Beautiful Lies

Chapter Nineteen

"You must be the beautiful wife." He turns to me and immediately wraps me in his arms. I have to say he looks damn good. He has a striking face, dark hair and piercing green eyes.

"Isn't it a funny coincidence that our names are similar and that we both have green eyes?" he looks at me with a smile.

"Ah, that means you're Lorenzo." I say.

"Pretty and smart. You should really keep her and otherwise I'll gladly take her," he says to Dante with a laugh.

"Careful.", Dante hisses.

"Oh he's jealous. You have nothing to worry about. I have my own beautiful lady."

"Since when?" asks Dante in surprise.

"If you ever called me back or came to visit me more often, you'd know, cousin." Now it makes sense why the two look so much alike.

"Enough talk, you must be hungry from the flight. Mike will prepare something delicious for you in the kitchen. Then you can also meet my lovely lady."

He leads us to a secluded table and pulls back my chair. "A true gentleman. Feel free to give some to Dante." Dante just looks at me with slitted eyes.

The two men start talking to each other when a beautiful blonde comes running up to the table.

"Oh my God, honey I didn't know we were going out to dinner with others. If I had, I would have put on something else," she says in a squeaky high-pitched voice.

She is wearing a skin-tight pink glittery dress. I see Dante's face contort next to mine. "You always look beautiful," Lorenzo says with a grin. She pounces on him and the two of them give us a show with their tongues.

"Is this really happening right now?", I whisper. "I want to poke my eyes out," Dante whispers back.

After a few minutes they stop and Lorenzo says: "Where are our manners? That's Charmean." Of course she must have a name like that.

"I'm so happy to see you. Lorenzo has already told me a lot about you." Just not that we're arriving today, I think to myself.

"Here are your starters," I hear a voice say. As I look up, my stomach twists. He looks at me with wide eyes and whispers, "Lorena." I just shake my head and tears spring to my eyes.

"You know each other?" asks Lorenzo curiously. "No!" "Yes." we say simultaneously. "What now?" interjects Dante. "If you don't mind, I'd prefer another waiter," I say quietly.

"I can swap tables with someone," he says. "Why? Lorena said she doesn't know you. So I'm sure she won't mind you serving us." Dante looks at me sternly.

"Um sure," I mumble as I try to control my breathing. "Now that that's settled, let's eat. While the women gossip, we can talk business," Dante says.

I give Charmean a forced smile and she immediately starts talking about the latest fashion and designers while I choke down the bruschetta.

When the main course arrives, I can't force myself to touch the pasta. It smells heavenly but I feel too sick.

I never thought that after everything I would run into Vinz in a restaurant in Chicago. It's been five years since the worst day of my life and yet I can't tear myself away from these thoughts.

"Lorena?" "Hmm?" I look up to see everyone looking at me, waiting. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" "Lorenzo asked you if you didn't like the food," Dante hisses.

"I like it, it's very delicious," I say. "But you haven't touched it at all." Thanks for that Charmean, as if it wasn't obvious enough already.

I take a fork and stuff a large portion into my mouth. "Yummy." I think Dante might want to shoot me right now, but I don't care at the moment. 

I suddenly feel nauseous and say, "I'll be right back." I quickly get up and walk towards the toilet. I bend over the toilet and empty the contents of my stomach.

I wipe my mouth and walk out of the cubicle. At the sink, I rinse my mouth and splash water on my face.

"Lorena?" Startled, I turn around and see Vinz. "Get out of here," I shout. "Just listen to me for a second." "No, I said get out! You have no right to talk to me." Tears are streaming down my cheeks. He takes a step towards me while I take a few steps back.

"I'm so fucking sorry. Not a day goes by that I don't think about that night." "I'm sorry that you have to think about it," I say hysterically.

"Lorena." "GET OUT!", I screech. He walks out the door, startled. I slide down the wall, trying not to have a panic attack.

"Okay, remember what Dr. Fouler said to you. One, two, three and it's all over, four, five and six I'm better, seven, eight and nine he can't hurt you."

I start laughing out of desperation. Five fucking years I've been trying to tackle this problem and after one encounter with him I'm set back five years. Just fantastic!

"Why the hell does it take so long?" I hear Dante say as he bursts into the ladies' room.

He stops when he sees me sitting on the floor. "What happened to you?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was fine?" I look at him with wide eyes. "Principessa, don't play with me." He sits down on the floor with his expensive suit.

"I don't want to talk about it."
"Too bad you don't have a choice." I cross my arms as my tears run down.

"I don't want to cry at all." He takes my face in his hand and gently wipes away the tears.

"Is it because of the waiter? Do you want me to kill him?"

"What Dante no.", startled, I look at him.

"I will if you don't tell me why you're crying!" he threatens. "After that story, you'll want to kill him all the more." I see his eyes darken. "What happened?" he hisses.

"Promise me you won't do anything." "Promise."

And so I started telling him about the worst day of my life.