Piazza Bella - Aperitivo: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII | XIII
Piazza Bella - Antipasto: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X
Piazza Bella - Primi: Prologue | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII
Carla’s Point of View
I stood still, keeping quiet for her sake, staring from my bedroom door at a woman resting in my bed. She hadn’t eaten for days and was dehydrated, all evident once Luca carried her upstairs and lay her on my bed.
Sarah slept fitfully, twitching, crying, and whimpering most heartbreakingly. I had to take her story at face value, albeit my emotions overwhelmingly churned from the moment she told me her name, and I shook like a leaf because I’d got Liam out of my head.
Giovanni paced my apartment living room, clearly feeling distraught, which surprised me because he had sisters, so I figured feminine grief would be his close companion. He tried hiding it, but I saw him cry, so I left Sarah to rest but kept my door open in case she woke and had a breakdown.
As he stared out my window, I stood behind Giovanni, wrapping my arms around his waist. I pulled him close, rested my cheek on his back, and felt the light sobs of a man holding on to his emotions.
“It’s okay to cry when something sad happens, Giovanni.”
“Sarah completely fell apart downstairs, Carla. I haven’t seen anyone so devastated in my life. I feel partly responsible for this nightmare.”
“The only person to blame here is Liam. You can’t mitigate someone deliberately deceiving others on such a massive scale.”