CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FOUR – HELD UNDER A MICROSCOPE

But over the next few days, it became clear that Signora Rossi wasn't about to let her curiosity about Joan go unsatisfied. Joan noticed the old woman watching her whenever she left the shop, and more than once, she caught snippets of conversations abruptly stopping when she approached groups of locals. The constant scrutiny was wearing on Joan's nerves. She found herself becoming more and more reclusive, avoiding leaving the shop or apartment unless absolutely necessary. The safe haven she had found with Maria was starting to feel like another kind of prison. One afternoon, as Joan was restocking shelves in the shop, she overheard a conversation between Maria and Signora Rossi that made her blood run cold. "I'm just saying, Maria," Signora Rossi was saying in a stage whisper, "it's odd, isn't it? This girl shows up out of nowhere, right when the Fratelli family is causing all this trouble in town. Don't you think that's a bit... suspicious?" Joan froze, her heart pounding. She str