Betrothed to The Devil (Devil in Disguise Duet #2)

Chapter 2

《Selena Arabella Calos》

Feeling multiple pairs of eyes on us, I try to pull away from him, but he tightens his arm around my waist.

"People are looking at us," I hiss, and he shrugs.

"Let them," he replies nonchalantly.

I roll my eyes. It's just like him to react like that. "Your girlfriend looks like she is going to kill me."

"She is not my girlfriend yet," he mutters, loosening his hold on me for a second to spin me around.

"Alessandro," I scold patronisingly, and he smiles at me.

It does not matter if Nat is not officially his girlfriend yet- if the person I was in love with was dancing with someone like Alessandro is with me, I would want to kill them too.

"Don't worry, Lena. Nat knows you need me right now."

"Not the point, Moretti."

"She's known us for years," Alessandro says, glancing over my shoulders at Natalie. "She should not be jealous of our closeness. She should know I will always be there when you need me."

I furrow my eyebrows. Has she ever mentioned being jealous of our closeness to him?

I feel like a bitch now. I did not even think how the fact that Alessandro would drop anything at any moment to be there for me when I needed him would affect Natalie.

"I should have done this before," I mutter, and he raises his eyebrow questioningly. "If Nat is jealous of this, or if she is hurt by how close we are, then-"

"No," Alessandro says, a dangerous edge to his tone before I can finish talking.

"You already know we cannot see each other much once I find out who my fiancé is," I mutter, and he sighs.

"I know, Lena. But we have a lot of time before that. And that will be different. When we have to stay apart after that, it will be because your well-being will be at risk if we do not. That will be to keep you safe, not so that someone does not feel insecure."

"Technically, it will be because my fiancé would not like it," I tell him, then look back at Natalie, who is glaring at Alessandro's back. I am supposed to be the shoulder she can cry on, not the person who makes her cry.

"Alessandro, she is my best friend. I can't be the one to hurt her."

He clenches his jaw. "What about me, Lena? I need you in my life."

"Who said I am leaving you? I need you in my life, too, A. I just meant maybe we should distance ourselves, at least physically. I remember D- Daniel being jealous of how close we were too."

He rests his head on my shoulder. "No, Selena. I don't care who is jealous. They don't understand. No one can ever understand me as you can. I can't live-"

"You need to let her understand you. Maybe that's why she is jealous. Because every time anything happens in your life, you come to me and shut everyone else out. You are with her now; you need to let her in too."

Alessandro stays quiet for a moment. "It's hard for me to let anyone else in, Lena. Everyone, including her, has hurt me in one way or another- everyone except for you. I have waited for her to choose me dozens of times, and each time she has chosen someone else, and you, of all people, know that the last time damn near killed me. How can I let her in after that?"

I wince when I think about what happened last time. Around the time I got engaged, Nat and Alessandro started dating. They had only gone on a few dates when Natalie's ex-boyfriend, Elliot, showed up. She chose him over Alessandro, which made Alessandro go into a deep dark spiral. He ended up in the hospital several times for overdose and was almost arrested dozens of times for DUIs. He was not arrested because Rafael had too much of a hold over the corrupt police department. It got so bad that he spent almost three months in rehab. Three bloody months. That's longer than I spent in-