I plugged my phone in the charger and bent down to put the adapter into the socket. The power outlet was right by my bed but while I tried to insert it into the electric socket, I couldn't insert it in.
Is this only me that when I try to plug the charger in, I can't find the socket even after a thousand tries!
Taking a deep breath, I tried again. When I couldn't do it now, my patience wavered and before I knew it, the charger was broken on the floor, on the the other side of the room.
I wire had tangled with the vase kept on the table beside it, dragging it down into fragments too, creating a a domino effect, when the other fancy-schmancy ornaments came crashing on the floor, creating an absolute ruckus.
I made no efforts in cleaning that shit up, rather, I just sat on the bed, with my arms crossed and my eyebrows raised at the scene in front of me.
"Oh well." I bit the inside of my cheek and took out the power bank or as some say, the battery pack, out of the drawer next to my bed and charged my phone wirelessly, still mad at the charger.
About 2 hours passed as I coded and decoded the Chinese mafia loop. I am close to the Step 1 but still too far away. I feel like I have done so much but at the same time have so much more left to do.
While I was busy vibing to Chase Atlantic, a knock echoed through the room.
"Principessa, come on. It's time for lunch." Rocco called out and opened the door, only for the door to clank with the broken vases and ornaments on the ground. I quickly hid my iPhone 13 and put my SE on charging instead.
His face morphed into panic and he quickly entered the room, assessing throughout.
"WHAT HAPPENED!?" he shouted with panicked eyes. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. He rushed towards me, and checked my arms, legs and face. I was stupefied by his concern. He didn't think of the loss of about $100,000 but was considerate about my well being.
"I am fine, nothing has happened to me." I assured him, my face itching to break out into a smile at his panicked state.
"What happened?" a stoic faced Antonio entered with a frantic Luca and an alert Roman behind him.
"We heard you shouting. What's going on?" Roman glared at Rocco's worked up state checking my limbs and face for any bruises.
Antonio's shoe collided with the broken glass piece and all of their eyes darted towards the fragments.
"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL!" it was Roman this time.
What's with people and them shouting today?
My phone pinged with a message and their gazes centred to me. "Why is the charger broken there? And what about all these?" he gestured at the ground.
"I just threw the charger. It dragged all other stuff with it." I shrugged, unbothered.
"But why did you throw the charger?" Roman hissed.
"I was trying to insert it in the holes but I just couldn't!" I exclaimed exasperated.
Their faces reddened. Shit.
Play safe Astrea.
"What's got you red?" I acted confused.
"Nothing, ha. Nothing." Luca played it off with a smile. "Just don't bother about that, huh?"he said and pushed the rest if them out of the room.
Gosh, such awkwardness with bro-, the men I share blood with.
"Be careful and come down. Let's get you introduced. Don't hurt your foot." he guided me out of the bed and carefully pushed aside the pieces of broken glass.
I quickly hid my phone and ran downstairs.
The table was bustling with noise. As soon as I entered, the entire room went quiet.
"Come here, bambina. Take a seat." Fran softly asked me, as if I was a porcelain doll. The cousins and the grandmother had a look of surprise on her face.
I gave a fake smile and went to sit next to Fran.
That ass was right in front of me. He never told me he was in touch with them. I would have found a better solution before this drama could've started.
All of their faces held anticipating looks. Some looked indifferent while some had an excited smile on their face. All of their eyes were fixated right onto me.
"Let's start with the introductions right?" Armani said.
No one spoke. I was their centre of attention. It was honestly, creepy.
One of the ladies shoved the man's shoulder who was sitting by her. He shook his head and with a small smile and proceeded, "Hello bambina, I am your dad's younger brother, Augustino."
"You used to call him your Uncle Auggy." the lady next to him reminisced with a small distant smile. Her eyes held a true emotion, one I couldn't decipher. The man chuckled and his eyes twinkled staring at me.
Somewhere in my heart, I wanted to remember what my life was like before.
"I am his wife." the same lady smiled at me, "Sarah."
"These are our sons." she gestured towards the boys next to her. The introductions were in the seating order.
"Hi principessa, I am Gavino." their eldest son smiled at me, with adoration?
"Giovanni, 18" the one beside him nodded curtly, his face void of any expression but his lips slightly lifted into a very small, unnoticeable smile.
"I- I, I am h-his twin, Giorgio" the next one barely choked out with his eyes glimmering with unshed tears. I don't know why, but it hurt a little to see him cry.
"Marco, 17. Does she not remember us?" he muttered the last part to Giorgio, whose eyes only welled more.
"Hi, I am Oreste." he looked similar to Marco, probably fraternal twins. His face had a tinge of redness and his eyes were always downcast. Was he afraid of someone? Or was he shy?
"Salvatore Ferrari, 16." he stressed on 'Ferrari'. What was he even trying to imply? His eyes were rigid and cold. For someone my age, hiding their emotions was a skill too good. His face was stoic and calm.
"I am Savio! My name means 'a wise or knowledgeable man'! So, anytime you need any help, the answer is always with me!" he winked, well, tried to wink maybe, but ended up looking like he was having a seizure. No joke on the epilepsy. But, um, you get it.
