Alessia opened her eyes to a ray of sunlight streaming through the window. She was still leaning against the wall, and with her slight waking movements, fire shot down her spine. With a groan, she stretched, yawned, and then gasped. What was she doing?

Porca miseria!

Ignoring the back pain, she scrambled from her spot on the bed to her feet. John had vanished. The last she remembered was him sitting in his chair with his laptop in front of him and the gun on the armrest. It was just starting to get light outside. Hopefully, she hadn't been asleep long. Judging from the angle of the light, it was probably after eight.

Her heart pounded as she glanced around the room. The bathroom door was slightly open but no movement or sound came from the other side. The curtains were halfway open but she still had a view of the small balcony. It was empty.

So he'd just up and left her in his room. On his bed. He must have gotten what she would consider good news. Lucky her.

She glanced around the room for a moment, shook her head, and tiptoed to the door. No way was she going to wait here for him to come back and push her around again. Holding her breath, she listened at the door for a moment. The other side was quiet, so she pushed it open and peeked into the hallway. It was empty.

She was free to go.

After everything he put her through last night, he just ups and vanishes like it was no big deal. Gritting her teeth, she decided she would ask John for advice on how to get away with murder, and then murder him.

She stepped into the hallway, just as the door across from her flew open and her mother walked out, dust cloth and cleaning spray in hand.

Her mother stopped and gaped at her. "What are you doing in there?" Glancing her up and down, her eyes widened even further.

"I was..." Alessia looked down at her ripped T-shirt, her bare feet, and her scratched-up legs. Considered her tangled hair. Then she gasped. Her mother didn't think... "Nothing! Oh mio Signore." She turned on her heel and hurried down the steps.

"Alessia, get back here!" her mother yelled after her.

Alessia did not go back. Instead, she went straight to her room to put something decent on. After pulling on a fresh shirt, she kicked the torn one into a corner. It was official. She was going to murder John. Whether she could get away with it or not.

She grabbed a hairbrush and parked herself in front of the mirror, glaring at her reflection as she attacked the knots. No. She wouldn't murder John yet. First, she would murder Veronica.

Veronica was the one who locked her outside and got her into this mess in the first place.

Then, once Veronica was taken care of, she'd deal with the guy who had pointed a gun at her, literally kidnapped her, and held her against her will.

Once her hair was tamed, she clipped it back and headed out the door. As she descended the stairs, dulled voices drifted from the living room. She didn't have to hear them properly to know Mama was just telling Veronica what she'd seen.

Thank goodness Papa was in town this morning. He'd hear all about it when he got home, but at least Alessia could deal with him later.

Avoiding the living room, Alessia went into the kitchen. As usual, Nonna stood in front of the stove, stirring a pot of tomatoes so big, she could barely look over the rim.

"He ordered an espresso," Nonna said bluntly.

"That's nice." Alessia dug into the cabinet, hoping to find some cream-filled croissants. She found a jar of Nutella and unscrewed it.

"He asked for you to make it." Nonna winked.

"Of course he did. Was Mama in here?"

"Not yet. But I heard her yelling at your sister in the living room."

Alessia sighed, grabbed a spoon, then scooped out a heaping portion and stuck it in her mouth. If Mama told Veronica what she'd seen, Alessia was never going to hear the end of it.

Play it cool.

The kitchen door flew open and her mother fluttered in.

"Alessia, we need to talk." Mama strode to Alessia's side and took the jar of Nutella out of her hands.

Why didn't John just shoot me?

"No, we don't." Needing something to do, Alessia put the spoon down and turned on the espresso machine. "There's nothing to talk about."

Mama rolled her eyes and groaned.

Veronica appeared in the doorway. "The girls are going to get such a kick out of this tonight." She laughed. No, she cackled.

"You." Alessia gritted her teeth together and faced her sister, pointing a finger at her. "You locked me out last night!"

"Veronica," Mama gasped. Even Nonna stopped stirring her tomatoes and turned.

Veronica smirked. "Sounds like you should be thanking me."

Alessia grabbed the closest object-a wooden spatula-and chucked it at Veronica's head. It hit the doorframe and clattered to the floor.

Veronica's mouth dropped open. "How dare you!" She clenched her hands into fists and took a step into the kitchen.

"Veronica, that's enough!" Mama yelled. She stopped Veronica with an outstretched hand and pushed her out of the kitchen. The two of them bickered back and forth, their voices continuing up the stairs.

The only sound in the kitchen was the blubbering tomatoes.

"Our... guest is waiting for his coffee," Nonna reminded her, breaking the peace.

"I'll take it to him," Mama said, reentering the kitchen with a heavy sigh. She waved Alessia away from the espresso machine. "I should have been doing more instead of having you take care of it."

Alessia held the portafilter out of her mother's reach. "I'll do it."

