by Serena Light
"True," She nodded, standing up from her place as he watched her from the corner of his eyes. "But I don't know the answer to my next question,"
"Which is?"
"How about coffee?" Serafina tilted her head to the side, her eyes holding an uncertain sparkle as she bit her lower lip in nervousness. "Just you and me,"
"Just you...and me?" He repeated in confusion, squinting at her suspiciously. "Why?"
"For the love of God, cupcake!" She burst into a fit of giggles. "I'm trying to ask you out on a date and you're looking at me as if though I'm going to lock you up in a freezer or something,"
Alessio stared at her as if though she had grown another head, turning to face her as he couldn't understand why she was doing that. Was she mocking him? Throwing his feelings into his face all over again? Is that she planned to do?
"Why?" He asked again, his throat feeling dry as he rubbed at the skin of his neck.
"Why do people ask each other out on dates, doofus?" She retorted, flicking his forehead as he ignored the sharp sensation. "Because I like you,"
"Is this another one of your trick-?"
"No!" She halted him before he could continue, seeing the conflict brewing in his green eyes. "No, it's not one of my 'tricks', I swear it on my family, it's just that...I'm a simple girl, asking a guy out on a date because I like him," Serafina's words drew into a whisper as she looked down, feeling like a little school girl admitting she liked her crush as her cheeks flushed and she fiddled with the hem of her sweater.
"You...you can say no," She trailed quietly, looking up at him from below her lashes. "I wouldn't blame you,"
Serafina exhaled heavily at his prolonged silence and pinched her lips into a thin line as her heart sunk to her feet, knowing she was too late and that he didn't want anything to do with her anymore.
"I think I should go-" She began to murmur, gasping in surprise when he cupped her face into his hands and pushed her back, both of them stumbling as she collided against the wall, her eyes wide with surprise to feel his lips on hers.
Her muscles uncoiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing back with just as much need as he was, having missed him. Alessio's hands lowered to her waist, pulling her closer as she tangled the fingers of her good hand into his hair, their lips slowing down as they both savored the familiarity of the other's taste.
"I missed you so much," Serafina admitted against his lips. "My bed felt horribly cold without you,"
"That's what happens when you acquire the taste for a body next to yours at night," Alessio chuckled, his fingers slipping under her shirt as she gasped into his mouth and he pecked her lips.
"Not just anybody," Serafina kissed him deeply, Alessio smiling against her lips. "Just your body,"
"Alessio!" A voice called out from the doorway, both of them pushing away from each other in haste as Serafina clamped a hand over her mouth and their eyes widening as they looked at the person in the doorway.
Well, people to be exact.
"I-uh-we-" Alessio stammered, his face red and eyes wide as he stared at not only his elder brother but his Boss as well - who had returned from Milan with a successful mission and no loss of lives or major injuries.
Niccolo stared at the two with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, shock and surprise evident. But Serafina's stomach twisted in discomfort to see the lack of emotions across her brother's face, his blue eyes fixated on his twin, not giving way to what he thought.
"Sir, it's not-" Alessio tried to defend Serafina, but then pressed his lips into a thin line when Salvatore held up a hand to silence him.
Serafina swallowed thickly as her brother beckoned her forward, looking at her impassively. Letting out a shaky breath, she knew she had no choice but to follow. Pushing her back off the wall, she cautiously walked across the room, giving Alessio an apologetic look and began walking towards her brother.
Her eyes widened in surprise and panic as she felt him grab hold of her wrist, Niccolo, and Serafina looking at him as if though he had gone crazy while Salvatore simply clenched his jaw at the action, looking at the older man with ice blue eyes.
"If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me," Alessio stated firmly, his muscles rigid and his eyes determined as he pulled Serafina behind him. "I'm the one who kissed her,"
"Alessio!" Niccolo hissed at him, looking at Salvatore from the corner of his eyes. "Let her go!"
