Chapter 16 Introduction
A simple little black dress is what I'm wearing now. It's sleeveless, yet it gives me enough coverage at the front and back. As for the skirt, it stops right above my knees. Even though tonight's meeting is an informal one, before we agree on a deal and finalise everything, I still want to look professional and not flashy.
My father mentioned earlier that Giovanni will be bringing his wife and daughter, who is around my age, to the meeting. It's relieving to hear that I won't be the only woman at the table with two older men. Either way, I hope the meeting won't be awkward. I mean, we'll only be discussing wines and business, right? It shouldn't even be awkward in the first place. It will mostly be casual anyway.
Gosh. I need to pull myself together. This is what happens when you barely leave the house and socialise. Just the thought of meeting new people gets your heart pounding in your chest.
"Are you ready?" Dante asks.
I glance at him, and my heart skips a beat. I never thought he'd look even hotter than before. His outfit is as simple as mine: a black button-up that's not buttoned all the way up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It's such a generic outfit for men, but somehow it always makes them look 10x hotter. I guess I can say nothing can go wrong with simplicity.
I take my eyes off Dante and take in my appearance once again. I tidy up my bun a little more and twirl the strands of hair framing my face. I frown a little at the sight of my red eyes. Hopefully, it'll go back to normal soon. The bright bathroom light really did its toll on me while I was doing my makeup.
"I'm ready. Let's go," I say.
Dante and I meet my father in the lobby. Without wasting any more time, we leave the hotel and go straight to the restaurant. After about 20 minutes, we're finally arriving at the restaurant. It's one of the fancy, fine dining restaurants here in the city. Once we enter the place, it seems that it is already fully booked. I sigh quietly at the sight. It's a bit too crowded to my liking, but who am I to complain?
It turns out we're the first ones to arrive at the restaurant. The hosts immediately escort us to our reserved table by the window. My father orders his men to keep watch around the restaurant. Once his men disappear from my sight, he comes closer to Dante.
"Dante, you can sit next to Alessandra. You don't need to worry about guarding her from afar. For tonight, enjoy yourself and observe the meeting," my father says. Dante and I glance at each other, but we stay silent anyway as we take our seats at the table.
Why does my father want Dante to watch the meeting? Does he have something planned? From his order alone, it seems like he wants Dante to be more involved with our family's business. Or he just wants to see how Dante will act when he's near me in public. I don't know.
As we wait for Giovanni and his family, the restaurant serves us a bottle of wine, courtesy of Giovanni. As you may already have guessed, it is indeed his wine. This one is a red grape and cherry wine. Thankfully, he didn't give us anything too crazy. One of his craziest wine combinations is mixing peppers, red grapes, and peaches. I'm not sure how he made those work together, but apparently, some people do like the taste of that wine. If I'm not wrong, the wine name is Ardente Amore; Something along those lines.
On the first sip, I can immediately taste the tartness and slight sweetness, as well as a hint of vanilla in the wine. I'm glad it doesn't leave too much bitter aftertaste. The majority of wine enthusiasts love the bitterness, but not me. Well, that's only because I'm no wine connoisseur. However, for the people who like a more "modern", unique, and innovative flavour, this wine will definitely suit their taste buds more than vintage and traditional wines.
Not long after the wine is served, a man and two women approach our table with a polite smile. They're De Santi, Giovanni and his wife and daughter. Giovanni looks like a typical man. Average height, dark hair, dark eyes, and a long stubble beard. His wife, on the other hand, is absolutely stunning and elegant. Her long brown hair is styled into a wavy side part. Her height towers over Giovanni a little. She seems familiar. Maybe she's someone popular, a model even, considering her slender figure. As for his daughter, she definitely takes on her mother's looks more. She's not as tall as her but still notably tall, a tiny bit shorter than I am.
"Valentino, pardon my tardiness. I got caught up with something in the office earlier," Giovanni says. He's not that late, only about five minutes late.
"Giovanni. It's fine. Please take a seat," my father says.
Once everyone is seated, my father begins to introduce Dante and me.
"This is my daughter, Alessandra. She works with me occasionally, and she will also be working on our project together in the future. And the man next to her is Dante, one of my trusted men. He will be observing our conversation tonight and taking notes of every important detail," my father says.
Hmm interesting. It is getting clearer that my father wants Dante to be something more, not only my bodyguard. With his notably astounding intels compared to our own intels, I'm sure he knows better than to let Dante's connections go to waste. I can definitely see my father working closely with Dante even more now that my father has realised how important Dante is to our family's business.
"This is my wife, Carla, and my daughter, Marianna. Spending time with our family is very important, yes? So that's why I decided to bring them today, so we can have dinner together. Hopefully, their presence won't disturb our discussion," Giovanni says.
"Not at all. I'm glad you brought your wife and daughter. Perhaps Alessandra and Marianna might be good friends after tonight," my father says.
I take a look at Marianna's way, and when she notices me looking, she only smiles at me. I return her smile and then look away from her. She seems sweet and kind. Nothing evil radiates from her. Her appearance itself doesn't scream mean girl. Well, I guess we might actually be good friends, but I'm not sure. I'd rather stay without friends right now because I know I'll leave them behind once I get my revenge for my mother and brothers. Better to save them and myself from heartbreak once I disappear from here.
"Before we get to our discussion, shall we place our orders first?" my father asks.
"We shall," Giovanni says.
I open the menu book and skim through all the options. What should I eat tonight? Everything seems boring. I guess I'll just order a steak. I'm too lazy to search for other options.
Something pulls me to take a glance at Marianna again. I follow my intuition only to find her stealing glances at Dante's way and smiling at him. Oh nah. I bet she's crushing hard on Dante now. I can't blame her, though. With how he looks now, he's definitely getting the attention of all the women in this damn restaurant.
"What are you ordering?" I ask Dante. He flips through the pages and then closes it.
"I'll just order a tenderloin steak," Dante says.
"You know what? Same," I say, sighing as I put down the menu book in front of me.
"Not in the mood to eat?" Dante asks quietly. He's right, but if I only order salad, my father would nag me. So, steak is my safest option for now.
"Not really. But if I don't eat right now, I'll end up feeling hungry in the middle of the night," I say. I could just order room service later if I want to, but then again, I'm too lazy to wait for the food. I might end up falling asleep hungry before they deliver the food to my room.
"True. I might end up hearing your stomach grumble later while you're asleep," Dante says. Our minimal distance suddenly makes my cheeks burn. I bet everyone's thinking something is going on between Dante and me right now. I shoot Dante a look, and he immediately yet calmly moves away from me, but he's still grinning at me. He's doing this on purpose. My father is right next to me for fuck's sake.
"No, you won't," I say.
"Yes, I will," Dante says.
"Whatever," I say, rolling my eyes at him. I take a look at everyone at the table, and they're still going through the menu books. My gaze then shifts to Marianna. A pout is noticeable on her face as she stares down at her lap. Well, I guess that's good. If she can take a hint, she should know by now that Dante is off-limits.
Minutes have passed. After we place our orders, we continue with our small conversation. After that, our discussion and negotiation finally begin.