Mena
I found myself in the basement with Pilar for what was supposed to be our ‘girls night,’ only it wasn’t. At least not with Gian, and even Dante present.
I didn’t want to call Pilar out on her little lie in front of Alessio, so when she called it a girls night I just rolled with it. It must’ve been her way of keeping me to herself, and I could understand why she would do that.
Whenever Alessio was near, he would be the only thing that mattered, and whenever he wasn’t near, he would occupy my head as always.
Either way, Pilar seemed so determined to have me to herself, but she spent more time arguing with Gian, who she claimed to dislike, at the bar.
Their constant bickering was still entertaining because I couldn’t even tell what they were arguing about.
I sat on the couch by myself, sipping my liquor, just hoping time would go by fast so I could get out of here. Even poor Dante, who stood by awkwardly, seemed like a third wheel.
Lately, I had been spending more time with Gian and Pilar than anyone, but I really wasn’t feeling it tonight.
It was torture, knowing I had to sit here while Alessio was upstairs, waiting for me.
My eyes locked with Dante, and he immediately made his way over from the bar. He offered me a soft smile I returned as he sat down beside me, a drink in his hand.
He looked at me, his eyes asking me a question and I hummed.
“Are you alright? Because it looks like you don’t want to be here,” Dante asked.
I couldn’t help but chuckle, swirling my glass of liquor. “No, I’m having so much fun,” I replied sarcastically. “Not more than them though.”
Dante chuckled with a shrug of his shoulders, as he also watched the two in front of us. It really was like watching a live show. Their interactions were filled with sarcastic jabs and eye rolls that obviously went beyond annoyance-only they didn’t realize yet.
“Do you think your brother likes her?” I wondered Dante’s take on the situation.
“Who, Gian?” Dante responded, laughing. “He’s not the type of guy to…no,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief at the mere thought of his brother in a relationship. “And I think he has something else on his mind than women at the moment.”
I hummed in response, but disagreed with his assessment. I had been observing them for hours because I had nothing better to do, and had wondered many times if that was the same way Alessio and I looked at each other.
“Don’t get too invested,” Dante told me.
“Hard not to when it’s the only interesting thing happening in front of me.”
“I’m glad you and Alessio seem to be doing fine,” he slapped my knee.
“Can’t fight about anything if you barely see each other,” I replied, rolling my eyes to the back of my head.
Correction, anything except for escorts.
We sat in silence for a while, until Dante began talking to me once again. “This glass is pretty,” he said just to say anything. It was just a simple glass, nothing more.
“Are you seeing anyone?” I asked, since he wanted to talk to me so badly.
Dante smiled, “No.”
“Why not? You’re handsome-you must get a lot of attention.”
Dante’s smile turned into a grin. “Are you hitting on me?”
“No-I’m all about Alessio,” I made it clear with flushed cheeks. He appeared to be over me, and I didn’t want to bring back any old feelings. I didn’t even know why I had brought it up.
“We all know that, don’t worry,” Dante said, and a relieved breath escaped from my lips.
My eyes following the sound of laughter, they drifted back to Gian and Pilar. She attempted to put him in a chokehold, a move that under normal circumstances would get him angry.
But not this time. This time he looked at her with something that resembled warmth. It was hard to miss, even to someone who wasn’t as invested as I was.
“Do you really not see that?” I nudged Dante, wondering if I was crazy.
“I don’t, and I don’t like your friend. I don’t want her as a sister-in-law. She talks too much. I’m sorry.”
“Hmm, so you do see it, but you don’t want to see it,” I concluded.
Dante lifted his shoulders up and down. “Okay, you got me.”
“I knew it,” I smiled ear to ear as if I had just won a game show. “I knew I wasn’t crazy.”
It went silent again, both of us cracking our brains about what to talk about next. “The revenge,” I found our next topic. “How’s that going?”
Dante’s brows knit together in an expression showing he was unsure whether he could tell me or not.
Alessio had made it clear that he wouldn’t share details unless it was something important, and he must’ve instructed everyone else to do the same. “Alessio says he won’t tell me anything, so I thought I’d try to fish it out of you.”
“I know,” Dante chuckled before going into deep thought. Eventually he let out a deep, defeated breath. “He scheduled a meeting for tomorrow morning. It should be the final one here before we take real action,” he ended up revealing.
