Chapter 31 Decisions
"The doctor said it's just a common fever, so she should be fine. However, if the symptoms persist, she might need to get further tests."
I'm not sure what time it is, but I regain consciousness the moment I hear my father walk into my room. With his presence, I stay silent and pretend to sleep, eavesdropping on my father and Dante's conversation just in case they decide to talk about something important while I'm still asleep. Hopefully, they don't notice I'm awake already.
"What was her temperature?" my father asks.
"38.6," Dante says. I feel the thermometer in my ear and stay still at the contact. I can't let them know I'm already awake yet. I must resist the ticklish feeling in my ear. I can't blow my cover.
"Now it's 38.2. It's a good sign. It has gone down a bit," Dante says. Oh, thank goodness for that. That means the doctor is right. It's just a fever and nothing serious. Well, we can't know for sure yet, though. We'll see in three days if I'll get better or not. I need to get better. I can't work out my plan if I end up having something serious. If everything gets delayed, then I can't leave anytime soon either.
"Good. Now come with me to my office. We have matters to discuss," my father says.
"Yes, boss," Dante says.
Feeling Dante's presence disappear from my side, I open my eyes and see both my father and Dante already heading towards the door. My face turns into a frown as I watch them get closer to the hallway.
Noooo. Don't leave me, Dante. What do they want to talk about anyway? Can't they just talk about it here? Are they hiding something from me again? Oh no. Is it because I made Dante stay with me in here? Is my father mad at him? No. I can't let my father get mad at Dante. I have to explain why Dante is in here to my father.
"Where are you going?" I ask.
"Sandra. You're awake," my father says. It seems like he's a bit surprised but also relieved at the same time. I guess he's just glad that I'm not dead or something.
"How are you feeling?" my father asks.
"Still freezing and dizzy," I say.
"Dante and I need to talk for a bit, okay? We won't take long. He'll be back in 15 minutes or so," my father says. 15 minutes? It is pretty quick, but why should they talk about it in his office? Can't they talk about it here with me? Doesn't he want me to get more involved in the family business? Or are they going to talk about something more than just business? After what I heard Dante say earlier, I can't help but feel worried about him. If my father finds out about Dante's feelings towards me, hell might break loose, and I don't want that to happen. Not now or ever.
"What are you going to talk about? You're not mad or anything, right? I told Dante to stay with me in here, so don't punish him or anything," I say. My father smiles at me, shaking his head.
"Of course not, tesoro. I'm not mad. We'll only need to discuss work stuff. You know, about Mauro," my father says.
"Mauro? Have you found him already?" I ask. If my father already found him, all we need to do is catch him. But then again, we must tread carefully with him. This could be a trap for us, so we can't act recklessly. We still must wait for the right moment to get Mauro.
"Yes. That's why I need to talk with Dante for a bit. Don't worry your little head about him. We'll handle him. Once we get Alvaro, I'll make sure you can do anything you want with him. For now, I need you to rest, okay?" my father says. I hate when he makes me feel like a child and makes me clueless about almost everything. But it's whatever. I'm too sick to argue with my father right now.
"Okay," I say.
"If you need anything, ask Carlo. He's outside," my father says.
"Alright."
Dante comes back into my room. His face is clouded with gloom, but once he catches my gaze, his frown turns upside down into a smile. Just like my father promised, they didn't take long to discuss whatever it was about Mauro. I wonder what makes Dante upset. It's not often I see him look like that.
"What's wrong?" I ask.
"It's nothing," Dante says as he takes a seat next to me. "We all decided not to take any action at the moment and only keep an eye on Mauro. We might need to wait for a week before making any decision regarding Mauro. Now that we know the Romanos have been keeping an eye on us, we can't take any rash decisions that might further hurt the family. What matters the most right now is our safety."
Even though I hate it, Dante is telling the truth. If we fight the Romanos without a good plan, we're only going to end up hurting ourselves and losing more of our men. I mean, yes, it's easy for us to recruit more men, but at this time, we can't let anyone into the family. There's a high chance a lot of them could be moles sent by the Romanos to watch us, and even worse, abduct my father or me. It's too dangerous to lose our men at this time.
"That sucks to hear, but it is for the best. I don't think abducting Mauro would really do us any good anyway. Alvaro doesn't seem like the type who really cares about his children. Damn, he probably doesn't give a fuck and will sacrifice his own child to save himself," I say.
"Unfortunately, you might be right. For now, we're still searching for Alvaro as well while watching over Mauro. We think he might be somewhere near wherever Mauro is. There's no way he sends Mauro out as bait and not plan to catch and kill one of us," Dante says.
"Yes. He's definitely close by," I say, nodding in agreement. "Please don't keep anything away from me. All I want is for you and my father to let me know about everything. If you keep hiding things from me, how do you expect me to stay calm and quiet about it?"
"I will let you know about everything I know. For now, we're still on a dead end. There's nothing we can do at the moment to deal with the Romanos," Dante says.
"Okay."
"How was your sleep? It's 1 pm now, so you should be eating your lunch soon before you take your meds," Dante says.
Sleep. Dante's definitely still worried if I heard his out-of-nowhere love confession. Well, I can't let him know I know it. He's going to panic and spiral if he knows I know. And the worst of it all, my father might do something to Dante if he finds out about it.
"It's fine. I fell asleep listening to your story," I lie. Dante seems a bit relieved that I didn't mention anything about his confession. That's good. I'd better spare him the anxiety so he can focus on his work for now. I can't let him get distracted and worry about my father.
"Well, that's the point of a bedtime story, isn't it?" Dante asks.
"Yeah. It is. Since it worked earlier, you should tell me more stories," I say, grinning at him. Dante's face contorts at the suggestion, clearly letting me know that he doesn't want to tell me another bedtime story. Too bad he can't escape this. He needs to tell me bedtime stories starting from now on.
"Hell no. I don't have anything else to tell you," Dante says.
"Just read something to me from the internet or whatever," I say. Dante sighs, giving up on arguing with me any further. Yes! Now I can hear his soothing voice every night. How wonderful.
"Fine," Dante says. There's a knock on the door, and my eyes immediately shift towards the door. Marianna and Paola walk into the room with my lunch and Dante's as well. After giving us our lunches, the ladies leave the room in silence, leaving Dante and me to ourselves once more.
"Alright. Now get up and eat so you can heal quicker," Dante says.
"Yes, sir," I say.
Both of us eat in silence, stealing glances at each other. Dante doesn't say anything, always avoiding my gaze when I catch him looking at me. I keep all my thoughts to myself. Remember, Ale. You can't say anything yet. It's for his own good. I can't let Dante know I know how he feels towards me. If he knows, it's just a matter of time before he accidentally slips out of his poker face in front of my father. I don't want Dante's life to be ruined because of me. So, even though I hate that I can't say anything to Dante, I must do it so he can stay safe. I'll figure out a way for us to be together later.