Back From Death
Althaia
We got closer to the group of men, but she dragged me over to the two men standing furthest to the left from the rest of the men. The most two intimidating men in the group. And one of them being the man Michael told me not to stare at⊠But holy shit, that man was even finer up close.
For some reason, I was nervous to approach him as his eyes followed me. My heart started to beat a little faster at the intensity of his stare. And he didnât even try to hide it as he shamelessly checked me out. I averted my eyes to the man standing next to him. The man was about the size of a tank! He was tall and so muscular he could actually be related to The Rock. I wouldnât be surprised if he was.
âAlthaia, meet my fiancĂ©, Lorenzo.â She gestured to Tank Man. He was in fact quite handsome, bald, with dark brown eyes, a strong jawline with light stubble. And tall as hell. Or I was just short as fuck. It was probably the latter as I was only 5â2 hence why I most of the time wear heels. I had to tilt my head up a little to look at him.
âItâs nice to meet you.â I smiled at him and stuck my hand out for a handshake. He looked down at my hand with a bored expression but shook my hand anyway.
Well, that was just lovely.
âAnd this is his older brother, Damiano.â She motioned to the man standing next to her fiancĂ©. The one I had looked at for too long, the one who had me feeling intimidated by the way he was looking at me.
Damn, he was really sexyâŠ
They were about the same height, however, Tank Man was more broad-shouldered than Damiano. Even though Tank Man was, well, like a tank, Damiano was definitely much more intimidating with his golden-brown eyes, cold and dead as they could be as he stared at me.
âPleasure to meet you.â I smiled at him, despite feeling intimidated by him, and stuck my hand out to shake his hand as well. Luckily, he didnât stare at my hand for a moment like Lorenzo did and took my hand into his big hand.
âAlthaia.â Damiano said as if he was testing my name. An involuntary shiver ran down my back as he said my name. I was not prepared for his voice to be this deep and rich. Which made him just even more handsome.
How that was possible, I had no ideaâŠ
âYup, thatâs me.â I mentally cringed as I said that out loud and made a slight grimace. Why in the world would I say that and embarrass myself in front of the very, very, sexy man?
Damiano turned his head to Tank Man, also known as Lorenzo, and it was like they were communicating without saying any words. Because, whatever it was, Lorenzo turned to Cara, held her by the waist, and started to walk away. Cara looked over her shoulder as she walked away with Lorenzo, and gave me a confused expression. I looked around and noticed the rest of the men were also gone.
Okay then⊠Was I supposed to leave as well?
I turned back around and faced Damiano, who already had his set of eyes on me. He reached into his pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes. He held the packet out to me, offering me one, but shook my head and said âI donât smokeâ. He took the packet up to his mouth and took a cigarette between his lips, still while looking into my eyes. There was something about the way he did that, that was incredibly hot.
âSo, Althaia.â He said while he lit up his cigarette and took a long draft from it. âYou look awfully well for someone who died a couple of years ago.â He casually said as he smoked.
A say what?
Did I hear him correctly?
âIâm sorry, what?â I shook my head a little as if I heard him wrong.
âYour file says you are dead.â He said as if it was the most normal thing to say, and blew the smoke right into my face. I waved the smoke away from my face and frowned at him.
My file? What file?
âEhm⊠I think you have me confused for someone else.â I awkwardly laughed.
âAlthaia Volante, 24 years old, was born on November 7th because her parents decided to fuck on Valentineâs Day. Died instantly in a car accident on New Yearâs Eve three years ago.â He casually said as he took another long draft from his cigarette.
âI have no idea what you are talking about.â I stared at him confused.
âBesides, my name is not Volante. Itâs Celano. Big difference. You must have me confused for someone else because Iâm pretty sure Iâm not dead. Obviously.â I gestured to myself as I was literally standing in front of him in the flesh.
âObviously.â He finished his cigarette and my eyes followed the bud as he flicked it away. I looked back at him, and he was looking me up and down, his eyes coming to rest on my necklace resting between my breasts.
âHowever, you are wearing the Volante heirloom around your neck.â I subconsciously touched my necklace. He stepped closer to me and my heart started to beat faster when he held my chin and tilted it slightly upwards so I could meet his eyes. His face was inching closer to mine as if going for a kiss but moved his head slightly to the side of my ear.
âMakes me wonder why your father is hiding you from me.â He said in a low voice that sent shivers down my spine.
He slightly stepped back and dropped his hand to his side. I let out a breath I didnât know I was holding. I shuddered as he looked behind me and smirked devilishly at whoever was there. Fear started to fill my body at his expression.
Deadly and devilish.
I had to get away from him as soon as possible.
I turned around, intending to walk away, but halted in my steps as I came face to face with my father, who looked at me with a furious look.
âPapĂĄ,â I breathed out.
It was weird seeing him in front of me when we havenât seen each other since, well you know, my mother took me and left. I remember I had tried to keep in touch with him, but the number was suddenly not available, and I didnât know how else to reach him at that time. Eventually, I got the message and stopped trying but that didnât mean that I didnât miss him from time to time.
He was my father after all.
âWhat are you doing here!?â My father hissed at me.
Ouch.
I guess the feelings were not mutual.
âIâm here to get fucked up, what else.â I said in a âduhâ voice. I was well aware it was disrespectful to talk like that to your father. But I felt attacked and hurt by his reaction, and my defense mechanism got activated. Which was to be sarcastic, the strongest weapon to exist.
Did he really not want to see me?
I frowned back at him but then noticed how the rest of the guests had stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at us. Wasnât that just fucking lovely? Michaelâs tense form moved forward to stand slightly behind my father, posing as a bodyguard.
I felt someone grab my waist and push me into their side. I let out a noise of surprise at the sudden action, and I turned slightly to see it was Damiano who held me firmly.
âGaetano, such a lovely gem youâve been hiding.â He said in Italian. My father clenched his fist as he stared at Damiano. He, however, just tilted his head to the side as a response.
âMichael, take Althaia away from here.â My father ordered firmly. Before Michael could even move a little, I let out a scream at the object in Damianoâs hand.
âHoly shit!â I yelled as Damiano pulled out a gun and aimed it at Michael. My heart started to violently pump inside my chest, making me breathe faster. I tried to get away but he had a firm grip on me.
âDonât even think about it.â He crushed me into his side. My legs would have crumbled if he didnât have such a firm grip on me. Michael tried to grab me again, but before he could even take a step, the sound of a gunshot rang out in the air, making me scream and cover my ears.
âI wonât fucking miss your head if you move one more time.â Damiano stated in a deadly low tone.
My heart was racing against my chest, and I could feel my knees weakening with each passing second. With my eyes as wide as they could be, I looked at Michael, who was already staring at me, his jaw tightened. I looked at my father and it looked like he was battling something inside his head.
I should have said yes to that fucking drink.