Chapter 5

Sienna

 I almost turned to this boss guy to tell him the truth. “No, he wasn’t. He was dragging me-” My words cut out as I saw the face standing before me.

    Lucian.

    How can I forget that face, the first man I ever had a crush on, also the man who was in open war with my brother.

   “Take him out,” he said in a completely detached voice and gazed down at me with those icy blue eyes, a cold look on his face.

   I was stuck staring at him. He'd gotten even more beautiful than the last time I saw him. Adrian never brought his friends home, but on rare occasions they came, Adrian would ask me to stay in my room. But I would sneak out to take a look at Lucian every time. If we ever crossed paths, he would ignore me and move on.

    “You done staring?”

    His deep voice broke me out of the trance.

    “I'm not staring,” I rushed out.

     He gave me a look I couldn't quite decipher.

    “What are you doing here?” he asked in a deep voice.

    “Uh, it's a restaurant. I'm here to dine,” I said, confused by his presence.

    “You do know it’s my restaurant, right? What’s little Moretti doing here? Did brother dearest not warn you of the dangers that lurk around in this world. Or rather, danger that you could step into being on my territory after knowing he and I aren’t exactly on best terms.”

    I flushed at the name, infuriating me.

    “You should do a better job at keeping business and personal matters aside then. And what's with the men you hire? That guy literally bruised my arm!” I said irritation could be heard loud in my voice.

   His eyes flashed with anger before they returned to normal, as if it were never there. 

    “He bruised you?” He asked in an eerily calm voice. 

    

Before I could say anything, Ava interrupted us.

    “Hey, what’s going on? Is this guy bothering you?” She asked with concern.

    “I think it’s better you leave,” he said, looking right at me. 

    I shivered, his gaze scorching me.

    “Wait, why what's going on?” Ava asked again.

    “Let's go, Ava I'll tell you later,” I urged, pulling her along with me. Maybe she heard the urgency in my voice that she obliged quietly.

    I was almost at the exit door when I turned around, only to see him staring at me. I rushed out.  Ava could see me distracted, so she offered to drive, saying she only had one drink and was good to drive. Once we were in the car, Ava broke the silence.

    “So are you going to tell me what happened back there, all that tension with the hot guy.” She drawled out.

  Tension?

  “What are you talking about? There was no tension. He was the owner; he just helped me against a guy trying to drag me.” 

  “Shit Si I didn't know, I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” guilt evident in her voice. 

  “No, you have nothing to be sorry for; nothing happened. I had it handled.”

  “Still, if next time something like this happens, scream and I’ll be there to kick his ass,” she said seriously 

  I laughed out loud at her words of choice.

   The rest of the drive, Ava filled the silence with her voice, but I was still in the bar, staring at icy blue eyes.

   Ava touched my shoulder as we reached my parents house. “Hey we’re here. You okay?”

   I didn’t realise I was zoned. I shook my head at her. “Yeah I'm fine.” but I didn’t make a move to get out of the car.

   “Do you two already know each other?” Ava asked.

     I sighed before telling her, “He was one of Adrain’s childhood friends.”

     “Why so much hostility then?”

     “He’s also the reason Adrian has been losing sleep lately. Apparently they’re not friends anymore.”

     “Oh shit that’s bad. Why though?” She frowned.

“Only God knows.” Looking at the time, realizing it was late, “It’s late already, we've got a shift early tomorrow. I’ll tell you more later.” 

     Agreeing with me, she waited for me to go inside before she drove off. 

     Heading inside, I quickly changed out of my clothes into pajamas. I got on bed and immediately pulled out my laptop and looked up Lucian DeLuca. I had completely forgotten all about him after I went to college. The online page opened, showing only a few articles about him.  It turns out he’s equally a powerful mafia leader as the head of Casa Deluca. But unlike Adrian, he doesn’t attend many functions or galas. There isn’t much about him online, which I would think is strange, but I know how things worked in the mafia. There isn’t a record of what they do.

     I picked up my phone to call Adrian about this but halted as soon as my finger hovered over his name. He’s already stressed, and telling him about today won’t help at all. Instead, he’ll rush home and interrogate me about every incident and put guards on me for my ‘protection’. 

    Frustrated, I push my blankets and get up to go out to the balcony. Standing there, I could breathe the fresh, chilly air. I want to tell Adrian about this because I don’t want to hide anything from him. But telling him won’t be good for me. I'll tell him after some time passes, I decide. Looking outside, I could see the big lush garden and a pool house. Just as I'm about to head back, I see a black sedan right beside the entrance gate, hidden behind a big tree. It’s dark, so I can't make out who is inside. I sigh. It's most probably Adrian. He must have put a guard following me tonight. It’s not the first time he’s done it. I’ll talk to him about this tomorrow. Giving the car one last look I turned around to go back to bed