Toxic Family

"The best you can do is to stay on my side…" she smiled after my words, then kissed my lips briefly and opened a car door. I jumped outside, put her on her legs, then closed the car and cleaned my suit. She straightened up her red silk high slit dress with a heart-shaped plunging neckline, then run with her fingers through her maroon curls to add them a bit more volume and looked over me.

"Your white suit looks too perfect to believe you were such a bad boy recently…" she put the collar of my shirt in its place, and kissed my lips again. "Just remember I'm on your side no matter what. If you can't bear it anymore, give me a hint, so I can figure out the excuse for us to leave."

I nodded instead of answering, then took her hand and went straight to the mansion.

~Aurora~

We entered the main hall of the mansion at the same time when Markus's family was going downstairs to the dining room on the first floor. Everyone froze, and three pairs of bloody eyes looked over Markus and me from head to toes. I fixed my gaze at the very interesting drawing on the carpet on the floor to avoid their looks. I knew Markus is facing them, and it was already enough.

"Look who just came. We thought we'd have a separate dinner…" his younger brother left his spicy comment again, and it made me look at Markus. His eyes were of a cold onyx color, and his facial expression was forcibly calm.

"Close your mouth."

Those were the only words Markus said, then squeezed my hand and led me in the direction of the dining room, when they opened from the other side, we saw two young men in black suits smiling at us. However, as soon as they saw Markus's mood, they froze in their places and I noticed they were scared.

"Relax…" I whispered when we were passing through them.

Markus stopped near the head of the table and looked over it, examining if the length of the table is enough to not burn his family down. At the same time, I looked back to see his family approaching us and going to the other side of the table. I also noticed Raphael and Rick coming to the dining room, then the doors got closed, and two waiters run fast to help the ladies take their seats. However, they haven't gone to me, probably because Markus told them to not touch me with his killing look. I feel he was radiating tension, and it was hard to calm down or smile. His brother's words probably affected him a lot. I bet he hasn't expected his brother to take his mother's side. I wonder what will be in the end of the dinner.

Markus and I waited for everyone to take their places, then he pulled me a chair and I sat at it while he was the last one to take his seat at the head of the table. Raphael, Rick, and Markus's brother were on his right side, I was near him on his left side, near me was his sister. His mom took the place at the end of the table in front of Markus.

"Before the dinner will start, I demand that girl to put away our family pendant of her neck…" his mother broke the awkward silence, and it was the moment when the "earthquake" started.

"You have no right to demand anything in my house…" Markus's voice was calm, but still rude. He squeezed the glass full of red blood in his hands, probably because he was about to announce that we can start our dinner before his mom intervene.

Everyone could see the way Markus and his mother were looking at each other. There was lighting coming from their eyes into each other's direction, and the problem was none of them was going to step back to stop the conquest. I sighed and put my hand on his shoulder without the slightest care about the thoughts of his family.

"Maybe some fresh bloody cocktails would help us to ease the situation?" I said in a loud voice, trying to show I have the right to talk in this house while some others don't. Markus moved his eyes from his mother to me, and I finally was able to see his condition. He was burning from the inside, and the fire was easily visible in his onyx eyes. However, as far as his eyes looked at me, the fire started calming down.

"Start your dinner," he announced, then looked at the glass full of blood in front of himself. His left hand was still at the glass, slightly squeezing it, while his other one moved at my chair. Markus took the seat with his hand and moved me closer to himself in one quick and strong move. Everyone looked at us instead of starting their dinner.

"I won't eat her, don't worry," his sister giggled and took a greedy sip of blood from her glass. Markus threw a "killer look" at her too, but said nothing. He put my dish and other utensils in front of me, then moved a part of my skirt away, put his cold hand at my bare knee, and started drinking blood from his glass. His eyes were fixed at his family as if he was waiting for any other spicy comments.

I looked at my dish full of cheesy pasta with some mushrooms, but I wasn't able to put even a piece of it to my mouth. I felt the fire coming from Markus, and I couldn't keep my thoughts away from the fact that I don't know if there won't be a need to call the firefighters at the end of the evening.

