Her Two Bosses (NaNoWriMo '23)

Dinner with the Family

After driving for another twenty or so minutes, they pulled up to a stunning mansion in a Greek Revival style surrounded by a tall ornate iron fence with a guard hut at the gate.

"Good evening. You are expected." The guard opened the gate, letting the town car drive in. Rolling up to the front stairs, the car stopped. Leo helped Evangeline out with Rake rounding from the other side. The front door opened to reveal a young woman of Chinese descent, late 20s to early 30s. She was beautiful in her blue long cheongsam dress. Her black hair was down, falling to her waist. She was smiling as she rushed down the stairs.

She kissed Leo's cheek. "Boys, it is so good to see you. Oh, you must be Evangeline. We have been waiting to meet you." The young woman cooed, kissing Evangeline's cheek. She reached out and kissed Rake's cheek too.

"Angel, it is my baby sister, Niaomi." Rake introduced them. Niaomi took Evangeline's hand and led her into the house. Inside was beautiful with crispy white walls, gold accents everywhere. Niaomi guided Evangeline to a formal dining room in the same style. There were two older couples, dressed up. They are standing at the other end of the room, talking.

The tall men were wearing similar black suits with white oxford shirts Their builds and frames said that these were strong, powerful men were related to Leo and Rake. Evangeline recognized them immediately from the office when she first started working there. Usra Kotov was the one whose hair was now pure silver. Sasha Chernoff was still able to hold on to his midnight hair.

One of the women was clearly Rake and Niaomi's mother for they got her facial features from her. Her long, salt and pepper hair were wrapped in a French twist, and she was wearing a long cheongsam dress in red. The other woman was still natural blond with now natural snow-white highlights in her nearly waist length hair. She was wearing in a loose maxi in forest green.

"Oh." Rake's mother exclaimed, seeing Niaomi coming in with Evangeline. "You are finally here. We have been wanting to meet you for a while now." She told Evangeline as they approached. "I am Mai, and this is Leo's mother, Aoife." The two women took Evangeline by her hands and kissed her cheeks. Evangeline smiled but feeling a bit overwhelmed too.

"Mama, give her some air." Leo pleaded softly, pulled Evangeline gently back. Rake was standing there to make them give her space. "Tonight was exciting for her. Let's sit and eat." Leo led Evangeline to the long, dark mahogany table with matching chairs. She sat on one side, between Leo and Rake. Their father sat on the ends of the table with their wives at their side. Niaomi sat in the middle of the mother, across from Evangeline.

Water was poured into crystal goblets and lush green salad was presented with an avocado dressing by the staff. Soon, the party started to eat.

"I remember seeing you in the office. You were always on time and could translate for people." Usra commented after the staff left the room. "Four languages, right?" He inquired.

"Seven, father." Leo offered, looking up from his plate before Evangeline could speak.

"Let her use her voice." Usra told his son firmly. Leo nodded, realizing that he was trying to shield Evangeline have having to interact too much without her permission.

Evangeline touched Leo's hand. "Yes, sir. Seven. Would be eight, but I don't recall enough Gaelic to be completely fluent in."

Aoife looked to Evangeline in surprised. "Can you hold small conversations?" She asked in Gaelic.

"Ta'." Evangeline smiled warmly at the woman across from her. Aoife's accent was similar to her grandmother's.

"Wonderful. I miss speaking in Gaelic. Usra tries and Leonardo...well." She looked at her son with a disappointed gaze.

"I have a habit of not forming the words correctly." He mumbled. Rake chuckled a bit.

"Raphael, have you been keeping up with your Cantonese?" Mai asked him in her native language in a all-knowing matter.

He looked to his plate to keep from looking at his mother. "No, mama." She lifted her brow at him. The two older women looked at each other and shook their heads. Niaomi was holding in her own giggles. The older men were looking away not to be caught in the crossfire.

"To help, I can start speaking only in Gaelic to you." Evangeline spoke to Leo in Gaelic. "And only speak Cantonese to you." She changed to the different language to Rake. Both men gave her unhappy, puppy dog looks. She shrugged her shoulder, saying that it would be the best way to learn.

"She has a point." Sasha mused in prefect Cantonese. "For the first year of marriage, Mai only spoke to me in Cantonese. Granted, I think she did that to get under my skin." He touched his wife's hand.

"A bit and I wanted to make sure that my family could not talk crap about my choice in love." Mai took his hand and kissed it. He caressed her cheek.

"Aoife only spoke Gaelic to me when she was mad about something. I had to learn to figure out what she was mad about." Usra huffed, smiling at his wife.

"It somewhat worked." Aoife smiled back, putting a bit of salad in her mouth.

The salad dishes were cleared away and the main course was placed in front of them. Roast lamb with mashed red potatoes with gravy. Seasoned vegetables and fresh baked rolls. Evangeline realized that there was no wine being served, just water and sparkling juice. Evangeline was going to asked, then she remember that she could not stand how wine made her feel sedated. She told the men this after having a glass when she first came home. Leo and Rake must have told them not to serve wine to let her feel comfortable.

The following conversations were light and poked a bit of fun at Leo and Rake's expense. They did not mind for Evangeline was smiling the entire time. After dessert, molted chocolate lava cake, was finished, their mothers and Niaomi asked Evangeline to join them in the ladies' parlor while the men discussed 'business' in the office. Evangeline kissed Leo and Rake's cheeks and let Niaomi led her away.

Once the door to the office was close, the men stripped from their jackets. They went to the small bar that Usra kept up in the room. Sasha poured everyone a glass of brandy. They sipped their drinks, letting the liquor play on their tongues.

"Your angel is beautiful. Smart and very down to earth. I hate the fact she hurt in such a way." Usra spoke, his voice tight. Leo's own mother was kidnapped and rape when he was a child of ten years old. For a long time after, Leo blamed himself for she was taken when she was driving to pick him up from school like always. Ursa blamed himself for not driving her. Aoife never blamed either of them.

"That is why we had to push back dinner. We learned that it was the detective who cause Primo to be release from prison." Leo told his father, sipping from his glass.

"And he was one of the men who...violated our angel." Rake added coldly, taking a drink.

Sasha nodded. "Where is the detective now?" He asked. His hands inched, wanting a piece of one of the men who hurt the woman who held his son's heart dearly.

"Well, his guts are to be deliver to Primo when his location is found. We have no clue where the rest of him will end up. Perhaps dog food." Leo explained, finishing his drink. "The Shepherd is creative to his form of torture."

"The Shepherd is going to give Primo the detective's gut?" Ursa asked, pausing the glass at his lips. That was one way to send a message and flush a rat out.

"At our angel's request." Rake spoke with a grin on his face.

"Beautiful, smart, down to earth, with a sick sense of humor." Sasha listed off Evangeline qualities with a smile on his face.

"She is perfect." Ursa announced. Leo and Rake agreed.