Chapter 9 -
From the way Nia sounded, it was like she had doubts about her ex-boyfriend's character, she knew he didn’t have it in him to kill anyone, much less a woman. Still when she purposefully averted her eyes away from the table, Nia felt the weight of every gaze in the room on her, but nothing measured to the gray ones. She didn’t know what it was, but it seemed like her words softened the only woman on the table, Lucia.
“Papa, perhaps she doesn’t know anything, and we’re just keeping an innocent young lady hostage. She might be as much of a victim as Andrea was.”
DeSanto’s voice boomed from her right side, unyielding, and unrelenting. “Victim or not, she’s a potential lead. And I won’t allow her go scot free just yet.”
Nia could not believe what he was saying, every time she tried to explain her innocence—although complicated as it may, it fell on deaf ears. Even now that someone tried to plead her case, it was like he was intent on keeping her prisoner until Lord knows when. She glanced at him to see his jaws clenched and his eyes locked on hers for a brief moment before returning to the Don.
Compared to how he addressed Lucia, shunning her attempts to save Nia. DeSanto voice was now calm and partly firm as he spoke to the Don. “She has every reason to lie because now that Alex is hiding, she’s the only leverage we have left to lure him out. Give me time, and I’ll make her talk.”
Nia felt her blood pressure drop, there was no mistaking the tone of his voice or the implications of his words. He was going to torture her to get information about Alex. Information she didn’t know. While he had shown her a glimpse of humanity, Leo DeSanto was still intent on playing Captor, and that small fact made her lose appetite in the face of delicious food she might never get a chance of eating again.
“Lucia!” The Don’s voice filled the room. “Serve the food. Leo and I will have a talk after dinner.”
Nia turned to see the old man studying her, then her eyes turned to his daughter who motioned to the chefs waiting nearby to start serving the meal.
“What are you still doing here?” He asked Lucia whose face turned sour instantly. It was merely a question, but it seemed that she knew what her father was implying.
“I don’t need to do that again Papa.”
“Nonsense! When your mother was still here, she would serve me my food. Do you know what that does to a man, principessa?”
Lucia rolled her eyes. At the same time one of the chefs came beside Nia, another one appeared beside Christian who was actively ignoring the father and daughter conversation.
“You. Stop there.” Don Emilio barked, and the chef immediately went still, retreating from Christian. “Now, go and serve your husband.”
“Papa!” She shrieked.
“Don’t give me that look. When both of you decided to fool around and give me a grandson impromptu, no one stopped you.”
Nia wanted to bleach her ears, mostly because of the context of what the Don said, also because she was feeling second hand embarrassment and wanted not to hear that intimate piece of information. While the chef designated to her side placed a little portion of every food on the table on her plate Nia stole a glance at Christian who seemed not the least fazed.
“But you love Gabriel,” she whined.
“That doesn’t mean I wanted him before you could get married or plan a future for yourself.”
“Fine! Fine,” Lucia’s voice came in surrender as she stood from her seat and returned to Christian’s side. The way she snatched her husband’s plate showed that they weren’t affectionate with each other. Even more so when Christian grabbed her exposed thigh from the slit in her crimson dress and she glared at him. Nia tried not to stare, or decipher the kind of dynamic between them, but her curiosity got the better of her.
“Let go!” The red haired woman said through gritted teeth.
But Christian, who wasn't much of a talker, only tightened his grip on her pale skin.
“Damn you! Let me go,” she demanded again, just low enough for their section of the table to hear.
The man beside her who had been staring at the flesh, raised his head to Lucia who was holding his plate like she would smash it on his head any second.
“Let her go, brother.” DeSanto commanded from his end of the table, his eyes on his blonde copy.
They were brothers, which explained the uncanny resemblance between them. Nia noticed the two siblings haven’t spoken to each other since the beginning of dinner. With this kind of family, it was one of the two, either they loathed each other or just stayed out of the other’s business.
It took approximately two minutes after Leo’s words for Christian to release Lucia. And Nia could see the angry red print of his fingers on her white skin. If it wasn’t clear before, it was now. This family was a total nutcase. Speaking of bozos, her eyes travelled to baldie who was digging into his food, oblivious to the drama swirling around. And Lucia, now free from Christian, served his food and dropped the plate hard, Nia was surprised the ceramic didn’t crack.
“That’s no way to serve your husband, Lucia,” the Don reprimanded his daughter haughtily.
“We are getting a divorce, Papa!” She shot back, looking frustrated about the whole issue.
“Any judge who decides to grant the annulment won’t see the light of day, you hear me?” He countered her statement before she could speak some more.
When it appeared that some modicum of peace would reign, a slurred voice emerged from the large doors, instantly disrupting the silence of the room.
"Has the party started without me?”