Chapter 10 -
A younger man who looked similar to Christian appeared, his steps uncoordinated and his movement unsteady.
“Arnold!” Don Emilio barked, and the guard standing a few feet behind him stepped forward to interject the newcomer.
Arnold took a sniff of him and turned to the Don. “Affirmative.”
Not a moment later, the sound of a chair being pushed out enveloped the room, and Leo was already standing, his facial expression hard as he regarded the man who looked to be Nia’s age.
“You’ve been drinking?” DeSanto asked, although it was a question, it sounded more like a recurring fact. When no word came from the stranger, Leo lost it, barely holding on to his sanity. “Answer me, Micheal!” He growled.
The Micheal in question tried to say something, but no words came out. And it just looked like it was a usual scene for him.
Lucia tried to break the tension, clearly on the younger guy’s side as she advocated for him. “He’s just a kid, Nardo. Let Micheal live a little.”
But the Don wasn’t having any of it. “Just like I gave you freedom and you came back pregnant?”
And that unsolicited comment, shut her up in an instant. All the time Nia had lived for most of her life as an orphan, her ultimate dream was to belong to a family. Staying in one foster home after another until she was old enough to start life on her own, she had given up on the dream. Having been fortunate to meet someone like Isa who acted not only as a sister to her, but something of a maternal figure as well whenever she wanted to be, Nia had realized that having a family wasn’t always about being adopted into one, or growing up in one. There were several ways to have that big family—like creating one, marrying into one, or just meeting people that seemed like a long lost relative. Although with this information in mind, she had still longed for one, preferably a large one where they could spend Christmas and thanksgiving together.
Now facing the reality of her wish, thrust into a scene of what a family looks like, she didn’t know whether to feel lucky or appalled.
“Come here Micheal,” Don Emilio’s voice brought her out of her thoughts. And the guy who was standing behind the old man’s chair, staggered forward until he was in the Don’s line of sight.
“I promised your father that I would take care of you boys when the need arises. And over the years, I have tried to fulfill that promise even though you in particular have made it difficult for me.”
Micheal nodded, acknowledging how he’s been a pain in the ass.
“Let me tell you this,” the Don’s voice became more serious than it was before. “If I get wind of trouble from you again, I will personally see to it that you return to where you came from.”
Micheal stiffened in his drunken haze, sober enough to know that wherever they came from was hell or something akin to it.
The Don asked, his voice a demanding one. “Have I made myself clear?”
Micheal muttered, “Crystal, Don Emilio.”
The room remained silent again for a beat, with tension cackling in the air. Nia shifted in her seat, not a bit comfortable in the familial setting. She felt like she had intruded in a family drama, and although they paid her no heed, all the same it felt too much for her.
Her gaze darted from Lucia who was glaring at her father with frustration and resignation on her features. Then to Christian who was taking sips from the wine in his glass while staring at his wife. Then baldie who seemed like the typical observer, watching from the sidelines without getting involved. Hell! She had even forgotten he was in their midst. Then there was Leo—the oldest DeSanto brother, staring at the youngest one with pure disdain. She couldn’t begin to think what he must have gone through as an older brother to these two. Then the culprit whose eyes were on everything in the room except on any of them.
“Come sit down and sober up!” Lucia offered, pointing at the seat beside Nia’s.
Now she was going to be in the middle of two troubled DeSanto brothers.
When Micheal came to her side, pulling the chair to have a seat, he paused for a moment, squinting his blue eyes which were both deeper shades of Christian.
Micheal’s gaze was on her like he’d just noticed an intruder in their family dinner all this while. After getting his fill of Nia, the side of his lips lifted in a full smile, and she realized that Micheal DeSanto was the first person in the whole mansion to give her a full smile. Rosa came second with something similar to half of a smile.
He sat down, slumping in the seat as his eyes tried to maintain focus, while his older brother at the end of the table poured a glass of water reaching the brim of the container, and rounded the table to place it in his front. Nia was accosted with that familiar scent again—leather and tobacco.
“Drink up,” He said to his brother like a dad would and returned to his chair at the head of the table.
The next minutes passed silently with everyone eating from their plate, all except Micheal and her. The former was only allowed water for the time being, and she? Her appetite was lost.
A little earlier, she was ecstatic about eating what rich people would, but not anymore. Now, she missed Isa’s meals and not only the food, but the embrace of her best friend as well. A sudden nudge to the side of her ribs almost made Nia double over in her chair, she winced, rubbing the affected part of her body so it’ll stop throbbing. For someone who had a low pain threshold, she would definitely not survive any form of torture.
“Who are you?” Micheal, the perpetrator asked, his voice composed and better than when intoxicated.
She threw a death glare his way, “You could have just asked without hitting me,” she basically whisper-yelled at him.
Micheal, not in the least fazed, pushed, “Are you providing an answer or not?” It was definitely a DeSanto blood thing, and
Nia wasn’t going to condone any of their bullshit. “Maybe you should leave me be.”
“That’s the thing, I can’t let a beautiful girl roam these walls without knowing who she is.”
Nia scrunched her nose at his attempts to flirt with her, though they were about the same age and he was pretty handsome with his dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, Micheal wasn’t her type.
But she knew people like him won’t let things lie, so she gave a response. “It’s Nia Wallace.”
Micheal gave her that genuine smile again, and she didn’t know if it was because of his partially drunk state or that he meant it. Nonetheless, she returned it even though her present situation wasn’t anything to smile about.
“Tell me, what are you doing in this place?” Before she could say anything, he held up a hand in her face. “Wait! You are not my brother’s new betrothed. Are you?”
Nia felt her face heat from embarrassment, the insinuation making her empty stomach turn.
”No! Not at all,” she snapped, louder than intended. The sound of her loud voice drew the attention of everyone on the table, including the baldie opposite her.
Leo, who was at the head of the table, glared at her over his wine glass, and she shrank under the intensity of his gaze before breaking eye contact. The man by her left who started it all only raised an eyebrow, smirking at her while he reveled in the way her cheeks flushed to a deeper shade of red.
“Feisty aren’t we?” Micheal teased, that full on grin returning to his face. “Relax, I was just joking—mostly.”
She wanted to excuse herself from the dinner since she wasn’t eating anyway, but to ensure her survival, she had to behave properly and obey orders. So, for the remainder of the dinner with the DeSanto family, Nia tried to ignore Micheal who was testing her patience, and both of his brothers who were both different shades of the word enigmatic.