I was sat in my office, twirling a pen in between my fingers.
Today started off good, but maria had to go to work. So i was left to do some paperwork that i had been trying to avoid as best as possible.
I sighed, staring back down at the forms in front of me when the door opened. My head shot in that direction to see my older brother walking towards me.
"Hello brother" Diego smiled.
"Afternoon Diego, what can i help you with?" I sighed, propping my feet up on the desk.
"How have you been?" He asked, sitting down on the armchair opposite me.
"Good, but get to the point brother, what is going on"
"A lot of things" he shrugged "you and your girlfriend have been invited to dinner with the family.
"Dinner?" I raised a Brow "i haven't seen you for 4 years and you want to have dinner?"
"You know why i went away.... we hope to see you both tonight. It's at mama's old place where we're living now"
I nodded.
"We'll be there... well, I'll have to wait and see if plans change. I'll let you know if they do"
There was silence, until Diego stood up.
"Please come brother, everyone's missed you" he strode out, leaving me in my thoughts.
I cant believe him. He fucked off for 4 years and now he wants to have dinner?
"God give me strength" i groaned, throwing my head back and resting my eyes closed.
...
I walked inside, hanging my jacket on the coat hanger stand.
"I'm home!" I called, my voice echoing throughout the house.
I smiled when I noticed Elijah running down the stairs. He lifted me off of the ground, into his arms. I played with his curls while he buried his head in the crook of my neck.
"I missed you" he mumbled against my skin, it tickling slightly.
"I was gone for 6 hours"
"Exactly, way too long"
I chuckled, kissing his temple.
"How does a bubble bath sound? We can watch a movie and get takeout" i raised a brow. He pulled away, wrapping my legs around his waist.
"You may not want the next piece of information then..."
"What is it?"
He sighed "we've been invited to dinner at my brother's"
Wow, totally not what i expected.
"Diego? But i thought he moved to Peru?"
"Well, he's back" he mumbled, his gaze flickered to the floor.
I grabbed his jaw gently, turning his head to face me "are you ok?"
He nodded.
"What time do we have to leave?" I asked.
"6pm"
i smiled "then that means there is still time for a bath" i wiggled out of his grip making him frown. I took his hand in mine and dragged him up the stairs to the bedroom.
"I can think of something else we can do" he smirked, gabbing my waist and throwing me onto the bed. I giggled, placing my hands on his cheeks, bringing his lips to mine.
Suddenly, i heard the sound of feet thudding towards the room and soon after three very happy looking dogs came into view. I gasped.
They all jumped onto the bed, bouncing around like foxes in snow. I ruffled Zeus's fur, earning whines from the other two.
"Cockblockers" Elijah grumbled, scowling at the dogs.
"Shush" i scolded, narrowing my gaze on him.
"I'll go get the bath ready" he hopped off of the bed and trudged into the en suit bathroom while i snuggled the dogs.
A few minutes later Elijah came back. He extended his hand to me. I stood up and intertwined our fingers.
He stopped in the doorway when Atticus whined. They were all still sat on the bed.
"She's mine, fuck off" he glaring, he closed the door behind us, picking me up and placing me on the counter, standing in between my legs as he kissed my lips.
"Let's get in this bath before it goes cold" he said. I nodded, pulling my shirt over my head and taking off my jeans. I stepped out of my underwear and unhooked my bra before slipping into the scolding hot water.
Elijah rested his head on my chest, letting out a sigh. i drew shapes on his shoulder with my fingertip, making him guess what they were.
"A triangle?" He asked.
"How the fuck does a rectangle feel like a triangle?"
"I don't know do i, I'm not psychic"
It was silent for a while.
"Are you sure you want to go to this dinner, i can cancel if you want" Elijah said. I peered down a him to find his gaze already on me.
"No way, you both need to talk. Besides, it'll be nice to meet your family"
"I suppose" he mumbled.
...
We stayed in the bath for half an hour longer. I was currently in the closet trying to find something to wear.
In the end i chose a red, silk dress that stopped just above my knees with matching black, jimmy choo heels and a golden chain.
I straightened my hair and applied light makeup.
To be honest, i was quite nervous about tonight. A part of my was intrigued to dwell deeper into Elijah's past, but then another part of me didn't want to overstep his boundaries and hurt him in the process.
When i walked back out into the bedroom, Elijah was fixing the sleeves of his dress shirt. I smiled.
He must of felt my stares and looked up, his eyes raking over my body.
"You ready to go darling?" Elijah slowly approached me, running the back of his hand down my arm causing me to shiver.
"Yep" i breathed.
"You look stunning" he whispered, intertwining our fingers.
...
Elijah was driving tonight and we'd decide to take his Lamborghini , the white one.
We began to pull up outside a large, yet very welcoming building. Elijah placed his hand on my thigh and rubbed the skin softly with his thumb, bringing out of my daydream.
