TRIGGER WARNINGS:
EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
SWEARING
SMOKING/ALCOHOL
I had convinced my mom that I would see her tonight, two days after arriving in Italy. Lira and I stayed at a hotel and I could tell my mom's suspicions only grew. Why would her son be staying at a hotel when he could just come home. Shit.
Raf was panicking although he never admitted or looked it but he was screwed if my parents ever found out that he slept with Marina. I wasn't all too bothered. I would, however, never snitch on him.
"The red dress or the black?..No maybe..no I can't go in jeans." Lira muttered as she held dresses in her hands. I could see that she wanted to make a good impression but in the Mafia was there even such a thing but to my parents there definitely was.
"The red is fine." I smiled as I adjusted my tie. She stood in her underwear, her tan skin glowed in the evening light. Her hair fell in soft dark curls as she thought about her options. "I'll wear the red." She stated. She dropped all the dresses and walked over to me. Her fingers brushed mine away from my tie. "There." She smiled when she corrected my tie. I resisted putting my hands around her waist and instead I went downstairs to leave her alone to change and do whatever makeup she wanted.
"So shall we go?" Lira asked when she stepped down from the hotel steps. I stopped talking into my phone and turned it off. Her mini red dress hugged her body, showing off her toned arms and legs. "Hey my eyes are up here." She chuckled as she approached me. I cleared my throat and held her car door open.
"But surely that rule doesn't apply to me?" I teased back with a smile of my own. She hummed and got comfortable in the dark leather seats of the SUV. When I sat down beside her, she found my hand and interlaced our fingers. "Just be yourself." I looked down at our hands in the dim lighting.
"Admir would tell me not to be myself." She grinned, the light reflected off her white teeth. "Well I like who you are so don't ever change." I whispered as I pulled out a small velvet covered box. "For you." I said as I handed her the box.
"Enzo, you spoil me too much. I don't need anything." She sighed as she fiddled with the box. She opened it to reveal a simple diamond necklace. "It's beautiful." She smiled while touching the gem.
"It's only something small." I reassured her. She brushed her hair to one side and let me put the necklace around her neck. I leaned in and kissed her neck, breathing in her musky scent. "Just what am I going to do about you?" She chuckled lightly.
"You could always repay me..." I smirked. She chuckled and leaned closer to me, our bodies touching. I felt her hand on my thigh. "Maybe one day." She teased. I gulped as she let go of my thigh. The things she made me feel, fuck.
We stopped at an apartment building. Emily's. "What are we doing here?" Lira asked with confusion. "My sister would also like to meet you." I smiled and led her up to the apartment. "Mara?" She grinned. I hummed and nodded.
I knocked on the white door and awaited an answer. "I should have brought flowers." Lira shook her head. "That's your fault, you never told me." She scoffed but smiled when the door opened.
"Mara." I smiled gently at her. She was dressed down in pyjamas, with ice cream on her lips and fluffy bunny slippers on her feet. Behind her was Emily who sat on the sofa, eating ice cream and watching a movie. "Sorry to disturb movie night but I'd like to introduce my girlfriend to you. This is Lira." I spoke proudly.
"Oh my God. You're absolutely gorgeous. Where did he find you? Oh come in come in." Mara rushed quickly and waved us inside. "It's nice to meet you, Enzo's told me a lot about you." Lira smiled. By now Emily had also got to her feet and stood beside Mara.
"Oh uh this is my girlfriend, Emily." Mara spoke up. I could tell she was a little flustered. "Enzo you should have told us you were coming." She scolded me. I rubbed the back of my neck and was about to defend myself but Mara beat me to it. "You two look so good together!" Mara beamed.
"Why thank you." Lira smiled. "And you're perfect for Enzo. You're in the Mafia right? So you know how he rolls." Mara chucked. Emily frowned slightly at the mention of the word Mafia, it must make her feel anxious. "Why the fuck are you being so embarrassing for?" I rolled my eyes at her. "She's not normally like this." I tried to explain to Lira.
"Watch your language young man." Mara tutted and punched my arm lightly. Lira chuckled. "I can see you have a close bond and I've got so much to ask you. All about Enzo's most embarrassing moments." Lira grinned. Emily was still being quiet and I noticed she didn't like my presence, she merely tolerated me.
"And as wonderful as that would be, we've got to go." I spoke as I held out an arm. "You're meeting his parents huh? It's so nice to finally put a face to a name and don't be a stranger." Mara smiled at Lira.
We left after that brief visit. "She's so nice. She's a doctor right? And her parents were you're parents guards?" Lira enthused. "Yes and yes." I replied as the car made its way towards home.
"You don't seem like to her girlfriend." Lira spoke up after a while. "It's not that I don't like her. She just doesn't understand what I do." I rubbed my stubbled jaw. "So she's scared of you." Lira surmised. I turned to face her and she placed her finger on my lips. "Shh I think it's fucking cute. She's your sister so you're willing to take a back seat when it comes to Emily."
"Why do you seem to know me better than I know myself?" I smirked against her fingers. She hummed. "I think you know the answer to that." She bit her red painted lips seductively. I avoided kissing her as much as I wanted to, she wouldn't let me not with fresh makeup.
The car soon stopped at the house. My parents were definitely home because the house was brightly lit up and my dads slate grey Bugatti was parked outside. I stepped out from the car, my home once more embracing me. "Thank you Sergio." I nodded at him as he closed the door behind me.
Lira stepped out from the car with a bottle of wine in hand. "Everyone loves wine. I couldn't come empty handed." She smiled shyly at me. I knew this was a first for her. Meeting the parents. I smiled at her. "My mom will definitely appreciate that." I reassured her.
