Kate



I came into our engagement dinner late.

Alessio sat at the head of the table and across the very, very, very long table his father sat at the other head. Though Alessio generally kept his expressions neutral he did look relieved when I entered.

"Hey." I breathed. "Sorry. Sorry. I'm so sorry." I announced to everyone as my heels clicked rapidly while I walked quickly into the room.

"Relax." Alessio said and stood. My stomach collapsed when I saw him and I had to remind myself to breathe. He put a hand on the small of my back and went to kiss me but I gave him my cheek. He wasn't surprised and didn't hesitate this time, I had ignored his phone calls and texts for an entire night before I'd broken my phone all together. I was here, so he assumed there was some sort of hope for us still

"The bride and groom, both late tonight to their own dinner." Ugo said sounding quite amused despite his precious time having been lost.

Alessio give him a sideways glance and then turned his attention to me. "You look wonderful. Sit, please. Let us eat. "

He sat at the head and I took the seat beside him with an eye roll. Aria had been placed at his other side, directly across from me. Aria gave me a sort of confused shrug. I gave her a small nod, yes I meant what I had said earlier, I wanted her to stomp on our boundaries. Ellie and Nash were a few seats down from Aria. Nash gave me a weird look having seen my eye roll, beside him was Stacey and whispering sweet nothings to her stomach was Pietro. There were many other faces, some I recognized, some I didn't. Mostly other Mafia men.

I looked down my side of the table, my uncle, Simone still in a sling and Silvano, Alessio's mother, more men and women I was not too familiar with, Mia and my cousin. This table was too big, why would they even make a table this big, had I ever even seen a table this big? And now we were having an engagement dinner at one.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm so sorry." Heads all turned to see the next face coming through the door. I turned my attention to my silverware for a moment and let out a small breath.

I hadn't expected Sergio to show up. He'd made his position on being around Ugo pretty clear, was this even safe for him? Just being in the same room as Aria Alessio had not reacted the way I reacted to Sergio.

Sergio took the empty seat beside me.

"Sergio." Ugo nodded to him. Thankfully, they were as far as they could possibly be, even though Ugo had invited Sergio first, and I knew he would make no move in front of anyone having them together did make me nervous for Sergio. He was still limping for heavens sake.

"Are we ready to eat then?" Alessio said and looked around the table. His tone had grown testy already. There were still a few empty chairs, one beside Aria, and a few other sporadically along the table.

"Not quite." Ugo said and tapped his ring off of the table calmly. "We are expecting another."

"Should the husband and bride not be the most important guests at this dinner?" Alessio challenged in an even tone.

I leaned over to Sergio. "I'm surprised you came." I whispered.

"I could say the same to you." He replied back and I felt a pang of guilt.

Immediately my hands found the glass of champagne in front of me. Sergio put his hand on my leg under the table and as my lips found the glass whispered again.

"Relax."

I took a drink and turned to look at him, he was still leaned close to me. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?" I hissed.

"Put the alcohol down."

"Sorry, sorry. So sorry." A perfectly calm and insincere voice called out. We all turned again to see who had come in now and at the sight I pulled my glass back to my lips and downed it. Sergio, despite his comment moments ago handed me his glass as well with his free hand. I drank it as well.

One last Mafioso came into the room, he looked scattered as he took the seat beside Aria, he motioned to Ugo with another apology.

Alessio took my hand but made no comment.

"Dante. Good to see you son. Let's eat." Ugo said with a grin.

Alessio was holding my hand, resting it on the table and under the table Sergio's hand was on my thigh. I was going to need more alcohol for this. Wordlessly I took Alessio's glass as well.

For once, Gia did not serve the table but rather allowed several female caterers all dressed in black dresses with white gloves to serve us.

I glanced up to Aria one last time and she finally accepted my request. "Here, let me." She said and took the wine bottle from one of the servers to pour for Alessio, he didn't even glance at her.

"Katherine." He said in a soft tone to me so no one else could hear us. "Please baby, look at me. Let us just get through tonight, and then we shall talk. Okay? Let's talk."

"Oh of course, we have a lot to talk about."

This was meant to sound threatening but he didn't look the least perplexed, he might have even looked relieved! Aria said something to catch his attention, she propped her elbow on the table and kept her back to the rest of the table to put all of her focus on Alessio. She poised her shoulders inwards to improve her cleavage and Sergio handed me his drink.

"Thanks." I muttered.

"You sure about this?"

"Nope."

"Brilliant."

I put my hand under the table and flicked his off of my thigh. He didn't even like me, he'd made that perfectly clear last night, he was just trying to work me up even more.

"Relax." He insisted.

From across the table Aria rolled her eyes as if Alessio was so incompetent and half stood to lean over the table to adjust his tie. It was perfectly straight already but he looked down to inspect her progress, he totally trusted her tie esc judgement.

"Man, she does look good over the table like that doesn't she?" Sergio asked and nudged me.

"Yes Sergio, her breasts look great like that." I rolled my eyes.

