Page 12 of Untouchable

When we got to the house, Drew walked me to the door while Alessandro and Seth stayed in their cars. Even though I couldn’t see through the tinted window I could practically feel Alessandro’s gaze on me, and it wasn’t a friendly one. Hot searing holes were being burned into the back of my head. It was almost like I could feel him wishing that I would burst into flames.

Keeping my head held high, I gave a quick goodnight to Drew before heading inside.

“Seraphina,” my father calls out the instant I step foot through the door.

I close my eyes in attempt to hide my eyeroll before I make my way into his office. He looks up at me over a large mound of papers before he settles back into his leather chair.

“I thought we agreed that you would be home by 10.”

“Papà, I am a grown woman, I should not have a curfew. Besides, you knew where I was and who I was with. The Ferguson’s house is plenty safe.”

My father’s jaw ticks as he watches me carefully. “That is not the point. When we agree to something, I expect that you hold your end of the bargain. Disobey me again and you will find yourself locked inside your room!” My father barks.

I blink in surprise. My father never raises his voice. He has always been stern, but fair, most of the time. We have bickered in the past about me getting home too late or giving the slip to one of my guards as a kid, but he has never spoken to me with so much anger.

Taking a small step forward I turn my head to the side slightly. “Are you okay, Papà?”

His clenched jaw loosens until he slowly slumps back into his chair, rubbing at his temples with such force it is almost like he thinks that he can rub all of his troubles away.

“I’m fine, Bambina. Just stay close to home for a little while, okay? I just need to know that you and your brothers are safe.”

I furrow my brows, wanting to ask what exactly is going on but my father holds up a hand and shakes his head. My shoulders drop before I walk over and place a kiss on his cheek.

“Of course, Papà. Sorry I worried you.”

He gives me a tired smile before gesturing towards the door. I nod and give him a small smile in return before I head upstairs. After I change into pajamas, go through my nightly skin routine and crawl into bed, I send Aiden a text.

Me: Safe and sound in bed.

His response almost comes instantly.

Aiden: Good. I miss you already. I love you.

I smile softly, tossing my phone to the side before I lean back and close my eyes. My mind is restless though, not on one particular topic or anything just…restless. Picking up my phone again, I scroll through my folders, going to the one that I have hidden inside 2 other private folders, just in case. Once I get it open, my eyes devour everything that the screen has to offer. I am not sure how long I spend flipping through my folder but soon my eyes begin to burn until my eyelids become too droopy to fight and I fall into a deep sleep.

-

On Saturday, I finish the last curl of my hair before tousling it into a looser wave. Tonight, is a campaigning event for Governor Ferguson. Elections are coming up in 6 months, so it is crucial that he does as much ass kissing as possible to stay in office, at least that is what Aiden says.

The whole family is coming except for Emilio since he is only 4 and definitely too wild to behave at an event like this. I smooth my hands over my dress as I look in the mirror. It is a rose gold sequin one sleeve trumpet gown with a slit that runs just above my knee. I pulled it from the sample rack at my mother’s work and added the slit to it to give it that extra oomph. Not sure how she is going to feel about me altering her new collection, but she should honestly thank me.

I am really happy with how it fits me. I tapered in the waist a bit to accommodate the dramatic dip from my hips to my waist that I now have. I used to be a little curvier, not fat by any means, but I have a personal chef and I had an addiction to strawberry cheesecake gelato. I never really noticed that I was gaining until last Christmas. I was wearing a white sweater dress that hugged me a little too tightly. Since then, I have continued my morning workout routine as well as watching my carb, fat and sugar intake. I can now honestly say that I have never looked better, and this dress definitely proves that.

My hair is done up into an intricate twisted updo, sitting to the side and showcasing my teardrop earrings that I got for my birthday last year from Aiden. My face is contoured and highlighted in all of the right places with a dusty rose lipstick perfectly painting the full lips I thankfully inherited from my mother. I pretty much inherited everything from her actually. We have the same honey blonde hair, the same blue eyes and the same height. The only thing I got from my father is my temper and my insistence on getting my way.

Grabbing my rose gold Valentino clutch, I toss my phone and lipstick in before sliding into my metallic stilettos and stride out the door and down the stairs. In the foyer, I see Antonio scrolling on his phone like usual while my mother dotes on Mateo’s bow tie, trying to straighten it as he rolls his eyes in irritation. My father is watching them with an amused smile as his hand is holding my mother’s waist so that she can’t step too far away.

He has always been like that. Whenever she moves, so does he. He rarely lets her out of his sight when he can help it and the same went with us kids when we were younger, but though the boys are getting older, and he seems more relaxed with them Papà seems to be as protective as ever with me. It’s not even fair, I am the oldest. I am an adult! And yet he treats me like I am still a child.

When I reach the last step of the stairs, my father turns to look at me, smiling before he takes in my dress and frowns. It shows off a good amount of cleavage and I know that the slit in my dress is more revealing than he would prefer but I don’t care. He has got to let up at some point. My mother looks over too and her eyes light up as she sees my dress. I watch as her eyes trail down to the slit where her eyes narrow and her head cocks to the side.

“Seraphina, that wouldn’t happen to be the Starling dress that should be on the sample rack for fashion week, would it? I definitely don’t remember designing it with the dramatic slit.”

I smile cheekily at her as I come to kiss my father on the cheek. “Just say thank you, Mamma. I improved it don’t you think?”

She purses her lips as she continues to study the dress. She twirls her fingers asking me to turn and I do, slowly, letting her get the full effect. She crouches down and begins looking over my seam work and twirling the fabric to see how it will move in different directions. When she stands up, her lips are still pursed until she meets my eyes and grins.

“Stop taking things off the rack and changing them.”

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