The argunt that Angela witnessed just now replayed in her head like a movie, and it was still reeling her in. It sucked that she didn't understand what they were arguing about, so she'd have to ask them about it as she wouldn't be able to move on.
However, just as she opened her mouth to question, Alessandro told Gael that they needed to talk. And before she even had the chance, Gael nodded his head towards the room across the living room and responded, "Let's step in my office."
His father disappeared into the room while Gael walked up to Angela and caressed her cheek. "We won't be long."
She nodded. "Oh, the coffee."
"I'll take care of it. Do you mind waiting in the living room?"
"No. Okay."
Angela sat on the sofa while Gael disappeared into the kitchen. A couple of minutes later, he ca out with his father's coffee and brought it to the office, closing the door afterward.
While she waited anxiously, she couldn't help but stress over the encounter in the hallway. Was all that really just a prank? It sounded so real—or maybe because she just didn't understand a word they were saying. She definitely saw Alessandro giving Gael a hundred bucks as though they had a bet, and Gael won. But what exactly was there bet about? That she'd go off on them?
She kept glancing in the direction of Gael's office, wondering about their conversation. Was it about their business? About her? About the Morellis? Whatever it was, it made her anxious just waiting in the room like she was about to hear her na being called in a dental clinic. Though she wouldn't be called in at all, she knew that, but it still felt like so.
Angela looked down when sothing nudged on her leg. Honey was begging for attention. "Hey, baby…" She picked her up and placed her on the sofa. Honey stretched and lay down. To distract herself, Angela called her father to update him. It lasted for about five minutes, and it ended when he said he was playing chess with Oliver. She promised they would keep in touch.
Gael and his father were still in the office, so she figured to reply to Nina's text, but just as she typed in her ssage, the door to the office opened and the two gentlen walked into the living room.
"Angela, it was really nice eting you." Alessandro smiled at her.
She got to her feet and faced the older man with a polite smile on her face. "It was nice eting you too, Mister—um, Don De Luca." She cleared her throat.
Alessandro's smile widened like he was amused to hear her calling him "Don". "I'll see you both tonight." He turned and left the house before she could respond.
Angela and Gael watched Alessandro get in his car until the vehicle pulled away from the curb and carefully drove away. The storm had stopped, and the surrounding was slowly clearing up, though it was still not safe to be out there.
When they got back inside the house, she turned to face Gael and questioned, "Everything okay with your dad?"
"Yeah. Just business."
"What's tonight?"
"Dinner at Nonna's."
"Is there a celebration?"
He shook his head. "Just dinner. You okay? You seem flushed."
Angela pressed a hand to her cheek, and it sure felt a little hot. And then she drew her brows together when she looked up at him. "What was that all about?"
"What was what?"
She pointed towards the hallway without taking her eyes off him. "That argunt in the hallway you had with your dad."
"Don't worry about it," he answered, a smile threatening to show on his face.
She matched his smile, though hers looked a little more dangerous. "Okay, I'm not worried. But I must know what it was about. I think I deserve to know. So tell from the start—from the ti you both left the kitchen."
Gael rubbed the back of his neck. "He asked if you spoke or understood Italian, and I said no."
Angela recalled the part where his father spoke, and Gael shook his head before the two headed towards the hallway. "And?"
"He said you were nervous the whole ti you talked to him. Since you let him in and attempted to make so coffee."
"What did you say?"
"I told him that it was because he showed up unannounced. And that even if you looked nervous, you were certainly not weak."
Angela arched a brow, and he took it as her waiting for him to continue. So he did. "He thought you'd run away if things got intimidating for you, just like the girl I used to go out with when I was nineteen."
Her brows knitted. "Your father t one of your exes?"
"Not really. I didn't introduce them to each other. It was just a few dates. That girl and I were hanging out in my apartnt, and my father ca by. We argued about sothing, and I completely forgot she was there. I only realized when the door slamd shut. I never saw her after that."
"So your father thought I would get scared and run away?"
"Maybe." His lips pressed into a thin line. "He wagered fifty bucks that you're going to excuse yourself and run upstairs to hide."
"But I saw him give you a hundred."
Gael stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking confident as ever. "I raised it to a hundred and told him he'd be surprised."
The crease between her brows deepened as she recalled how the encounter in the hallway happened. "You bet that I would do sothing foolish? How could you have so much faith in ? It's your father we're talking about! What if I ran away?"
"You didn't."
"But what if I did?"
"I knew you wouldn't."
"What if I had just stayed in the kitchen and ignored you?"
"I don't know." He shrugged. "But what you did wasn't foolish—well, a little reckless if it were other people who could've been dangerous, but it doesn't change the fact that you stood up for yourself and . I know you, Angel. Even if it's my father we're talking about."
Angela's bottom lip curled inward, and she chewed on it as she mulled over what he just told her. Warmth lingered in her chest upon realizing that Gael knew her better than she knew herself.
She shifted her weight and averted her gaze. "And what about that whole fight thing? It looked so real when you two were arguing."
When Gael did not respond, she faced him again and saw the mirth dancing in his grey eyes. He chuckled.
"What's so funny?" she questioned, a little annoyed that he found this so amusing.
"O Sole Mio."
"What?"
"We were exchanging lyric lines to the Italian song—O Sole Mio."
Angela scoffed when it dawned on her that the father and son really played her today. Oh, they had her fooled. Folding her arms under her breasts, she tilted her head and smiled wickedly at Gael. Slowly, she stepped towards him, and he stepped back. "So you're telling …that the whole ti you were just saying lyrics?"
He nodded.
She continued walking towards him, and he continued to step backward until his back t the wall.
"Well, aren't you two adorable?" She eased her hands on his chest, her finger tracing his exposed skin above the neckline of his shirt.
Gael gripped her hip with two hands, slid them upward and underneath her hoodie until his fingers found her skin. "You're mad," he said. It wasn't a question.
Keeping the smile on her face, she shook her head. "Oh, no. How could I be mad? That was very entertaining…" She tiptoed to kiss his jaw—her right hand holding the side of his face while the left caressing his chest.
A breathy hum escaped from his lips as he tilted his head to the side, giving her access. She pressed soft kisses along his jawline and down to his neck. His hands continued to travel upward until he felt her bra. He slipped his thumbs under the material and stroked the swell of her breasts.
Sliding her hands from his chest and down to his abdon, she hooked her fingers on the waistband of his lounge pants and tugged it. His eyes were dark and hazy when she t them.
Angela traced the skin on his V, her fingers toying with the waistband of his boxer briefs, and whispered before his lips, "You know what's even more entertaining?" His jaw ticked when her fingers slowly inched towards his erection. He was slightly breathless when she moved even closer until the distance between their lips was paper-thin.
"I get to keep this." A sexy yet evil smile split her face, and his eyes flickered towards the thing that she waved in her left hand. The hundred-dollar bill was tucked between her index and middle fingers. "Thanks for winning money." She released the waistband, and it slapped on his skin.
Gael's mouth hung open as he watched her walk away—more like she skipped up the stairs, humming to 'O Sole Mio' and waving the money in the air.
He laughed and shook his head in defeat. "Well played!" he yelled and heard her giggle from upstairs.
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