(NFTMB)Chapter 70
Victoria
(Baked Ricotta And Rossi History)
“Pass me the salt dear”. Elena gently asked
“Here”. I handed the jar to her and watched her skillfully maneuver her way around the kitchen as she prepared a dish she called, Baked Ricotta.
“You’re really going to love this, Victoria”. She said excitedly as you could feel her excitement.
I looked at the cheese looking thingy and I’m not quite sure.
However I don’t want to seem rude by making a face.
“Are you sure about that?”. I asked, eyeing the dish suspiciously.
“Same thing I’ve been telling her for awhile now”. Bianca chirped in from where she sat perched on the counter.
“Don’t mind that silly girl, Victoria. You’re really going to love this. It’s good for women in your condition. I myself can still remember having a lot of it when I was pregnant with Alessandro”. She smiled proudly while mentioning Alessandro.
“Ohh”. I said rubbing my belly.
“His grandmother made it so much that I became obsessed with it and feared that I might have given birth to a giant dish of Ricotta”. She laughed at her silly thoughts.
It would have been better if you did. Respectfully speaking though.
I laughed as well as Bianca snickered.
“She tells that story all the time. I wasn’t in the picture when she was pregnant with Alessandro but for some weird reason I know the story of his nine months journey inside mother’s womb at the back of my mind.
She literally told it over and over and over again and it kind of stuck like glue”
I laughed at Bianca’s comment as Elena shot her a disapproving look before shaking her head.
“This girl is going to be the death of me”
“No, mother. It might be Nic though”. Bianca said she threw her head back and laughed.
“Oh shut up and make yourself useful, Bianca”
“I’m being useful by being here alone. Continue telling Alessandro’s wife about baby Sandro”
“This child!”
Deep down I wanted to know what Alessandro was like growing up. Was he the same as he was now?
“I’m enjoying the story, Elena. Please continue”
“You hear that, Bianca? She’s elated”.
“You can’t be serious, Victoria. You like hearing this? Your husband in diapers?”. Her mouth hung open as I nodded while laughing. “Well, it’s no wonder you both get along so well and bond over your love for Ricotta”.
“I’d like to try it”. I said with a shrug and a smile as Bianca looked at me with wide eyes and Elena had a bright smile on her face.
“I give up. You’re both weird”. Bianca said while throwing her hands in the air.
“Weird?”. Elena asked with a smirk and an arch of her brows.
She reminded me of Alessandro now with that look on her face.
Like mother , like son.
Who knows who my little bunny will take after, is it me or my husband?
I hope she takes after me if she’s a girl but then if it’s a boy then I’d love for him to be as handsome as Alessandro.
His good looks will make my baby popular among the women.
I would really have my work cut out for me because I wouldn’t let any girl close to my son.
I giggled at my own foolish thoughts.
“What’s got you giggling so much, Victoria? Care to share with mother and I?”
I smiled at the fact that I was caught daydreaming and I slowly looked down at my protruding belly and rubbed it.
My stomach isn’t flat anymore. Everyone could tell that I was pregnant now.
It wasn’t overly bloated or big but it’s visible.
Very visible.
It’s like a cute little bump. Everyone can see it now even a blind man can see it.
“I was just thinking about my baby. I want him to look like his father if it’s a boy”. I said with a smile.
“Do you wanna know a secret, Victoria?”. Elena asked as she set down the cheese in her hand with a bright smile on her face.
“Sure”
“Alessandro is the carbon copy of his father and my dead husband, Nicholas.
He shares the same face as his father including his eyes and the color of his hair just like Nicholas used to bear his father’s face, features and traits as well.
It’s like a thing in their bloodline. They always take after their fathers just like Matteo looks so much like Alessandro at such a young age”. Elena smiled.
Fear crept into my body at the mention of Alessandro’s father.
Wasn’t he the same person that Fabiano accused Alessandro of killing? Will Matteo also kill Alessandro one day?
“Victoria, you’re shaking”. Elena said, rubbing my arms.
“Sorry, I was lost in thought”. I said with a plastic smile on my face.
“Excuse me, I have to take this!”. Bianca waved her phone that was ringing in the air before dashing out of the door to answer her call.
“Don’t mind her, I believe she’s seeing Sebastian”. Elena said casually as I couldn’t control the surprise that appeared on my face at the weird and unexpected news.
“Are you serious?”. I asked
“Yes. She has always had a crush on him as you youngsters say it.
