No Man's Land

21: Family Dinners

Authors Note: We are officially over halfway through the story. I should be uploading at least one chapter every week until it is done.
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I smiled reassuringly at AJ. He had come a long way in the last twenty-four hours. Since he fed Luna and helped me make the bottle that one time he had insisted it was his job to do it every time. He had become extremely protective over her.

When I put him in his booster seat, on the opposite side of the car from her, he freaked and begged me to move him to the seat next to her. I obliged after a small internal battle and also scolded him for being rude, teaching him to ask politely next time. He agreed with a pout.

I sat on the other side of her, Dante taking the passenger seat and Alejandro the driver's. Kat and Isa insisted they'd take their own car. Elena and Enzo were riding with them. And then on top of that there were two cars full of body guards for once we made it to the restaurant.

Dante and Alejandro spoke quietly in the front seats the entire time, while I tried to prepare AJ for what was about to happen. I assured him that if he got scared, he just had to sign so, and if for any reason he and I got separated, he had to find Alejandro, the twins, Dante or Enzo. I was still hesitant about Dante but his concern over their health after we first brought them to the house had me giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Now, I had Luna in her carseat on my right arm with AJ holding onto my left hand as we entered the restaurant.

"Mister Giordano," the host immediately recognized our Capo, standing up taller.

"Good evening." He replied with a voice like silk that had me shivering slightly. I needed to get laid. The effect he was beginning to have on me was borderline obsessive.

The host showed us to a secluded back room, a long table being in it and making me relax, just in case AJ or Luna decided they weren't happy anymore and it took me a minute to calm either of them down.

They brought a high chair for AJ, Alejandro putting him in it as I put Luna, still in the carseat, on a chair that had been moved away from the table, slightly between AJ and I.

AJ warmed up to Alejandro quite a bit since yesterday. It was almost as if he finally realized we weren't going to hurt him. Granted, he still flinched when we would move too fast near him.

Even last night, when he woke up from his nightmare and Alejandro came in to finish feeding Luna for me. When he finally got his bearings, and noticed his surroundings, he asked me if he could feed Luna instead. Alejandro decided that he needed his help when I mentioned it to him so AJ happily climbed on his lap to hold the bottle in her mouth.

"What would you like to drink, Signore Capo?" the male that seated us asked. Alejandro took his seat calmly.

He was dressed up in a business suit, the tie around his neck giving him a more formal appeal than normal and making him look like a powerful business mogul.

"The usual, please," he dismissed him.

So this was a common restaurant for my boss? I wasn't surprised. It was a very formal and yet intimate space and the secluded room was probably frequently used for business dealings.

Everyone settled into casual conversations with the people around them, talking about what they wanted to get to eat as they looked over menus.

Kat was to my right and Isa was sat across from me, the rest of the end of the table being empty. Alejandro had Enzo and Dante flanking him at the head of the table, Enzo sitting beside AJ. Next to Isa was Elena.