"No," Alessio shook his head, looking like he was getting ready to fight if he had to, standing protectively before her. "No,"
"Alessio!" His brother reprimanded again, the younger Romano ignoring him before they all tensed as Salvatore took a step into the room then another and another until he was standing before the older man, looking at him from the tip of his nose and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Serafina," Salvatore called out calmly, his sister tensing. "If you don't want your boy toy to stay hospitalized for another month you will come with me,"
Her eyes widened as she pulled her wrist free of his grasp, Alessio turning back to look at her as she stepped away.
"You've already suffered enough because of me," Serafina shook her head, sidestepping his stature as she stood beside her brother. "Enough is enough,"
"Serafina," He called out to her in a whisper, watching her get dragged out of the room by her twin brother, turning to look over her shoulder as she offered him a comforting smile.
The drive back to the estate was filled with a thick silence and even when they got back, her brother didn't say anything, instead, he let her sit in the car as he walked out and into the house, and Serafina followed behind a moment later. Even when they entered and encountered their parents, he didn't say anything about her lip-lock with Alessio; instead, he told them that they went to wish him well.
She looked at him in confusion as he walked towards the East wing, disappearing behind his office doors as her parents asked if she was alright.
"I'm..." Serafina trailed, confused to her brother's actions. "Fine,"
Throughout the day, she didn't see Salvatore, when she tried to go and talk to him, it was revealed that he wasn't even in the estate, to begin with. She tried to stay up, waiting for his return, but her medication had her sleeping like a rock until she was shaken awake the next morning.
"What?" She asked drowsily, blearily looking around her, seeing the blonde tresses of her sister-in-law.
"Good morning," Angelica chuckled. "You missed breakfast, sleepyhead,"
"What?" Serafina rubbed her eyes, looking at her pick out clothes from her closet.
"Breakfast? The first meal of the day? Ring a bell?" Angelica teased, handing her an off-shoulder caramel-colored sweater with black skinny jeans. "Come on, get changed, we're all going out for lunch in an hour,"
"Really?"
"Yes, sleepyhead," She stated over her shoulder, walking out of the room to allow her to get changed.
Taking a shower, Serafina blow-dried her hair before pulling on the outfit that had been chosen for her, pairing the attire with a scarf and ankle-length boots before stepping out, momentarily taken aback to see one of her brother's men standing at the door with his fist raised as though he was about to knock.
"Yes?" She asked in confusion.
"Boss wants to see you in his office, madam," He informed with a bowed head, the blood draining from her face and instantly knowing what he was going to talk about. "He's sent me to escort you,"
Nodding, she allowed him to lead her to the east wing, as they stopped before the dark wood doors, knocking before they opened up when her brother permitted entrance. Stepping inside, they closed behind her as she stood uncertainly, watching her brother seated in a grey button-up behind his desk, reading a document.
"Sit," He gestured to the chair before him, Serafina swallowing as she sat down, silently staring at her brother work as he acted like she wasn't there.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to ask why she was here, a knock sounded on the door. She watched Salvato
re put away the document before permitting entrance. The door swung open as Alessio stepped inside in dark wash denim jeans and an olive green sweatshirt under a brown leather jacket, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of him as his steps faltered a moment.
Looking up at his boss, Alessio watched him gesture to a seat as he swallowed thickly. Slowly walking over to the chair and settling down beside Serafina, both of them tense and unable to meet each other gaze as well as unable to look at Salvatore.
"Yesterday was quite...eventful," Salvatore stated, gently swaying in his seat as they both remained quiet. "To put it mildly, that is,"
"I thought about what I should do with you given that this is a breach in your contract of employment," He directed his words to Alessio, the man wincing as Serafina's gaze snapped up in concern, her throat drying at his next words. "And I have come to the conclusion that Alessio Romano, you have been dismissed from all your duties to the Regnante Mafia effective immediately,"
"You can't do that!" Serafina exclaimed in his defense, standing up from her place and glaring at her brother. "You can't fire him over a simple kiss!"
