11

Francesca

EVEN THOUGH I didn't want to admit it, I was excited to go out tonight. I told myself it was because I wanted to see Siderno, look for possible escape routes. This was definitely it, but it was also the chance to get out of the castle. I hated being stuck up there, and a night in a nice outfit, in a fancy restaurant, felt like heaven.

That was how far I had come in just a few days.

Giulio was chatty during the ride into town, pointing out places and things, telling funny stories about his childhood. The closer I was to him, the less he seemed like a hardened gangster like his father. Giulio was thoughtful and intelligent, playful and fun – basically everything Fausto wasn't. If they didn't look so similar, I wouldn't say they were related.

In the restaurant, everyone fawned over us as if we were Kate

Middleton and Prince William. I thought we were some kind of

royalty, considering Giulio's surname. We were sitting in a private room, the table covered in silver and crystal. T