Chapter 3

By the time I returned from my trip to the bathroom, dessert had been served.

The air was thick with the rich scent of cocoa and the bitter notes of tiramisu.

Juliana sat there, looking more assured than before.

However, her eyes betrayed her.

She locked her eyes, smoldering with rage, onto me the moment I walked through the door.

Matteo kept his attention on his dessert, not looking up once at me.

I resumed my place at the table.

Sitting across from me, Vittoria shot me a look of concern, mixed with a subtle trace of admiration.

Vittoria was married to Luca, Matteo’s most trusted capo.

She was the only one I could really talk to ever since I married into the Colombo family.

Juliana placed her cutlery down and dabbed at her lips with a napkin, perfectly poised.

“Alessia,” she uttered out of the blue. Her voice was loud enough to catch the attention of the entire table.

“I know I lack a filter since I was raised on the streets of Naples among men. It’s just how I am. I apologize if I ever make you uncomfortable.”

She folded her napkin on the table before facing me.

“But that doesn’t mean I can tolerate the lies you made up about Mr. Tutti and me. You’re not just ruining my name.”

She paused, her voice wavering with a touch of hurt.

“Mr. Tutti is the consigliere. His reputation reflects the honor of the family. By saying something like that in public, how do you expect him to show his face?”

The capos at the table scowled.

With that remark, Juliana redirected the focus from personal conflict to me undermining the family’s dignity.

No longer the accused, Juliana rose to defend the family’s honor.

Matteo looked up at me, his expression clouded with a mix of displeasure and criticism.

I grabbed my fork and cut into the tiramisu. The cream flattened, and coffee seeped out.

“Juliana.” I set the fork down and met her gaze. “Didn’t you say that you were surrounded by men while growing up on the streets of Naples? You’re used to their company, so boundaries don’t exist to you. Your words, not mine.”

“I didn’t say anything about boundaries—”

“But that’s exactly how you act.” I interrupted her. “Didn’t you talk about sharing a bed with Matteo in the safe house? You’re not fussy about the place and the company. To you, it’s candor, but I call it crossing the line.”

I stood up, my hands propped against the table.

“You position yourself as one of the boys, soaking up the attention and indulgence. Then you use your blunt personality as an excuse to label your critics as petty.”

Juliana’s cheeks turned flushed.

“As for Mr. Tutti.” I turned to the people at the table, “I was just stating what I saw—disheveled hair and an undone dress. That’s a fact. I didn’t say what she did in Mr. Tutti’s room. You’re the one who took it there.”

Carlo kept his silence throughout the exchange. Sitting at the other end of the table, he held his fork high.

Juliana jolted to her feet. “Alessia—”

“Sit,” Carlo spoke at last.

His voice carried across the table without rising, commanding silence.

Juliana froze, her lips quivering. Still, she knew better than to defy Carlo.

Carlo set his fork down and wiped his hands with a napkin.

Rising, he approached and positioned himself between Juliana and me.

“Juliana, was what Alessia said the truth?”

“Mr. Tutti, she’s lying—”

“I’ll ask you again. Was she telling the truth?”

Juliana dropped her jaw, but no words escaped her lips.

Carlo stared at her for three seconds before giving a nod.

“Disheveled hair and an unzipped dress. That’s the truth.” He turned to the crowd. “Juliana came to my suite the other day to deliver urgent paperwork. She tripped in the hallway, coming out of it looking a mess. I told her to wait at the door while I signed the papers. She took off promptly after, and the whole thing lasted no more than two minutes.”

He stopped for a moment. “My bodyguard was present the entire time. For those with doubts, feel free to ask him.”

Carlo looked at me. “You’re not wrong, Alessia. You spoke the truth as you saw it, but I had to fill in the blanks on the parts you weren’t privy to.”

I locked eyes with Carlo.

His gaze was unreadable.

However, I knew that Carlo had saved his own skin and given me an out.

“Thank you, Mr. Tutti.” I hung my head low.

Juliana stood there, her expression shifting from rage to embarrassment before settling into a gloomy grimace.

Carlo returned to his seat, sat down, and went back to his dessert.

The dinner party ended in silence.

Getting up to leave, Juliana took her shawl and drew it around her shoulders.

On her way out, Juliana took one last look at me. The hostility in her eyes couldn’t be clearer.

After much hesitation, Matteo drew close to me. “Come on.”

I was surprised that Matteo didn’t go with Juliana.

The car ride home was spent in silence.

Matteo tapped on the steering wheel with an erratic beat.

I knew what was on his mind. He was wondering if Juliana was just as I described her to be.

Matteo had known Juliana for two decades, so the truth was hard to swallow.

However, with Carlo’s own admission of the day’s events, Matteo had his suspicions.

I stayed silent, giving him time and space to figure things out on his own.

Outside the car window, the lights of the estate faded into the distance.

My phone went off with a notification from Juliana.

“Alessia, I must apologize for today. I hope there are no hard feelings.”

I stared at the text with a smirk.

Vittoria was right.

That was Juliana’s playbook. She would attack, then apologize, pretending to take the high road.

By pushing back, I’d be cast as the villain.

I flipped my phone over, face down.

In this life, I would not fall for it again.