Chapter 79: At the Damn Same Time

It's finally time for our dinner. Antonio brings me to a restaurant on top of the hill with the dark sea and gleaming city below us. As I said earlier, I ended up ordering some penne all'arrabbiata and red wine. Before we ordered our dinner, Antonio insisted that Dante and Carlo join us. At first, they refused to do so, but after some convincing by Antonio, they finally agreed to eat with us. Now the four of us are sitting on the same table with Antonio across the table from me, Dante next to him, and Carlo on my side.

"How's everything been with Giovanni? I heard you have to put everything on hold ever since his disappearance," Antonio says.

That night, once Fabio and my father left the warehouse where they tortured Giovanni, Benedetto reported back to Dante that Fabio's men brought Giovanni somewhere more secluded: a cabin in the woods. He watched the place for a few days, and Fabio visited the place once. From what Benedetto saw, Fabio really did kill Giovanni by himself. His men then buried his body nearby, where Giovanni's family won't ever find him. Too bad that Fabio already killed him. We could've gotten more information out of him if Fabio hadn't done that. However, after Fabio killed Giovanni, he never really let us know about the news, so we must pretend that we don't know about his death yet for now.

"Considering there's no official announcement about his condition and whereabouts, we unfortunately have to delay everything related to our partnership. At the moment, we only focus on business deals concerning the Benetti's winery," Dante says.

"You've no news about him at all?" Antonio asks, seemingly surprised that we know nothing about Giovanni's condition. Why is he even surprised? Did he expect us to already know about Giovanni's death? Is he going to say something about it? Giovanni's death shouldn't even be kept a secret from us, so hopefully, Antonio will tell us about it now.

"Nothing," Dante says.

"Oh. Well, unfortunately, I don't think anyone would find him anytime soon. Let's say he has gone where no one would find him," Antonio says.

Interesting. Why is Antonio telling us about Giovanni, but not Fabio himself? Is Fabio doing this on purpose? What's his plan? Is he planning to get my father into jail? I mean, he could be. With Giovanni being my father's most recent business partner, Fabio might've found a way to put my father in prison by pinning his death on him. Yeah. That could be one of Fabio's plans.

"Since when?" Dante asks.

"A few days after the function. My father didn't tell you the news?" Antonio says.

"No. Not even to Valentino," Dante says.

Once Benetto was back from spying on the cabin, he immediately told my father about Giovanni's death. We waited for Fabio to tell us about it, too, yet he never said anything. My father said Fabio might be trying to hide Giovanni's death, but he wasn't sure of the motive. Until now, I'm not sure why he even does that. Considering Giovanni is my father's business partner, Fabio should've let us know about it right after he killed Giovanni.

"How odd. Perhaps he forgot to deliver the news," Antonio says.

"Perhaps," Dante says, nodding to himself.

"Now that Giovanni is gone, what will you do?" Antonio asks.

"Regarding our business, we're planning to follow through with our partnership. To our knowledge, once Giovanni is announced dead, Carla will inherit Vino d'Amore, and all decisions must go through her. It's up to her if she wants to go through with our agreement. However, ever since Giovanni's disappearance, she's been suspicious of us and refuses to meet us, so I don't think it will happen," Dante says.

"I'm sorry about that," Antonio says.

"It's fine," Dante says.

If Antonio knows about Giovanni's death, I wonder if he knows more about Giovanni and his connection to the Romanons. Fabio himself told us back then that he's been keeping an eye on Giovanni for a year and a half. He said that Giovanni has been working with the Livaccari, who are one of the Romanos' underlings. However, since the Ricci has been colluding with the Romanos, we probably won't get our answer, especially from Antonio. It won't hurt to ask, though, right?

"Anyway, do you have any idea if Giovanni confessed something or not?" I ask.

"Not really. You didn't get anything from the interrogation after the function?" Antonio asks.

Well, Antonio. I wouldn't have asked you if we knew something. Gosh. This is pointless. He definitely won't say anything about Giovanni. Why would I even ask him about this? He's barely involved with his family's business. If anyone other than Fabio knows about Giovanni, it's Mariano.

"Not really. Giovanni has his lips sealed throughout the interrogation," I say.

"Alright. I'll ask my father later if he got anything," Antonio says.

"Okay. Thanks," I say.

