As Kaiser pushed past Alexandria to grab Roman and toss him to the corner of the room, Valentina glanced at him with an arched brow, silently asking, 'What the hell is going on?' as she looked at the two new people and then back at him.
As if matching her usual attitude, he rolled his eyes and looked irritated.
"Blame Roman since I certainly didn't invite them. I hadn't even gotten to see the chairman before the two of them intercepted me." Kaiser grumbled as he answered her silent question. "Did you order yet?"
"No. Luca and I are still going through the menu."
"Fair enough." Kaiser took the seat beside her before slinging his arm around her chair and pointedly glancing at Roman, who was collapsed on the floor.
"Are you getting up, or do you want to kneel for the rest of your life?"
"I'm getting up! I'm getting up! Geez. Brother. You're so grumpy even after I promised to handle your business for you. Who pissed you off?. Or is your blood sugar low?" Roman grumbled as he stood up and arranged his suit.
You. The person who made him grumpy was you. And the woman next to you!
Valentina wanted to shout at him. Instead, she rolled her eyes and went back to reading the menu to Luca, completely ignoring the two new additional people.
"Coffee-crusted filet with black garlic compound butter. Here's the photo. Do you like it?"
Head shake.
"Peppercorn crusted strip with rosemary jus. Here's the photo. Do you like it?"
Head shake.
"Gold Leaf Wagyu Tomahawk Ribeye. Here's the photo. What do you think?"
As Luca looked at the large steak with the large bone sticking out and gold leaf spread everywhere, his eyes lit up, and he nodded excitedly.
Seeing his excitement, Valentina restrained a sigh. Of course, he wanted the most expensive thing on the menu. He wasn't a child of a wealthy household for nothing.
"Then let's get that three of those, and the three of us can split some sides. The unwanted outsiders can feed themselves or get out." Kaiser interrupted.
Alexandria: "......"
Roman: "......"
The two unwanted outsiders could only stare blankly as they were blatantly ignored by the individuals sitting down.
Nodding at Kaiser's words, Valentina continued reading the menu out loud.
"Let's look at the sides, Luca. I know you want fries, but let's get some vegetables, too. It says broccoli, squash blossoms, roasted carrots, green beans..."
"Sister-in-law. Why are you doing that? Luca knows how to read." Roman interrupted as he grabbed a menu for himself and sat down while ignoring Kaiser's bad expression.
"I know. I just like to do it for him, and he likes it too." Valentina calmly responded before continuing to speak to Luca, who nodded or shook his head while refusing to talk. Seeing that he occasionally glanced at Alexandria before sulking, she could tell that he didn't really like her and would continue to refuse to talk while she was here.
It seemed her little nugget had good taste.
She didn't know how it was previously, but right now, she was the adult who spent the most time with Luca. From playing games with him to watching him do little study things on his tablet to coding on his computer to reading bedtime stories. She knew he was quite smart and advanced for his age but felt that it shouldn't stop him from enjoying the benefits of being a little kid, getting the adults around you to cater to you.
It was why she always asked for his opinion when doing things or even asked him about knowing his colors so he could act like a child and not a mini-adult. After all, she had to grow up fast due to a lack of parents and wished she had more adults who cared for her and allowed her to just be a child.
"How cute. The two of you really look like a mother and son." Roman commented with a bright smile.
As the two pairs of green eyes peeked over the menu and blinked at him, one sparkling greenish-gray while the other shone like emeralds, Roman couldn't help but laugh.
"It's a good thing that you're not his real mother then. From what I've seen, you've corrupted his superior genes, and all his bad manners are coming from you. After all, what kind of child refuses to speak to adults when spoken to? It's so rude and disrespectful. My little nephew would never. Rather than using such a useless nanny, you should allow me to recommend one to you Kai. Or better yet, you should settle down with someone with great genes and an impeccable family" Alexandria complained, and the temperature of the room cooled as both Kaiser turned to glare at her while Roman's smile became brighter and brighter. Seeing Luca give Alexandria an eerie stare, Valentina gently stroked his head.
