Chapter Three | The First Dinner

The two families sat at the large dining table together, Liviana placed between Leona and Tino, sitting across from Blaze, who still refused to acknowledge her existence.

Silence surrounded them and so far, no one dared to break it.

Liviana sat nervously in her seat, lip pulled between her teeth as her eyes traveled over the new faces surrounding her, anxiously awaiting to see who would speak first. She didn't have to wait long.

"The food is lovely." Elara compliments, looking over the Santora's in question. "Who made it?"

"The chef." Alonso answers.

Elara nods. "Well, they did a wonderful job."

Drusilla nods with a smile, quietly agreeing with her, though says nothing else ⏤ about to allow the silence to return. But Elara wouldn't let that happen.

"So, Liviana, tell us about yourself." She says, asking a question when Livi draws a blank. "How old were you again?"

"I'm twenty-four." Comes Liviana's answer, still clearly uncomfortable as she only glances up at her, focusing her attention on eating instead, picking at her food, eating her small portion slowly.

"Only three years younger than Blaze." She realizes. "That's not a very large age gap at all."

"Mom." Blaze warns, his rough, deep voice catching Liviana off guard, but she hides it, eyes staying glued to the plate in front of her.

If he didn't want to acknowledge her, she wouldn't acknowledge him. Not yet, anyway. She wasn't sure she was ready for that just yet.

"I'm only making conversation, Blaze. It's what you should be doing." She dismisses him with a wave of her hand, ignoring his annoyed stare as she looks back at Liviana. "How about your education? Did you finish high school? Go to college?"

"I finished high school." She says, reluctant to answer, scared they wouldn't like the ones she gave. "But I didn't go to college."

Seeing she was nervous, Armani jumps into the conversation, hoping to make her feel better. "Amara and I didn't go either. Only the two oldest went." He says, motioning to Leona and Blaze, Leona nodding.

"I only went so I could help him with the business when he takes over." Leona says. "I hated it, though. The best thing about it was partying." She chuckles, sipping on her wineglass.

"If you don't mind me asking," Drusilla starts, looking at Leona curiously. "Why did you refuse your rightful position as heiress to your family's empire? It's tradition for the eldest to take over once their parents retire, but you passed it down to Blaze ⏤ the second eldest. Why is that?"

"It's not the life that I want for myself." She answers simply.

"Yes, but what does that mean?" Drusilla pushes, not able to fathom how someone could turn an opportunity like that. It was not only disrespectful, but foolish. She would have killed to have that option instead of being married off to grow her family's business. But that just wasn't how things worked. Then, and sometimes now.

"I don't need that responsibility." She shrugs. "I have always said I wasn't interested in taking their places, as I prefer having full freedom to do my own thing, make my own path, without a burden like that sitting on my shoulders, weighing me down."

"Oh... That's nice to know." Tino mumbles, taking in her words. He had no choice of being handed his parents' jobs when they could no longer do them. He was only nineteen-years-old, and he hadn't had the chance to live yet. Instead, his parents had held him back, forcing him to get ready for when that dreadful day where he would become the boss arrived.

"No, it's not only that." Leona sighs, apologizing for making him feel bad before adding in some more context. "Blaze is the one meant for this life. He's been training for it since he was a boy. I, on the other hand, am not. It's just not my forte." She explains. "I did go to college, though, and I have everything I need to help him when the time comes. But, other than being a helping hand, I have no intention of taking on a bigger role."

"We respect her decision, even if it is not the way things usually work, especially in our world." Lucius tells them, seeing that Alonzo and Drusilla were struggling to understand his daughter's choice. "And Blaze is very well equipped to take over for us. We trust him and trust that he's able to handle this."

"Either way, it's not tradition for the daughter to take over, anyway." Leona reminds. "So, if you think about it, I'm only following another tradition ⏤ even if I think it's bullshit."

"Leo." Lucius warns. "Please, watch your language."

"It's only the truth." She defends. "It's sexist, and sexism is bullshit. Woman can do anything men can do ⏤ even run a mafia, or in our case, three. Look at Mom, she does it perfectly. It just depends on the person. And I'm simply not the right person for the job."

"Yes. Even though I don't like the way she worded some of it, Leo's right." Elara agrees. "Men are believed to be the better leaders, but woman can do it just as well, if not better. Leona is just not ready for that type of commitment and or responsibility."

"Exactly." Leo nods, a pleased smile on her lips at the understanding that her parents were showing her.

"And even though Blaze is a few years younger than Leo, and I'm not entirely sure he's ready just yet either, we are still going to give him the chance to prove to us and himself that this is what he wants and that he can do it." Elara says, giving her son in question a smile, but Blaze doesn't return it, sticking to the emotionless mask he was wearing, though underneath he wanted nothing more than to smile back at his mother and thank her for having faith in him.

"And what are you going to do if he's not?" Alonzo asks. "Pass it down to the next kid?"

Lucius nods, brushing off the judgement in the Santora man's voice. "If we have to."

"What if they don't want the responsibility, either?" Tino asks. Maybe he could use this to convince his parents to let him go ⏤ to pass the torch onto someone else, someone who wants it.

"Then we find someone who does, someone we can trust." Elara tells, smiling across the table at Liviana. "Perhaps Liviana would be interested."

"Me?" Livi asks, shocked at her words.

"Yes." Elara nods. "You're marrying Blaze, making you my daughter-in-law ⏤ therefore, you would become an heiress and you would have every right to have a position in our empire."

Liviana was stunned back into her silence ⏤ what was she supposed to say?

'Yes, I'll be the next mafia queen'?

'Sorry, can't. I'm probably the least qualified person at this table?

Neither sounded like a suitable answer to her.

"No need to answer, dear." Elara assures her, seeing how she had frozen. "It's just something to think about."

Oh, she would definitely be thinking about it.