Page 36 of Between Us

Gabriella returned only minutes later with two tall glasses filled with homemade lemonade. She gave Alessandra one then sat down beside her. “So, tell me everything. How is he?”

“He's nice, Mamma, and I really like him. He's letting me go to college.”

“Madonna mia.” Gabriella pressed a hand to her chest as if her heart couldn't take such news. “What need does a married woman have for college?”

“Why is it so outrageous that I want to have an education and maybe work?”

“But you don't need to work,figlia mia. Your husband is wealthy enough. He will be the head of his familysomeday. He needs a wife to raise his children, not chase after some career that will do her no good.”

Alessandra wanted to argue that her mother had no idea what having a career was like. The satisfaction it brought was foreign to a woman who had been raised with the mentality that her husband's wishes came before her own. Instead, she decided to deviate from the subject. “It's not important because I'm not sure I'm going anyway.” In truth, she had already decided a long time ago for the University of Chicago. “How have you been?”

As Gabriella launched into gossip about their many relatives, Alessandra zoned out, her thoughts already flying to her husband and the vacation plans she was working on.

Sometime later, the front door opened, announcing the arrival of her brother. Matteo rushed into the living room, his expression heavy with concern. In a few steps, he was on his sister, pulling her up and into his arms for a tight hug. “Fuck, Ale,” he breathed against her hair. “Please tell me you're okay.”

“I'm fine.” Alessandra felt like a broken record, reassuring first Ronnie, then her mother and now Matteo. Pulling back, her palm touched his stubble-covered cheek. “How are you?”

He gave her a noncommittal shrug. “Same as always.”

“Coffee, Matteo?” Gabriella asked.

“Yeah. Make it strong.”

“I know how my son likes his coffee,” she muttered, spinning on her heels and leaving the room.

Matteo chuckled, causing his face to lose some of its earlier concern. He looked as handsome as ever with his dark, curly hair that reached past the tips of his ears andthose intense, green eyes many women swooned over. Sometimes, Alessandra wished she had inherited that shade of green herself.

“Luca says ‘hi’. I was with him when you first texted.”

Alessandra felt her stomach drop, remembering the night he’d reached out, seemingly out of nowhere. Not knowing what to say, she acknowledged her brother’s remark with a simple, “Okay.”

Matteo sighed, gesturing they should sit down. “I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but he's still in love with you. Being forced to give you up hasn't exactly been easy on him either.”

“I doubt he put up too much of a fight when he found out I was going to marry another man.”

“That's not fair. You weren't there, so you wouldn't know. He did get into an ugly fight with his father. Vito threatened to take away his position in the organizationif he didn't comply.”

She was surprised to hear it. Luca never disagreed with his father on anything. Despite the way her heart still bled with everyone’s betrayal, she was starting to learn that all things happened for a reason. “You never told me that. Neither did he, for that matter.”

“What would have been the point? The marriage was going to happen either way.”

“Maybe I wouldn't have felt so easily discarded by everyone.”

The flash of pain crossing Matteo's face made her regret her words. It wasn't his fault, and she knew that all too well. “Is that asshole behaving around you?”

“You make it sound as if he’s a feral dog, or something.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Everything is fine. You don't have to worry about me.” When he stared at her as if trying to figure out whether she was lying or not, she rolled her eyes. “I don't understand why you're acting like a mother hen. I'm already married to him. There's nothing you could do even if he treated me badly.”

“I may not be able to put a bullet between his eyes without risking a war, but I can break his fucking legs.” It was the first time Matteo openly admitted in front of his sister that his job in the organization involved more than just helping their father with the legal side of the business.

“I like him,” Alessandra said quietly.

Matteo frowned. “You don't even know him, Ale.”

“I know him better than you do,” she shot back.

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