Chapter 20
Emil's POV
I had begrudgingly agreed with my brothers that the Renaissance ball had been a good idea since it made everyone so happy, Antonio had been so feeling so smug saying it had been his idea and all, I could not even be upset with them about it.
Due to the beehive of activities going on around the house, I finally had some peace and quiet in my study to get things done, nobody had bothered me for the past few hours and I finally felt like I needed a break. I decided to take a break around the house and see how things were going.
Everyone greeted me as I walked past them and I returned their greetings with a nod.
The decorations were turning out wonderfully, the colours of wine and black filled the house and I reminded myself to commend Wilma for her excellent taste in colours later.
It turned out I did not need to wait long till I commended her, I saw her taking a bend, walking towards me.
Even with the distance between us, I noticed she that she looked like even more irritable than she had been when I saw her in the morning.
She had two other maids with her and she was gesturing wildly and I could tell she was swearing a lot in our native language.
"Hello Dear Wilma, I see you are having a very interesting day" I said with a smile.
Her face softened when her eyes fell on me "My Dear Emilio, I am losing my mind, no one knows how to get any thing done, they keep making mistakes and I am left to fix it for everyone" she said.
I smiled, Wilma just loved to complain and make a big fuss over everything, I was certain everything was in order in order already but Wilma was being paranoid about things not been perfect for tomorrow.
"I am sure you can handle everything perfectly fine no one is more capable than you are" I said to her with a smile.
She gave me a smile and said "You flatter me Emilio"
"We both know I am not, so what do you have to do now?" I asked her.
Her eyes suddenly widened and a lot of Italian expletives escaped her lips immediately.
I smiled and waited for her to tell me what great misfortune had suddenly befallen her.
"Dio Mio, I was supposed to go shopping with the Donna and I completely forgot and right now, the musicians have arrived and I must with them now" Wilma said.
"Well that is truly a problem" I said.
"I decided the time has come for me to remove myself from the commotion before I was somehow roped into it.
"Wilma suddenly dropped her hand and looked at me, she had this look in her eyes that immediately told me I was in the trouble.
"Why don't you take the Donna to get her dress?" Wilma said with a bright smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes.
I started to complain but Wilma was already talking again.
"This is perfect, you go with her and I meet with the musicians" Wilma said happily and clapped her hands.
"Ummm Wilma, I am not sure that is a very good idea, I actually have a lot of work to do and I should really get to it now" I said while trying to walk away.
But Wilma was not having it, she had seen an opportunity and she was not ready to let go of it.
She held my hand and said "Please Emil my dear, help me out this once please and who best to take the Donna shopping than you, you are her husband after all, only you can truly decide what will look perfect on her"
"I really know nothing about dresses Wilma, I am not the best person for this particular errand" I said with a smile on my face that I hoped will charm her.
Wilma waved a hand dismissing my excuses "Her maid will be there, you just have to pick the most beautiful of the dresses she will wear, I already asked the shop to pick their best dresses and wait for our arrival" she said.
She was looking at me like I was her only hope and I was finding it difficult to tell her that I did not want to do it.
I let out a sigh, I had lost this round, I was not getting out of this situation.
"Okay Wilma, I will take her to get her dress" I said as I accepted my defeat.
A bright smile immediately appeared on her face "Thank you my dear Emilio, bless you, I will have her ready as soon as possible and the car will be ready by the time you get down, the driver and the maid all know what to do, you just need to pick what she looks best in" she said excitedly.
Well how hard could it be to pick a dress, it could not be difficult task right, I thought.
"Bless you too Wilma" I said with a smile.
Wilma thanked me some more before rushing off to handle her business.
This was definitely not how I expected my afternoon to turn out I thought as I went to get changed.
****************
The drive to the boutique hotels was very awkward to say the least, Andrea had been surprised when she realised I was accompanying her to the boutique but she had not said anything, she had gotten into the back with me and remained quiet till we got to the boutique.
When we got there, I helped her out of the car, she muttered a thank and held my hand.
I placed my hand on the small of her back to lead her into the boutique.
She jumped a little and a yelp escaped her lips when she felt my hand on her back.
"Relax, it is just me" I said to her.
"I am sorry, I panicked for a second, I wasn't expecting you to touch me that's all" she said.
"I did not mean to scare you" I said as I led to the entrance of the boutique.
The boutique Wilma had chosen was an impressive building, it was painted in a deep ash hue and the words Lusso Elegante were written in elegant bright pink letters on top the building and the inside was even more impressive and I approved at once.
An attendant rushed toward us when we walked in.
"Don and Donna Ferrari, you are both welcome to Lusso Elegante and we happy to provide everything you need" she said to us with a bright smile on her face.
"Thank you, I believe someone called you from my house about the dresses for my wife, she will like to try them on" I said.
"Yes Sir, she has the whole afternoon booked " the woman said.
"The whole afternoon?" I asked.
"Yes Don Ferrari" she said with another smile.
Wilma had definitely conned me, she did not say anything about spending the whole afternoon here when she asked me to help her.
"Shall we get to it?"she asked with the same smile plastered on her face.
I nodded and said "Let's go"
"You sound like you have never been dress shopping before" Andrea whispered to me.
"I can't imagine there is any reason for you to think I have" I replied.
She smiled a little and said "Don't worry it is only hours and hours of dress fitting and sorting, I am sure you will enjoy it"
"Are you trying to mock me Andrea?" I said.
Andrea made a face of mock surprise and said "Mock the great Don Ferrari? I will not dream of it" she said.
I smiled, it was nice to see her like this, not so afraid and rigid, it was nice that she was loosening up to me, it seemed like our conversation in the library that night had done us a world of good.
"If I did not know any better, I will think you and Wilma joined forces to torment me" I said.
She smiled and said "I would never torment you"
"We have arrived Don and Donna Ferrari" the woman said to us.
I looked up and realised we had walked into what looked like a private changing room, they were rows and rows of dresses arranged on hangers, full length mirrors lined one side of the wall.
"You should get to it, I will be waiting" I said to her.
She gave me a smile before walking off with her maid "You can bring the first dress" she said to the receptionist.
"Yes Donna" the woman said and picked up a dress covered with a transparent bag and walked after Andrea and her maid.
I sat in one of the chairs and began scrolling through my phone, I decided since I had some time to spare, I should take care of a matter that had been on my mind for a while now.
I dialed in a number and the call was answered on the third ring.
"Don Ferrari, it is always a pleasure to hear from you" Giorgio said the moment he answered.
"I have a job for you, I need to find out about someone, there is a bodyguard working at the Severino mansion, his name is Lorenzo Puccini, I will like to know everything about him as soon as possible" I said.
"Consider it done, Don Ferrari, I will get the boys on it right now" Giorgio said.
"Good, let me know when you have the information" I said.
"Yes Don Ferrari" Giorgio said.
"Good" I said and ended the call.
The sooner I handled the matter of Lorenzo the sooner my mind was going to be at rest, there was something off about him and I did not like having things not adding up in my mind.
There was also the fact that he was hanging around Andrea and that was something I definitely did not appreciate.
Lorenzo DeLuca was something of a mad man if I remembered correctly, during my days in college, we had not being friends or anything but there had been rumors about him, no one could stay in a dorm with him and by graduation, he was living alone in his dorm.
Everyone was sure there was something off going on in his mind, there had been a rumor of him trying to stab a dorm mate in his sleep but the boy could not prove it and so the school board had to let it go and that was how Lorenzo got away with it.
I did not know if any of these stories were true but I was a strong believer that there was no smoke without fire so there definitely had to have been some truth in what people were saying.
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sounds female laughter and then Andrea walked out.