The Sins of Duke Evander (BOOK III)

Chapter 17- A Goodnight Kiss

"Yes, it's safe to say that I'm quite a good player too," I sipped on the chamomile tea that Nonna had given me.

Currently, Nonna was sat beside me as she tried knitting, she wasn't very good at it is what I surmised, but she enjoyed it, and I was chatting with Alina's grandfather in front of the firepit, Nonno, as he asked me to call him.

And Alina was cuddled up in the far corner of the couch, wrapped up in a blanket with a cup of piping hot chocolate in her hands as she read a thick book, looking as adorable as ever.

"Then, would you care for a game?" Nonno asked.

"Why not?" I shrugged my shoulders, it would be nice to play with someone other than my secretary or butler for once.

So, for the next half an hour or so, we played a game of chess, light chatter surrounding us, my eyes drifting over to Alina every few minutes until she decided to be the first to go to bed.

"Goodnight," She kissed her Nonna, and then her Nonno, and as I patiently waited for my kiss, she stuck her tongue out before ignoring me, going on her merry way. That little minx! She was really working on testing my restraint, wasn't she?

Her grandma chuckled as she threw another log into the firepit.

"If you think it's that easy to make it up to your wife, then you've got another thing coming," She said, going to sit back down on the couch and carrying on with her knitting.

"She's not wrong, you know. When we were still newlyweds, we'd get into fights all the time, and I can tell you that I was always in the wrong, but still, I was a stubborn man and refused to accept it at the time," He chuckled, throwing his wife a kiss as she laughed at him.

Here they are shoving their old love in my face as if to spite me.

"I know that I was in the wrong, and I know that I need to apologise to her. The only problem is that I don't know how," Figuring out love seems to be more difficult than any mathematical equation right now. I wish my parents could have taught me that before they died, they really were quite useless to me in their lifetime.

"If I told you the answer to that, the two of you will never be able to move forward in this relationship... But, I will tell you that it is important to acknowledge your mistakes and to learn from them, and then let her know that, not just with words, but actions," Nonno patted my shoulder before going to move his next chess piece.

"Look at this old man, I can tell you now that he's speaking out of his tush, trying to sound like some wise old man," Nonna nudged me, loudly whispering in my ear.

"Must you always call me out like that? I'm trying to enjoy their young love," He glared at her with a smile on his face.

But, listening to his words, even if he was speaking out of his ass, I can say that I understood what he meant, and may even believe for it to be some good advice.

"If you want my advice, and I can assure you that I got it from experience, I will tell you this; Alina is not a simple young woman, her name means light, and as she is the light of all of our lives, including yours, I imagine, you need to give her something worth fighting for,"

"Hey! You just got that from that Disney movie, the one with the little red dragon, what was it called again? The Chinese one... Oh, right, Mulan!"

Is giving advice to me a competition for these two or what?

"I think I'll be retiring for the night, you two should get some sleep too," 

Because I think they definitely needed it.