Adore You | ✔

Chapter 74

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Chapter 74

We sat at the dinner table, Robbie one on end, his maternal grandfather in the other. 

I had met him a few times before, "Roberto Lorenzo the third," was how he introduced himself. He was tall like Robbie with gray eyes like his daughter. Lorenzo, the name he preferred to be called, acted and spoke like a man who was never told no and had a designated person to take care of whatever he needed taking care of. The day I met him, he gave me a long history of his family and the coffee empire. He emphasized the importance of family and duty. Over and over and over again.

 All three of his grandparents were here today, but they barely said anything to us. It was...weird. Robbie introduced me as his girlfriend, and there was a blanket of silence that suddenly drifted over the evening.

I could tell they were not happy I was there. His paternal grandmother, Clarissa, the one I had encountered several times before, who interrogated me during the last family dinner, had a pinched expression on her face throughout the entire dinner.

As we ate in silence, I could feel the tension grow. Robbie had gone mute. The only time at heard him speak was when a burly man stepped into the room and whispered something to his grandmother. 

His eyes widened a bit, and he leaned over to ask his sister who that was.

I couldn't hear her answer, but he seemed satisfied with whatever she said because he let it go. That was the last thing he said before going back to pick at his food and pout.

Abigail's mother made small talk with his grandparents and Robbie's mother. Robbie, Maria, Abigail and I all ate quietly. Lana was unable to make it. Damien had a family emergency, and she needed to be with him.

There was a strange tension from Robbie that made me anxious, but I tried to ignore it. I reached over at one point to squeeze his knee under the table, and he gave me a small smile in return. It seemed as if the evening was going to go by awkwardly but relatively quiet. 

Until Robbie and Maria's uncle arrived. His father's younger brother, Maria later told me. He looked to be in his mid-thirties and had the same green eyes as Maria and blonde hair that he parted to the side. 

As soon as one of the maids announced his arrival, there was a shift. He stood behind me, and I looked back to acknowledge him.

"Hello everyone," He said, "Scootch over Mar, I want to sit next to the little man of the house. Or not so little man, how tall are you now?" He said, ruffling Robbie's hair.  He gave Maria a kiss on the head as a maid placed a seat next to her. Robbie looked even more upset now.

Who was this guy?

"I'm Ted," he said, holding his hand out to me across the table.

"Cecilia," I said, taking it.

"Pretty name," he said, smiling at me. 

He turned to look at Robbie's grandfather and opened a napkin on his lap, "So, Lorenzo, how's the merger going? I heard you acquired some small vendors." Ted said, reaching over to grab a dinner roll.

"It's going as well as it could go, I suppose," Robbie's grandfather said, sounding disinterested and cutting into his steak.

"What, Robbie boy here isn't working out as well as you hoped," He said, patting Robbie's shoulder.