The Storm Before the Calm

Chapter 5

Aurora Salvatore

Dinner was delicious, as always. Although my right next door neighbor was less than savory, the view at the other end of the table just about made up for it. I needed to know who this man was, how we supposedly knew him, and why he truly is here.

The family excuse is bullshit, if I've ever heard it. And I've been fed lifetimes of bullshit in this one.

As the men made their way down to the cellar bar area down the yard a bit, by the pool area, the kids followed Renata inside for a potty and diaper break, while my mama, Ariana, Angelina, and I cleaned up along with the servers after dinner, like we always did before making our way down to the bar also.

"Mama?" Ariana asked innocently, even though we all knew that tone.

"Don't, Ariana. He's off limits." Angelina spoke up for our mother. Being the big sister, she was basically a built-in second mother anyways. What she said was Ariana's law. Not mine any more, and everyone knew that. My own word was my own law, since there was no other I'd trust ever again.

"Quale?" What? Our mama asked, handing a stack of plates to a server, who whisked them away.  Ariana just shot Angelina a glare before pouting like a child.

"You don't even know what I was going to say, Angelina!" Yep, definitely a pouting child. She'd give Bianca a run for her money. All she needed to go was stomp her foot, and she'd take the prize.

"You were going to ask about Viscous. So, I'm going to save mama the trouble and give you the quick version. He is Zio Dante's oldest son, who moved to Italy for family business over a decade ago. You guys have never met him, and you're not about to throw yourself at him either. He's 12 years older than you, Ari." Angelina raised an eye brow at our youngest sister, who just stuck her tongue out at her across the table after stealing a glance at mama to make sure she wasn't looking.

Zio Dante only had Joey and Frankie? Since when does he have an oldest son that none of us know about? Now, I'm not saying that's a lie, but it doesn't smell like the truth. And why the fuck would Joey and Frankie never say anything about him, never have stories that included an older brother, never have him attend family holidays, parties, weddings?

Something was weird about this guy.

"I'm going to go help Renata put the babies to sleep. You three go get a drink, and play nice!" Mama said before disappearing back into the house, after waiting a few seconds in silence as we began our descent down the stone steps, Angelina spoke up.

"Speaking of playing nice, I noticed Romeo still hasn't." Angelina said to me, bumping my hip with hers as Arian walked behind us, typing away on her phone about 7 stairs behind us, not paying a single attention to the world around us. She's lucky my eyes and ears were on a constant swivel, constantly taking in my surroundings, to detect any danger.

"Has he ever?" I raised an eye brow as we came into view of the bar area, where all the French doors were already open, inviting in the cool evening breeze as the sun began to set. I saw Romeo sitting in a booth with some of my father's other lower level employees around our ages, and the bartender wiping down the bar.

"He's too much of a pussy to ever seriously trying anything, anyways. He knows I'd cut his balls off with a pair of rusty scissors before nailing them to his forehead." I continued speaking at a normal level, and Romeo's glare turned to me, undoubtedly knowing I was speaking about him.

Good. I hope he heeds my warning. He'd be smart to.

"Signorina, your whiskey." The usual bartender slid over a glass to me before pouring out my last drink of the night. Well, my last drink here. I had a hot date with my home office and special bottle of scotch waiting for me at my own house, since I wouldn't sleep anyways. I thanked him before bringing the glass to my lips, and leaning my elbow against the bar, watching Ariana skip inside, her phone off this time.