Moreover, I couldn't even imagine his family being so toxic. Well, some of its members…

"I just don't understand…" The silence was broken by Markus's sister, who put an empty glass on the table, and turned her head in her mother's direction, to the end of the table. "Why you're so obsessed with brother's girl wearing our family crest? Have you ever asked why she wears it? What if Markus proposed to her?"

She suddenly looked at us with the back of her eye and winked. There were only Markus, Raphael, Rick and me on this side of the table, so she supposed only four of us to see that. I looked at Markus with wonder, but there was no reaction at his face. He was drinking blood from his glass and looking at his mum again. He was tasting her reaction, visible on her face.

𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘭. 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬.

"Because…" his mother was about to say something toxic again, then she closed her mouth and kept silent for some minutes, then looked at us, "Is it true?"

"Even if yes, your toxic behavior won't change," Markus answered, then clicked with his fingers and the two waiters, who came out somewhere from our backs, filled the glasses with fresh blood again. One of them stopped near me and looked at my empty glass.

"Would you like some blood too, Miss Malone?" he looked at Markus, seeing his approval for catching the play quickly, then back at me. I was the only one slowing the act because I didn't know what do I want. The smell of so much fresh human blood in the room made me feel nausea.

"No. Some water please," I said and moved the plate with pasta away from myself, "Take it away as well. I'm not hungry."

"As you wish, lady Aurora," he bowed his head, vanished, then appeared again and filled my glass with water. I quickly made a few greedy gulps, feeling a relief inside my stomach. Right now, I was in a condition of full refusal to eat or drink anything except water. And I couldn't figure out the reason.

"So…," Markus's brother started and attracted our attention. He was playing with a glass of blood, "Will you introduce us finally, big brother?"

Markus was still looking at his mother, as if trying to figure out what she has inside her head or trying to hypnotize her, but then he straightened up and pointed at me.

"Aurora Malone, my Underboss, and fiancée," Markus slightly squeezed my knee as if trying to bring me back to reality. I straightened up and started playing with the pendant of his family on my neck. Unintentionally. Markus hasn't reacted to my move and looked at his mother sitting on the other side of the table, then while talking he slowly looked at his brother and sister, one after another, "Eleanor, my mother; George and Mallory my siblings…"

We looked at each other silently for some time. They were slowly examining me from head to toes, and their eyes fixed no wonder at the pendant on my neck. It seemed they believed I'm a part of Malone's family after a short play Mallory created because for some time all of them kept silent. However, Eleanor, Markus's mother, was the first one to break the awkward silence after a short introduction.

"Seriously? Why do you even choose her as your fiancée? She's got nothing that others hadn't. You had a dozen of women, who had fallen around your neck without a second thought and in the end, you chose her?" Eleanor stood up and pointed at me, "She will…"

"Mom, you don't even know her!" Mallory screamed and jumped from her place as well, "Why on Earth can't you be happy for your son choosing a girl he likes!"

"Mallory, stop," Markus's voice made me flinch. I immediately turned my head in his direction seeing him slowly standing from his seat and from the expressions on Raphael's and Rick's faces, I understood that we need to call firefighters. I was worried about that at the beginning.

"Markus…" Raphael tried to say, but was stopped by a movement of Markus's hand. We all saw a fire burning on the tips of his fingers.

"No one in this house is allowed to say a bad word about her…" Markus raised his hand, where his palm already cowered with fire, and I saw how all his family members stepped away from the table, as well as Raphael and Rick. I was the only one who didn't step back because I wasn't afraid. I turned to Markus and took his burning palms with my hand, then pulled him to me. Then, I took his both hands with mine and put them on my face.

"Calm down, bad boy. Burning a mansion and your family members isn't a way out…" I looked at how his eyes were burning with orange fire, fading back his calm onyx color, and turning all orange. The fire didn't even calm down when he looked at me, but I was still not afraid, pressing his burning hands to my cheeks, "You know I'm not afraid…"