Raison D'être

Dance Partners

Anastasia

I'm breathless more so at the sight of Lorenzo than the dance. The mere thought he was watching makes me cringe, so I turn my gaze avoiding eye contact with both him and Niccolò. The silence as I look everywhere but him goes on for what feels like forever, so I look up at him. He gives me a smirk, and relief floods me as I give him a shy smile. We stare at each other, him smirking while I try to suppress my smile. Our moment is interrupted when Niccolò 's voice teases, "we were just training."

Lorenzo's smirk drops and replies without a hint of amusement "it looked more like dancing to me."

Niccolò shrugs, "oh you know how training goes Enzo..." The slight tension is palpable.

"Mhm, well I'll be training Anastasia from here on out," and that gets my attention. "I left something for you at your place," and that gets Niccolò's attention.

Niccolò's expression turns serious, "updates already?"

"Yes. it would be best if you would go and take care of it before it gets out of hand. We all know what happens when I take care of things."

Niccolò rolls his eyes, while I gulp nervously. His serious demeanor is not one I usually see, and I'm slightly intimidated. Niccolò faces me while placing a kiss on my knuckles. "You were a wonderful dance partner," he smiles cheekily before nodding a goodbye at Lorenzo and leaves.

With me and Lorenzo left, I grow a bit anxious. I realize I let the music get to me, and I didn't finish working. "I didn't know you'd be home this early. I'm sorry I haven't prepared dinner yet."

Lorenzo smiles with a slight tilt of his head, "don't worry about it, dinner can wait. How was training?"

"It went well, Niccolò taught me how to throw knives, and then he turned on Just Dance for my footwork."

He smiles and nods his head, "trust me, I know that dancing was his idea. But you are a pretty good dancer."

"You saw that?" my heart drops.

"Just a little of the last dance, you move nicely."

"Thank you, it was mostly Niccolò though. He can really dance."

He laughs, "yes he can," as he looks off in the distance remembering something.

"Do you dance?"

"It depends on my partner..."

"Oh..."

"Would you like to be the judge of my dancing?"

I smile, "I would love that."

"Alright," he shakes off his jacket, rolling up his sleeves displaying his tattoo and the veins that branch his arms. I hand him his remote, making sure my head faces down so he doesn't see that my cheeks are flushed red. "Alright I selected one player, do you want the same song?"

He raises a brow, "one player?"

"Yes, I'm judging your dance."

"I told you tesoro, my dancing depends on my partner. Come," as he motions with his remote.

"Okay," I grab another remote and confirm player 2.

As the dance starts, my moves read 'okay' because of how nervous I am around Lorenzo, while his reads 'good'.

"Mia cara, my dancing depends on you. Relax."

I breathe and focus on the music, its rhythm, and my breathing. Getting comfortable, the screen reads 'perfect' and I smile once I see it reads 'perfect' for his as well. I laugh, "wow it really does," as I turn my head to face him.