The Esztar Code | A Mafia Romance Thriller |18+|

C H A P T E R 16

Everything stopped. The world stopped. The strong blow of his words physically sent me staggering back. I could do nothing more than just stare at him in utter disbelief. The others were equally shocked.

But then something happened.

His lips slightly quivered, distorting the straight look on his face and a series of uncontrollable laughter emanated from him.

Oh okay. It's alright. Calm down. It was a prank.

I held a hand over my chest, exhaling a held in breath. I felt I could finally breathe. "You got me there, you idiot." I slapped his chest.

He still hadn't recovered from the joke. "The look on your face was pure gold." He managed between the laughter.

"That was such a bad joke." Toby scowled, passing him a displeased stare. "Anyway, how long until dinner is ready? I'm hungry." He pouted.

"Hi hungry, I'm Vittoria." I stretched out my hand for a handshake.

They all collectively groaned. Toby was the only one to laugh his ass off on my highly intellectual joke.

"My ears are bleeding after hearing that." Rafael held his hands over his ears.

"Can I stab myself with this knife?" Oliver pretended actually doing it.

"I feel like a disappointed mom." Liam shook his head.

"These dumbheads will never understand this level of humor." Toby passed me the olive oil. "You know what, I'll call you Vitty now onwards. Because you are witty."

"Just when I thought it couldn't get worse." Rafael muttered under his breath.

"A girl who matches my sense of humor!" Toby exclaimed, pretending to get emotional. "I'm afraid I might get attached to you."

I scoffed internally. "Don't worry sweety. People don't usually get attached to me. Won't be a problem for you. Liam pass me the bell peppers will you."

The next few minutes passed in the similar manner, that is, preparing dinner while small talking with the mafias. I got to know a few fun facts.

Usually Rafael and Toby were the ones who make dinner, Liam had around sixteen girlfriends or at least that's how much he could recollect and Oliver once got hit in his head by an angry grandma because he stumbled across her plants, destroying them in the process.

When I asked them about their romantic history, something very weird happened. Toby accidentally slipped something about some girl who never came back which I probably think he meant to say was got killed. However, he never got to complete his statement as Rafael's sharp eyes snapped to him, giving a clear sign to not talk about it. But what's more odd was that all eyes then flied to Oliver and he looked away to hide the pain in his eyes.

Did he lose the girl he loved? Is that way he's so afraid to get Ariel into this dangerous life? My heart broke for him. First this girl and now even Ava. I know how it felt to lose people. It was bad. Very bad.

Everything was almost done, only the pasta was remaining. I stretched my hand up to the top cabinet to retrieve the box of pasta when Toby suddenly grabbed my arm.

"What the hell is this Vittoria?" He stared at the scars on the inside of my arm, terrified.

"Nothing. Just a birthmark." I shrugged his hands off quickly.

"You seriously want me to believe that? These are scars left by burn marks." He looked away as if the sight was very disturbing.

"Who did that?" Rafael demanded. His tone was calm but his demeanor said otherwise. I didn't answer. I couldn't talk about it to anyone. It was too traumatic.