Ugly Ronney: mafia romance [English]

Chapter 10-3

We were on the ninth question. No one in my family had come up with a single correct answer. Yeraz, on the other hand, had so far gotten everything right. I had known this man for only a few months, and he knew more about me than my own family. I tried not to shout the answers to my mother. How could she not know anything about my tastes and desires?

"Ronney's favorite scent?"

Everyone looked at each other with wide eyes. I couldn't remember what I had written on the paper. I wasn't even sure if I had a favorite scent or smell. Sure, she had a good answer at last, my mother waved her hand in the air.

"Uh, the smell of your moisturizer. You know, you like to smell it every time you open your jar. It's--"

"Lily of the Valley," I said, shaking my head.

Hailey, annoyed, twisted her mouth and lifted her shoulders.

"You didn't write anything, Ronney."

Indeed, I remembered that nothing had come to me for that question. Maybe my mother was right after all. Yeraz hadn't contradicted her that time. He just pursed his lip, looking serious. His jaw twitched slightly before he relaxed.

"Last question. What is her favorite ice cream flavor?"

"Strawberry!" my mother shouted, clapping her hands proudly.

"That's Elio's favorite flavor, Mom."

Jaded, I said these words with a long sigh. Her smile faded. I should have let Hailey contradict her, but her ignorance hurt me so much. Confused, she stammered, "Oh, honey, it's hard to remember everything between you and your brother."

"I know, Mom, I know. Don't worry, it's fine."

"Giovanni answered almost all the questions except for the ninth one," Melissa said, clapping her hands. "No one in our family got as many points as him. Who would have thought?"

Olivia, Carolina, and the others gave me fake smiles of congratulations. They seemed to be consumed by a dark rage. Caleb was staring at Yeraz with a twisted eye. For a brief moment, I felt like I was really there with my boyfriend. Everything was merging in my head. I didn't know where I stood anymore. Gabriella cleared her throat and asked Yeraz in a slightly hesitant voice, "Tell us. This may seem like a strange question, but we're all great romantics around this table. When did you first notice Ronney?"

Yeraz straightened up. The attention was back on us. This bitch wanted to understand what was still escaping her.

"We met at the studio. I told you that already, I think."

"Yes, but my question is: when did you notice her?"

Gabriella would have liked to ask her question differently, but in front of Yeraz, she and my family were being very careful. Probably because of the storm that was rumbling behind his infinitely deep eyes. At that moment, I wanted to run away, feeling the atmosphere getting heavier.

Yeraz nervously fiddled with the plastic plate in front of him with one hand, then answered, "Have you ever heard Ronney laugh? Really laugh?"

My mother looked at my aunts in disbelief, raising her eyebrows as if she didn't know I could laugh, while my cousins glanced at each other.

Yeraz gave an evil, reproachful laugh before saying in a low voice, "Of course not. I'm only half-surprised."

He looked at each of them. One after the other, they all froze. They hardly dared to breathe.

"Until now," Yeraz continued, "I could afford everything: cars, houses, and even the kisses of women. Absolutely everything, until I met Ronney. She has a magnetic smile and a delightful laugh. It's a melody that can brighten the darkness and make Hell more pleasant to live in. The one thing I want to own, I can't buy, because it's priceless. It's just a few seconds of sweetness that is earned. When she smiles at me, I know I've done something right. When she laughs, I know I'm a good person at that moment."

Everyone seemed to be hanging onto Yeraz's every word, hypnotized, breathing hard.

"Wow," Melissa gasped, moved like the others. "I've never heard anything so beautiful."

The pain swelled my heart to the point where it felt like it was going to explode. I struggled to hold back my tears.

"Thank you," I whispered.

I would certainly have burst into tears if I had known his words were truly sincere. Yeraz was playing a role, but his armor seemed to have suddenly cracked. There was something sad in what he had just told us, but in his despair, I felt for the first time a desire to be saved.

"I have to go," he said abruptly with a cold smile.

I questioned him with my eyes, but he stood up without saying anything. My mother kissed him before he left the table and thanked him for his presence. He just nodded without expressing any emotion. My family hadn't noticed his very distant attitude towards them.