Aria

Chapter 38

-Aria-

"...Ma siamo soci, la tua famiglia e la mia, possiamo negoziare con loro. Per favore, MI UCCIDERANNO,"

"Avresti dovuto pensarci prima di far arrabbiare quegli uomini-"

"I PROMISE I WILL GIVE YOU ANYTHING, IN FACT, I CAN OFFER A DEAL THAT CAN GET YOU A LOT-"

I startle awake as I hear shouts enter Matteo's room. Squinting my eyes, I look around and realize I'm on a bed.  I pull my arms out from under a giant blanket and wipe the sleep out of my eyes. As I went to yawn, my sore throat cried out for water. To my luck, there was a closed bottle by my side. I quickly open it and drink, soothing the pain instantly. 

I'll make sure to replace it with a new one from downstairs. 

But... I wonder what's going on. 

I get out from under the blanket and quickly fold it. Walking towards the desk, I look at the time: 7:13 p.m. I gently walk over to the door and place my ear against it. Hearing nothing, I peer out slightly. To my surprise, Zeno is leaning against his door, staring at his phone, deep in thought.

Hearing the handle squeak as I lean forward, he turns his head to look at me.

"Z-Zeno, m-may I come out now?" He watches me briefly before nodding and walking over. He widens the door open, beckoning me to step out. Placing his hand on my back he begins to walk us towards the steps.

I follow alongside him, going slower on the stairs as I feel a sense of dizziness blur my vision.

Finally making it down he leads me to the dining area. Antonio and Matteo were seated with a heavy look in their eyes. From the kitchen, Leo walks out, stopping once he sees me and Zeno. He gives a small smile before glancing at Antonio and letting out a frustrated sigh. 

My brothers seem a bit tired of him.

Zeno and I move to join the table as well. I walk further down to sit in the fifth chair, away from the group. As I place my hands on the rim of the chair, Matteo pulls out the one next to him. I meet his eyes and his dark expression tells me to join him, without question I walk towards the seat.

Antonio meets my gaze and studies my face for a minute, before slowly smirking.

"I just thought of somethin-"

Before Antonio could finish, the main door opened, and in walked Alessandro and Gabe. Gabe removes his tie and throws it on the counter. Both men don't spare a glance at the dining hall and walk straight to the stairs.

"She's here," Zeno calls out as he takes a seat in his chair.

Gabe turns his head and meets my gaze, with a smile he walks over and hugs me tightly. Alessandro assesses me from afar before glancing at Antonio.

"Glad you could make it," Antonio says lazily, fixing his button-up.

Alessandro doesn't reply and places himself at the head of the table. His hard eyes peer into Antonio and to my surprise he meets his gaze. A couple of seconds pass in silence before Antonio looks away, clearing his throat.

Leonardo goes into the kitchen and walks out with plates of pasta and bread, passing it around the table. Once everyone has a plate in front of them, they all dig in. Feeling the ache of hunger in my stomach I quickly take a couple of bites of pasta. Realizing a bit too late that the spicy sauce was burning my sore throat. I grab a slice of bread and eat it, hoping to soothe the pain. A cough rose from me and I placed my fork onto the side cloth.

I hurriedly reach for my glass of water, accidentally bumping my hand onto one of the decor stands. The glass tips over and spills onto the table. Matteo pulls my chair back before the water can drip on me and pushes his cup to my mouth.