His Unwanted Wife is the Mafia Princess novel Chapter 36

#Chapter 36 – A Family Dinner

Stella

I approach the restaurant with a big smile on my face while dragging a small wagon of wrapped gifts behind me. The host immediately opens the door for me and I thank him, allowing him to guide me to the back of the building where I have reserved a large room for my family and I to privately dine in.

As soon as I step into the room, a sigh escapes my lips. One of the severs inside the restaurant approaches me with a kind smile.

“Hello, my name is Amber, I’ll be helping and serving you today,” she says in a cheery tone. It’s so sweet and innocent it makes my teeth hurt.

“Hi, Amber,” I breathe out, extending my hand to shake hers. “Is there anyone else that will be helping you? My family is on the bigger side.”

I begin to remove the presents from the wagon and onto one of the empty tables, something that I specified when I reserve the space. Amber nods and helps me close the wagon once it is empty, hiding it underneath the table where nobody can see.

“Of course! But I’ll be the main server tonight! Now let’s get this room set up!”

I nod and check the time, noting that it will be about thirty minutes until my family begins to arrive. Well, Matteo will be arriving very shortly at least. He’s always the earliest to come and one of the first to leave.

Amber and I push together two tables and she is quick to set the place mats and silverware next to the porcelain plates. While she does that, I make the presents look pretty and place handmade name cards on top of the plates.

Right on time, and just as Amber and I finish setting the table, Matteo walks through the door wearing a nice suit. It is matched with a bowtie and he smiles brightly when he walks into the room.

“Matteo! Hi!” I pull him into a quick hug, showing him to his place.

“Hi, Stella,” he smiles back. “I won’t be able to stay long tonight. I have a surgery scheduled early tomorrow morning and I need all of the sleep I can get.”

“Of course! Leave whenever you need to, okay?” I smile at him as he sits down and orders and drink from Amber when Luca and Silas enter in the room as well.

One by one, the remaining family members enter. The last to join us are my parents while Sebastian and Dominic entered just before them.

We all sit at the table and engage in lighthearted conversation. The room is filled with laughs as my father begins to tell us tall tales from his days as a youth in the mafia.

To the right of me is Sebastian. Every now and then, we share a look before laughing at the funny story, leaning into each other as Luca slams his beefy fists onto the table, starling everyone before we laugh again.

Amber and her co–worker clear the plates from the table. We are left with our drinks, my mother and I sharing a bottle of red wine while the men sip on their whiskey, and the sound of our laughter keeps us occupied before I can reveal my gifts to them.

I glance at Luca, who is staring at the table filled with gifts and chuckle. Sebastian nudges my side and leans in, his lips grazing the outer shell of my ear.

“Don’t torture your brother, Stella, let him have some fun, his voice is low in my ear. He pulls away and nods his head towards the gifts.

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#Chapter 36–A Family Dinner

+25 BONUS

“Do you want to help me pass them out then?” I ask and stand from my chair. He chuckles and nods, following me to the table.

I stand in front of the gifts and turn around to face my family. Their attention falls onto me and I greet them with a warm grin, wine glass still in my hand.

“I would like to make a toast to my wonderful family,” I begin, holding my glass up into the air. Everyone grabs their drink and follows suit. “I don’t know where I would be without you all during this turbulent time in my life. So, as a token of my gratitude and to show just how much love you all, I got you some presents!”

I turn my gaze to Luca who looks like he is about to blow up from excitement. I hold back a laugh and turn to grab his first. I walk around the table, watching as he vibrates from excitement, and place the bag in front of his eyes. “What is it?” Luca looks up at him.

I play coy and shrug. I walk back to the table, grabbing the next set of gifts and placing them in front of Silas and Matteo. Sebastian grabs the gifts for Silas and Dominic while I grab the joint gift for our parents.

As my brothers open up their gifts, wrapping paper flying everywhere, I place my parents‘ gift in between them. They look at each other then look back at me, their faces twitching from surprise.

“I wanted to get you something special…something that the two of you can share,” I whisper so my brothers don’t hear. I grab a small envelope from the inside of the bag and place it beside them. Inside are two tickets to a secluded island, a place where they can put the rest of the other items to good use.

I smile at them and walk back to the table, grabbing the last gift. It is in a sleek black box, wrapped with a silver bow. I place it behind my back and head back over to Sebastian, who watches me with a close eye.

I sit down in my chair, the box still tucked away behind my back, and watch as he relaxes into the seat. Very slyly, I place the box on the table and slide it towards him. He takes it, slipping the bow off and revealing the elegant and/ one of a kind watch that sits inside.

“Stella,” he smiles, eyes on the watch before they move to me, “you shouldn’t have.”

Just as I’m about to make a comment back, my father’s voice captures my attention.

“Stella, you have outdone yourself,” he holds my mother’s hand and they share a loving gaze.

“Thank you,” I look around the table, loving all of the smiles on their faces. Silas remains stoic but the corner of his lips do twitch upwards so I consider it a win.

“Is there anything that we can do to repay you?” he asks the question that the table is collectively thinking. I shake my head no, looking away, before an idea comes into my mind.