Chapter four

Sapphire’s POV

The envelope burned in my palms as we piled into the long driveway of Alessandro’s estate.

Sophia pressed her hands against mine “stay calm,” she muttered beside me. “We are just going in for dinner.” She said as her heels clicked on the marble floor.

“Just” I muttered to myself, I wanted to laugh out loud because this did not feel like just dinner. It felt like we were presenting ourselves to be sacrificed.

Everything here screamed danger. The way the guards scanned us from their duty posts and even how the building stood tall at the dead end of the road. This did not feel like an ordinary dinner.

The front doors open before Sophia’s fist could meet with it. A tall man on suit with broad shoulders stepped forward.

His eyes moved from Sophia then to me, “Sophia and Sapphire Giovanni?”

“Yes!” Sophia answered immediately, in her usual calm and crisp manner.

“Follow me” he said stepping aside.

The doors shut behind us as we trailed behind him.

Overwhelmed, that is the word I would use to describe what I felt the moment I got a better view of what the mansion looked like inside.

High ceilings, marble floors polished to a mirror shine, chandeliers that looked like diamonds. Alessandro’s mansion screamed wealth.

A butler approached us, he was older than the man who we had been trailing behind. His eyes flicked to Sophia and then settled on me.

His brows furrowed, confusion flickering across his face. “Lilian,” he murmured.

“Urm urmmm..” The tall guy interrupted, “Take the Giovanni sisters to the dining room.” He said and then left us with the butler.

The butler kept on stealing glances as he walked us and then I heard him call mum’s name again.

I took a glance at Sophia but she looked calm and unbothered. It seemed like she had not heard the man or maybe she was pretending not to have heard him.

He led us into a massive dining room where a long table sat under a crystal chandelier.

“Mr king will join you shortly,” the butler said before retreating into the halls.

Sophia and I took our seats side by side. The silence pressed on and in that moment I felt the need to ask Sophia if she had heard mama’s bent from the butler’s lips.

“Did you hear that?” I whispered.

“What?” Sophia replied, adjusting herself on the seat.

The butler, he called mama’s name.

She paused for a second, her lips twitched while she kept a straight face “coincidence, Sapphire ” She said dismissively. “You are probably just hearing things.”

I turned away from her, not convinced by her response.

That wasn’t a coincidence, he said it more than once and he seemed like he knew what he was saying.

Footsteps echoed.

The scent of thick wooden perfume and traces of cinnamon and cloves filled the air.

I didn’t need to look to the entrance of the dining hall for me to know that he had arrived.

His presence brought more silence to the room. Tall, broad shouldered and he was dressed in a black two piece suit that clung to his body.

His gaze locked unto us,

Then to me.

“Ladies,” he voice laced with a little bit of calm and control. “Welcome to my humble abode.” He said whilst taking his seat at the edge of the table.

I found myself almost snickering. There was nothing humble about this mansion. But, his voice was smooth, calm and it even controlled power. He was the kind to convince you that the opposite of white is purple.

“Thank you for having us,” Sophia replied.

His lips curved slightly. “Oh well, I didn’t invite you here for pleasantries.”

My stomach dropped at the sound of that.

Dinner was served in no time. The meal looked colorful but it tasted like ash on my tongue. I tried giving up on the meal multiple times but Sophia’s feet would not let me. She kept on stepping on every time I dropped the cutlery urging me to continue with the meal.

Alessandro barely touched his plate, his gaze was fixed on us the whole time.

“How is your father?” He asked casually.

Sophia let out a sigh, “he is holding up..” she dropped her cutlery and then rested her gaze on Alessandro “but he is not looking good, I fear that something bad might happen to him while he is in there.”

“Prisons tends to strip one of their real identity.” He said unbothered. “I don’t think there is a need for you to be worried, he will be fine.”

My fingers curled beneath the table, pressing against my thighs firmly.

“I am sure he is going to handle himself well.”

He pushed the plate to the side and then took a glance at his wristwatch before his gaze rested on us again.

“Let’s get down to business” he stared at us sternly with no hint of emotion on his face. “I sent the invite, but I’m sure you honoured it because you need my help and you had no other options.”

Sophia breathed in slowly, “we are willing to negotiate terms.”

He smiled faintly, “we don’t negotiate over here.” He tapped his fingers gently on the table “what you will be willing to do, is to comply with my terms.”

His gaze slid to me.

“I hear you are the quieter one,” he said, “calm and observant.” He continued whilst maintaining eye contact with me.

I swallowed. “People say a lot of things.”

“They do,” he agreed “but they’re rarely wrong about their assumptions.”

Sophia’s knee brushed against mine beneath the table.

“I don’t need to keep the both of you” he said calmly but the words struck me.

I took a glance at Sophia but she was staring right back at Alexander.

“One will be enough.” He continued.

I turned to Sophia again and this time she met my gaze “what is he talking about?” I muttered.

Alessandro leaned back on his chair, with a smirk dancing around his lips. “I want Sapphire.”

The words cut through like that of a blade.

Sophia didn’t protest, instead her palms reached out to mine under the table and tapped my thigh once.

“I will leave her in your care,” she said, rising from her seat. “I trust you will keep your end of the bargain.”