Devotion

five ﾒ sunday dinners

ANGELICA

Rowan casually opens the door for the Bertarelli men, revealing that behind the glass-made mansion doors we've got Luca and Marco, his dad. Now, I'm not one to sleep with the enemy, but they're not looking bad.

I suppose they can clean up for a nice, cordial Sunday dinner. I didn't know Bertarelli had it in him to do so. I mean, I did because our families are in the mob business and all they wear is stupid suits and formal wear 24/7, but this time it's different.

They're dressed for a nice dinner, not to kill. How amazing.

Marco Bertarelli, Luca's father, is a tall and built man. He's got some muscles on him, but I can't say anything because that's inappropriate on my part. But he has these piercing blue eyes that could kill—figuratively, it's so weird. He also has salt and peppered hair, but mostly a beard. I couldn't say Marco's bald, but he's not exactly rocking hair on the head.

Unfortunately, Luca did not inherit the piercing blue eye feature from his daddy, but, hey, he looks great. I never thought he was ugly. I just hate how he's constantly trying to one-up me in the academic department; nothing huge.

Luca Bertarelli stands at around 6'5, at minimum. I can't do mental math as smart as I am. He's got brown hair that curls from the nape of his neck to his hairline. I'm pretty sure he got them from his mother. Luca has brown eyes, and they remind me of chocolate.

And chocolate's good when not associated with his eyeballs.

He's also got an arm palate of tattoos, so he's a walking mural in an abstract way. "Good evening," Marco says, shaking my father's hand. Luca does the same, and now, we ladies stand here looking at one another as they greet like they're about to talk to Oprah Winfrey.

"Are the handshakes necessary?" Lei blurts it out, instantly reading my mind. My eyes widen at our telepathy connection, and she starts smiling wide. "Oh em gee, you were thinking too!" She claps.

The four men look at our interaction with serious faces. Rowan's lips slightly curl at Lei's antics, and so do Luca's. Okay, Rowan's definitely in love with her.

He hasn't smiled this much since I broke my foot when I was ten years old. It was a rough fall that day.

My dad cracks a smile (which is also new!) and following along, Marco does. Great! We got all the men smiling like it's time to go to the dentist. "Are you ladies usually this amusing with one another in public?" Marco asks.

Before I utter a word, Lei starts rambling. "Oh, yeah. We've been like this since we were babies. She's my bitch." None of the parents seemed to get mad at her use of foul language, so they must really love this interaction.

I nod along, staying quiet. "Shall we eat?" My mother chimes into the conversation. "We don't want the food to get cold." She smiles and does that mom walk. I don't know how to explain it.

They tiptoe and smile as they get something. It's a signature mom move, I swear.

But anyway, she prances out of the foyer and into the dining room. Lei and I followed suit to make sure we actually finished setting up the table. When we enter, the dining table is perfectly set up. Many utensils of every kind sit on the fancy napkins, and the food is placed in the center.

I pull the seat of my chain back before plopping down, waiting for the rest of everyone to join me. Leilani joins me beside me with a smile on her face, as usual. Her face comes closer to my ear. "Did you see Rowan smile? I know you saw it." She whispers. "He totally likes me back. See, I'm not a delusional woman." Her smile glows.

She's so pretty. I place a napkin on my lap. "I feel like he does. He doesn't speak much to me despite how close we are, but I think it may be a guy thing." I try to keep my voice low.