Page 16 of Untouchable

“Yeah, okay. Well, maybe get your own love life sorted before you go and start slamming other peoples,” he says with a shrug before he heads back into Mateo’s room.

I am left standing in the hallways pondering over Antonio’s words. Where did that even come from? I don’t get why he thinks Alessandro has anything to do with this. I just don’t want Mateo to be a typical teenage boy and hurt the girls. Alessandro is completely irrelevant in my life. The only thing he provides is a headache. Whatever.

I walk away and head back into my room to change into my outfit for dinner. I decide on a simple black cocktail dress with my favorite Dior pumps before I start working on my hair and makeup.

It has been a tradition my whole life that once a week we have dinner with the Cordova’s at our house. In the last two years Aiden and his parents have joined us almost every time. It used to be my favorite day of the week growing up but since the fall out with Alessandro, if that is even what you can call it, it is usually less than terrible.

After the first dinner that Aiden and his parents came to, things were a million times better. Aiden is a wonderful distraction and always seems to know how to get me to laugh, even if it is at his expense sometimes. I don’t think anyone can make me laugh the way he does. It is one of the best things about Aiden honestly, he just gets me.

Over the years, Alessandro started showing up to dinner less and less, which was fine with me. Uncle Gio and Aunt Tasha would always make excuses for him, saying that he had things he had to do for the family or had prior commitments but everyone at the table always knew that it was total bullshit.

I suppose I should be thankful that he isn’t coming on vacation with us tomorrow. I don’t think that I could imagine anything worse. Though he has barely spoken 10 words to me over the last 2 years, he definitely doesn’t hide his displeasure for my existence. Anytime I speak, I get plenty of grunts or scoffs from his side of the table and I have witnessed so many eye rolls that I am surprised his face isn’t permanently frozen like that.

I swipe a quick layer of matte red lipstick across my lips and run my fingers through my hair one more time before heading out of my bedroom and down the stairs. Based on the booming voices coming from the dining room, I am assuming that everyone is already here. Here is hoping the asshole stays away tonight.

Chapter Eight

Seraphina

I make my way across the foyer towards the main dining room when a large hand wraps around my mouth and pulls me around the corner out of sight from anyone. My scream is muffled between thick fingers and before I can even think, I am spun around quickly into strong arms.

“Hey beautiful,” Aiden smiles before dipping down and capturing my lips between his.

I smile against him as he begins deepening the kiss. My arms snake around his shoulders as he winds his around my lower back. His hands begin to move leisurely tracing the curve of my ass, like he has all the time in the world, but we both know that if my father catches us making out like horny teenagers, the rest of our night will not be too pleasant.

I gently push back against him, and he quickly stops, dropping his head to the crook of my neck for a moment as he lets out a sigh.

“I can’t wait to kiss you whenever I want.”

“Don’t be dramatic. You can kiss me whenever you want. Kissing and groping are two totally different things though,” I tease.

He gives me that dazzling smile that I love so much before giving me a boyish shrug.

“Can you blame me? I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world.”

I smile up at him softly as his hand cups my cheek lovingly. I lean into his touch and look into his chocolate eyes. I could stare into them all day, I swear. He quickly leans down and presses a quick chaste kiss to my lips, followed by one to my forehead, and then each cheek and then my chin until I am a giggling mess in his arms.

“Come on,” Aiden says as he intertwines our fingers before leading us to the dining room. “Whatever Luis made smells amazing.”

I nod as I follow after him. As soon as we step into the dining room, Bethany wraps me up into a hug.

“Hi darling! How are you?”

“I am good, how have you guys been?” I smile as I turn to hug Nicholas.

“Just fine. Bethany however is insisting that I leave my cellphone here while we are on vacation. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? It is an election year!” He scoffs in mock irritation before he leans over and kisses his wife’s head.

She rolls her eyes at him and shakes her head. “If I am not working, then neither are you. The only way to stop you from working is to leave all electronic devices on the mainland. On second thought, we should probably burn it all just so that something doesn’t ‘accidently’ make it into your bag like last time.”

Nicholas groans as he slumps down into his seat. I laugh softly as Aiden smiles at his parents and squeezes my hand while we make our way down the table.

“Hi sweet girl,” Aunt Tasha says as she reaches out and grabs my hand while the twins mindlessly text on their phones beside her.

“Hey, you know there are no phones at the table,” Uncle Gio scolds before smiling up at me and Aiden. “Good to see you both.”

“Nice to see you too, Giovanni,” Aiden says with a polite nod and smile.

Finally, we make it to the end of the table where my mother and father are seated with my siblings. I squeeze Antonio’s shoulder and ruffle Emilio’s hair while I thunk the back of Mateo’s head to bring his attention up from his phone. It doesn’t take a genius to guess who he is texting.

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