The Return of My First Love novel Chapter 37

Emily

We were seated at a secluded table at the back of the fancy restaurant where Alessio had taken me.

I ate in silence, taking small bites of the seafood in front of me. As another piece filled my mouth, I looked up to peek at Alessio, but the moment I caught him staring back, I quickly looked down, failing to hide my laughter.

The situation was funny because, even though I came here with a different mindset tonight, not much had changed. It wasn't as awkward as before, but we might as well have stayed at the mansion and eaten dinner with Diego.

"Why are you laughing?" Alessio asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"I'm not laughing," I was seconds away from cackling.

Alessio rolled his eyes a little. "Then why can I see your teeth?" His serious tone made me laugh out loud. I couldn't hold it back any longer. He had his way of being funny without even trying, and it was mainly the things he said.

"It's nothing."

"Do you like the food?" he switched the conversation, nodding towards my plate. Half of it was Emilypty, and because it was so good, it wouldn't be long before the other half would too.

"Clearly," I shrugged. "It's really good."

"Good," Alessio seEmilyed more relaxed now. "Growing up, I used to come here with my dad a lot."

As he was opening up, I used the opportunity to ask him more questions. "Did you travel with him often?" I was curious about his past.

"Yeah," he responded with a light chuckle. "My dad walked out the door with his suitcases, and my brothers and I just followed. Always."

"By choice?"

"Of course. I loved spending time with him," Alessio replied confidently, as if his dad was the best person in the entire world. It was hard to imagine anyone willingly wanting to spend time with Domenico Fanucci, but if it wasn't his family—who else would it be?

All I viewed him as was an intimidating man who I didn't want to get too close to.

"I think he's terrifying," I admitted.

Alessio laughed softly. "If you get to know him, he's actually a loser."

Yet it was impossible to imagine him that way.

"How did you handle school with all the traveling?"

Alessio frowned his brows for a second, most likely surprised at my attEmilypt to get more questions out of him. "I was homeschooled, then went away for business school," he explained.

"Business school for that one business or the other... businesses?" I asked, a bit hesitant.

"She can still get in," Alessio spoke. "The Fanuccis fund that school. I could get her in just like that."

Alright, so now he had suddenly turned into the godfather of kindergartens. I was taken aback by his words as it let me think about how much power the Fanuccis exactly had. Money aside, Naty was like rank 1100 on that waiting list.

"What do you want in return?" I asked cautiously.

Getting Naty into that school seEmilyed like a dream, but even I wasn't that naive. There was no way he would give it to me without a favor. Did he want me to swallow drugs? Sell my body? A kidney perhaps?

"All I want is your permission, and your honesty," he said.

The permission part I could understand, but the part about honesty confused me. It was the way he had said it, like he was calling me out to be a liar—and I knew I was. I only didn't know what it would be about.

"Honesty? Sure," I replied, looking back at his sharp gaze. "What is it you want to know?"

Alessio clenched his jaw and put down his fork. He sighed, reaching out for my hand across the table. He touched it for a split second and then let go as if he were committing a sin. He rolled his head back, and with each passing second, I grew more anxious.

"Jason Falco," he spoke the name I hated so much. "What is he to you?"

A chill went through my body as I was forced to accept that I couldn't hide or run from the truth anymore.

Alessio asked me a question, and by the look on his face, I could tell that we were going to have this conversation, one way or another.