When Aria had finished his tie Alessio turned his attention back to me. "How is your chicken?" The brilliant thing about Aria was she would have these moments of intimate interest in Alessio, and moments later would just go back to acting as though he was nothing. The hot and cold actions gave him a chance to come to her, and made her acts seem realistic because she wasn't the type to blatantly fondle and obsess over someone consistently. She gave him the same mixed signals he once gave me.

Really? He was going to talk to me about chicken right now? Of course he assumed the serious talk would be held in private and here, at our engagement party, we were to pretend all was well. "Awesome."

"Good."

I looked around the room observing chatter, everyone seemed to be enjoying each other's company. If I had to guess, some hadn't seen each other in ages due to residing in different countries and serving to different Genovese members.

"Oh!" Aria piped up. "You know how I feel about these stupid dumpling things here." She lifted her plate and began rolling dumplings from her plate to his, one dropped, purposely onto his lap. "Oh my Gosh." She said and quickly grabbed a napkin and began trying to wipe the mess from his lap.

Sergio snorted. "She's a terrible actress." He whispered to me.

"Looks fine to me."

"Alessio will see right through this you know."

"Sh."

"She's wiping his crotch." Sergio pointed out to me, I turned around to glare at him for several seconds. "Had you not noticed?"

"I had thank you."

Aria apologized again and Alessio cleared his throat and once again turned to me. I turned away from Sergio quickly. Alessio glanced to Sergio. "This probably wasn't the best place for you."

"What is it you always tell me? I should do what Ugo tells me to more often? He told me to come here so here I am."

"What if he told you to come so he could drag you back to the warehouse?"

"Bah, Ari would protect me." He waved the idea off and I snorted.

"I don't think she's quite strong enough to stop Ugo."

"She's quite resourceful though, don't you think?"

Alessio sighed and put his hand on mine, I took my hand away and picked up my fork with it instead. "Awesome chicken."

He was such a proud individual. To get riled up now, argue with me, press the matter, well that risked the others hearing that something was amiss. So he let it go and continued with his meal. "I understand you are angry, rightly so, but had you allowed me to explain." He spoke in a low and calm voice, careful not to draw attention or speak too loud that someone might overhear.

"I'm not angry." I lied. I was raging inside. While I had been so angry to have a cast in the first place, the idea of what I could do to him with it, and where I could shove it, had definitely crossed my mind.

He waited a few moments before trying another attempt. "You look lovely tonight." Flattery. "Your hair, it's gotten so long again, you so rarely curl it."

"Yes, it does look nice." Sergio agreed.

I ignored Sergio. "It feels like we're deceiving everyone here. Having an engagement dinner, talking privately, pretending as though we are happy and in love and weeks away from marriage."

"We are."

"Are we?" I asked this time just a beat too loud.

If he was going to bother to answer me, or try to calm me to spare his precious ego, he didn't get the chance before Aria came back around with her next boundary stomping act. "You're such a slob." Aria sighed and leaned over her corner of the table into his, she took her thumb along the corner of his mouth as though she was wiping food away, we both knew there was nothing to wipe away but Alessio did not.

"Why are you acting like this?"

"I told you she was a terrible actress." Sergio whispered to me.

"Sh!"

"Like what?" She tried innocently. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, I just saw a little bit of sauce and just-"

He lowered his tone so I had to strain to here him. "Well don't. I don't know what you're trying at Ari but enough."

"Crash and burn." Sergio chuckled.

I groaned and pushed up to my feet. I tried to keep a neutral face, Sergio caught my wrist. "Kate-"

"I'm fine." I forced through gritted teeth and took slow, calm, slightly unsteady steps from the room. I came through the hallway and finally back into the fresh air outside. I took a deep breath. This was too much for any reasonable woman to stand.

After a few moments Alessio came out after me with a perfectly calm expression. "Katherine, you can't just run off in the middle of a meal, this was our engagement dinner for Christ's sake."

"What engagement?" I demanded and shoved him.

He caught me by my shoulders. "Con calmo."

(Calm down.)

"This whole thing is a joke. A cruel, hilarious joke."

"I must have missed the punch line."

"I know Alessio."

He didn't flinch, didn't falter, his expression did not so much as flicker with momentary concern. "What nonsense are you about now?"

"You've been lying to me this whole time about Aria. I don't even have to ask if she's the one you cheated with, I just knew."

He didn't approach me, didn't try to defuse the situation. He watched me with the same even expression as always.

"Please, just be honest with me Alessio. Don't you owe me that much?" I pleaded and stepped forward again, taking his hands in my own.

"Yes, she was. I kissed her, and it was a mistake and I should have told you."

I dropped his hands and stepped back again. "Is that all you have to tell me?"

"That is all that happened. It was a mistake, I wish I could tell you why I did it, but I don't have an answer. I couldn't tell you, not without risking losing you. I can't lose you Katherine, you know that."

"You told me that the girls you had dated in the past were dead. You neglected to tell me the girl you were engaged to, was not." His expression didn't change at all, not a flicker of shock or remorse or panic.

"So you know." He said simply.

So calm and simple that it brought angry tears to my eyes. "So I do."

He sighed heavily. Like this was some sort of huge inconvenience on such a big important day.

"You lied to me."

"What was I supposed to say? There are far better times to discuss this than in the middle of our engagement party."

