23.

Alessia

“Good morning, Lilian,” I greeted as I stepped inside the kitchen. I didn’t even know what time it was. I barely had enough sleep due to last night. Angelo didn’t release me back to my room until late midnight. And I found sleep too difficult to come by.

“Good morning, Alessia. Looks like you had trouble sleeping last night.” I didn’t miss the hint of tease in her voice. Initially, I didn’t plan to bring up the topic. But since she practically had a hand in whatever happened last night, maybe it would be wise enough of me to confront her.

“I didn’t. All thanks to you,” I said with a forced smile. My eyes didn’t waver from hers.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She pushed, turning her focus to cleaning the counter, which I didn’t know how many times she had cleaned one spot. “I think you need some explanation to do,” I broke.

She heaved out a sharp breath, then turned to face me again. “I was just trying to reconcile you both. I see that you were hurt by his actions,” she