Chapter 58

“Serena, we have to go!” I heard Christian voice call out for me yet again. “I’m coming!” I yelled back and turned around several more times to look at my dress and my perfectly curled hair.

Christian had arrived home a few hours earlier, but I had no time to see him as I was preparing myself to look the best. Even though it was a double date, I still felt the need to be pretty. Dana could not outdo me.

I quickly grabbed my clutch before I ran down the stairs. “Ow.” I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead when I bumped against his chest...yet again.

“You really need to stop doing that.” He said his usual sentence and pushed me away. “You look...amazing.” He gave me a warm smile while I gave him a big one in return. “Thank you, so do you.” I complimented him back.

“You sure love praises, don’t you?” He asked and stuck out his hand as he led me to the car. While he was driving I stared at his face and wondered if he was really in a good mood or just playing pretend. All I wanted to know was what happened at that meeting, but he wasn’t sharing it with me—so I would not push it.

“What’s on your mind?” Christian asked me. I blushed and looked down, not realizing that he could actually see me staring. “You.”

“Me?”

“Maybe...there’s something you want to tell me?” Christian asked. My mind went blank as I thought about whatever I had to tell him, but there was nothing. “No?” I spoke. “Hmm, okay.”

“Serena, from now on I want us to be honest with each other.” He smiled and looked at me for a second. Yeah right, honest—that was the reason why he did not tell me about the meeting. “Sure, we can do that.”

“Good.” He sighed.

After a while, we had arrived at a huge restaurant where I normally wouldn’t even glance at because I never had the money for it, but things had changed.

A man immediately came running over to Christian the moment we arrived. “We’re so happy to have you here, the both of you. Your brother is already at your usual spot.” He told Christian and led us the way.

“Do you come here often?” I asked him and looked around in awe. The restaurant was filled with chandeliers, men in suits, and classy women who were swimming in diamonds. “Yes, the Lamberti’s own this place—Johnny’s in charge here.”

He grabbed my hand and led me to a private room in the corner. “Just be yourself, don’t close yourself off as you usually do.” He pressed a kiss against my cheek and opened the sliding door.

“There they are!” I heard Dana’s voice as she looked at me and patted the seat next to her. “H-hi.” I greeted her back and sat down next to her while Christian sat next to Gio.

Even though I had patched things up with Francesca, I had yet to do so with Gio—so everything still felt awkward. “How have you been?” Dana asked me with a kind and welcoming smile on her face. “Still pregnant.” I shrugged my shoulders, making her laugh.

“Yeah, I see. All sudden you’re the talk of the town.” She laughed at me and handed me a menu. “It appears so.” Gio looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face. “We should order because I’m starving.” Dana led the conversation.

I stared down at the menu and pulled weird faces at all the unfamiliar dishes while the three laughed at me. “Are you okay, Serena?” Gio asked. I was shocked at him making effort to interact with me and looked up at him.

“Huh, me? Oh yeah just uhh...what are these?” I asked, giving up—making them laugh once again.

“Serena, what do you like to eat?” He asked me, while Christian burst out laughing at his question. Christian always had a lot to say about my choice of food.

“Well, I like tacos and fries—oh and pizza,” I spoke. “Hmm pizza, what kind of pizza?” He continued asking.

“Frozen pizza?” I answered, misunderstanding the question—causing the three to laugh again. “I’m sorry, I don’t know any rich people food.” I buried my head between my hands.

“You’re different but that’s okay. That’s why Christian likes you, right Christian?” Gio told me and looked over at Christian who had a stupid smile on his face. “Right.” He smirked at me. As expected, he loved seeing me embarrassed.

“C’mon, I’ll order for you.” He offered and grabbed the menu from my hands. “You at least know pasta and ice cream, right?” He joked with me while I looked away embarrassed.

Not long after someone came in to take our order, and I was extremely grateful Christian took over for me.

“Serena, considering the circumstances I thought I would never be able to meet up with you...ever again,” Dana spoke unprovoked and looked over at her husband. Why did she have to bring that up?

“What’s in the past is in the past so...” I forced a smile at Gio who had done the same. “Babe, don’t you think it’s the perfect time for that thing we spoke about?” Dana pushed him.

“What thing?” Christian wondered, as did I.

“Serena, I don’t think I’ve properly apologized for treating you the way I did—but I’m sorry.” He politely apologized, without breaking any eye contact. Was this real?

“Thanks...and I’m sorry for throwing a drink on your mom and for not reaching out to you to fix things any sooner.” I apologized in return as he nodded his head. “Let’s just leave it behind us now.”

“Well won’t you look at that, are you drunk?” Christian asked his brother and grinned at his apology. “No, but Enzo’s behavior has shocked me.”

My eyes immediately shifted to Christian, as I expected to get some kind of reaction out of him, but there was none. “Have you visited him?” He asked, and Gio nodded his head.

