The Devoted Gentleman (EDITING)

Chapter 20

Valeria did not know what Valentino was going to show her. Her heart was pounding in her chest as he drove into a more secluded neighborhood in Rome. She had not had the heart to ask him where they were going, simply because she was afraid. But as they had gone further and further from the heart of the city, her curiosity overcame her and she needed to know the truth.

"Valentino, what is going on? What exactly are you trying to show me?" the question brought a sad frown on his face, from his expression alone she knew she would not like the answer, but she had prepared herself for the worst, he took a deep breath before replying.

"Do you want to know what happened that day before Alessio's accident?"

"Tell me" she demanded.

"That morning, Alessio received a call from someone, a woman named Rosanna Ricci. Apparently Alessio and her had been in a relationship for over a year. My aunt Giovanna discovered it when she was retrieving his phone from the accident. She then had everything investigated because she wanted to know what happened before. Later on she found her address and sent it over to me"

"Wait, so you're saying..."

"Yes, Valeria. Alessio has been cheating on you this entire time. I know if I were to just say it, you would never believe me because you think I'm just making this whole thing up to break you two apart. But I'm telling you the truth, so now I'm going to bring you to the woman's house. I want you to witness the truth by yourself" Valeria did not know how she was supposed to react to that. She felt like her world was crumbling down. Alessio whom she had loved so dearly would never cheat on her, would he? A drop of tear fell from her eyes, but she still could not release her emotions yet, not until she had seen everything.

Not long after their car stopped in front of a mid-sized house in the secluded neighborhood of the city. It was quite a simple house with a window on the first floor and another on the second floor. Everything was painted in mid toned gray and the front porch was decorated with pots of white flowers.

When still inside the car, Valentino turned to see her, and wiped away her tears with his thumb.

"Valeria, we have now arrived at the woman's house. I don't want you to experience more pain than what you already went through, but I know you might want to see everything for yourself. I am giving you options, love, would you like to see it, or do you want us to go back right now?" he offered. Valeria had never heard more difficult options in her life. But she was not backing away. She wiped away her own tears and looked straight at him in the eyes.

"Let's go" she opened the door, followed by Valentino, she stopped in front of the house's window and took a deep breath before knocking. Soon they could hear footsteps coming from inside, and before long the door was opened, revealing a slender auburn woman. Her wavy hair was tied up in a bun, she wore a pastel green sweater over her black camisole and a pair of black trousers. Her deep brown deep set eyes stared curiously at the guests.

"Yes? What can I help you with?" Valeria could not believe she was standing face to face with the woman who had stolen her fiancee from her, she was not sure on how to react, though she was a bit surprised to see how 'plain' the woman was. She had expected more of a slutty vibe coming from a home wrecker, but she looked awfully modest it made her question everything for a second.

"Sorry to disturb you, Signora Ricci. I am Alessio's younger brother, Valentino" he introduced himself first while holding Valeria's shoulder, gently massaging it to prevent her from having any emotional or mental outburst.

"Ah, yes, I have heard about you, I know Alessio mentioned he had a younger brother before, so you're with Alessio, god I was scared for a moment, I thought you were the debt collector or something. And who is this lovely lady right here?"