Ruined

Chapter 18

Aria…

So, when Damien told me that we were attending a party at one of his grandfather’s favourite estates, he failed to capture the pure beauty of architecture the building had. The place was huge, maybe thrice the size of Damien’s home, completely built in red brick with a rustic touch to it. A huge extravagant fountain stood in the centre of the lush newly trimmed healthily green lawn.                                                                                                                           “Like it?” Damien asked.                                                                                                                 “I do, it’s….”                                                                                                                                             “Hey, Ari, do you mind if I have a quick chat with Damien? Won’t be long” Joaquin said.                                                                                                                                  “Oh, ok sure, should I head in then?” I asked looking at Damien and Joaquin. “Yeah, I can escort you in” Dante said coming to stand in front of me.                                  As soon as I noticed Dante, I realised that he had been unusually quiet for quite some time now. There was no random chatting, jokes or even pranks.                                       Not even the slightest sign of a smile.                                                                                                                                         “Yeah, sure, why not” I replied and gave him my hand.                                                             “I’ll see you inside” Damien said in a tone more promising than necessary.            I nodded my head and started my way up the stairs with Dante next to me. “Are you mad at me, Dante?” I directly asked after a few silent moments passed.                                                                                                                                    “Mad? At you? How could that ever be possible?” He laughed.                                               “So then? I mean, I’m only asking because I feel that you’ve been kind of distant. Is something wrong?” I stopped walking up the stairs and forced him to look me in the eyes.                                                                                                                 He sighed heavily.                                                                                                                          “It’s nothing too hectic, just some things I’ve been dealing with. You know that I came from Basiglio right?”                                                                                                      When I nodded, he continued.                                                                                                             “Things are a mess back there, there’s almost nothing left of our hometown. Everything has been destroyed”.                                                                                                          “I knew there was a reason you left Italy, but I didn’t know that that was the reason” I said, mostly to myself.                                                                                                           “Is it…a rival gang?”. “It is best you do not ask such questions, Aria”. I frowned slightly and then looked down to the floor.                                                                     He was actually right.                                                                                                               “Anyway, it’s all been handled. We’ll get the one that is responsible for all this, but enough of all that, let’s go inside”