Even if he couldn't fully understand the words, saying such a thing in front of a child was so rude and unbecoming.
Just as she was about to say something, Kaiser slid his hands onto her thigh and spelled out the word 'No' while Roman subtly shook his head at her while smiling coldly.
"Let him handle it." Kaiser softly whispered in her ear without taking his hand away.
Nodding in acceptance, she kept her thoughts to herself, although she marked the words in her heart and shot the woman a look. Clearly, she was seeing where Alexandria's little nephew got the audacity to say such words to Luca.
After an awkward silence in which Alexandria couldn't rest in the room and kept chattering away, Roman smoothly interrupted.
"Oh. By the way, Valentina, this is Alexandria McCrary. The youngest daughter of chairman McCrary. They are in construction. Alexandria, this is my future sister-in-law, Valentina, who is not Luca's nanny. I'd appreciate you not making that mistake again."
Hearing basically the same introduction that Kaiser had given and the stern tone hidden by the friendly smile, Valentina laughed to herself.
"We've met already. Hello again, Alexandria."
"...Hello." Alexandria gazed at her with a slight glare as she looked between the two Grayson men.
"Oh? When did the two of you meet? By the way, you smell great, Valentina."
"Thank you. We met by the door on our way in."
Seeing as Roman seemed to be making himself at home at the table and Alexandria wanted to take a seat, Kaiser calmly interrupted.
"Why are you actually here, Roman? It's a family meal. And I thought you had a business lunch today."
"First of all, I'm your family, so no leaving me out of family meals, geez. And I did have the business lunch, and. It. Went. Splendidly. I was on my way out when Alexandria saw me and called in all her favors and begged me to eat with you."
"I didn't beg!" Alexandria interrupted, her face turning almost as red as her hair.
"She begged, almost on the verge of tears, saying she must see you or she would die, so I grabbed her and found you. Luckily, you had a room booked, so here we are. Tada!" Roman shook his hands as if pressing a present, yet Kaiser's face only grew more irritated.
"You're interrupting my date."
"My bad. If I had known you were on a date with sister in law, I wouldn't have interrupted. Just let me off once; besides, I happened to see the chairman after my meal, so I handled the issue for you. With spectacular results! And it seems round two has just delivered itself into our lap so that you can do the follow-up later."
Kaiser examined him for a moment. Seeing the cold expression in Roman's eyes as his eyes slid over from Alexandria to Luca and pointed up, he smiled in satisfaction.
"Good job."
"I know. You should let me do these things since you tend to blow things out of proportion. You need finesse to handle the old ones."
"Not my style. Good results?"
"Who do you think I am? I'll share it with you later. What about you? Clean sweep?"
"Nah. I haven't dealt with it yet, but since you moved, I'll go press the second one on both sides."
"Vicious."
"Of course."
As the two men clanked their glasses with wicked smiles while talking cryptically, Valentina just looked confused.
What exactly were they talking about?
Authors Note: To decode the conversation.
Kaiser: why are you here? I thought you had a business lunch.
Roman: I did. It was great. Very successful. Alexandria begged me for a favor, and I agreed since I had just finished roasting her brother and warning her father. I wanted to give her some sweetness since her dad would be in a bad mood while clearing up some favors.
Kaiser: You're interrupting my date.
Roman: My bad. But my lunch was good. I handled the McCrary issue. But with Alexandria here making slick comments about Luca, we can go complain for round 2.
Kaiser: Good job.
Roman: Of course. You should let me do these things since you're like an atomic bomb dropped on a coughing baby. You lack my elegant way of speaking to elders while complaining to get your way.
Kaiser: No thanks, I like my way. Did you get good rewards for Luca's pain and suffering?
Roman: Of course, but we can't touch the chairman anymore. He was pissed. Are you pressing the rest of the siblings for round two?
Kaiser: Nah, I'll get the eldest son and press him and his wife's family. Get the kid grounded as well.
Roman: Vicious.
Kaiser: 😈
Cheers.