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She didn’t look at me again, letting Bella lead her away while I stood there, dumbfounded.
She thought I hated her.
She couldn’t be more wrong.
I didn’t hate her.
I wanted her.
Fuck, I wanted her so badly.
And I hated myself for it.
CHAPTER3
ALESSIA
Itried.
Tried and failed to forget about my embarrassing moment with Tristan.
I don’t know what came over me, what part of me thought it was a good idea to challenge him. But I was tired of always being on the receiving end of his cold shoulder. When I’d seen him standing there, as I came out of the bathroom, the words had just broken free.
Why do you hate me?
It wasn’t my finest moment, and Bella would tease me until the end of time if she knew what I’d said to him, but it was done now.
I glanced over at him, still in position over by the door leading to the bathrooms. He didn’t look at me though, keeping his hard gaze on his surroundings.
The knot in my stomach tightened.
“Alessia, you remember Joe,” Bella shoved a guy in front of me. He smiled down at me, his sandy blond hair flopping over his eyes. “
“I’m Joe,” he yelled. “You look really pretty.”
“Uh, thanks.” I flashed Bella a desperate look but she simply smothered her laughter and continued dancing with our friends.
Traitor.
“This is some party,” he went on. “Guess it’s true what they say about your family.”
I bristled at that.
“What is it they say?” My lips pursed.
“Come on, you know.” Joe waggled his brows. “I mean, I didn’t really believe it before… but this is insane. The security is so tight.”
My heart sank a little.
This is exactly what I tried to avoid. The awkward conversation about my family. Aboutwhomy family were.
Marchetti was synonymous with the very birth of Verona County, and anyone born and raised here, knew the stories. Sure, a lot of it was conjecture, exaggerated stories told to friends over drinks, but there was never smoke without fire. And it didn’t take much of a dig into Verona’s history to discover that the Marchetti were the real deal.
Joe tried to wrap his hand around my waist but I politely batted him away, keeping a safe distance. Dejection flashed in his eyes but he quickly shrugged it off.
“Sorry, I just—”
“Hey, no hard feelings.” He moved swiftly onto a new target, and Bella immediately marched over to me.
