Chapter 13: Chapter 13

Dazed, caught in a kind of intoxication, I followed Enzo out of his office and into the high-ceilinged foyer where Nunzio and Nicolo sat on a bottom step and rose happily as soon as they saw us coming out of the room.

I heard a terrible hissing and only noticed everything in passing while my gaze fell into the living room where Dario's fiancee was standing and seemed to be taking selfies with a mobile phone. Of course she looked gorgeous again with her long brown hair and really elegant yellow dress.

"And?" I heard Nunzio, who, like Nicolo, was looking attentively at Enzo.

"She said yes," he said, and Nunzio immediately came up to me and hugged me tightly to spin me around.

"Then you'll get a great last name after all," he laughed and put his mouth close to my ear. "And finally I have someone in the family I really like."

I looked at him irritated and was shortly afterwards greeted by Nicolo with a handshake before the front door next to us opened and my soon-to-be husband entered the house.

He wore a tight black shirt that matched his light-colored jeans and looked back and forth between us in amazement.

"What's going on here?" he asked, glancing at my dress before turning to his father.

"We've finally found a woman for you," he said, and that's when I really realized that Gino, like me, didn't even know.

"What?" Gino asked laughing and probably thought it was a joke before he realized from Enzo's expression that it wasn't a joke but bitter reality. "No!"

He cursed loudly in Italian and waved his hands wildly, only to be reprimanded again and again by his father, who apparently had the last word on the matter.

"So that's that!" Enzo ended the heated discussion and I watched with bated breath as Gino spat right in front of his feet and left the house with a loud slamming of the door. I stayed behind and while it should have been an insult to me how Gino had reacted to me, it pleased me because it certainly wouldn't be a wedding, which put a big grin on my face.

"Sit down. I'll talk to him," Enzo turned sternly to the three of us and disappeared after his son while we ran into the living room and Nicolo immediately sat down on the couch to turn on his Playstation on the big TV.

"He'll calm down," Nunzio whispered to me, but I was more than happy that Gino had fled in such a hurry. It wouldn't matter much if I had to have him next to me right now, so I took a calming breath and turned to smile at Nunzio, who gave me an apologetic look.

"His reaction is perfectly fine with me," I explained, looking behind Nunzio toward the open kitchen where Dario's fiancée was standing, eyeing me disapprovingly.

What was her problem now?

As Nunzio followed my gaze, he gently grabbed my forearm and led me to the large couch, where we sat down next to Nicolo, who, however, had headphones on and barely noticed us because of his game.

"Ignore Giovanna," Nunzio spoke softly, turning to block my view of the beauty.

"What's her problem with me?"

"With you? The question is, with whom does she have no problem," he grinned and turned to her briefly, only to then look at me again. "Even Dario doesn't like being around her. Her family is also very influential in Palermo. So her marriage is more of a benefit thing and since she's here, Dario just throws himself into work and is hardly ever at home."

I listened carefully to his words, because I wanted to learn more about Dario, even if it was just little things, they just interested me and I slowly understood why he never wanted to be home when I met Giovanna's poisonous look again.

"Does he work with Gino?"

"No," Nunzio shook his head and explained that Gino was in charge of the girls and clubs and Dario was in charge of the gun deals. He and Nicolo are more tied to chores like collecting debts and Enzo was the one trying to keep things under control.

I was slowly getting better and better at imagining how everything was going here, and when I looked at the archway into the hallway after our conversation, I unconsciously held my breath and saw Dario, who entered the living room with his eyes on me and stopped with a confused expression.

"Where's Padre," he turned to Nunzio, who then took his eyes off the TV and looked up at him.

"Out with Gino," he let him know, and as Nunzio watched Nicola's game again, Dario's blue eyes met mine again, and I liked what he triggered in me in that moment of silence. There was no more Gino, no marriage, no compulsion. Just two more people who moved something inside, but of course this magical moment was interrupted far too quickly.

"Darling," Giovanna wanted to hug her fiancé, but he immediately took a step back and seemed to signal without words that he didn't want to be touched.

I would have loved to have had the snapped mine that she then twisted on video, but even so I couldn't help but giggle, so that suddenly everyone looked at me in surprise.

"What's laughing at?!", Giovanna wanted to know bitingly and crossed her arms, but my gaze slid to Dario, who I suddenly realized seemed to be signaling something with his fingers. Almost conspicuously, he tapped his watch twice with his finger and looked deep into my eyes. Somehow I had the feeling that he only wanted to tell me something with it all alone, but it was probably imagination and I looked over at Giovanna again, who probably had nothing more to say about my silence.

"Sooooo, please sit down," Enzo's dark voice sounded behind the two of them in the hallway and it didn't take long for everyone to get up and sit down at the laid dining table. Only I stood nervously on the couch and didn't really know where my place would be until Gino entered the living room and slowly walked towards me. His gaze fell briefly to his father, who was sitting at the headboard, until he looked back at me and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled under his breath, and I could really see that he was being forced into the apology. "I shouldn't have reacted like that and it won't happen again."

He stretched out his hand to me, but I only looked at it in amazement for a while before I hesitantly took it in mine and let him lead me to the table.