"A simple kiss?" Salvatore taunted with amusement, his eyebrow raised. "What about Brazil? Those nightly visits where he would sneak into your house from the back door? What about those times where you would run off to his house in the middle of the night? Were all those "simple kisses" too?"
The color paled from their faces, Serafina's mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish as Alessio looked like he would pass out, his clipped nails digging into the leather armrest as fear had the small hairs on his arm stand to attention, a dreadful cold oozing down his back as he couldn't bring himself to breathe.
"Don't tell me you two actually thought I had no idea," Salvatore chuckled humourlessly, shifting his gaze between the couple that sat before him. "I knew from the day this little fling between you two started,"
"T-then..." Serafina stammered, collapsing in her seat.
"I wanted to see which one of you would tell me first, I had my bets on Alessio, but neither one of you came forward to me about it," He shrugged nonchalantly, standing from his place and reaching into his blazer inside pocket, Serafina ready to defend Alessio in case her brother pulled out a gun. "Alessio got off easy by being dismissed, technically speaking he should be killed,"
"You wouldn't-"
"-Of course not, Serafina," Salvatore halted her, a leather business card holder in hand as he opened the flap. "After everything the Romano's have done for us, I wouldn't kill them,"
They looked at him in confusion, not understanding what game he was playing. The color slowly returned to Alessio's face as he jumped back when Salvatore held out a card to him. Taking it slowly, he looked down at it.
"Come to this address when you feel better," Salvatore spoke, buttoning his blazer before heading towards the door. "You'll be interviewed for a position in Armamentarium,"
"A businessman is more to your liking, isn't it Serafina?" Salvatore smirked over his shoulder at his sister and Alessio, about to step out. "At least everyone seems to thinks so,"
Chapter XXXIX: Meet the Parents
"He's not real," Arsenio stated with certainty while he picked out clothes from the closet, his sister sitting cross-legged on the bed. "I don't believe it,"
"Either he is real, or I've been dating a ghost for the past 2 years," Serafina stated nonchalantly while flipping through the book in her hand.
"He's..." Her eldest brother trailed, picking out a button-up with slacks. "Too perfect,"
"Which is why I love him,"
"It's not human," He laid out the clothes on his bed. "If he's not human, he's not real."
"You'll know when you see him today,"
"No, I'm pretty sure, you just told mom and dad you've been dating this fictitious guy for the past two years and paid the first good-looking guy you found to be your boyfriend for one night,"
"Well, it's either that or I'm actually dating an amazing guy who isn't fictitious," Serafina stated and got up from the bed. "Now if you'll excuse me, boo, I have to get changed."
Closing the door behind her, she shook her head at her brother, neither Marco nor Arsenio believing him to be real.
Serafina Regnante had been dating a businessman for 2 years now, a man who was perfect: loving, caring, charming and just wonderful to begin with. Her family knew she was seeing someone, but none of them had ever met him. That is until last week, her father had told her in frustration that her boyfriend is coming to their house for dinner so that they could finally meet him.
"So, it's a formal invitation?" She had asked her father who looked at her in confusion.
"Yes?"
"Finally,"
It ends up that he had always wanted to meet her family, but refused to until he received a formal invite from them, saying it was rude to come uninvited.
Half of her family was head over heels in love with him by everything she told them, and the other half didn't believe such a perfect man existed, like Arsenio and Marco. The only reason they don't believe he exists is that he once left an important business meeting because Serafina was crying over the death of a fictional character. At that time she had not known he had left a business meeting to see her, but when she told her family, her mother looked impressed, with her sister-in-law swooning, her twin shaking his head while her father, Arsenio, and Marco concluded that he did not exist; he was hypothetical and Serafina was just making things up.
Those three men grew even more adamant about him being fake when she arrived one day with a diamond necklace which had been a gift from her boyfriend. She had just rolled her eyes and turned to the people who believed her.
