Lost Lombardi

Chapter 27

Dino wondered why Pietro was so upset. Dino was not a child. He knew he had done a stupid thing when Luca kidnapped him. He just wanted to punish Johnson. But he was not going to act foolishly like that again. The most ridiculous thing was that Pietro said lunch would be earlier today. But Dino knew it wasn't true. Dino loved that Pietro cared for him, but sometimes he was annoying. He worried about Dino too much, and Dino was not used to it.

Dino felt thirsty while walking around the lake on this sunny morning. He spotted a juice shop across the street and chose to cross the road. He went to the juice bar and stood at the counter to order some.

The juice shop had fresh fruit juice, and Dino struggled to decide what to order. He ultimately chose watermelon juice, passion fruit, pineapple, green apple juice, orange juice, and strawberry juice. He wanted to taste them all.

"Do you want mixed fruit juice too?" the guy in the shop asked with a big smile.

"Oh, yeah. Give me that one too," Dino said, and after a few minutes, the guy handed Dino six juice cups to take away.

Dino took all the juices and turned to face a tall, masculine guy in a black suit standing behind him. He had a small silver ring on his left brow.

"Luca," Dino said.

"Your father sent me to take you home. He was worried you'd get kidnapped," Luca said with a smirk. "Like before," he added, bending forward slightly while saying that part.

"Why are you smirking?" Dino asked in an angry tone. He knew why Luca was smirking. What happened that day was so embarrassing. But Luca and Pietro should understand his situation without judging him, he reflected.

"I'm not smirking, boss," Luca said. "It's just how my face looks."

"Oh, shut up. You don't even know how to smile," Dino said. He noticed some women staring at Luca like he was some kind of delicious food that was hard to find. Some were even whispering to each other while looking at Luca smiling.

"Do you see they are trying to flirt with you?" Dino asked Luca.

"Who?" Luca asked, staring at Dino.

"Those women in the shop," Dino pointed out.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Luca said, but it was obvious he was lying.

"Of course, you know what I'm talking about," Dino said.

"Enough talking. Let's go home before your papa fires me. Give me that... Why?" Luca took the bag from Dino's grasp, surprised to see six juice cups.

"I'm just thirsty," Dino said as he walked out of the shop with Luca.

"This thirsty?" Luca asked. "If it's too much, you can give me one." He checked what juices Dino bought.

"I can drink them all," Dino replied as he got into the car after Luca opened the door for Dino to get in. Luca got into the car and closed the door. Instead of starting the engine, he began checking the juices.

"You know you can't drink them all," Luca said again.

"Okay, okay, I'll give you the strawberry one," Dino offered.

"I like the orange," Luca said.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be my bodyguard? Is this how you treat your boss?" Dino asked, and Luca smirked.

"Are you going to complain about me to your papa? Oh, shit. Let's go quickly before your papa beheads me," Luca said again.

Dino laughed at what Luca said. "Why does he always think I'll get kidnapped?" Dino asked, looking at the juice cups, thinking about what to give up.

"You know why," Luca replied with a smirk.

"Oh, come on. It's because I hate the Johnsons. I thought—" Dino paused. "Never mind."

"What were you thinking?" Luca asked curiously.

"Well, you said it was something important, so I thought I'd take it and not give it to him since I can't stand him. You know he always beats me for everything," Dino said, staring at his cups with an upset tone. He didn't see Luca checking him with a concerned look.

"That's a fair point," Luca said, noticing Dino's sad face. But he didn't believe it was a fair point; he just felt worried for Dino and wanted to cheer him up.

"Here's the orange one for you," Dino finally decided to give up the orange juice.

"I was joking. I don't want your juice," Luca said, smiling.

"It's okay. I can't drink them all," Dino replied, putting the orange juice in the bottle holder in the car.

"Okay then. Thanks!" Luca said.

On the way home, Dino drank all the juices, and when they were near the house, he suddenly needed to pee badly. Once he got home, he ran to the bathroom and relieved himself.

"Oh, that feels good," Dino said as he came out of the bathroom and found Pietro standing in front of the door with a concerned look.

"What you did today was stupid," Pietro said firmly.

"Papa, please. I know you love me. I love you too. But this is too much. Can you just leave me alone sometimes? I need some freedom. I'm not a toddler. It's not a big deal," Dino pleaded.

"Well, guess what, Dino? I'm the one who decides that. I'm the parent," Pietro said firmly. "What if you got lost? You don't even know this area well yet."

"Papa, I have a phone. There are Ubers. There's something called Google Maps," Dino said.

"I'm just thinking about whether it's a good idea to buy you a car. What if you do something stupid like this again?" Pietro replied with concern.

"Papa, I'm not a child. Helio hates me. He always says hurtful things to me. So I decided to come home alone. Is that bad? I'm not a child, Papa!" Dino's voice was nearly a cry. He loved Pietro, but he felt like Pietro was overprotective and annoying.

After staring at Dino's face, Pietro realized Dino was better than he had been at that age. He also recognized that he was overreacting like an idiot. But Pietro had a persistent worry that if Dino got hurt or someone took him away again, he wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Don't argue with me, Dino," Pietro said. But deep inside, he knew Dino was right. He just didn't want to lose to him. Pietro walked away, leaving Dino looking at him with a disappointed expression.

"Why is he so annoying?" Dino thought.