Chapter 5: Game

PIETRO

My ears felt like it’s going to bleed. The music is too loud, everyone is having a conversation with one another which only adds to the noise, and there were also people who have turned drunk enough that they shout at their every word.

This is why I hate parties.

We are celebrating a seven year old’s holy communion, and yet this party doesn’t feel holy at all. I guess this is what the mafias are good at, to make holy things unholy.

Everyone clapped as Leuzzi’s granddaughter and Serrano’s daughter released a dove to the air. It is an important Italian custom when celebrating the holy communion.

Next would be the opening of the gifts and finally after that I can leave the party. If only it wouldn’t offend anyone, I would have left after what had transpired between me and Lucrezia at the secluded part of the venue.

I don’t think I can last more in the same place with her.

“I had given the gifts,” Pericle Laurenti whispered to my ear as the clapping of the crowd died down.

I nodded my head without sparing him a glance and turned to look at the two tables with mountains of gifts.

Lucky seven-year-old kids.

The party went on as planned, we watched a boring show of two girls opening their gifts and showing it to everyone one by one. Even the mayor and the governor of the city is forced to watch with a smile on his face.

The opening of the gifts took too long, gifts are continued to be added on the table making it look endless. They got the kind of gifts that you can also receive on Christmas; bike, bags, clothes, gadgets, toys, even ipad and Nintendo switch.

They received gifts that a typical seven year old girl would like, except they are mostly custom made, and from luxury brands. Even though the celebration is celebrated for two people, both kids still enjoyed their day, especially that the two are close friends.

They grew up in the same world. In the future, they will have to work in the same world, friendship is inevitable.

Unable to restrain myself, I took a peek at Rocchi’s table. There I saw Raimondo Rocchi and his two daughters deep into their conversation.

Lucrezia and Letizia are undoubtedly sisters because they look so much alike. Lucrezia just have fairer skin and more feminine features than Letizia.

Lucrezia has a lovely face, the most beautiful eye color, and a curvaceous figure while Letizia is also as beautiful as her sister, but her eyes were plain brown and her body that of a model.

It’s bizarre to see someone look so alike, but a complete opposite of each other. Lucrezia is wild, feisty and stubborn, while Letizia is good natured, kind and innocently beautiful.

Despite their differences, they still have a close bond with each other. It is no doubt that the same blood flows in their veins.

Lucrezia stopped and glanced at me when she felt me staring at her. I immediately turned my gaze away before she could notice.

I really couldn’t control myself and stop staring at her because of her dress. Why the hell would she even wear that kind of dress at this kind of occasion. She should have worn the same dress as her sister.

When the party is finally about to end and it’s already safe to leave the party without offending anyone, I finally excused myself to the other families and told them that I’m leaving.

Leuzzi and Serrano, had of course tried to persuade me not to leave yet, but I was adamant to leave. Eros Cassiano just gave me a side hug and let me go on my way. However, Raimondo Rocchi and held on me tightly showing the hard feelings he has for me.

He did not talk, he did not ask me to repay him either. There was just heavy silence floating above us. I guess, Lucrezia haven’t told him about the date just like how I told her that I don’t want anyone to know that we are going on a date.

When we are finally alone in the car, away from all the ears, my consigliere finally asked me a question that has been running in his head.

“Why would you do that?” Pericle Laurenti, my consigliere, my confidant and my friend asked me, but I did not answer.

“Why did you agree to take her on a date?” He asked again while I watch the view outside the car window.

“I was just repaying a favor.”

“Why would you DO that?” He asked more sternly this time, putting more emphasis at his question, which means that wasn’t the kind of answer he wants from me.

He saw at the church earlier how I’m hiding an erection inside my pants. What happened between me and Lucrezia wasn’t a secret to him either. Knowing how smart he is, especially at reading people and the situation, I know he already has a loose grasp of the truth.

That is the reason why he became my consigliere. He is perfect for the job. He wouldn’t become my consigliere if he isn’t what he is. Unfortunately, I’m not exempted to his keen observation.

He did not ask me what I feel about Lucrezia and he did not ask me why I acted like a different person in front of Lucrezia. He asked me why I agreed on a date with her and it’s a fucking excellent question that I don’t know if I should answer.

“Do I have a choice?” I asked him back and faced him.

“You want her but you are restraining yourself from her, and she just confessed that she’s in love with you too. Why would you agree to go on a date with her?” He asked, saying things that I couldn’t confess myself out loud.

I did not have to tell him anything. He already knew.

“Pericles,” I muttered the nickname I made for him. It suits him perfectly. He is as wise as Pericles the Greek Scholar. “Don’t worry, I have a plan. I’ll make sure that at the end of our date, Lucrezia will hate me so much that she’ll lose every thread of love she has for me.”

“I would make sure that I will be the worst man he ever met that she will wonder why she fell in love with me in the first place.”

Pericles shook his head, doubting that my plan would work. “You’re only setting yourself in a trap, Pietro,” he concluded. “The date is a bad idea, you already can’t control yourself around her in public and now you want to be alone with her in a date. Trust me, by the end of the date you’d already fallen over heels with Lucrezia.”

I laughed at his words. My feelings for Lucrezia is nothing like love. Yes, I’m attracted to her, attracted enough to feel pain in my abdomen, but that is not love.

“You are underestimating me. Did you not see how I kept myself together in front of her? I did well in acting like a bad guy in front of her, I ruined her with my words. In the date, I’m just going to do the same thing.”

“By going on a date with her you will be like a moth flying closer to the flame. I have a bad feeling about this, trust me. Don’t go on a date with her.” He commanded me. “If you don’t go on that date, you will look like a bad guy to her already.”

I licked my lips as I took his words in consideration. “Whether I like it or not, I need to go on a date with her. I’m doing this to pay her a favor. Besides, it’s a win-win situation for me. I need to make a bad impression so she would stop pursuing me before I lose control of myself.”

“That is exactly why this date is risky. What if you lose your control before the date even ends? That woman is in love with you, she would pull whatever tricks she has under her sleeves to make her fall in love with you!” He raised his voice, getting agitated by my stubbornness.

“Porco cane! Don’t you see what you’re getting yourself into?” He asked me, but I ignored him. “While you are acting like a bad guy in front of her, trying your best to make her hate you, she would be acting like a seductive goddess trying her best to make you fall in love with her. Minchia! What kind of game are you playing?”

“It’s a game that I’d be winning,” I answered in a loud voice for I’m getting annoyed at how he is trying to stop me.

“This is dangerous.”

“Pericles, in what game did I ever lose?”

“This is not a game at all.”