"Wise and knowledgeable, sure." muttered Gavino, making Savio turn his head to look at him sharply.
"Anyways." another man pointedly said at those two. Then his eyes found mine and his face softened, his eyes glowing with warmth, "
"Tigre, I am your father's youngest brother, Roberto." [Tigre- Tiger]
"I, I missed you bambi." he breathed. His hands were shaking. His wife rested her hands on his and gave him a squeeze.
"I was the last one to see you." he whispered, only for him to hear, but I did. What did he mean by that?
The silence was broken by his wife's sudden chuckle, "My girlie," she smiled, "I am your Zia, Elena. You still have that habit huh?"
What? "You happen to scrunch your nose whenever you're confused." she cleared. I hadn't realised I was scrunching my nose. Papa said I looked adorable whenever I did that. As if.
"Eldest, Flavio." the one sitting beside them coldly stated. His eyes held a distant emotion.
"Ignore his cold ass, I am Armando. I used to be your best friend." he offered a warm smile. He was the one who had hugged me.
"Hey!" Rocco whined and so did another person, the one sitting next.
"Whatever, I am Enrico." stated the grump. He was busy on his phone.
"You missed me, I am Ezio." the one who whined with Rocco said. "And, I used to be your best friend." he said quickly adding, "Rocco too." to which Rocco smiled and nodded. He was the peanut butter boy, who could make diamonds out of it.
"Hi, I am Fabio." he muttered shyly. His hands were clasped tightly and his legs were bouncing ever so slightly. He was nervous.
I passed him a small smile and he shot back a bigger one. I could see him easing. I could suddenly feel all their stares on me again.
"Yo what's up! I am Zeno." the next one said with a mouthful of Ravioli, tomato sauce daring to escape his lips. "The ravioli's nice huh?" he chucked another bite into his mouth, sighing in content.
I ignored my urge to hit him with my spoon.
It was the grandmother next. "Hi, my baby." she softly breathed, "I am Laura, your Nonna." she smiled. Her smile fell a bit seeing my confused expression, "Your grandmother." she repeated in English. Of course I knew Italian, but who was going to tell them?
My eyes travelled to the man radiating the most power in this house. To be honest, I was not intimidated by him at all. I knew who he was.
"Dad." Fran called out to him but his stare was fixed on me. His posture didn't waver, his expression cold and bare of any emotion. For a second, I saw something flicker in his eyes, I don't know how, but it was enough for me to understand his objective. He was assessing me.
Had it been someone else, their stance would have faltered.
I gave him what he expected. My eyes hardened and I looked at him right in his cold ones.
It was a stare contest for a minute or two, or probably even longer. Neither did I, nor did he back off.
I passed. His face broke out into a small smile, "La mia stella." his voice was deep and complemented his appearance.[My star]
"I am your Nonno, Stefano. Welcome back dear." his rich Italian accent was more vivid than anyone else in the room.
Many eyes were wide and some dramatic ones, cough Rocco and Ezio, even had their mouths agape. But no one spoke a word.
"How do you know Astrea, Izan?" Armando questioned him, genuinely puzzled. This caught everyone's undivided attention.
Izan, who? 'YOU!'
How the fuck do we know each other?
He literally ate all my Kit Kats the first day we met, and I almost chased him to death, until his brother Santiago saved him.
We have this kind of relationship- 'I won't give you my charger, but will gladly give you my kidneys.'
"We met through," he started. I cut him off, "I met him in school last year. I had to tutor him." I stated. They had my records so they knew I went to a pretty fancy school 'for the rich'.
Well, not entirely false, but not true either. I did tutor him but not in terms of studies. I taught him how to torture the criminals without any remorse.
"I am really surprised seeing you here after such a long time. How do you know them?" I asked him, pretending to be the disciplined girl.
I could see how his expression morphed into one of surprise at my gentle tone, quickly hiding it.
"I am good friends with Armando and Enrico." he said and soon somehow, the topic was diverted for now, by Toffee's make-up talks. I knew they would ask me later, and I had enough time to find the missing piece of this puzzle by then.
Soon the food was placed and we all dug in. By now I don't even have to describe my love for food.
I literally love food. Periodt. I will marry food if I can.
"I have an announcement to make." Maria declared once we were done, catching everyone's interest. Her smile was too big and bright, that it was genuine.
"Tomorrow night, we have the Armani's engagement party!" she exclaimed with glee, leaving the rest of us frozen.
Hello my loves!
Here is the next chapter!
Lmk if you liked it!
Also, please comment, vote and follow.
If you like my book, I would really love it if you could recommend it to your friends. Too YouTube right? But, yeah, that's that.
Btw, you know who the 'YOU' is now. He has a significant role in the upcoming chapters.
Anyways, enjoy!
Love ya!
Also, ps- my real name is not Nya, but it is a part of my real name. And I really like this, so you can address me with that.
Pandora was just a pen name I really liked so I used that, but I prefer Nya because that is kind of my original name. It is basically a part of my name.
~Nya