"Ready?" He asked, smiling reassuringly at me. I nodded.
Elijah stepped out first, fixing his blazer before opening my door. I climbed out, swinging my small, black velvet purse over my shoulder.
The front door to the house swung open and a blonde haired girl who looked about my age, let out a squeal and jumped into Elijah's arms. He hugged her back.
The sight made me want to tear her away from him by her hair and slit her throat.
"Mi sei mancato cosi tanto fratellino" she said.
[i missed you so much baby bro]
"Anche tu mi sei mancata sorellina, e Siamo la stessa fottuta età" he furrowed his eyebrows.
[i missed you too sis, and we're the same fucking age]
"Stai zitto" she glared.
[shut up]
She turned to me, letting out a small gasp. She instantly pulled me into her arms, squeezing me tightly.
"My new sister in law! Holy fuck your gorgeous, i love your hair and that dress is ama-" she stated to ramble but was cut off by Elijah.
"Maria, this is my twin sister, alice"
"Older twin sister"
"Only by a minute" he argued.
"Still older" she shot back.
"And you never fucking let me forget it" Elijah groaned. I had to bite dont on my lip too suppress my laughter.
"Enough children" a voice said and our heads snapped to where the sound came from.
"Fuck you" Alice grumbled.
"And this is our other brother, matteo" Elijah told me, i nodded.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, maria" Matteo took my hand in his, Kissing my knuckles politely.
I suddenly felt a cold hand on my lower back. Elijah was glaring towards Matteo who just chuckled.
"I see" he mumbled "please come inside, it's freezing out here"
We all walked inside.
The interior was beautifully old-fashioned. It was a type of rustic, royal style. Whoever owned this house was an incredible decorator.
"UNCLE ELI" a small voice squealed. A small child, i guessed who was around 4, ran down the stairs and flung themselves at Elijah. Luckily he caught her, and threw her into the air, hugging her tightly when she landed back in his arms.
"How have you been, principessa?"
"Good. Although some girl pulled my hair at school and i hit her, but mommy told me off" she pouted.
"Yes, because we shouldn't hit, should we uncle Eli" Alice glared at him, practically daring him to choose his next words wisely through her eyes.
"Yes, we shouldn't hit" he shook his head. When alice turned away he winked at her, whispering 'good girl, smack that bitch harder if she does it again'
The child giggled, showing her dimples.
She suddenly turned to me and i gave her a small smile.
"Who's the pretty lady?" She whispered to Elijah.
"My girlfriend"
she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
"She's super pretty" even though they spoke quietly to each other, i could still hear their conversation
"I know" he held eye contact with me, smiling widely.
My heart just melted.
"Maria, this is my niece aria, short for Ariana"
She scrunched her nose, shaking her head "auntie ria" she corrected him.
"You like that, auntie ria?" Elijah asked me.
"Whatever you want kiddo" I smiled.
"Yay!" She clapped her hands.
He snaked his arm around my waist, pulling me closer, kissing my temple.
"Ew" Ariana covered her eyes, We Burst into laughter.
"Welcome" a voice boomed.
Two men walked down the stairs.
"This is my other brother, Diego, Whom you have heard of" Elijah mumbled to me.
"Who's the other guy?" I asked in a hushed tone.
"Daddy!" Aria cried, wriggling out of Elijah's grip and running to the guy stood next to the guy who u guessed was Diego.
"That is Dante. Ariana's father and Alice's husband"
Dante scooped aria up onto his hip, tapping the tip of her nose making her giggle.
"A pleasure to finally meet you maria" Diego nodded.
A maid suddenly appeared, announcing that dinner was ready.
We all took ur seats in the dining room. Dante, alice and aria sat on the right side of the table. Matteo and Diego sat at the head of the table opposite each other, while me and Elijah were on the left side.
The plates were served, spaghetti with cheese sprinkle of cheese on top. A few more maids came and poured us all a glass of wine, apart from aria who inside she had some because 'she was a big girl'.
We all laughed, but aria on the other hand was far from impressed.
I spun my fork in the pile of spaghetti, the piece of cutlery collecting strands as if it were a tornado. I felt a hand on my thigh and i turned to Elijah who was deep in conversation with Dante about business related shit.
His fingers made their way to the band on my underwear, playing with the elastic.
I was talking with Alice who was telling me about her new business. She owned a very popular jewellery store, apparently it was her dream ever since she was a child.
"So maria, what do you do for work?" Diego smirked, bringing the wine glass to his lips.
I cleared my throat, straightening my back "Business"
He nodded. He seemed like a dick, but i suppose you should never judge a book by it's cover.
"So, when will i be having a little niece or nephew" Alice casually asked making me choke on my food. Elijah rubbed my back, trying to hold back his smug smile he couldn't lie for shit.
