Chapter 7: Giving You A Life

Vincenzo raised his voice. Both Pietro and Dante was slightly taken aback since Vincenzo was the one man in the house who rarely ever raised his voice.

“This is all just a huge misunderstanding! Let me clear this up.” He turned to Pietro with a serious gaze.

“Pietro, this is Victoria. She is an esteemed guest of Dante who will stay here from now on. You need to treat her with respect!” Vincenzo stated. Pietro turned to Victoria briefly with a displeased gaze, their eyes met briefly and Pietro turned his head once again.

“Dante, Pietro is drunk right now. He is not in his right mind. Please let this slide for once. Let’s not ruin your brotherhood because of this.” He reminded him. Dante was silent for a moment.

“Fine, but when he is sober, I’m going to talk with him,” Dante replied. At that moment, a poor housemaid walked over to them, slightly trembling in fear.

“Excuse me, master. Her room is ready.” She told him. Dante turned to Vincenzo.

“Get Pietro treated.” He ordered. Vincenzo nodded. Dante walked over to Victoria, who did not seem to be happy with what had just happened.

“Victoria.” He reached out his hand to take her hand, but she pulled her hand away from him. He realized she was uncomfortable and sighed.

“Your room is ready, come on. Let me show it to you.” He told her gently before walking away, carrying her suitcase. She followed him to the room and looked at Vincenzo and Pietro once more before disappearing in the hallway.

Victoria stood in the middle of a luxurious room, with its own vanity table, bathroom and walk-in closet. The furniture was all modern, but it felt surprisingly comfortable and warm.

“This room is bigger than my whole apartment before.” She thought to herself. As she had her guard down, Dante suddenly pulled her and hugged her from behind. He started placing his hand around his waist and hip area. Victoria quickly pulled herself away from him and looked at him with a frown.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” She asked angrily.

“Nothing, I was just measuring you to give your number to my tailor.” He replied.

“What are you say-“ Before she could finish her sentence, he added.

“I’m quite busy, so some days I will not be here. If you need anything, you can tell the staff here, they will all serve you the way they serve me.” He replied.

“I am sure you’re tired. So I will let you rest for now. Good night Victoria.” He smiled a little to her before she called him back.

“Dante, wait!” Dante stopped in his track and turned around.

“How much is the rent here?” She asked. Dante lifted his brow, curiously.

“Rent? What are you talking about? I own this house, you know.”

“I know you do. But there’s no way you’re letting me stay here for free, right? How much is the rent? I quit my part time job some time ago, but I will find another job, I’ll pay you.” She told him.

At this moment, Dante felt both amused and pity. He sighed as he placed his crossed his arm.

“What type of man do you think I am? Forget about that, you can stay here as long as you want. Also, you can find work, but keep the money to yourself. Whatever you need here, I will give it to you.” He replied.

“Don’t worry too much about these little things. Just sleep, you need it.” He told her as he placed a hand on top of her hair and gently pet it. Then, Dante walked away from the room, leaving her alone.

“Is this… really okay?” She wondered.

On the other side of the room, Vincenzo sat on the sofa while Pietro was touching his own bruised cheek.

“F*ck, he punched me so hard I thought my jaw got dislocated.” He grunted.

“Pietro, how many times have I told you to keep your pants on? Not every woman who arrives in this house is a prostitute, you know!” Vincenzo nagged him as he sat on the bed and opened a first aid kit and started treating the bruising and wounds from the fight earlier.

“Who is that woman? Why did Dante act like that because of her?” He asked before Vincenzo applied some cream on his face which made him squirm and flinch in pain.

“Let’s just say she is someone important to Dante. Just leave her alone.” He warned Pietro. Pietro raised his brow.

“There is something you two are not telling me, huh?” Pietro asked.

“Man, and I thought we’re like brothers.” There was a look of disappointment in his face. Vincenzo placed some band aid on Pietro’s forehead and sighed.

“Also, she doesn’t know what we do here. Make sure you keep it a secret. Otherwise, Dante would seriously kill you.” He warned him again before closing the first aid kit.

“You should sleep. I will prepare the hangover pill tomorrow morning.” After that, Vincenzo walked out of the room, leaving him alone.

“Just who is that woman and what is happening around here?” Pietro thought, feeling slightly annoyed.

The next morning, Vincenzo approached Dante in his office.

“Did you get the thing I asked for?” Vincenzo nodded and handed over a paper bag to Dante.

“Are you sure this is the right decision?” Vincenzo asked him.

“I have decided to bring her to my world. Now I am responsible for her safety.” He rose from his seat.

“Has she woken up yet?” He asked.

“Yes, she is having breakfast right now.”

“Okay, I will join her for breakfast and then we will take care of the casino business.” He told him. Vincenzo nodded. “I understand.”

Victoria sat in front of the dining table and there was a vast variety of food sitting before her. She was so confused because she never had so much options at once.

“Wait, are you telling me I can just choose anything I want from this table?” She asked the staff who was standing next to her.

“Yes, master told us we need to treat you well and we don’t know what food you like, so we bring out several options for you.” She was overwhelmed, so she took the menu she was most familiar with and placed it on her own plate. As she was about to eat, she heard Dante’s voice from behind her.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” She turned her head around and saw Dante pulling the chair next to her.

“Good morning.” She replied.

“There are so many food, I don’t know where to start.” She replied.

“It’s okay, take your time.” He sat beside her and handed the paper bag. She took it in confusion.

“What is this?” She asked.

“Go see for yourself.” He replied. Victoria pulled out the paper bag and there was a black box inside. She slowly opened the box and her eyes widened when she saw what was inside.

“That’s-“