Chapter Four: Intense gaze

"Who said anything about suitors? I'm not even sure I wanna get married yet." She whined and her father nodded in satisfaction. She wasn't ready to get married and he also wasn't ready to let her go with some man just yet, so it was good that they were on the same page.

" Okay, it's up to you." He didn't argue with her because her decision was already in his favor. " Why don't you come inside. The sun is so bright today, let's talk some more when we are inside." He added as he took hold of her luggage and then turned to his son; "And you, how could you let your sister stay outside for so long? This isn't how a true gentleman behaves. Can't you see how tired she looks from her trip?" He reprimanded his son who was taken aback by the turn of events. Why was he even being scolded?

" You can't really expect much manners from a boy who behaves like a cave person." Alicia said in a causal and relaxed tone, not even glancing at her brother who she was throwing under the bus.

" What?! Me? What did I do now?" Adrian whined, making a sulky face as he felt like he was being unjustly accused. Andrea who was watching the entire scene couldn't help but laugh at their childish banter as it was really refreshing to hear their playful squabble again.

They all went inside and talked some more. Seeing as it was almost diner time, Andrea's father went into the kitchen to make some food for his kids. Andrea saw him walk to the kitchen and followed him in as she wanted to help in anyway she could. Marco might have been in his late forties but he still looked fitter than most men in their twenties, with a tall frame and thick muscles that made him look buff. His eyes were deep blue in colour just like the ones of his son and he was indeed very handsome for his age. The white hair on his head only made him look even more attractive and now that Andrea actually thought about it, the white on his head really suited him. She hope he wouldn't dye it black again as his hair like this made him look more... wiser. Marco tried to dismiss his daughter's help as he still thought she needed more rest but she stubbornly persisted, so he just let her do whatever she wanted.

After the meal, everyone retired back to their various rooms to sleep but for some reason Andrea couldn't seem to fall asleep. She tossed and turned on her bed, closing her eyes for the longest time and hoping she would fall asleep but nope! it never happened, she didn't even fall asleep once. Getting off her bed, she had given up all hopes of falling asleep that night and decided that what she needed wasn't sleep anymore but fresh air. She got up wearing only her pajamas, putting on her slippers, she walked to the balcony. Though their house wasn't extravagant or all over the top, it was home. Her home. Their house was a simple on storey building that was moderately built but was still big enough to contain her entire family and their maid, who seemed to be on leave at the moment.

It might not be much to outsiders but it meant everything to her, to her parents. Her mother really loved that house, especially the garden in the back. It was old, older than her even but It had history. As she stood in the balcony, holding onto the railings, she stared deep into the night. Her long brown hair danced in the wind as the cold night breeze blew on her face, caressing her exposed skin.

Then something caught her attention. It was the sound of two men talking in the compound, one was whispering but the other didn't care much to lower his voice. Thank God for the terrace as it gave a more than 180 degrees view of the entire compound, so she was able to get a good view of where the voices were coming from. She saw two men talking in a corner and she quickly recognized one of them to be her father, but the other one was a man she had never seen before. He looked dangerous as he was handsome, dressed in all black and had his hands in his pocket. Who was he? Why was he here? But most especially, why was her father having a secret meeting with this man at the dead of night like this? The conversation that they were having looked serious. Who exactly was her father talking to? Those was just few out of the hundred unanswered questions running through her head. As she narrowed her eyes at the man her father was talking to, she noted that he looked way younger than her father but he was definitely older than she was, maybe with five or six years. Her ears perked up as she tried to eavesdrop on the discussion then soon realize that they weren't speaking English but Italian. She mentally face palmed herself. She wasn't fluent in Italian and could only understand every third word of whatever they were saying, so she couldn't get the full gist of it. She only spoke English and Spanish just like her Colombian mother and never really got to fully learn Italian as her father, who was Italian American, but mostly spoke English and Spanish as well. She did hear something that had to do with money, something about a debt and a house. She also picked up something about running out of time. But who exactly was running out of time? Although she might have been horribly wrong as she had never been good at speaking Italian and judging from how fast they were conversing, she was sure that she didn't even catch a full sentence. As her eyes locked in on the men, particularly on the mysterious unknown one, she couldn't help but acknowledge how gorgeous he was. Even in the dark covers of night, you could still tell he was an extremely handsome man and trust me, she had seen her own fair share of handsome men in her life but his beauty was of a different kind. It looked devilish and his eyes were menacing. She stood there still somewhat admiring his good looks but froze, with shivers running through her spine when he lifted his face and stared dead straight into her eyes. She couldn't move her body as she felt trapped in his mesmerizing but intense gaze. They stared at each other for thirty good seconds before she was able to break free from the spell and instantly lowered her eyes, completely averting her gaze from his.