"I'm gonna have a cousin!" Ariana exclaimed, doing a little dance in her high chair.
"Alice" matteo scolded, Alice shot him a glare.
"Stai zitto, i was only asking"
[shut up]
Soon after the maids took away our empty plates and returned with a small plate of desert, vanilla cheesecake with raspberry drizzle. Ariana had ice cream instead with her own tray of toppings.
"Gelato!" She smiled widely, immediately squeezing half of the bottle of strawberry sauce into the bowl along with sprinkles, but Alice took them away before she could use all of it.
"Not too much, il Tesoro"
[honey]
"but mama" she whined.
"No, you'll have a headache with all of that sugar"
aria sighed, but still happily ate her dessert.
...
We were all sat in the living room, Alice was showing me some old photo albums.
"Aww look how cute you are" i cooed, pointing to the picture of a 1 year old Elijah.
"I think that's enough" he tried to pry the book from my hand but i held it high and stood up. I threw it to Alice and she caught it. Elijah suddenly pulled me onto his lap making me gasp, burying his head into the crook of my neck. I smiled, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Taken one of my best soldiers" Alice shook her head. I chuckled, kissing Elijah's temple.
"Oo! I have an idea" she jumped up from her position, running out of the room.
She came back with a tall pile of board games in her arms, placing them down onto the coffee table.
The room filled with everyone chanting 'no' or 'we are not doing that'
"Jesus Christ, I'm not pissed enough for this" Elijah groaned making me giggle.
"Why not!" Alice furrowed her eyebrows, her lips parted slightly.
"You get so fucking competitive whenever we play board games" Matteo rolled his eyes.
"Oh fuck you"
At that moment Dante came back from putting Ariana to bed.
"She's fast aslee-" he paused when he saw the games on the table "no fucking way"
"You too?" She exclaimed.
"Oh you are so in the dog house tonight" Matteo chuckled into his glass as he took a sip of his wine.
"You know what fuck all of you I'll play by myself" she folded her arms, collapsing to her knees in front of the coffee table and started to unbox the game 'trivial pursuit'.
Matteo sighed "fine, we'll play too"
Alice clapped her hands excitedly "ok. Me, maria and Matteo will be on one team and Elijah, Diego and Dante with be on the other team"
i climbed off of Elijah's lap and onto the floor beside Alice making him groan.
"Sorry baby, can't side with the enemy" i shrugged. Alice gave me a high five, i chuckled.
"Well ready to have you're ass whooped sweetheart 'cause you are gonna lose" he smirked.
"Is that a challenge?" I raised a brow, sipping my wine.
"I believe it is"
"As you wish, but don't cry when you lose for the 7th time" I stuck my tongue out at him, and started to shuffle the question cards while Alice sorted everything else.
Matteo rolled the dice first for the second team and it landed on history. I took a card from the adult pile, reading it out.
"Which queen had the shortest reign of Henry VIII's six wives?"
"Anne Of cleaves" they finally answered.
"That was fucking easy though" i rolled my eyes, placing the card underneath the deck. Alice drew a small line on a notepad for their win.
This time the second team rolled the dice for us, it landed on science and nature.
"In which modern-day country was the physicist and chemist maria curie born?"
"Why the fuck would I know that? I'm not a stalker" Alice groaned.
"At least try" Diego sighed.
"Poland!" Matteo suddenly yelled.
"Correct"
...
"No fucking way, have you cheated?" Elijah accused, looking back at the notepad.
My mouth hung open "i did no such thing. It seems you can't stomach the fact you lost" I smirked.
"Yes! Eat that bitches" Alice exclaimed, jumping to her feet "loser, loser and loser" she pointed to Diego, Dante and Elijah who glared at her. She just gave them the middle finger.
"Woohoo!" Matteo cheered, giving her a high-five.
"We should be going" Elijah stood up, Extending his hand and i placed mine in his as he pulled me up.
"Nooo I'm not ready to let her go" Alice whined, hugging me tightly. I chuckled.
"You need water and sleep honey, come on" Dante said softly.
"Fuck you traitor" she scowled. She turned back to me.
"You. Me. Night out. Soon" She pointed in my direction before wrapping her arms around Dante's neck, and going limp in his arms.
"You can count of me" i nodded. I grabbed my purse and threw back the last bit of wine left in the glass.
Elijah linked his arm with mine and we made our way to the door.
"It was lovely to meet you" Matteo smiled, shaking my hand.
"You too"
We walked out towards the car and settled inside.
"Goodbye!" We waved them goodbye before the car shot out of the gates.
...
I loved writing this chapter, I'm really proud of it. It's not edited yet so I'm sorry if you find some mistakes.
It was really fun introducing new characters, who's your
Favourite out of all of them?
[word count: 2866]
Please consider to follow and vote 🦋