Every word spoken by Antonio was passionless, and every sentence he uttered had a threat under its neutral visage.
When he spoke he spoke callously, his words carrying a warning that cautioned the receiver about him, silently telling them that they were no match for Antonio Cristiano Velastro; it was almost belittling.
He spoke with an arrogant airs and his tone, no matter his mood, said 'You wouldn't dare try me, it's not on the list of things you want to do', always with anyone and everyone...except for me.
Like many things it took me a while too long to notice that when he spoke with me his tone carried a challenge, a silent dare to test him and see what happened.
When speaking to me his attitude shifted entirely from callous and arrogant to savage and taunting, his tone prompting me to do something he would make sure I would regret; 'Try me,' it said 'You know you want to'.
It was a game to him but I had yet to realize it, and so, he had almost broken me.
"You are staying right here with me."
His words made dread threaten to suffocate me as regret filled my heart—I should not have left my room.
His hand on my arm when he tugged me back toward the table felt like a shackle made of flesh and bone. It took everything in me to not rip my arm from his grasp because I could not risk riling him up—he was clearly already in a sour mood.
When arriving at the table he took a seat opposite Alessandro, at the head of the table—something I would later realize he only does when he is in a particularly bad mood and itching for a fight.
He made me sit on the chair on his right and opposite me sat Nicholas, who was still as stone, the only part of him moving being his eyes which followed Mina as she worked around pouring them their drinks.
Right as Mina was about to pour Antonio's drink, said brother interrupted her by gently placing his hand on her arm and saying something in Italian which made crises form in her brow before she promptly exited the room after giving me a soft smile.
I fiddled with my nails, trying by all means to ignore Antonio's watching eyes but from the corner of my eye I saw the slow curl of his lips into a savage grin and my breath hitched.
"Why don't you pour me a drink?"
Despite my better judgment, I turned to look at him and the inquisitive look in his eyes scared me more than anything else. Unable to look away I sat there and when he tilted his head to the side in contemplation, I snapped out of it.
"What?" It was a dumb question, but better that than silence.
"I'd like you to pour me a drink."
Something about the gentleness of his words and the lack of harshness in his smile made me hesitate for a second—a second too long.
Seemingly unperturbed, Antonio poured himself a full glass and tossed me a sad smile in his eyes an emotion resembling disappointment.
Without realizing it my eyes turned to Nicholas and the grim look in his eyes made ice settle in my bones. Before anything else could be said, Nicholas started a conversation in Italian which, although it was clear even to me that Antonio had no interest in it, Alessandro's involvement prevented him from abandoning it entirely—it was clear that whatever they were talking about was important.
Midway with their discussion, Antonio turned his gaze to me and smiled before addressimg his brothers. I didn't take a genius to know that whatever he said next was about me.
Him turning his attention to me alone was enough to have me on edge but that meant nothing in the face of what happened next.
As Antonio spoke, I watched the change in his brothers' expressions and I felt my chest hollow out and heart threaten to fail me. Because Alessandro always has a blank expression, the fact that he scowled was enough to have me worried.
YOU ARE READING
Rooted from Betrayal
ActionI would have had a normal life, with mundane problems and simple joys. I would have started practicing as a general doctor by the age of 24 with intentions of specializing and later becoming a neurosurgeon. I would have lived a normal life far from...
