my eyes I can see what was left of the SUV; cracked windows and bullet holes all over the body. If it wasn’t armored, as Giovanni had said, then we would both be dead right now.

I was that close to dying, and I never suspected a thing.

I won’t lie; I am terrified.

I sat on the edge of the bathtub, stari