My heart skipped a beat and when I took a seat at the table right across from Dario and next to Nicolo, I thought this fucking life is really trying to screw me.

"I'm very grateful to have you all around me and I hope you feel the same way," said Enzo happily, raising his wine glass, which the others imitated. I quickly grabbed my glass and held it up while constantly feeling that Dario's gaze was solely on me, which made me so nervous that my hand started to tremble and I wanted to put my glass down quickly, but all took a sip, so did I.

"And to many descendants of the Mancini family!"

At Enzo's words, I choked so quickly that I coughed up all the red wine and hit Dario's face directly, which made me stare at him apologetically, wide-eyed.

Oh man!

With flushed cheeks and bated breath, I anxiously waited for Dario to freak out over my slip, but nothing like that happened.

On the contrary.

He took one of the napkins and calmly rubbed the rest of the red wine off his face with it and looked at me without expression while I noticed again that he was tapping his watch. Exactly three times this time.

Did he have a tick or was he trying to tell me something? This conscious typing was starting to make me really nervous.

"You seem very upset about the subject of children," Enzo concluded my reaction, and I reluctantly took my eyes off Dario to focus on my soon-to-be father-in-law.

"I haven't really thought about it yet, if I even want some," I admitted shyly and glanced next to me at Gino, who only had eyes for his cell phone and probably didn't notice much of our conversation.

"But you should now," Enzo replied dryly and I was overjoyed when I spotted two employees behind him with the food on platters in their hands, thereby forgetting the subject. As if I were now thinking about my offspring.

They set the platters down smack in the middle of the long table and I surveyed the fragrant beef and really crisp-looking vegetables.

The first thing Enzo did was put something on his plate, before it was Gino's turn to fill my plate too.

"Thank you," I whispered to him, but all he could do for me was a fleeting smile, which was more than enough for me.

The rest of the get-together was relatively quiet. Enzo was talking to Giovanna about the upcoming wedding, Nicolo was playing around on his phone next to me and Gino and Dario seemed preoccupied with their thoughts, as did I.

"Ludo?" Enzo eventually snapped me out of my rigid state of staring silently at my already empty plate. "Please write down what size you are and what kind of clothes you need. I will send a maid."

"I'd rather choose my own clothes, though," I retorted and suddenly felt someone gently nudge me under the table.

My eyes fell on Dario, who shook his head almost imperceptibly and immediately looked down at his plate. I didn't know why, but I took his silent command and turned to Enzo again.

"Or I'll just write down my height for you, that'll be fine," I smiled half-heartedly and turned to Nunzio, who was sitting next to Dario, glancing back and forth between me and his cousin with a raised eyebrow. He probably noticed that Dario had shaken his head, but even if he did, he didn't say anything and was the first of us to get up from the table.

"Unfortunately, I still have some things to do. See you tomorrow," he said goodbye politely and after he had disappeared into the hallway, the others all got up. Everyone except me and Dario.

I watched curiously as Nicolo made himself comfortable on the couch again and Enzo disappeared into the kitchen with the other two until my eyes met Dario and he really fixed me.

"Stop that," I pleaded softly, causing him to frown and lean forward slightly. Although there was still a table between us, I could almost taste his perfume, which made me unconsciously take a deep breath.

"What am I supposed to stop doing?" he asked challengingly and I suddenly felt his hand under the table, slowly working its way up over my knee to my thigh, giving me goosebumps.

"To make me nervous," I stuttered, stifling a yelp as he tightened his grip on my thigh without warning, causing me slight pain.

Yes, it hurt, but dammit, it also aroused me in a way I couldn't understand, which made me blush instantly.

"Gino is about to go to work and Giovanna is going out with her girlfriends. I'll wait for you in your room and only in this dress," he whispered to me across the table and I gaped at him in bewilderment before lifting a hand on my shoulder, scaring me almost to death.

"My God," I breathed in panic, briefly touching my rapidly beating heart before turning to Gino, who helped me to my feet by the hand and then stood right in front of me.

"I have to go," he explained with his cold gaze, and after I nodded, already enjoying my calm in front of him, he suddenly leaned down and pressed his lips to mine in a demanding manner, causing me to close my eyes in total surprise and it reluctantly endured me. Only when he broke away from me and looked at me briefly did I catch my breath again and watched him walk out the door and leave me completely perplexed.

I didn't force myself to see Dario and instead ran to the kitchen island to say goodbye to Enzo for the day. It had absolutely nothing to do with Dario's announcement. I just really felt the need to crawl into my room and figure this all out first.

I quickly padded into the hallway and up the marble stairs, only to stop again when I got to my room. I immediately ran to the bathroom and turned on ice cold water to splash on my face.

"It must all be a dream," I tried to talk myself into reality and only calmed down when the cold water cooled my overheated skin a little. But I still didn't find any real relaxation. As in my situation.

I turned off the water again, ran back to my room and collapsed onto the bed with a thousand thoughts in my head.

Everything was spinning and the chaos in my life seemed endless, but I didn't even have the opportunity to think further before the door opened and I gasped in shock as I raised my upper body and sat up.