Blood for my Rose |• Crimson Rose series✔️

Chapter 9

"He leaves this house tonight!" Bunicci barked, hands pointed at the entrance doors.

They had all given up on their meals as the the tension grew in the hall. Rose was in tears as she watched Riley act all arrogant towards her father, and her father not minding the manner he spoke to Riley.

Riley hinted her at a point that he couldn't oblige to whatever was going on here, if that was all it took to gain their support and trust; the life wasn't for him, no matter how much he pondered on it.

Furiously, Giovani got up and began to stomp to Riley. He was about to put his hand on him to do god-knows-what, when Rose screamed, "Giovani, stop!"

Riley got up and faced Giovani, daring him. "I'm not afraid of you even a little bit," he snarled, but that gained him a violent push from Giovani.

"Who do you think you are to come here and throw a tantrum?" Giovani attempted to pull Riley's shirt and throw him a punch, but Riley swerved quickly and ducked him.

Bunicci didn't look like he minded Riley getting a blow or two from Giovani, but Rose did.

She dropped the bundle of trying to be mannerly, stood up immediately and plunged her seat backwards. Marching to stand in small gap between Giovani and Riley, she turned to Riley. "Calm the fuck down!" Her Italian accent was always at its strongest whenever she was livid. She faced Giovani and shook her head. "I'll not stand here and watch you lay a finger on the father of my child!"

Amid the general rumble, gasps and voices of the rest of the family, Giovani's voice was more distinctly heard than any other sound in the gloomy hall as he asked, "What did you just say?" He demanded again, ignoring their mother's voice after she'd ordered him to step away. "What. Did. You. Say?" He took a step closer, and then two more, fueling his anger further. His fists clenched and unclenched as he gazed at Rose's shut lips.

She didn't utter a word in response, yet her silence spoke volumes. She took a quick glance at everyone and could summarize their expressions in just two words: utterly stupefied. Then she began to regret how she broke the news to them, especially Riley who deserved better than this.

Speaking of whom, his gaze sought Rose's and the top of his brows creased into a cold scowl. "What?" He asked, barely above a whisper.

Maria walked to Rose and took her hands to pull her away from the men and her daughters feet stumbled like that of a feeble child striving to walk for the first time. Her thought was: if they wanted to fight, Rose had better not be in their way. And the mother was pretty wise to think that way, because judging from Giovani's expressions and body language, he looked like he wanted to kill Riley.

Riley's regard was casual on the surface, but something in his eyes suggested an undertone of tension as he looked at Rose from head to toe, finally stopping at her abdomen. "No," he muttered while he shook his head, and in that moment, she was certain she saw something in his eyes that she'd never seen before. Darkness.

Losing balance, he found the back of the chair and held it tightly till his fingers began digging into the wood. "Rose?" He was still in disbelief as he stared at the 'I'm sorry' expression on her face.

"I'm sorry," she finally said, restraining herself from moving closer to him. "I was hoping to tell you sometime during this trip, but..." She cleared her throat nervously and continued, "...everything got pretty ugly the moment we got to the airport." Tears burned her eyes and her lower lip trembled. It stung so bad and she didn't want him to see it, so she stifled and swept her hand across her eyes. She faced Giovani, and then her father. "Now that you know, kill me!"

Maria pulled Rose behind her and screamed at Giovani, "do you have no shame?" Her words stoned him like a snowball. "You seriously want to get into a fight with the poor guy, knowing he just learned something so life changing?" She gasped and pushed Rose back in the line she was gradually leaving to watch Giovani. "At what point did you lose the last atom of humanity in you! Answer me goddamnit!"

Maria was enraged. She'd been quiet, because really, there wasn't anything to fight for. Learning that her Rosa was carrying a child only stirred motherhood in her again, after losing hope on the ones that had been growing and would grow up under these roofs, because they'd equally be subjected to the violent life. This one seemed like the only one that would have the chance of a fairly normal life, after all, his father was a simple computer guy.

"Step away from the gentleman," Maria instructed Giovani, and Enzo sprinted to him before he'd do something stupid.

Enzo had walked closer to him, so he didn't have to yell. But he yell in Giovani's face,  anyway. "Brother!" He squeezed Giovani's shoulder to control his tension.. "Control it."

After a fit of temper, Giovani went to find comfort far away from the dinning hall and even the walls of the house. He stormed outside, Enzo following him. His wife, Ximena, didn't even attempt to get off her seat and run after him. She egged on Luciana to get up so they find their way out of the hall. Luciana was heavily pregnant and Ximena knew she shouldn't be witnessing something so tensing.

"I'll see you to your room," Ximena added as she led Eduardo's pregnant fiancée away, sending Rose a good luck nod.

Enzo's woman, too, left the table awkwardly.

Riley felt confused about everything. He thought he knew Rose so much. In fact, maybe he didn't know her at all. In that moment when she read what his eyes were saying, she cringed inwardly.

Even Sergio stared at Rose in mute silence. Strictly speaking, she earned herself the looks she was getting. It was overwhelming for everyone. She wasn't only introducing a man no one cared to give a fuck about, she was also talking about being pregnant for him.

After a few moments, Bunicci sank into the chair and let out a long breath. He took a few seconds to deliberate, but Eduardo started to walk to him.

More than likely, Maria was concerned that Eduardo would start another drama, she shut him up immediately. "Get out now!" Her tone surprised Rose. Apparently, a lot had changed in the past few months. Never had she had the kind of audacity she was portraying tonight.

Hesitantly, Eduardo looked at his mother and refused to move. Maria eyes flickered to him again with challenging stares.

"I. Said. Out!" She hollered, and Eduardo didn't know when he stormed away, not looking back. She didn't move, she just gaped at her husband as he stared back at her in silence.

He exhaled beneath his handlebar mustache and finally opened his mouth. "The boy leaves tonight, and you cut all ties with him-"

"Father," Rosa snapped. "What about his child, our relationship?"

Bunicci huffed. "There's no love story here, my dear. And as for the child, he'd be raised by good grandparents."

"What if it's a she?"

"Then she'd be raised by good grandparents," he stated, getting on his feet. "That'll be all."

Maria hated Bunicci in this moment so much than she could ever have hated the devil himself. "Are you being serious right now?" Her harsh words were supposed to get him to rethink his statement, but he didn't look dazed by it.

He stopped halfway across the room and turned back. "Have I ever joked about anything?"

Rose burst out crying and fell on her knees, and for the next few minutes, she remained in that position, only to bring her head back up and found the room empty. There was no brothers, mother. No Riley. It was just her, drops of her tears on the floor and the sadness that fought to suffocate her.