Chapter 2:

Gianluca gently led me over to the small kitchenette area where Piero and Ignazio had retreated during our private exchange. I was worried though. I did not want them to start asking questions-the ones I could not answer. They could never know. No one could ever know. No one should have to endure the pain of knowing.

As Gianluca pulled out a chair at the little table, he must have notice my expression, which was tight with worry. He sat down and pulled my tiny form onto his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist and lacing his fingers through mine. He soothingly stoked my skin as he whispered in my ear, "It is alright, bella. Everything is alright now."

I turned and smiled weakly up at him. I was still skeptical. He rested his head on my shoulder and sighed. Piero and Ignazio sat across the table, eyes on me.

Ignazio grinned. "Gianluca, you really know how to be with girls. You just met her, you don't even know her name, and you practically ask her to marry you. Next, well, you know… you'll be having s…"

"Ignazio! Just shut up! Have some decency, please. And some respect for the young lady!" Piero exclaimed, startling me. I was surprised he was defending me. I thought he would be mad at me for stomping on his foot. "I'm sorry, Signorina. We're not really used to…well…beautiful girls like you." Piero blushed.

"No. There has never been anyone as beautiful as you." Gianluca said to me quietly, whispering the sweet words against the base of my neck.

Now I blushed. They were being so nice to me…for what? Being beautiful? I thought I was the most homely thing on the planet. My height of 4 feet 8 inches didn't help; it was the center of torment.

For a few minutes, no one said anything. I glanced at Gianluca and my hands laced together, rested on my lap. How easily they fit together, the dark, tanned olive curving around the white of my skin. It seemed so perfect…I glanced up at Piero, and I caught him staring almost longingly at me. I gave him a soft smile, and he quickly looked away, blushing again.

"As much as I would love to sit here in an awkward silence and stare at each other for the rest of the evening, I would like to request the pretty girl's name." Ignazio stated blandly, breaking the silence.

"Adelina." I whispered. "My name is Adelina Sebastianus."

"Piacere, Adelina." Ignazio said, cheerfully. "Now that that's out of the way, I'm hungry."

"Would you like to join us for dinner, Adelina?" Gianluca asked.

"Yes…I mean, no. I don't want to be an intrusion…"

"You? An intrusion? Of course not."

"Pretty girls are never intrusions. Especially ones like you." Ignazio said.

I blushed again. I had never had so many attractive boys flirting with me, let alone at one time. Gianluca laughed, peering at my face from the side. "Adelina, you are as red as a tomato. Why are you embarrassed? You act like you've never been complimented. Have you never been told you were beautiful? "

"No." I said quietly. The one little word drew all happiness out of the room.

"Then all are blind to an angel of God in their midst." Piero said, completely serious. His dark, chocolaty eyes, even deeper and darker than Gianluca's, accented and magnified by his red-framed glasses met mine, were so full of honesty and wonder I almost cried. He truly believed what he said. And he was wonderstruck by my very presence, infatuated by the mere thought of me, like a little boy learning the secrets of the universe.

This young man that I just met was breaking my heart into a million pieces. I felt so much for him already, much, much more than I should. Because Gianluca…no. Not because of Gianluca. Everything had happened so fast with him, I did not understand what our feelings were. Did he love me? Was I just a convenience? Could he be using me? Did I even love him? I did not know. But I did know how Piero felt, without needing to be told. His eyes said everything. His heart was worn on his sleeve, completely barred to me. And I was terrified that I may be the one to break it.

But the question of extreme importance was circling around my mind and around the shards of my heart. Who was I in love with? Gianluca? Or did I love Piero? My life had change in a moment. My future shifted into the unknown, my soul dangling by a thread, held in the hands of the one I loved.

Which one held the string connecting me to life?