I didn't need to knock on the door instead I walked right in with Lira walking slowly behind me. She knew the house but she didn't know the voices coming from the living room, voices that were very familiar to me. It seemed that my parents were laughing while swearing at each other. I do hope that's all they were doing.
"Mom, dad." I smiled and stepped into the room gingerly. It was brightly lit up, warm and very clean. They both turned my way and their faces soon bore big smiles. "Are you on drugs?" Was how my mom greeted me when she hugged me. "What the fuck?" I furrowed my brows at her. "Alessia he's not on drugs." My dad defended me not that I even needed defending.
Mom looked me up and down. Her curly hair bounced around her shoulders. My dad wore a simple T-shirt and looked more relaxed. "Why do you look all formal for?" My dad asked me with furrowed brows when he noticed that I was in a suit. He scratched his stubbled jaw and mom scoffed in amusement. "You're being strange Vicenzo...so if it's not drugs." Mom tilted her head at me as she tried to figure it out. She was very intelligent, nothing flew under her radar. I tried to remain composed. Lira was still hanging back, awaiting her cue. Mom slowly smiled at me.
"So who is she? I want to know the girl who has my son all smitten." Mom smiled while my dad looked confused as fuck. I tried to hide a gulp and chuckled nervously. "What?" Dad looked at mom. "Oh my poor innocent love, it's a girl. I know that look." She rubbed dad's cheek as if to console him.
Mom turned to face me again and before she could get it out of me, I held out my hand. "I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Lira." And as I spoke those very words my mom's eyes went wide and my dad's mouth dropped open.
I turned to see that Lira had entered the room and stood beside me. "Hello Mr Hernandez, Mrs Ferrari. It's a pleasure to meet you both." She said politely. "Uh I have some wine." She added when they didn't say a word.
"Lira. It's lovely to meet you." Dad spoke first and held out a hand for her to shake. She shook his hand and a maid took the wine from her. "Pardon my lack of manners, but who the fuck are you?" Mom asked her coldly while looking her up and down.
"Mom." I scolded. My dad didn't seem surprised by my mom's behaviour. "Lira. But you want to know who I am so I'll tell you my surname. Qesari." Lira spoke confidently. "As in Adam Qesari?" My dad asked trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Lira nodded. "Adam or Admir is my brother."
"The Albanian Mafia." My mom stated as she looked between Lira and I. She then did something she rarely did, she held out her hand for Lira to shake. Lira shook her hand and my mom smiled. I guess she liked her.
"What happened to your leg?" Dad asked her when he noticed her bandaged calf. My mom looked down and looked at me unimpressed. "You fucked with the Russians didn't you?" Mom shook her head. "I fucking told you to leave them alone."
"I -uh we didn't do anything." I said with wide eyes. Lira was smiling. "Lira what did he do?" Mom asked her. She stopped smiling now. "He pushed Dimitri into champagne which pissed him off and the next day we were shot at. So we went back and killed two of them." She said calmly omitting some very fine details like how she knocked one of them unconscious and how she slapped Jasha.
"I like you. Come with me." Mom smiled before leading Lira away. Mom was always blunt so she definitely liked her. Fucking hell. Lira just snitched on me and she did it to get mom to like her. Her tactics were fucking flawless.
"Is this why you didn't want come home?" Dad asked as he sat back down. He poured two small glasses of whiskey. I took a seat opposite him and took a sip of the whiskey he handed me. "I wasn't sure if she was ready to meet you both. And you know how mom is." I licked my lips clean.
"Well I knew this day would come." He sighed and ran a hand though his dark hair. He leaned back and looked at me as if I was still eleven years old. "Despite what anyone says Enzo, falling in love is the greatest gift anyone can ever receive. When I met your mom, it was like I was complete, even though I didn't know I needed her. Our marriage was forced so I just want for you to fall in love."
"Someone's getting soppy in their old age." I chuckled making my dad chuckle. "Admir's her brother?" He asked and I nodded in response. "He's a decent man." He nodded gently. I smiled in agreement. "Yes he is. A good friend to have." I replied.
He leaned forward, placing his glass down onto the marble coffee table. "Please tell me Raphael didn't fuck their sister." He said quietly. It was now that I could hear laughter coming from the kitchen. Mom and Lira were getting on I suppose. I rubbed my neck and cleared my throat. I nodded whilst looking anywhere but at dad. "Fucking hell." Dad breathed.
"That boy needs his fucking dick cut off. Your mom's going to murder him. Fuck. And I'm not too happy about it either." My dad grumbled. "I did tell him several times." I added not that it would matter.
Dad stood up and so did I. "It's nice that she's from the Mafia. God forbid if she was just a normal girl. Your mom would eat her alive....So it's true, Hernandez men like a strong woman." My dad grinned and patted my shoulder.
"You do realise your mom's definitely going to have a word with you at some point." He chuckled. "You'll be there too right dad?" I asked with slight worry. He chuckled huskily and pulled out a cigarette. I knew my mom's temperament could be calmed by my dad.
"Dinner first. Smoke afterwards." Mom ordered as she peered into the room. Dad looked at me with furrowed brows. "What the fuck? Smoke afterwards. She never says that." He muttered as he walked towards the door whilst obeying her command.
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You do realise I could have left you on a cliffhanger just as she walked into the room but you know what I chose not to
AHH it was so hard to write this because I like to imagine the characters, I need to be them and putting them all in one chapter was always going to be tough but I hope the meeting went as you'd expected or even better
It's hard writing a sequel because the characters need to be the same but not exactly the same if you know what I mean because with time they're older and Enzo's parents are well parents now