Mama studied her. "You know, it's okay if you like him."

"Could we please talk about something else?" Alessia lightly stamped the grounds into the filter.

"He's handsome. He's polite."

Alessia snorted. "He has the personality of a door knob."

"Maybe you just need to get to know him better."

Well, I won't be doing that. No, she was going to take care of the problem, as soon as this espresso was finished. Once the cup was full, she grabbed it and marched outside, not bothering with a saucer.

She found John sitting at the table on the patio, calmly sipping his orange juice as he scrolled on his phone. Alessia resisted the temptation to yank it from his hand and dump the contents on his head.

Except that would be a waste of perfectly good orange juice.

John looked up from his phone when she approached. He flashed her an easy smile.

"I knew you were awake once all the yelling started."

Alessia slammed the cup down in front of him. "You."

He motioned toward the empty chair at the other side of the table. "Sit."

Alessia ignored the command. "Did you really have to leave me in your room like that? My mother saw me leaving."

"Terrible. Have a seat."

"I want you to pack your bags and leave. Now."

"That's not going to happen." He took a sip from the espresso cup, then set it down. "Not until my business here is finished. So... sit."

"Who do you think you are? You don't boss me around."

"If you want me to answer that, you should sit and listen to what I have to say. Or are you okay with losing your home?"

She chewed on her lip. So... he found out about all that. And now he had something up his sleeve. A dangling carrot. And like the donkey she was, she was tempted to take the bait. Very tempted. She couldn't give in too easily. She wasn't going to let him off the hook for last night.

"I don't care about whatever it is you have to say." She raised her chin. "An eviction notice is an eviction notice. Leave before I call the police."

He smiled up at her. Charmingly smug. She would love to slap it off his face, handsome or not. Why was he in such a good mood? It was annoying.

"Nice try, but you'll want to hear me out."

"Maybe after I've filed a police report and charged you with assault and theft."

"Theft?"

"You haven't even given me my phone back. Or apologized for putting a gun to my head. You haven't even shown a gram of remorse. Or-"

"Fine." His tone had lost all amusement. Good. She was getting under his skin. He downed his espresso. "I'm so sorry. For everything."

There was no sincerity in his voice. So, she turned and walked back toward the house. "I'm calling the police."

"What if I offered you ten thousand euros?"

She spun around to face him, walking backwards. "I don't want your money."

"But you want to keep your home, don't you?"

Slowly sucking in her breath, she had to give it to him. He'd found her weakness and wasn't afraid of using it against her. She stopped and looked over her shoulder at the house, fondly following the vines that climbed the yellow stone up to the second story. The curtains in one of the upstairs windows swayed. Probably Veronica. But she would be gone soon enough. Then it would just be her, her parents, and Nonna fighting to keep the farm. Except, they didn't seem to have any fight left in them. Maybe they would, once the wedding was over and they felt like they could breathe again. Ten thousand was a good chunk of money...

She gave John a sideways glance. "Twenty thousand?"

He studied her for a moment, and gradually, the amused glint in his eyes returned.

She wished badly he wouldn't do that. His face was already attractive. The last thing he needed was an actual personality too.

He nodded at the empty chair across from him. This time, she walked over and sat down.

"I'm here because my uncle sent me. My uncle, Mario, is not someone you'd want to cross. So, if you cross me, you cross him. Understand?"

"Sure, John. Sounds great. What does any of that have to do with me?"

"My real name is Gianmarco. Or just Gian."

"Ha. So clever to use John on your passport instead of Gian. I'm awed by your ingenuity."

"It's enough deviation when I don't need a major identity change." He leaned back in his chair. "Moving on. My uncle sent me here to wrap up some unfinished business. The problem is... this." He gestured toward the hills.

"Uh... grass and trees?"

"Eighty-three point seven acres is my problem. And-"

"No, it's not. Those are my family's eighty-three point seven acres, not yours or your uncle's. So, why don't you go pack your bags like I told you and get out of here?"

"Not so fast. I'm not done." With that, he pulled out a yellowed sheet of paper with deep creases and laid it flat on the table. Alessia reached for it, but Gian quickly put his hand over hers, stopping her. "There's no backing out of this once you read that letter."

She stared at his hand on hers-firm, but not painfully so. She had the nauseating thought that he could probably break every bone in her hand if he wanted. "I can't just agree to do something when I don't know what it is I'm agreeing to."

"You're an archaeologist, right?"

"Yes."

"You want to pay off your parents' debt?"

"Yes."

"Then trust me. You'll agree."

*************************
Author's Note:

We're finally getting somewhere. Will Alessia be able to resist or not? 😉

And unfortunately, Chapter Ten is a chopped up mess, so this will require some time to fix. I'll try to have it up this week, but if not, I'll post next week! Thank you for reading!