“I have Luca watching him, but I was thinking...maybe we should get him some professional help and perhaps tell dad the truth—he’s completely out of his mind,” Gio suggested.

“Maybe, but let’s not talk about that right now.” Christian ended the conversation, as soon as he started it as Gio gave him a pat on the back.

“Trust me or not—him being like that gave me a good wake-up call. I don’t ever want us or our children to become like that. I want our babies to get along an—“

“Babies?” Christian interrupted him. “Oh, shit...well you are the first one to know,” Gio said.

“I’m three months pregnant!” Dana cheered with an excited look on her face. “Congratulations,” I told her and gave her a side hug.

“Pregnant? Again?” Christian spoke in disbelief. “You’re pregnant every year!”

“That’s not true.” Dana pouted. “There was like one and a half year between each pregnancy and it was only two!”

“So a year.” Christian stood by his statement and looked at his brother. “What will you do if you get another daughter?” He spoke with a terrified look on his face.

“What can I do?” Gio spoke with a defeated look on his face.

“You know what’s funny? Twins run in Christian’s family—twins run in your family, but you guys are not having twins.” Dana said.

“Thank god,” We both spoke at the same time and looked up to smile at each other. At least we were on the same page about that one.

At that moment someone brought in our food and my jaw almost dropped at the size of the plates. I had prepared myself for rich people's food to be served on tiny little plates, but it was the complete opposite.

“Do you like it?” Christian asked as he observed how I ate the pasta. “I do, it’s perfect—It’s...wow.” I described with my hands, making the others laugh.

“I think your cheek agrees,” Christian smirked and leaned forward to wipe my cheek with a tissue. “I think so too,” I spoke embarrassed.

For the rest of the evening, we had a great time and I began to open up a lot more about myself. Gio and I got along very well and Dana was one of the nicest people I had ever met—if I had only known about this earlier.

“We should do this again,” Dana told us after we were finished. “I’m going for a smoke real quick—I’ll be back soon,” Christian spoke and stood up while Gio did the same. “And you?” Dana frowned her eyebrows at Gio.

“J-just joining them, I-I won’t touch a thing.” He spoke in fear and followed behind Christian.

“I forced him to stop smoking.” She explained to me. “I wish I had the power to do that, but Christian...” I froze, thinking about the scenarios which could happen if I told him what to do.

“Yeah, I understand.”

“You guys look really cute together, he can’t keep his eyes off you.” Dana noticed, but I had yet to see it. “Really, he just kept gazing at you, smiling at you—he hasn’t been like that with any girl.”

“Really?” I blushed at her words. “How many were there before me?” I wondered. Dana snickered and covered her mouth. “Girl, do you have a few more hours?”

As expected there must have been many before me, which would be the reason why Francesca and Gio were against me at first, it was not really that surprising.

“You know, I told him I loved him.” I blurted out. I needed someone to talk to, someone who understood these type of men—and my friends were nice to talk to, but Dana was different. “What? What did he say?”

“Uhm, well...” I started embarrassed, wondering why I had even brought up the conversation. “He told me that he would ‘allow’ me to love him, whatever that meant.”

“That means he loves you back!” Dana encouraged me. “Wait, does it?”

“Yes, trust me. If it didn’t he would’ve ignored you, that’s Christian.” She explained. I remembered the days before when he had ignored my words, and pretended as if nothing had happened but a lot had changed since then. “You don’t have to hear it back, actions mean a lot more than words.”

“I guess you’re right.” I agreed with her. Rather than forcing him to say it, I wanted it to be sincere.

Dana was a very talkative person and asked me many questions about my life and my pregnancy until Gio and Christian had returned. “She didn’t run out crying yet? She’s tougher than you think Christian.” Gio told him while I wondered what the two had discussed.

After a while, we were all outside and said our goodbyes. Gio pulling me into a hug was completely unexpected but felt nice. “You come over to our house soon, both of you.” He told us before we went our own ways.

“Did you enjoy yourself?” Christian asked me. “Yes, I really did—thank you so much.” I smiled at him and placed my hand on his thigh for a second. “You really shouldn’t do that while I’m driving.” He smirked as I quickly pulled away. “Right, sorry.”

“Serena, do you still not have anything to say to me?” He asked. It was hard to miss the slightly irritated look on his face, and I wondered what it was about. “No?” I went into deep thoughts.

“Oh wait, I do!” I told him and saw how his eyes lit up. “Okay, you can trust me and tell me the truth—what is it?”

“I love you,” I told him, figuring those were the words he was waiting for. He cleared his throat in surprise and looked at me for a split second before he focused his attention back on the road. “Was that not it?”

“No, I mean...it’s whatever.” He frowned. “You’re not tired right?” He changed the subject. I know I said I didn’t need to hear it, but I would be lying if I said that it wouldn’t be nice.

“I’m good, not tired at all.” I smiled at him in full energy.

“Good, because I still have plans with you when we get home.”