𝕱𝖎𝖗𝖊 𝕸𝖊𝖊𝖙𝖘 𝕲𝖆𝖘𝖔𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊

Chapter Thirty Eight {Davinia}🌹

A pretty thing, I won't lie. But just like I said, a pretty "Thing". She's like an empty can, painted with beautiful colors. Her voice sounds exactly like an empty can when it meets the floor. She has been yapping non stop right after I introduced myself as Ronan's date and politely asked her to discard her hand that was wrapped around Ronan's arm. She of course obeyed but for some reason I dislike it, now I have no reason to punish her. Well, if she continues with this yapping, someone will have to shut her up and I will be more than happy to do so.

"My yatch is so amazing, you have to come and watch the sea with me sometime, you'll love it" She squeals with a bright smile on her face which I immediately remove with just a sentence.

"He won't be able to do so, Ronan here gets sea sick." I say without flavor. Her face becomes red all over, almost matching the red one eyed mask she wore

"How would you know?" She tries to sound mature and unbothered but fails terribly. I smile sweetly at her but only a fool would think that I am anything but sweet.

"Well, child," I drawl, finding this more amusing than I thought I would. Her face will soon burst with the amount of heat she's holding in. I don't think she likes the word "Child". Do I care? Not one bit. "I am Ronan's fiancé. Who might you be?"

Now she's had enough. Her eyes are as wide as pancakes as her lips fumble for the words to say. "You don't know who I am?!" She begins to rapidly fan herself with a Furry gloved hands. "Fiancé!? " She scoffed, clearly exasperated by the mention of it.

"Bonnie, there you are. Have been searching everywhere for you." A middle aged woman in a purple ball gown with a matching purple mask that is joined to her feathery hat walks over to us. Looking at her closely, I can see the resemblance. She shares the same deep hazel eye color with tin girl over here. She holds her daughter by the arm and smiles nervously at us.
"Mr Dimitri. Miss Lucchese." She nods in greeting and we do the same. "I apologize for my daughter's behavior."

"No, no, no, Mrs Peptriv. It was fun to watch." Ronan finally speaks. I'm curious to what part of our banter was fun to him. The part where I introduced myself? Or the part where I told her I was his fiance? Bonnie's mother laughs softly and I return to reality. Even her laugh sounds uncomfortable, is it my presence or Ronan's presence that brought on this nervousness and awkwardness?

"We'll ll leave you guys to enjoy the night." with that she pulls a seething, reluctant tingirl along with her. I watch the pair argue between themselves as they made way to the other side of the hall. So she's the wife of the Russian's Senate. Interesting.

"Green looks good on you" Ronan's sudden warm breath in my ear makes me drift my eyes away from the mother and daughter duo. I turn to face him. There is a smug smile on his face and the mischievous glint from earlier still plays in his blue eyes but when I squint my eyes to take a good look, all I see is void. A small strand of hair glues to his right eye lid.

"Every color looks good on me" I mutter lowly as I move closer to him. The smile leaves his face, he's wondering what I want to do. My own smug smile appears on my face and his smile returns. I pick the hair strand glued to skin and bring it over to my lips. My eyes meet his and I wink before I blow the hair away from between my fingers. Suddenly, he wraps his hand around my waist and pulls me flush to his body.

"But I love the color of your skin more. Mind if I take a look tonight?" I adjust the collar of his tux  and slowly draw my hands down the material as I move my face to the side of his head and whisper into his ear.

"I'll think about it."

I pull away to see his eyes flash with intent. It awakens something in me, something feral. We stay like this for a few more seconds before the sudden sound of loud cheering breaks the moment between us. Apparently, the lady of the night is making her way up the stairs. Dressed in a tullip golden ball gown that sweeps the floor. Her chest is exposed but her back is covered with a golden peacocks feathers which matches her golden Venice full face masquerade mask. Her hand is linked with her husband's hand who is dressed in a nice vintage tuxedo suit with a matching Venice full face male mask. They make their way up to the floor above and wave down at their guest below.

The minister takes a mic and greets his guest with his rich old baritone voice. "Ladies and gentlemen. Please have your seats and enjoy the culinary skills of our most talented chef while the entertainment begins. After that we shall start with the auction for tonight and the you can all be free from all this drama" He jokes and everyone laughs at it. While I stand and wonder how long it will take before I collapse or faint from exhaustion.

We take our various seat and watch as the waiters who are also covered behind masks, serve our dishes. Two male waiters walk up to us and begin to place our food on the silver clothed table. Then I noticed something strange. One of the waiters had a familiar looking tattoo on his wrist, I only get glimpses of it when his sleeve rises up a little whenever he places something down on the table. It's a drawing of a three head snake or is it a dragon? A voice in my head tells me something is not right. I observe the actions of the waiters.

There's nothing fishy in the way they act. From the dishes they serve and the wine they pour from the bottle down to our glasses. I notice that the bottle of wine is the wine made in my refinery. "Annucrassimento" A perfect blend of dried grapes and aged apples. The minister does know how to honor his formidable guest. After that, they both bow to us and leave our presence. Unconsciously, I look behind me. With squinted eyes, I watch the male waiters walk to another table. Something isn't right.

"Davinia?"

My head whips back to face Ronan at the mention of my name. His bushy eyebrows curve  as he squint his eyes at me. "Everything alright?"
I hear him ask but I take my time to reply. Is everything alright? My eyes flit over the dishes and wines on the table. There's nothing strange about it so I chose to dismiss the foreboding instinct and relax.

"Everything is fine." I reply to Ronan as I settle in my seat without bothering to watch the expression on his face. Seconds later, the clattering and chattering of people and their dishes mix with the soft music in the background.

"Let's eat" Ronan says and I nod. No matter how I try to shake it off, it's still there. The foreboding feeling. I decide to have a taste of the wine "my wine" first but when the aroma of the wine reaches my nostrils, I pause. "Drinking my wine now, are you?" Ronan jokes but the smug smile on his face drops when my eyes which are now sharp with alertness dart from his face down back to the wine in my hand. What's this smell? Swiftly, I put down his glass of wine and pick mine. I slowly take in the aroma and just as I thought, it smelt different from Ronan's glass of wine. How so? The wine was poured from the same bottle so why does his smell different from mine?

"What's wrong?"

"Poison."

My eyes meet with Ronan's blue ones, they squint for a bit as my response settles in his brain. When it does, his eyebrows widened as his eyes flit from side to side, looking for the guys who served our table. I also do the same and it was at that moment that we both realize that every waiter is wearing the same mask. Suddenly I come to a realization. "Three headed snake" I mutter lowly. Ronan returns his attention to me. His eyes search mine.

"You mean" three headed dragon? "

Instantly, my eyes snap over to him." What does it mean? "

" It's the symbol of an Odessa soldier." he says before pulling up his right sleeve where on his wrist is the drawing of the same tattoo. That's right he was once a soldier." Where did you see it?"

"One of the waiter had the drawing on his left wrist. I saw the same on the man that I saw with Federico earlier." as I say that, my eyes scan the room for sickly Rico. He's nowhere here to be found and when I turn back at Ronan. He is gone.

"Now what?"