Chapter 5

Arielle's POV 

"Aunt Linnie?" I called.

She was shocked to hear her name. She looked up to see me. "Arielle? What are you doing here?"

"I... I..." I stammered.

"You two know each other?" Luciano's grandfather asked while dropping the cigarette on an ashtray.

"Yeah. She's my niece. I'm surprised she's here," she replied.

"I think she's of importance to Luciano. Luciano, why don't you tell us who she is to you?" His grandfather asked.

Luciano held my hand firmly. "She's my girlfriend."

"What?" Aunt Linnie exclaimed. "You two are together? You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend, Arielle."

I kept my face to the ground. "It's... complicated. What about you? What are you doing here?"

"I work here. I'm his nurse," she said while moving a plate of medicine to the old man.

"Oh." I recalled when she told me a rich man had employed her as his personal nurse, and I was happy about it. But she never allowed me to go with her or to find out who she was working for.

"Join us for dinner, dear Arielle," the old man said with a warm smile. "You too, Linnie. We have family ties to discuss."

Luciano pulled a chair for me to sit. I sent him a brief smile and sat. His grandfather and my aunt were shooting daggers my way with their eyes. They were watching my every movement, and I was really trying not to falter.

The servants came to serve the meal, and that gave me the opportunity to look away from my aunt's piercing gaze.

"Lei è innocente,"  the old man said in a low tone. [She's innocent]

"SÌ," Luciano replied.

"What did you do to the Massimo girl?"

"I don't give a damn about Bella. She's not even fit to be a wife. I have someone serious," he said while staring intently at me.

Oh crap. He was good at this. If anyone was to mess this up, that would be me.

"Then why did you agree to meet her?"

"You wanted this, nonno. I can't say no to you. Their clan will stop at nothing to overthrow us, and this marriage agreement will just be one of their plots. There will never be peace between us. Massimo doesn't like us one bit."

He let out a heavy breath. "Fine. I'll cancel the marriage arrangement."

"Thank you."

"So how and where did you two meet?" My aunt asked, her eyes blazing with interest.

"At work."

"In an art gallery."

We answered at the same time.

"We met at the gallery, that's... where I work," I intervened.

"Yes. Exactly," Luciano agreed.

"How long have you known each other?"

"Uh..." I trailed off.

"A month," Luciano said.

Biting down on my lips, I played with the cutlery, avoiding my aunt's gaze.

"What are you hiding, Arielle?" She asked.

"What?"

She stared at me with suspicion. "I can figure out when you're lying."

Luciano's grandfather chuckled. A dark menacing chuckle. "Luciano, did you think you were going to deceive me? What's your deal with her?" 

"She's my girlfriend, nonno. I love her," Luciano replied.

"I know you more than you truly know yourself. Spill it."

"I've told you already."

"Arielle dear," he called. "Did he manipulate you into doing this?"

Everything in me wanted to scream YES! But the look I saw on Luciano's face stopped me. His eyes were narrowed as he stared at me, waiting for my response.

This was an opportunity to say the truth. My aunt was here, and his grandfather seemed to have a good personality. But I couldn't bring myself to... betray him.

"N... no. We love each other," I replied.

"Hmm." The old man let out a scoff. "Then, I think the both of you will be delighted to begin your wedding preparations."

I choked on my food, then immediately grabbed a glass of water.

What? Hell no!

"Nonno," Luciano protested. "We've only been together for a month. Don't you think it's going too fast?"

"If you're really in love with her, get married to her. You'll get more recognition from other clans. Don Massimo will only whine for a moment," the old man said nonchalantly.

"No. It's not about the clans. It's about me and Arielle. We're not ready for a wedding."

"I think you're ready. What do you think, Linnie?" He turned to Aunt Linnie.

My gaze darted to her as I expected a reply that would bail me out of this situation. But she disappointed me. She sided with the old man.

"Perfect. They look so good together," she said, her face beaming with a smile.

I groaned inwardly. Oh for goodness sake, Aunt Linnie. 

We messed up. They figured out. Now they are telling us to get married. Great. The plan backfired.

"Nonno, per favore," Luciano said in a low tone. [please]

"Don't you ever pull this trick on me. I didn't expect this from you," his grandfather said sharply.

Luciano bowed his head, jaw clenched as he began tapping his fingers continuously on the table.

"So Arielle. You're welcome to this place, anytime, any day. You can come visit till he goes back to New York."

The chatty bird of an aunt chipped in. "And you know the best part of it all. Arielle is planning to go back to New York this weekend. So you two can uh... go back together and have the best time of your lives."

We hadn't yet discussed the topic of me going back to New York, and here she had laid it bare as if we had everything planned out.

I rolled my eyes and placed my hand on my head. What had I gotten myself into? I didn't know if this was a serious talk or they were just joking.

"For tricking me, there is a punishment for you, Luciano. You will take her back to New York," his grandfather said.

"Alright," Luciano didn't argue. He was like a child in his grandfather's presence, saying yes to every order.

"And from now henceforth, I want you to protect her. You know what I mean by protection. You watch her. Do not let any harm come her way," the old man stated.

"Yes, nonno."

"Whenever I ask for a report, you give me a well detailed clean slate. Don't trick me this time."

"I won't."

"Bravo ragazzo." [Good boy]

My lips parted open as I stared at them. Was he assigning Luciano to be my bodyguard? That's like the most impossible thing he would ever agree to. And who needs a bodyguard when I have three brothers waiting for me in New York?