Severo patted Allyce’s hand and then said towards the door, “I’ve got it.
After saying that, he straightened the clothes on his body, pulled Allyce up and said, “Come on, let’s go downstairs”.
When Allyce and Severo came downstairs, they realised that Neto was not the only one who had arrived; he was followed by a man in a black suit.
The man in the black suit looked a little older than Neto, and his features were somewhat similar to Neto’s, but there was a sharpness between his eyebrows. Unlike Severo’s introversion, this man’s aura was outwardly dominant, making people feel a little respected and intimidated.
Apparently, sensing that Allyce was looking at him, the man turned his eyes in Allyce’s direction.
His gaze was sharp and fixed on Allyce.
The man’s eyes sparkled with surprise as he nodded politely, though Allyce was not amused.
Severo took Allyce’s hand and, without moving, glanced at the man before looking back at Neto.
Neto was a little more serious than his usual cynical demeanour: “Severo, this is my older brother, Marco Pastrano”.
With those words he stepped aside, revealing the full length of Marco’s slender figure.
Marco held out his hand to Severo without moving his face: “Monsieur Betances”.
His tone was thick and sounded dignified, with a touch of authority.
Allyce had a feeling that Marco might be with the government.
Severo did not immediately extend her hand to shake his, but watched him for a few seconds, and only when his expression changed slightly did she held out her hand, in an unmistakably emotional voice: “Hello.
Allyce looked at Severo, did he mean he knew Marco?
Neto looked at Allyce and suddenly said: “Sister-in-law, is your family already cooking dinner, I haven’t even had enough for lunch, take me out to eat something”.
Without waiting for Allyce to respond, Severo turned his head to look at her: “Go ahead.
Allyce immediately understood that Marco was looking for Severo for something, so he wanted her to come out first, even Neto couldn’t sit on him.
I had already been curious about Neto’s family history, and now, seeing Neto’s older brother, I could vaguely guess his family history, but I still wasn’t sure.
Now that Severo had said that, Allyce didn’t linger and turned and left.
He led Neto into the kitchen, leaving the maids in the hall to leave Severo and Marco alone.
Only after she turned around could she feel the gaze of the man called Marco still on her.
She frowned slightly, but did not turn away when he quickly averted his gaze.
Allyce stopped in the dining room, outside the kitchen, and turned to look at Neto: “Marco is your real big brother? What does he do? What does he want with Severo?”
Severo was a businessman, but not just any businessman, he must have used some grey tactics to get where he was, and he had some shady business dealings on his hands, which Allyce naturally knew about.
What she was thinking was that if Marco was really from the government, what did he want with Severo?
But then he thought: “Neto is Severo’s best brother, he can’t possibly hurt Severo.
“Of course he’s his own brother, otherwise do you think he’d be able to make me do what he wants?” Neto said and set out to walk towards the kitchen.
Allyce followed him and continued asking: “You haven’t answered the last two questions!
“He came on a mission, I don’t know what it was about, he just said he was looking for Severo to find out a little something, he didn’t have to lie to me. Don’t worry, Severo hasn’t done anything treacherous in the last few years, there won’t be any problems”.
Neto spoke quickly and went into the kitchen when he finished.
Then came her voice from the kitchen: “Sister, you are getting younger and younger after days without seeing you! What are you cooking here, it looks like it tastes good, here, let me help you taste it”.
Allyce remembered that the cook at home was an aunt in her late sixties.
This Neto guy was a real smooth talker, his speciality was picking up girls, from eighteen year olds to octogenarians, there was nothing he couldn’t handle, but his skills seemed to be lacking with Lucila.
“This miso elbow is even better than the previous one …”
“What’s this congee made of, it smells so good …”
Allyce held her forehead and didn’t bother to go inside, she had thought earlier that Neto was just talking about being hungry, and it looked like he was very hungry.
He took a seat in the restaurant and his eyes unconsciously wandered into the foyer.
Suddenly, a slender figure appeared at the entrance of the restaurant.
Thinking it was Severo, Allyce jumped up, “Severo!”
When he saw her, he shouted, “Mrs. Betances”.
It was Marco.
Allyce’s gaze wavered, “Signor Pastrano”.
Marco’s gaze lingered on her face for less than three seconds before he turned away naturally: “Neto’s not here?
“He’s in the kitchen, let me call him for you.” For some reason, Allyce didn’t really like the look on Marco’s face, and with that said, she quickly made her way to the kitchen.
Behind her was Marco’s polite voice: “Thank you”.
Neto was sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, eating with a greasy face.
Allyce thought it would be a good idea if someone came to see him like this, probably the women who had liked Neto would just think he looked cute like this.
He came over and said: “Neto, your big brother is here to see you”.
“Are you done talking so soon?” Neto said as he stood up, grabbed a towel and wiped his hands, before leaving he even forgot to tell the cook’s aunt: “Big sister, I’m going out first, your cooking is top notch!”
The cook’s aunt was beaming at his compliment.
Allyce waited for Neto and Marco to leave before leaving the kitchen.
When he reached the lobby, Severo was coming out of the public toilet on the ground floor.
He hurried over to Severo: “Have you finished talking about your business?
Severo gave only a perfunctory answer: “Yes”.
Allyce did not rush to ask more questions, but dismissed Neto and Marco with him before asking Severo: “What does Neto’s older brother want from you?
Severo seemed a little lost in thought and took a few seconds before slowly replying to Allyce: “About Amado Mejia”.
“What does your big brother do?”
Severo spoke slowly: “Neto’s grandfather is an old retired army general and his parents hold official positions …”.
Allyce froze: “Neto is the son of a high-ranking official!”