She’s been around him for years and I guess that’s how it developed into a one sided attraction”. She spoke casually as she went back to her cooking.
“Does Alessandro know? About how Bianca feels?”
“I have no idea but I doubt he’d be bothered by it considering Sebastian is like a brother to him. He’s his best friend and someone he trusts with everything including his own life.
I would even say Alessandro would be relieved that it’s Sebastian and not a stranger.
“Wow, I wouldn’t have pegged Sebastian as the romantic type”
“He must have had a change of heart after seeing her cry herself to sleep beside him after Alessandro shot him. Bianca wouldn’t stop worrying and crying”
“Why did Alessandro actually shoot him?”. What sort of drama goes on in this house everyday without my knowledge.
“It was a mistake. His actual target ducked and it hit Sebastian instead. Alessandro would never hurt Sebastian intentionally”.
“Ohh that’s a relief. It would have been bad if it was fatal”
“That’s right”. Elena said
“I can tell what you were thinking about earlier”
“How?”
“You’re wondering if Matteo will one day kill Alessandro? I know because I thought the same as well when I was forced to marry Nicholas and bear his children”. She said with a sad smile.
My mouth hung open at her words as I could not imagine a younger Elena being forced into a marriage to form an alliance or partnership.
I would have thought she agreed freely.
“It was an arranged marriage?”. I asked sheepishly.
“Yes, my father was his father’s most trusted man just like Sebastian is to Alessandro.
My father died protecting his father’s life and as a dying wish, Nicholas’ father promised to continue the bond shared with his most loyal friend and brother.
And that’s how I came into the picture.
I was in love with Terenzio, our gardener’s grandson, he was a charming young man with big dreams and lots of plans that involved the two of us together.
He wanted to marry me and I agreed because I couldn’t imagine marrying anyone else except him, especially not the arrogant and mean son of Lorenzo Rossi who had tried to woo me for a long time but without success.
He’s just a very unlikeable person, Victoria.
After my father’s death Lorenzo forced me into a marriage with his son, Nicholas after Nicholas killed Terenzio in front of me. I was shattered completely.
Within a week we were married just like you were, Victoria. I never had a grand wedding and I never loved any other man except Terenzio. Nicholas’ elder brother, Damien was not a Saint but he was a much more decent man than Nicholas.
Damien had a wife and a child.
A son.
Damien was next in line to succeed Lorenzo as the leader of the Italian Mafia but Nicholas wasn’t going to sit back and watch his brother take what he always boasted belonged to him.
He killed his father and brother in cold blood before killing his own nephew as well to make sure that Alessandro would take over from him as the next leader.
He took pride in Alessandro and often labeled him as his favorite among his children because Alessandro was brought up by him to be as twisted and cruel as him.
The poor boy didn’t stand a chance.
He would beat up Alessandro mercilessly like an adult during contact training forgetting that he was only a child.
He kept him away from his siblings to prevent him from going soft due to the influence of his siblings, especially Valentino and Bianca who he had a soft spot for.
He made the boy engage in fights to the death pushing him to kill at such an early age to survive. He never spoke to him nicely or encouraged him to be nicer to people.
I couldn’t do a thing because he was under his father’s wing and guidance. Most of his stories are his to tell. I can only say a few.
Only Alessandro can tell you the scars and trauma that weighs him down even if he tries to deny it.
He’s not a bad person, Victoria. He just doesn’t know how to be kind to people. That was how he was brought up.
It’s not his fault but Nicholas’ fault. He made him that way.
That’s why when Alessandro came of age and killed his father to collect his throne, we all were happy and relieved because deep down he is still there.
Nicholas ruined our lives and mistreated us, threatening to turn Valentino into a killer if Alessandro didn’t do as he was instructed. He helped us break free from Nicholas and that is why you shouldn’t give up on him yet.
You just need to be there for him and have patience with him.
He likes you, Victoria. He just doesn’t know it yet and that’s why he acts the way he does. He’s a good father to his son and I’m sure he will adore the child you will bear him. Alessandro is not the enemy here. He’s as much of a victim as you are in all this.
Victoria, Matteo or your child both won’t have a reason to kill their father because he will become a better father and a better man than his father and grandfather”
Elena wiped the tears that fell from my eyes and squeezed my hands in comfort with a smile on her face.
“Thank you”. I said with a smile.
She only nodded at me before continuing her cooking.
I wiped my tears that fell on their own from my eyes.
“Victoria, can I talk to you for a second?”