CHAPTER EIGHT: LUCIA'S pov

She walked into the bathroom and checked through the items he had bought, he got everything she could have needed, towels, toothbrushes, even night wears, she picked up the night wear and looked at it, it was exactly her size, and it was exactly what she would have gotten for herself, infact she had an exact one at home, 'he pays attention to everything' , she acknowledged.

she turned on the shower, she needed to have a very hot bath, she stood there thinking of what she had gone through these past days, who knew her life would have this turn, she has always been called boring by her friends, she never did anything interesting so she wondered what her friends back home would think of she told them about these past days. She had witnessed her father being killed, she had been tied up and almost got killed herself in a week!, the remembrance of the ordeal made her shiver. At least, I'm safe now and Andretti would protect me, she thought.

She had also just known Andretti in a week why did she trust him so much?, she could not explain it but she just knew she could trust him, she felt safe in his arms, his strong arms, she shook her head, she was diverting from her original thought, she didn't not want to think about his strong and muscular arms at least not yet, she still has a lot to process.

She turned on the shower, as the warmth of the water hit her body, she moaned, the feel of relaxation erupted in her body. She needed this so bad, she spend an hour and half just standing in the shower, allowing the water to run all over her body, she didn't think of her father's death, she didn't think of her near death experience, she didn't think of Andretti, she just relaxed, with her mind blank. She wished she could stand here forever but her palm was already starting to prune. She got out of the shower feeling better than she did a few hours ago, she changed into one of the night wears, as she changed, she noticed how exquisite the bathroom was, state of the art lighting, even the shower was very modern the water pressure was everything she could dream of, the marble washing sink was very appealing, the large mirror was every Ladies dream. She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts she did not notice the aesthetics when she walked into the bathroom. she had always lived a modest life growing up, her first experience with wealth was when her father came into her life and she moved to Italy. She has always loved beautiful houses and structures, she would have gone Into architecture but life had other plans for her.

She walked out of the bathroom into the room feeling refreshed, the room was empty. She jumped on the bed, looking into the celling.

"Madam Lucia", she heard someone call out. "Madam", the voice called again this time gently tapping her arms.

"yes!", she stood up which such speed that the caller shrieked and jumped back.

"are you okay, ma'am", the person said moving towards her again.

She must have fallen asleep, her eyes were still adjusting to the light, she had to rub her eyes so she could see clearly, then she saw the person calling her name, " Gia, right?", she asked.

"No, me Marlina, the other Gia", she said pointing to herself. She had a strong Italian accent and it seemed she could not speak fluently in English.

"Okay, sorry, Marlina".

Marlina nodded and said , " food downstairs right now" and walked out of the room.

She could tell obviously that she meant dinner was ready, she got out of bed and followed Marlina into the dinning area. The table was filled with different meals, how could she possibly finish all these? she thought to herself. The other house keeper Gia stood at the table ready to serve her.

She just had to ask "is everyone else joining for dinner?", looking at Gia hoping that Gia could understand her.

"No ma'am, I believe it's just you", Gia answered eloquently.

"oh, you speak English well ", She said.

Gia answered, " I speak and understand English very well".

she could sense a tone of irritation in Gia's reply, " oh, I didn't mean to be rude or anything".

"oh, I understand, maybe you think because I'm a house keeper, I would not understand English ". she muttered.

"oh, no, it's just that Marlina didn't understand..... I'm sorry...I don't", Lucia stuttered, she didn't know what to say again.

Marlina muttered something in Italian to Gia, Gia then said " it's fine...calm down, I'm just joking with you", she smiled.

Relived, Lucia drew out a chair and sat, just on cue her stomach rumbled, she hadn't eaten all day, she grabbed a plate and started to eat, the Trofile with basil pesto was heavenly, as she had the first taste, she closed her eyes and the savoured the taste, maybe it's because she was really hungry but it tasted really good.

She stuffed a lot in her mouth, munching really fast like she was in a hurry, " this is really good", she said to Gia in-between bites.

She could see Gia and Marlina giggling, they were laughing at the way she rushed her food. They could roll and the floor and laugh for all she cared, she was going to enjoy this meal however she liked she thought.

"Ma'am, slow down you wouldn't want to choke, would you?", Gia asked still giggling.

"I don't know", Lucia answered, taking another large portion into her mouth.

Marlina and Gia this time burst into a loud laugh. She ignored them focusing on her food. The laugh then stopped, maybe they have finally gotten tired of mocking me she thought, taking in another large mouthful.

"You look like a chipmunk", Andretti's said in his usual deep baritone voice.

Shocked, She looked up her cheeks bulging out filled with food, he was standing just at the entrance of the dinning area, she didn't hear him come in, panicking she swallowed the large portion of food in her mouth without chewing.