"So what? We can just get married without me knowing this huge big important thing about our relationship? Wait until it's impossible for me to leave before being real with me? Is that what you were going to do with the mafia too?"

"The timing was not right."

"So you just lied about it? You think that is right?"

"What was I supposed to do Katherine?" He raised his voice a hitch and then turned his head away as if disgusted with his own impatience. "We will sit down after dinner and discuss this in private. As for right now we need to go back in and-"

"Be honest! You were supposed to be honest! I would have been honest!"

"Katherine." He said sharply using that tone when he was telling me he'd had enough. He couldn't have actually expected me to listen.

"Ask me."

Another impatient sigh and he opened the door signaling our entrance again.

"I may have kissed Nash before but I'm honest with you. Ask me if I've anything to hide from you, ask me if I've cheated on you!" "Alright Katherine. You've made your point. I'm a fὑcking asshole and you're a saint and you're always honest. Great. I get it, now if you'll please..." He motioned towards the opened door.

I wilted with guilt and shame, but held onto my purpose, with eyes cast down I repeated myself one last time, much more softly and with little conviction. "Ask me."

The door closed. I looked up to see Alessio staring me down as if with enough force from his glare he could turn me into a simple pile of ashes. He glared me down for a few painfully long seconds and then turned back to the door.

I grabbed his arm and he started back through the doors. "Alessio! Stop!" I yelled forcing my heels into the ground to try to stop him but he kept going dragging me along. "Stop it, stop and talk to me. Alessio!" He literally dragged me through the hallway as I refused to let go and he refused to stop despite my yelling for him to do so. "Alessio stop!"

He came through the doors into the dining hall with a loud crack as the door hit the back wall and all attention was brought to us. He continued across the dining room, dragging me stumbling along yelling at him. He'd finally had enough of me fighting with him and pushed me off. A chorus of complaints rounded the table as I stumbled backwards but he paid no mind, he came around the table punched poor unsuspecting Nash in the jaw knocking him out of his chair and then pulled him to his feet. He held the collar of his shirt with one hand and pulled the gun out with the other.

Claire screamed and pulled Ellie into her protectively, Ellie was in immediate hysterics. "It wasn't him! Damn it, it wasn't him!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Alessio turned to glare at me. Several people were standing now at the table but no one had sense enough to intervene yet. He stared at me wordlessly, trying to decide if he believed me or not.

"It wasn't." I repeated.

Alessio shoved Nash away, Claire released Ellie who dove into Nash and she practically did the same. I shoved Alessio as hard as I possibly could.

"Psycho!" I yelled. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Yes! I fὑcking have! That's what you do to me you-"

"What? What am I?"

"So who the hell is it?" Alessio said turning back to the table. "Who fὑcked her?" He motioned back to me.

"Alessio!" I gasped.

"What?" He said turning back to face me. "Are you going to tell me?" "This is our private business Alessio."

"Is it? You sure don't seem to mind keeping things to yourself." He turned back to the room. "So who the hell is it? Who fὑcked my wife?"

"That's enough!" I hissed through gritted teeth.

Alessio looked back and forth across the table, eying everyone up, looking for some sort of clue. "Huh? No one will to confess eh? Fine! I'm going to count to three and then I pick one of you bloody bḁstards at random and start shooting until I'm confident whoever the hell it is has a bullet between their brows."

"You're acting insane!"

"I only kissed her!" He yelled.

"You lie about everything all the time? Why should I believe that? Why should I believe anything you say? Put the gun down." I grabbed his arm. I gave it a hard pull to try to get the gun lowered and he pushed me off of him. I stumbled a bit and caught myself on the back of Pietro's chair. Pietro had been one of the first to stand when Alessio had entered the room, whether it was from years of fighting for and protecting Alessio or because he knew the extent of Alessio's threat to everyone else I couldn't be sure, but his hand found my arm to steady me. "You watch yourself Alessio. You're awful close to crossing the line." I tried keeping my voice even and from shaking.

"So help me God I am going to take everyone in this room out-"

"Alessio!"

"Me."

We both looked across the table at Sergio who had his feet propped onto the table smoking a cigarette calmly.

"I'm in no mood for your horseshit today, you shouldn't even be here."

Sergio very calmly snubbed his cigarette and stood up. He brushed invisible crumbs from his shirt calmly and then looked up to Alessio again. "Me." He said again.

--------------------------------

Shit, meet fan.

Awesome dinner though, right? Poor Nash though lmao. I wrote this scene forever ago, but the story changed a lot before I got to it, it almost got taken out completely because it didn't fit, I enjoyed it enough that I had to rework the story to make it fit lol.

Where are my reader predictions at?

Where are character opinions? Frankly, I love all my characters. Even Alessio still, Kate, Sergio, I actually love Aria even though she gets a lot of hate for kind of being forced into other woman category here. Eek! Yay for Kate for at least trying to be honest though riiight?

Anyway, I told you guys I'd update again before next week since the last chapter was so short...unfortunately it appears I've left you with an even larger cliff hanger. OOPS.

Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT! <3

Chapter dedication to @softempress for the song suggestion!