An Angel Amongst Devils (An enemies to lovers, slow burn romance)

Chapter 5 pt 2

"Wow." I breathed out. I followed Arlo as he walked over to the only available table, conveniently for two, next to the glass, overlooking the view of the river. I thought I would feel out of place, in my casual skirt and top. But I don't, even looking around at the other people that crowd the restaurant to its full capacity, with their Gucci handbags, plastic pumped faces and designer clothes. They all look like her.

No. We are not thinking about her. Fuck her.

Arlo, mocking a waiter, pulls the chair out and gestures his arm to the seat for me to sit into. I roll my eyes, but take the seat. He is opposite me.

"I have so many questions."

"Oh I bet you do, angel."

"Starters, how did you just walk in here and none of the chefs looked at you. Actually, rephrase that, how did you walk in here and all the chefs look like they were afraid of you?"

"Well... hm how do I say this without sounding like a cocky prick?"

Well you are so...

"I own it."

"W-what?"

"I own this restaurant, and all the other 15 in the state." Arlo says.

What the fuck. He owns fifteen restaurants. What? How? He's only like a couple years older than me. How is he so successful?

"You're lying. Are you in the mafia? I may not know what they are like in real life or if they act anything like you, but I have read a shit ton of fanfiction mafia romance books in my day, and i know for starters they tend to be italian and they always go for the innocent young girls, to take and kidnap and use them as there slave for the rest of their lives. I also know that in one story, they owned a bunch of italian restaurants-"

"I'm not in the mafia, Emma," Why do I like the way he says my name so much "but my family is italian, this was our family business growing up we all worked on weekends as waiters and helped in the kitchen. It was a small business at the time, we barely got enough customers to pay the bills and we were constantly just meeting the mark for how much profit we needed to make each week. Eventually when I graduated, I went off to college. It left my mother and father alone with the business. It became too much for them, without me or my brother's help, they were forced to shut down. I tried negotiating with them, telling them that I would quit college- come back to help out. But like the good parents they are, they told me that I needed to get a career of my own.

"After three years in college I got a degree in business, my goal was to start a business on my own. But that plan went to shit very quickly, once I realised that I had no actual plans or ideas... until I came up with the amazing idea to start the restaurant business back up again. This time with the college degree, I had a lot more guidance and so I risked everything, spent all my life savings, started up the restaurant again, this time with better marketing, fresher produce, healthier meat. Then as soon as I knew it I was meeting beyond the profit line. It became more and more popular by the day as the word got out. Then a year later I opened up 15 more restaurants. And well... here we are."

I blink.

Wow.

I swallow twice. He must have noticed my shock.

"I-uh- wow, so I guess you're not in the mafia?" He chuckles.

"No Emma, I'm not in the mafia. Though I am curious, what were you going on about romantic mafia fanfics?"

Uh. Oh shit. I said that?

"Shut up." I glare at him. He looks amused, why does my anger only make him more happy with himself? "Why did the chefs look like they wanted to run away from you?"