I poked my head out the door and saw nothing, but when I turned back around, I gasped.
“Oh!” A flinch ricocheted through my core. A set of the coldest gray eyes met mine. They were set in a face wrinkled with age. The skin around the eyes creased as if to read my soul. At least that was how it felt. “Hello.” I tried to find my manners. “I’m Sienna, a friend—”
“I know who you are.” The anger in her raspy tone made me step backward, and I hit the doorframe with a thud. “And where you’ve been.” She stuck her finger in my face, and I heard the sound again. It was her rosary beads clinking together. “You can’t be here.”
“I’m-I’m not sure what’s going on here.” I tried to shake the nervous tone from my voice. The woman was terrifying. She looked old, but you could tell from her eyes she was sharp as a tack.
“Leave.” She drew out the word and pointed to the door.
I reached back and flung myself around then raced out of the room and down the hallway, the word ‘leave’ still screaming inside my head. I turned as I ran to see if she was watching when I smacked into someone. “Oh!”
Elio grabbed my wrists to steady me and glared.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I—” I stumbled, completely rattled. “Mariano brought me, and—”
“So I heard,” he snapped, and I was confused by his mood.
“I didn’t want to come. I had no—”
“You always have a choice.”
I ripped my arms away, annoyed. “Lovely to see you again.”
“You have no idea what my last forty-eight hours have been like.”
“How could I? You left without saying goodbye and didn’t text or call.”
His angry expression softened when he suddenly looked over my head.
“Nonna,” he brushed by me and leaned in to give her a kiss on both cheeks, “I want you to meet Sienna.”
Oh, sweet Lord, no.
“Hello, child.” She offered me a friendly smile, and all signs of psycho Nonna were gone. “Lovely to meet you.”
What the hell was happening? “Nice to meet you, too.”I think.
“Where are you from, dear?” She waved us to sit down. “I detect a slight accent.”
“She’s from—”
“All over.” I cut Elio off, not wanting her to know.
“Elio?” A man who looked a little younger and wider than Piero stood in the doorway. “Excuse me, but I just need a quick second.”
No, no, no.
“Do me a favor and stay put,” he murmured.
The moment he turned the corner, Nonna glared and leaned forward.
“If you knew what was good for you, you’d pack your bags and leave my family alone. If you don’t,” she pulled herself up to her full height and hissed, “I will get rid of you myself.”
“I think you may have me confused with someone else.”
“No, Sienna Giovanna from Sicily, I certainly do not.” My mouth dropped open while a ton of bricks dropped down on top of me. “She’s quite the beauty, isn’t she?” My head shot back at her sudden change in tone.