Real action?
What exactly did he meant by that?
Before I could ask, the basement door swung open, and Alessio stepped out with Donni behind him. He flickered his eyes at me with a shake of his head, and I took a quick glance at the clock. I had been so busy ‘trying’ to talk to Dante that I hadn’t noticed it was one minute past midnight.
“Quite some girls’ night the two of you are having, with a very interesting ratio,” Alessio commented, his tone full of sarcasm as usual.
Pilar, who was finally busy with something other than Gian, moved her eyes to the clock and let out an exaggerated gasp. “No!”
The two were so ridiculous it made me laugh. One had come down here like an impatient puppy, demanding to spend time with me, not even sparing a minute-and the other one was flirting right in front of me until she had suddenly decided she needed me again.
I stood up, walking to Alessio. “Deal is a deal, sorry Pilar,” I said, offering an apologetic smile.
Pilar glared. “Can’t you at least pretend like you want to keep me company?”
Donni stepped forward. “I’ll keep you company.”
Enough said, Pilar stepped away from the bar and Gian to grab Donni’s hand. Then the two were off to somewhere in the back, but certainly not before she gave Alessio a glare that could freeze the sun.
Well, that was awkward.
For both Alessio and Gian.
“I don’t think she likes me anymore,” Alessio whispered.
“No, she likes you,” I reassured him, “She just doesn’t like that I like you because you’re all I talk about.”
Alessio frowned, and then released a surprised smile. “Oh, really?”
“Yes, really!”
Dante came up to me, giving my shoulder a friendly pat. “Do you really not see that?” He pointed his head at Donni and Pilar, who were laughing and talking the same as she had been with Gian just a few minutes ago.
“No,” I growled, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.
Alessio looked at us, his expression curious because he had no idea what we were talking about. “We got our own inside thing,” I declared, trying to keep a straight face. It was what he had told me when he had done the same with Pilar.
“Oh, you got your own inside thing?” Alessio asked, impressed. He laughed at me, and hearing that beautiful sound, I instantly joined his laughter.
“Can we go?”
“Yes, just let me say goodnight to Gian,” I said before heading towards the bar where Gian sat alone in his wheelchair, looking like he could use some company.
As I walked away, Alessio’s hand smacked my ass. “Don’t keep me waiting too long.”
I looked back at him, cracking up. “I won’t, we have all night, what more do you want?”
Gian hadn’t noticed my presence, because he was too busy staring at Donni and Pilar. His brows were furrowed, his jaw tensed, and I could see it was affecting him. Of course it did. She was just with him like a minute ago.
“He’s taking your woman, stand up!” I clapped, trying to draw his attention away from the scene.
Gian’s gaze snapped to me, annoyed. “I would rather lock myself in that freezer again before calling her my woman,” he clicked his tongue. “I’m just trying to look out for Donni.”
“Sure,” I snorted at his denial.
“And it’s very insensitive for you to say ‘stand up,’ when I’m…” He trailed off, his eyes traveling down to his wheelchair, reminding me of his current situation.
“Oh fuck, I didn’t mean it like that. It was meant metaphorically, as in, do something about it-” I stammered, trying a little to hard to explain myself.
Gian cut me off, scowling. “Jimena?” he warned, using my first name so I knew he was being serious.
Just when we were starting to get along again, I had to go and ruin it.
“Sorry,” I spoke quickly, then glued my lips together. My eyes blinked at him, hoping he would accept my apology, and when a chuckle came out, I knew he did.
“Never mind,” he said, dismissing my words. “Don’t worry about it.”
I closed my eyes, relieved, and smiled. “Thank you!” I blurted out. “How is therapy going?”
“Good.”
“Good? That’s good. You’ll walk again, so that’s good,” I said, trying to sound encouraging but probably sounding really stupid in the process.
There was a brief silence. “But if you wouldn’t walk, that would also be good,” I added.
Gian breathed, “Thanks for your encouraging words,” he uttered dryly.
I clenched my teeth, feeling the awkwardness from earlier making a return. Maybe I was a tiny bit drunk.
To avoid any more awkward situations, I bent down to give him a hug. “Anyway, don’t hate me, I’m going-just came here to say good night,” I told him, hoping to leave on a good note.
“Good night, Gigi,” Gian said, his tone much softer now.