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Lia follows her in, also skidding to a halt. "Oh, mama mia."
I look at the women. "How did she get in here?"
They glance at each other and then back at me with a shrug.
"We don't know," Lia says.
Electra arches a brow. "You don't think I can get into Luca's home? The father of my child?"
Lia says something to her mother, which I suspect is a translation of what Electra has just said.
Roberta starts rattling off words in Italian faster than I can understand and hurries out of the room.
"My mama is going to get one of the men. They will escort her off the property."
Noting that Electra speaks English, I say, “You need to leave now or you’ll be forcibly removed.”
Electra's nostrils flare in indignation. She starts speaking in Italian, and while I don't know what she's saying, I imagine it's not complementary.
She strides to the exit. “Puttana,” she spits as she passes me.
I’m shaken to the core. Lia puts an arm around me and guides me to the bed. My instinct is to pack and run.
I look up at Lia. "I can't stay?—"
"She is not a good woman, Signorina Aria. Don Conte doesn't like her. I promise you."
Roberta returns again, her speech too quick for me to comprehend. Lia responds, I suspect telling her that I want to leave.
Roberta looks at me with concern and says something to Lia.
"My mama says just like I told you. Don Conte doesn’t like her."
I want to believe it, but is it that part of me that believes in fairytales? Is it wishful thinking?
Lia nods. "We will call Don Conte. He will tell you."
I shake my head because I can't talk to him. I'm too easily swayed and seduced by him. At the same time, I recognize now, like I hadn't before, that running away isn’t the answer, either. Luca told me Electra is in his past, and I believe him. Finding her in my room could suggest that he lied to me, but to what end? Why keep me here if his plan is to be with Electra?
"I will talk to Luca when he gets home this evening. In the meantime, can you call Bianca and invite her over?" If anybody can tell me what is really going on, it will be her.
Twenty minutes later, I'm back in the sitting room as Bianca sweeps in. "Oh Dio, did she really come here?"
I work to be strong, but I'm not sure I hide the tremble in my lip. "She got into the house. Into his room. My room."
Bianca lets off a string of words in Italian that I suspect would make a sailor blush. "Where is Don Conte?"
"He’s working. Somewhere outside of the villa."
She sits next to me on the couch and takes my hand in both of hers, her expression intent on me. "Don Conte does not love this woman. She was his plaything, but he's been done with her for a long time."
I study her. "That picture that came out last week made it seem like it wasn't over. You even said all your men have?—"
"Not Don Conte. I saw him when we were here the other day. The way he looks at you. Electra is nothing." She makes a spitting noise.
"She says she's pregnant with his child." Is that even possible? He said they were over for a long time. What is a long time? Weeks? Months?
"It doesn't matter. Electra is a crazy one. At one point, she thought Luca and his stepmother, Lucia—you know her, right?"
