4. Lorenzo

Dinner is served at exactly seven in the Hammond residence and judging by the time on the clock, the tradition has not changed a tad bit. Everyone is seated at the table by the time the head cook and her assistants serve dinner.

"I told Miss Hubert to prepare your favorite dish." Mother smiles.

"Balsamic and soy marinated skirt steaks with charred peppers." Miss Hubert places the dish before me. I salivate at just the glance of the dish. There is a reason Miss Hubert has been our head chef since I was five.

"Thanks Miss Hubert." I smile genuinely. I send a warm smile of appreciation to mother.

"Crispy tofu with peanut sauce and cabbage." Miss Hubert mentions as she puts the dish before Johanna.

"Enzo dear mentioned that you would specifically love the dish." she adds. Johanna sends me a smile.

"Did he now? Thanks Miss Hubert." She says.

When I turn to the others on the table, I find those weird looks cast my way.

"Enzo says your vegan." Max starts. I send him a cautious look.

"Yes. I have been since I can remember." she replies cooly.

"So you can say it was by choice?" Max continues. I glare.

"Babe you don't have to answer that." I clarify.

"I would love to. Actually, my mother had always suffered from a heart disease so she couldn't eat all these high cholesterol foods. We always ate vegan foods and I loved it. I still wouldn't trade it for anything in the world." Johanna smiles sadly at the end. I hold her hand from beneath the table. I know how hard it is for her to talk about her mother.

"I am curious though. How did you two meet?" Johanna asks curiously.

"I thought you would never ask." Kate grins.

"It was love at first sight." Max chides. I roll my eyes.

"It was meant to be. I think both of us knew that we would end up together right the moment we met." Kate divulges.

"How is that different from love at first sight?" Max raises a brow at Kate.

"The more dramatic, the better." She says and the whole table erupts into a laughter.

"Childhood best friend turned to lover, sounds like a good plot." Johanna grins. I resist a scoff.  Someone has been reading way too much fiction.

"And you guys, Lorenzo says you met in the most crazy way." Mother asks.

"Crazy is an understatement. He hit me with his car." Johanna accuses.

"In my defense, who jumps into the middle of the road just because they forgot to set their alarm." I defend.

"I wasn't thinking honestly. All I cared about was to get to work and guess who never got to it? I swear he refused to let me out of his sight till he was sure I was okay." She narrates.

"I couldn't risk to be blamed for causing injury to anyone." I stare into her eyes.

"That's what he kept saying and insisted to drive me to work where obviously I was fired but who cares. I found love in those uneventful circumstances." She blushes. I feel the need to kiss her but then decide against it since everyone is watching.

"Aw. I am a sucker for a good romantic story." Emma gushes.

"Come on Em. Perhaps you could pick a leaf from your cousins." Father teases.

"Let her be uncle. She cannot even make a frog fall in love with her." Arma teases.

"Says the boy who let the best girl walk out of his life." Emma cocks a brow. Arma

Gabriel saves the tension between the ladies but clinking on his glass.

"I would like to propose a toast to the reason why we are all gathered here today. To Max and Kate." Gabriel proposes a toast.

"To Max and Kate." We all clink our glasses together in unison.

Thankfully stories about Kate and Max dominate the rest of the dinner.

I can't help the groan that escapes my throat when mother asks Jo if they can look at the family album. Jo sends me the wicked smile as she joins my mother together with all the others. Mother sends me for a bottle of wine from the cellar. This is exactly what I need to escape the family roast.

I take the steps down into the basement where the wine cellar is located. Flicking on the lights, I begin to look through the aisles of wine. The wine collection is my father's. He used to collect wines on his trips to the different countries. He made a hobby of it and he still spends a lot of money to obtain the best bottles on the market.

"Didn't your mother teach you not to sneak on people?" I don't need to turn around to address this person.

"Apparently she is your mother too so that makes two of us." Max walks out of the shadows.

"1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon." Max pulls the bottle from the shelf.

"This should do it." He hands it to me.

"Spit it out." I instruct when Max continues to stare.

"Jo doesn't know, does she?" he asks.

"I am going to tell her after the wedding." I reply.

"Do you think she will stay with you when she learns the truth?" Max raises a brow.

"What kind of question is that?" I glare.

"An honest one. Telling her..."

"I don't need a reminder Max." I cut him off.

"Do you think she can handle the truth Enzo? Jo loves you but do you think she loves you enough to accept who you are?" Max gazes. I gaze back hard.

"I love you Enzo and I will still love you despite what happens." Max pats my shoulder lovingly. I stare dumbfounded at the floor as Max's footsteps ascend up the stairs.

Is Johanna ready? The most important question is if I am ready. Since the day I set eyes on Johanna in the middle of that road, I knew immediately that she is the woman I never wanted to let go. It was the most selfish act of my life because I knew the consequences. I ignored every warning bell in my head for her. I couldn't see myself with any other person but her.

Perhaps I should have never asked her on that first date. Neither should I have arranged a second date. I was in too deep then. I wanted her. I needed her. Johanna is like this addiction I can't get over. The past seven months I have spent with her have been the happiest months of my life. Jo is the wave of peace I crave each moment.

However much I tried to ignore it, I knew everything was leading to this weekend. Somehow I knew I would have to tell her about the real me, about my family.

When I stand in the door way and watch her smile and fit in with every one, it makes my heart melt. At the same time I feel the guilt trying to creep in. She grins when she notices me by the entrance.

"Boy stop flirting and bring me my wine." Mother orders.

I wish Jo will still look at me at the end of this weekend the same way she's looking at me right now.