Yeah. This is absolutely pointless. Fabio's been keeping everything a secret from us for a reason. It's for his own advantage, of course. He doesn't want us to know that he's been working with the Romanos in a way that doesn't benefit us, as he claimed it would. What else could it be? Even if Antonio tells us he'll ask Fabio for the information, I'm sure Fabio won't give it away that easily.

I take a sip of my wine, and at that exact moment, the appetisers finally come. While chewing some lettuce in my mouth, I look at Antonio. Seems like he's been staring at me for quite some time. His gaze doesn't leave mine as he continues to eat his own food with a smile. I then turn to Dante, and he's also staring at me. His face is unreadable as it usually is.

Fuck. I can't believe I fell in love with two men at the same damn time. One is my secret enemy, while the other is my bodyguard. It's hilarious how my life has become. From wanting to run away from home to this is such a big, peculiar jump. I hate the fact that I'm willing to stay for Dante and that I'm falling deeper for Antonio despite knowing who he truly might be. How did my life even become like this? Yep. It's because of the two men in front of me. How fucking insane.

I gulp down the wine from my glass and refill it immediately. I continue to eat in silence, feeling Antonio's and Dante's eyes on me. In their eyes, I can see confusion and concern. There's probably one thing on their mind: "Why the hell did Alessandra do that?" Well, if I could say it right to their faces, I'd say it's because they're driving me insane. They've ruined my life in the best way possible, making living here more bearable than it used to be.

In the past, I had only one goal, which was to leave my old life behind and start a new one somewhere far from here. However, ever since both of them entered my life, especially Dante, that goal just vanished, throwing my life off-balance. At the moment, I don't even have a life goal anymore. I live because I'm still alive, and every second I spend with them, the line between the good and bad begins to fade, making me question my own morality. I used to hate how my family is involved with the underworld and the life of crime, but now? I'm not even sure anymore. I feel like I've begun to tolerate. So long as I'm with Antonio and Dante, there's nothing truly good and bad. And it's fucking bad.

Lord help me get out of this fucking hell. With both of them around, I can't even think straight anymore. Ugh. They're seriously making me confused. I think I'm going to lose my mind. Gosh. What should I do with both of them? If I should choose, of course, I'll be with Dante. But Antonio... If it turns out that he's not faking it... Fuck. I don't even fucking know anymore.

Once again, after I finish my salad, I empty my glass of wine. I feel pairs of eyes on me again. I don't care if I get drunk. In fact, I need to get drunk. So fucking drunk I'll forget about everything for a moment. Let there be a hangover tomorrow morning. It's whatever.

"You might want to slow down on the wine," Carlo says.

"I'm fine. As someone has said, the night is still young. So, why shouldn't I enjoy myself?" I say.

"But you-"

I put a finger over Carlo's lips, immediately stopping him from talking. He only stares at me in confusion as I keep my finger on his lips. Ha. He looks hilarious like this. I've never seen him this confused in my whole life.

"Shhh. Don't say anything more. Enjoy your own food," I say.

"Alright," Carlo says with hesitation. When his hand reaches for the wine bottle, I quickly grab it and pour myself another glass. Once I put the glass back down, Carlo immediately places the bottle on the other side of the table, away from my reach.

"Are you okay? Is it about earlier?" Antonio asks, frowning at my recklessness.

"No, no. This has nothing to do with that. Don't worry. On the contrary, I can't wait for more," I say, winking at him.

Oh god. I'm definitely drunk right now. Why the hell did I say that in front of Dante? I hope I'll black out soon. I've had enough of embarrassing myself for tonight. Let me embarrass myself without remembering it.

Everyone at the table suddenly speaks in sign language. With their hand flailing around, they talk to each other in silence, almost as if they're panicking. Shit. I guess they've finally caught up to my plan. I should've poured myself more wine before Carlo confiscated the bottle from me.

The main course has finally come to our table, and I immediately start eating it. Just as Antonio said, this restaurant's penne all'arrabbiata is definitely perfect. I love how spicy it is compared to the ones I've eaten before. At the same time, I can also taste the slight sourness from the tomato. Yeah. Antonio tells no lie about the pasta.

I continue to eat my food in silence. Everything slowly becomes blurry as my head feels lighter. I guess my time has finally come. Good. It's a shame, though. I'll probably throw up my dinner later. What a waste.