Today was finally the day where he would come to meet her family, as a matter of fact, he would be arriving in a less than 2 hours.
Taking a quick shower, she got changed into a blush pink pencil skirt dress with a V-neck and a thin black belt around her waist. Pulling on her black pencil heels, she did her makeup and pulled her hair into an elegant bun before going downstairs. There she found her twin brother dressed in a two-piece charcoal grey suit and talking on the phone, her father nearby in a sky blue button-up and black slacks. Marco was sitting on the couch beside Aurora in a white button-up whose sleeves he'd rolled back with a black waistcoat and black slacks, Arsenio dressed in full black, accentuating the blue of his eyes. Her mother was wearing a blue floral dress and setting the table with Angelica who stood in a white silk blouse and a grey skirt.
"Your hypothetical boyfriend is late," Her father spoke behind her, forcing her to turn to see him looking down at the watch on his wrist.
"It's 6:58, dad, he still has 2 minutes," Serafina chuckled, placing a kiss on his cheek as he raised an eyebrow.
"I don't believe he exists,"
"Tell me something I don't know," She laughed before going to help her mother with dinner.
No soon had 2 minutes passed when the doorbell rang, everyone freezing and looking at one another.
"I'll get it," Serafina announced, giving pointed looks to everyone as she went to the door, Marco and Salvatore in the archway of the lounge with Angelica and Arsenio opposite them, their parents standing before the stairs.
Inhaling deeply, she pulled open the door and smiled up at the man who stood before her in a two-piece navy blue suit with a white undershirt, his green eyes lighting up at the sight of her with his dirty blonde hair combed back and out of his face.
"Come on in," She grinned, permitting him entrance.
"Oh, Alessio, it's you," Marco spoke, recognizing the person in the doorway. "Your boss is right here, and don't worry we're just waiting for Serafina's non-existent perfect boyfriend,"
Alessio's eyebrows rose at the words as he looked around at the people who looked at him with welcoming smiles.
"What's non-existent?" Their niece, Irene, asked, never looking up from her paper.
"It means not real, babycakes," Marco spoke over his shoulder. "Somethin
g which Serafina's boyfriend is,"
"So he's not coming," Her father spoke, leaning against the banister. "Thought so,"
"What? No!" Angelica whined. "I wanted to see this hot boyfriend of yours whom I had been crushing on,"
"You – what?" Her husband asked from beside her, Angelica giving him an innocent shrug.
"Well, he's here," Serafina informed, taking note of how tense Alessio stood beside her.
"Where?" Almost everyone inquired looking around them.
Gently nudging Alessio, she watched his eye widen in her direction before he cleared his throat and instantly grabbing everyone's attention. Walking forward, he stuck out his hand in Arcangelo's direction and did his level best to keep his voice from shaking.
"Pleasure meeting you, sir," He spoke, his green eyes meeting the blue of his girlfriend's father. "I'm Alessio Romano, Serafina's boyfriend."
A silence descended over the foyer as everyone stared at him with either look of doubt, surprise, or with their trademark poker faces. Alessio stood in the middle of it all with his hand stretched out before Arcangelo who had his arms folded over his chest. Clearing his throat, he lowered his hand and slowly retraced his steps to be standing behind Serafina.
"Do I run?" He asked in her ear, keeping an eye on her family before him, worried that he would end up with a bullet wound that would kill him.
"No," She shook her head with an amused smile.
"Okay, I hide then," Alessio concluded, about to walk away when she grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him back, laughing at the fear in his eyes.
"No, you stay here," She laced their fingers together, looking at her parents with a smile. "Mom, Dad, meet my boyfriend, Alessio,"
An even more unbearable silence filled the space between them all, the tension so thick Alessio felt like he could suffocate.
"It all makes so much sense now," Arsenio was the first to speak. "Of course the perfect guy exists if it's Alessio,"
"How did it never cross my mind?" Marco muttered.