Chapter 8 Gelato
"Can we talk in private, alone?" Paolo asks. I scoff at his request. After what he did, what makes him think I want to be anywhere near him alone? It's crazy enough that he still has the nerve to approach me after what my father did to him when he found out about Paolo's rotten intention.
"No. If you got something to say, say it now," I say.
Paolo shifts his gaze to Dante, scrutinising his presence. "Not with him here. Who are you anyway? I've never seen you here before," Paolo says.
"It doesn't matter who he is. He's not going anywhere. Just say whatever the fuck you want to say here. Now," I persist. The annoyed look is still on his face, but then his face softens a little as he shifts his gaze back to me.
"It's important," Paolo says. He then glances at Dante again. "Nothing a stranger can know."
"Paolo. For fuck's sake, just say it. Doesn't matter what you say, he's staying here," I say.
"Fine. I can't tell you the details, but know that your life is in danger. Not because of me or my family, but someone else," Paolo says. I know dangers always lurk around me since I'm the daughter of a crime family leader, but who wants to hurt me? Where did he even get this information from?
"And you know that from where?" I ask.
"Someone in the crowd. I heard him having a call in the toilet about it. Just be careful. Or not. Whatever. I've warned you," Paolo says. He then leaves me and Dante to ourselves again. I roll my eyes as I turn to Dante. Paolo is fucking insufferable. It baffles me how I was willing to stay in a relationship with him for months.
"Huh. He thinks he can fool me with that. Not anymore," I scoff.
That sounds like bullshit. He's lied about this kind of stuff before to make me stay with him because, in that sick mind of his, he thinks I'll stay with him, so I have him to protect me despite his inexcusable previous attempts. I was stupid enough to stay with him for quite a long time because I thought my father wouldn't believe me if I said Paolo had tried to raped me, but I'm glad I dared to let him know about it, and he believed me right away.
"Even if he lied, we should still take his warning seriously," Dante says.
"I know, but it's your job to keep me safe, isn't it?" I ask teasingly, raising my eyebrows as I look up at him.
"Of course. Why else would I be here?" Dante says with a cocky smirk. I wave him off and look at the crowd in front of me again, trying to ignore the stupid butterflies in my stomach.
"Just ignore it for now. No one can do anything to me here with you next to me," I say, patting his shoulder.
At first, I was reluctant to have a personal bodyguard, but now that I have Dante, I feel like I have a new friend, even though he's only here because of his job. As pathetic as it sounds, I barely have any friends. I've gotten distant with my old friends from school after they moved abroad to study, and some of them are dead. Yeah, you read that right. They're dead now because it turned out they're spies from either the government or the rival families, so my father decided to kill them off once he's one hundred per cent sure about their true identity. Because of what happened, I'd rather not have any friends in real life and make friends online instead. So, Dante is kind of my first friend after so long.
"Absolutely. I won't let anyone hurt you," Dante says. I know he only said that because that's literally his job to protect me, but oh god, that makes me feel giddy like a teenager who has a crush on the cutest and hottest guy at school.
"This is so boring. I hate that my father forced me to go here when I have nothing to do. No one really talks to me anyway in this kind of event. Even if they do, they are either just going to smooch up to me so my father will favour them, or they just greet me to be polite," I say with a frown as I stare at my father in front of the crowd, doing his usual speech.
"Do you want to go somewhere else? I don't think he'll notice if we leave for a bit," Dante says. I turn to him and grin.
"You know what? Let's go, but where, though?" I ask. I don't think I can leave anywhere far for now. Our best option is to stay in the area, but what can we do here? In this area, there are mostly fancy restaurants and hotels, which are also boring places to visit.
"How about we go get some gelato down the street? I saw a shop on our way here. It's about a five-minute walk from here," Dante says. Gelato? I'm always down for gelato. It's been a while since I ate some. We only have store-bought ice cream at home.
"Now that's something I can't refuse," I say.
\-
"I like this one. The sweetness is perfect," I say as I put another spoonful of almond gelato. I ordered two scoops of gelato, one almond and the other is blueberry, while Dante ordered a vanilla and pistachio gelato cup. Now we're currently enjoying our gelato while sitting at a table outside the gelato shop.
"Can I try?" Dante asks. Hearing his request, I pull my gelato cup away from him and send him a scowl.
"No. Get your own almond gelato," I say. Dante pouts at my reaction like a child, and I can't help but smile at him.
"I'm joking. But don't take too much," I warn.
I slide my gelato cup across the table. The sight of the spoonful of gelato Dante takes from my cup makes me immediately regret letting him get a taste of the almond gelato. I shouldn't have been too generous. Now I've lost a lot of my gelato.
"Hey! That's too much!" I protest as I quickly take my cup away from him.
"Too late," Dante says. He stares back at me with a grin, and then devours the spoonful of my almond gelato.
"I hate you," I say.
"Keep lying to yourself," Dante says with a smirk. I only roll my eyes at him in return.
With a scowl on my face, I continue to eat my gelato as I stare at the busy road in front of me. It seems like people are going out for dinner at this time. It's also Friday today, so the city is busier than usual.
The buzzing from my phone in my purse wakes me up from my trance. I pull out my phone from my purse and frown at the sight of my father's caller ID. Are you serious? Has he found out I'm gone already? We've only been out here for 15 minutes. I should take the call now, or I'll get scolded later.
"Where are you?" my father asks.
"Not far from the hotel. I'm with Dante now, so don't worry about me running away again," I say. I glance at Dante, and he raises his eyebrows, silently asking me who's calling me.
"My father," I mouth to Dante. He then nods at me as he silently eats his gelato.
"Get back right now," my father says. I should've expected him to be a party pooper. I've barely eaten my gelato since I just got it a minute ago, and now my father wants me to go back to the hotel. This sucks.
"Why? I have nothing to do there," I say.
"Go back here. Right now. You should be conversing with the guests. You said it yourself, you want to be more involved with our business. Don't make me come and get you," my father threatens. Damn it. I'd better leave right now.
"Fine. I'll be there in ten," I say.
I put my phone back into my purse and continue eating my gelato with a pout. This sucks. Well, I guess I have no choice but to finish this on our way back to the hotel.
"We have to go back. Let's go," I say.
"Alright."
"This is going to sound strange, but I have a bad feeling my father will introduce me to a new suitor," I say as Dante, and I walk side-by-side on the sidewalk. Oddly enough, the once busy area suddenly seems vacant. I guess everyone's still in the restaurant at this moment.
"Another suitor? Has your father always set you up with a guy?" Dante asks.
"Yeah. This guy is the 10th guy, if I'm not wrong. I always refuse to be with any of them after what happened with Paolo, and thankfully, my father accepted my decision. That doesn't seem to make him give up on marrying me off, though," I explain.
I keep eating my gelato as I listen to the sound of cars passing through the street. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but Paolo's warning earlier suddenly got to me. I hope he's just bluffing. No one's going to do anything to me right here, right now, right?
A pair of arms drag me away from Dante. With one hand over my mouth, I can't call out to Dante for help. Oh fuck. I'm getting kidnapped right now.