War of A Rose

War of a Rose • Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-six
Rosaelia

Facing Niccolo fucking sucked. He stayed in the dining room when Alessio and I walked in this morning, but he wouldn't meet my eyes. Giovanni eyed me from his spot at the dining table. Pietro and Enzo sat beside him. None of them looked at me differently, but I knew they had heard about my incident. Dante and Gabriele strolled into the dining room at the same time. I cocked my head at the sight. I was confused at first to see my cousin warming up so quickly, but then I realized how similar the two men were.

Liliana was the last to join us for breakfast. She was just what I needed to break the ice. But it would have to wait until she downed her coffee. I stared at the blonde as she pulled back a chair at the end of the table. Deep bags hung under her brown eyes. Like she hadn't slept in days. I looked to where Gabriele sat, eating his food at the opposite end of the table. And I couldn't help but wonder. Does she look like that because of him?

I did not doubt that he was making her suffer. She so desperately searched for his forgiveness, and he refused to give it. I watched how his eyes flicked to her when she was not looking. He was enjoying her groveling—sick bastard. I turned to Niccolo, and my face fell when his hard eyes locked into mine. He had finally looked at me. And he was angry? No. Something else flashed in those gray eyes. He was hurt.

Alessio's hand squeezed mine under the table. I looked up at him. His face was blank, but I could read those blue eyes. Give him time. I slumped into my chair. I didn't want to give him time. I wanted to tell him that I knew the safety was on. When I opened my mouth, he turned his attention to Liliana.

She frowned in her seat. Now it was her who watched Gabriele when he wasn't looking.

"Who pissed in your coffee lil lil?" Enzo called from down the table. A childish smirk on his lips. She rolled her eyes at his comment.

"That beauty sleep isn't doing too much for you." He added, gaining a chorus of laughter from his friends. Alessio chuckled from beside me, which resulted in me kicking his ankle under the table. His grip on my hand tightened, but that was it. Gabriele's eyes slid to Liliana's. Aside from her and me, he was the only one not laughing.

She turned to Enzo, and those doe-eyes hardened as she glared at him, "Fuck you, Enzo." The blonde threw his hands up in mock defense. Shifting her gaze, she caught Gabriele's. And those brown eyes softened. Her mouth parted as if she was going to say something. The second she started, my cousin turned his head to Dante. The blonde fell back in her chair, looking as hopeless as ever. Her eyes slid to mine, and for a second, it looked like she might actually cry. I sent her a soft gaze.

I wanted to feel bad for her for the fact that she was now my friend, but I couldn't because she had hurt my cousin. He was everything to me. I glanced back to Gabriele and stiffened when I realized his eyes were already on me. The hard stare revealed that he didn't like me making friends with the enemy. I felt stuck in the middle over them, but he was wrong. She was not the enemy anymore. My father was.

I picked at the rest of my breakfast in silence. No one really made any mind to me other than Alessio, who would occasionally squeeze my hand and send me a comforting look. I kept waiting for the guys to break their conversation so I could weasel myself in and apologize to Niccolò. It was like they had some code. Whenever I found an opening, one of them would say something right as I opened my mouth. Eventually, I just gave up.

After breakfast, I followed my cousin out to the garden. Alessio was hesitant to leave me alone with him, which caused a small argument between us. He would need to start trusting my cousin because he was going nowhere but here.