Angeli Oscuri

Qᴜᴀᴛᴛʀᴏ

Romeo, Romeo..

♛

"I CAN'T GET over the view from this balcony," Fia yells. "Look, the ocean is right there!"

"Good thing we have your sharp eyes, otherwise we may have lost it," I quipped, mindlessly scrolling through my phone. She goes quiet, suggesting she didn't hear me from the ridiculously large balcony Fia was currently exploring.

Appearing from the hallway that led to our newly designated bedrooms, Akilah collapsed down into the plush sofa positioned across from the identical one I was curled up on.

She sighs. "I have to admit, when we went into that office I thought we would leave for something much worse than this."

"So did I," Liona comments from the kitchen she had been rummaging through for the last ten minutes. "This is already feeling like a holiday."

Locking my phone, I lean my head against the armrest. "That's concerning. Do you always get knocked unconscious and shipped off to another country against your will when you go on holiday?"

Rolling her eyes, Liona seated herself on the vacant sofa between the two of us. "You know what I mean," she scoffs, tucking her legs in a criss-cross position. "They've even given us our own 'wing' or whatever you want to call it. At least we have some privacy."

"I don't think we're special for that. Do you see how big this place is?"

"Speaking of privacy, we should check for cameras," Akilah suggests, already glancing around the room. Agreeing, I nod.

After my father left to return home, Armando was the one to guide us to where we would be staying. Leaving shortly after to settle into his own room – further down the hall, while we rummaged through ours, discovering a handful of suitcases already waiting for us filled with most of our belongings. The rest we'd either have to buy or have shipped over, depending on how long our stay was. And after spending a short amount of time organising, getting our things settled and ourselves showered, we regrouped in the living room.

"Do you know what I've just realised?" Fia questions, joining us inside, seating herself beside Akilah. The faint distant sound of the ocean's waves floating into the room through the balcony doors. "We haven't had dinner."

Baffled, Akilah turned to her. "I thought you were going to say something serious."

"It is." Fia looks at her, just as baffled. "Should we cook something?"

Liona scoffs. "Mi scusi... There is no 'we'. Didn't you learn from your incident this morning?"

Knowing Fia, I consider whether we should start making bets now for how long it will be before she ignores the warning on my cousin's face, and either burns or breaks something.

Excuse me... –

Glancing up at the clock, I noticed it was just getting into the evening, so it was still a little early. "We should look around before we settle for the night. I'm not sure what the routines are like around here. Manny will know more than us."

Coincidentally, a knock echoes into the room coming from the end of the hallway that led into our apartment like space. "Speak of the devil," Fia mumbles, before shouting for him to come in.

Armando's large frame appears seconds later. Freshly showered, dressed more casually in an all grey short-sleeved t-shirt and joggers. "Buonasera," he greets. Throwing himself down onto the couch next to Liona rather abruptly, making her body shake—tumbling sideways into the armrest.