Chapter XVII

I woke up in my bed, soaking wet. My heart was racing and I had trouble calming my breathing.

It was still dark in my room, so I reached for my cell phone on my bedside table.

It was only three in the morning. The dream had shaken me so much that my hands were still shaking.

To calm myself down, I got out of bed and went out onto the balcony with a pack of cigarettes.

It was still warm outside, only the cool evening breeze made me shiver now and again. No wonder I was only wearing a nightgown.

I lit my cigarette and closed my eyes briefly. My mother's face appeared in my mind's eye, so I opened them again with a jerk. It hadn't been this bad for a long time. Over the years I had learned to suppress my memories of her death and our time in captivity, but since I'd been here it all came flooding back. Two nights in this house and both times I was plagued by this nightmare. At least today I woke up before I could wake anyone up. Is that because of the change? Because I'm now in a foreign country, in a foreign house with a foreign family. I'm no expert, but it's easier for me to blame them. I mean, I'm being torn from my surroundings, which I wasn't happy in, but I knew them. I knew that father would send me to annoying events where I would do nothing but present our family. Or rather our wealth and power. I knew that Ivan would come to me because I was supposed to plan the strategy for his next mission and accompany them by radio from his office because he has zero patience.

But here? I mean, it's not the family's fault. Apart from Dante, everyone is very nice and polite to me. Valeria makes a lot of effort to include me everywhere so that I feel comfortable. Chiara is looking for a replacement for her big sister Isabella, which I can't blame her for because, to be honest, I really enjoyed our conversations. And Marco, well, he's Marco.

Luca, on the other hand, I can't really judge. He always appears out of nowhere and always makes strange comments, or remains silent. It often sounds as if he already knows everything and just wants confirmation from me. I haven't exchanged a word with the twins or Lorenzo. I only saw them briefly at the bar yesterday. And Sergio Martinelli is probably the biggest secret of all.

I finished smoking and was just about to go back inside when I heard two voices. I could attribute one to Dante, but the other was more muffled, so I only heard a very quiet whisper. Dante was speaking to the person in Italian, which means everyone here, everyone except me, is a possible conversation partner. Great, I'm not getting anywhere like this. I can't even tell if it's a male or female voice and I can't see either of them either.

I quietly left the balcony to go to my bedroom door. I could sneak quietly to the patio door and spy from there. Maybe I'd be able to see better then... Wait a minute. What am I actually doing here? I suddenly let go of the knob on my bedroom door and took a few steps back.

I almost spied on Dante. What was wrong with me? First the slip-up yesterday and now this. I wonder if there is an Italian flu?? Oh, what am I thinking? It's better to go back to bed before I slip up again.

I was woken up by a noise that sounded like curtains being drawn.

Sunbeams warmed my face and forced me to turn away. It was still far too early. Suddenly the covers were pulled away from me, which was an international declaration of war.

I opened my eyes and saw Amelia standing at the end of my bed, grinning pleasantly.

Can a day start any more bleakly?!

"Get up, it's already seven o'clock."

Did she really just order me to do that? She's going to see something. The little lesson from last morning wasn't enough for her.

I grabbed the rest of the blanket that was still on my bed and pulled it back over me.

Half past six! She's crazy.

I closed my eyes again. Unfortunately, I was too happy too soon, because the blanket was pulled away from me again.

"Breakfast will be served at eight and you should use the time to get ready."

I grabbed the empty pillow next to me and threw it in the direction that annoying voice was coming from.

Unfortunately, it was gone too quickly, so the pillow bounced off my closed bedroom door.

Since I wouldn't be able to sleep after such a spectacle anyway, I took a shower and then got ready for the day. I

still had half an hour before dinner, so I decided to call Ivan.

After two failed attempts to call, I gave up. He was probably still asleep, which is understandable.

I killed the rest of the time by reading the latest gossip on the Internet.

At eight o'clock sharp I went to the dining room. Today I was wearing comfortable mom jeans and a loose white blouse.

Everyone was already sitting at the table, so I sat quietly in my place.

At least my coffee was ready and I took a few sips with pleasure.

Dante was talking to his father in Italian, which was fine with me, while his mother was leafing through a magazine. Every now and then she held up a picture to me that showed either flowers or decorations. I just nodded because I didn't care what the wedding would look like.

Marco, on the other hand, was noticeably quiet. Usually he was the one who entertained the whole table, but today he was probably struggling with a hangover. He was wearing sunglasses and every time Chiara started to say something he warned her not to be so loud. I had to suppress a grin.

While I was making my sandwich, Luca kept giving me a look that was examining me. Since I didn't want to talk about the attack again, and certainly not here, I just ignored it.

Otherwise it was pretty quiet.

One of the twins, oh man I really need to learn who is who, reached for the jam that was across from me. I had a perfect view of his tattoo. I already knew that one of them had a snake, but hadn't seen it yet.

The snake went all the way up the back of his hand to his wrist and forearm. It looked majestic and scary at the same time. Just like Lucas' tattoo, his was dark.

My attention was drawn from the snake to Amelia, from one snake to another. She was standing next to Dante and trying to get his attention with a lovely sweet voice.

Now I remembered my morning again and anger rose in me. Not that she had woken me up so early, but how she had talked to me as if I were her servant and not the other way around.

I looked at Valeria, who was still engrossed in the magazine.

"Valeria, could I maybe have a fly swatter?"

Valeria looked up at me confused and then nodded. "Of course, dear, but what for, we don't actually have any flies here."

I looked at Amelia, who was just pouring Dante more coffee. "I was woken up this morning by such an annoying fly. It just wouldn't let me sleep." I smiled at Amelia the whole time.

She jumped and spilled some coffee.

"Amelia, be careful!" Dante said in my stern tone, as some coffee spilled on his side of the table. "I'm sorry, Signore, I'll clean it up immediately." He just nodded while she frantically wiped the coffee away.

Hmm, is that enough revenge for this morning? No, I don't think so. And I wouldn't be me if I didn't go one step further.

"A gun would do the trick, I need to practice shooting at moving objects anyway."

Dante's head turned to me and he looked at me in confusion. I, however, didn't take my eyes off Amelia. Her face was already deep red and she was angrily glaring at me.

"But, my love, how is a gun supposed to help with a fly?" Valeria asked, and I had to grin. The poor girl was still thinking about the fly.

"You know, Valeria, it's such a big fly, catching it shouldn't be a problem." Now she followed my gaze and probably understood that I meant her servant, because she burst out laughing.

Chiara and I joined in, but the men just looked at us strangely and confused.

Apparently they didn't understand a thing.