A Pinch of Sugar | ( unita speciale x Fem!Reader)

14- Dinner With The Devil

Someone forgot they were on a time limit. That was you, naturally. 

You'd left Tiziano outside for longer than intended, probably... Five hours? You want to laugh it off, say you had too much fun catching up with an old friend, but you could barely get a word out.

It was quiet inside the car, painfully so, a word barely able to be spoken without you earning a glare from your chauffeur. Words got caught in your throat, and your body soon began to grow extremely hot, and terribly cold, all at the same time. 

"So, how was your little reunion?" His voice was sharp, and understandably upset. He'd been gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles were turning white, the polished wood beneath his palm beginning to splinter from the force.

"It was ok." You muttered.

"Really? I would've thought it was amazing. Something truly spectacular, so that I wouldn't feel bad over being left out there so long." He forced a laugh, probably to calm himself down, though only making himself angrier. "In fact, you were gone so long, I wasn't able to makeit to our reservation."

"...Reservation?"

"I'd planned to take you somewhere nice to celebrate how far you've come, but clearly, that's gone down the drain. Next time you're late, I'm taking one of your eyes."

Now, that pulled a little chuckle out of you, "Really, I'm sorry about it all--"

"You think I'm joking?" His words cut through your own with little effort, the situation proving to be much more than you had originally anticipated as his voice lowered. "Right out of your skull, I'll rip it out. I'd take both, but we still need you able to shoot, so count yourself lucky."

Was he serious? If you fucked up like that again, would he really take one of your eyes? You've been partnered with Tiziano on jobs before, victim to the sight of how brutal he can be; And not just that, Squalo is twice as bad, so what if he were to get involved?

The bastards probably reveling in how hard he's shaken you. Up until now, he's been so nice, your number-one advocate alongside Cioccolata... It's like all of the sudden, he's changed into a completely different person.

Suppose being on time is something he's strict about. 

"I.. Apologize for my actions." Time for you to bring 'round the guilt train, try to soften the punishment. "What I did was selfish, I really shouldn't have wasted your time, especially when you had something fun planned afterwards. Even though I had met my friend, I should've kept it a brief hello. I'll accept any sort of discipline, and it won't happen again."

"Any punishment?"

"Whatever will atone for my childish actions." 

"Then, I suggest, as this was your first mistake in a sense..." He seemed to be brought into a better mood after your apology, more so, by the idea that he had free will over what to do with you. "... You won't see your family this week."

Now, typically, this would be a moment where you would go, 'pardon?' or 'excuse me?!' but you were already on thin ice as it was, so a simple "Of course." was all you could say.

-----

Between you and Tiziano, things were tense, but at the same time, completely lax. He greeted you as he would any other day when you'd pass, offer you some of his candy if he had some on hand, randomly gift you with one thing or another. 

All of it made you wonder if he had completely forgotten about the incident; though based on the way he behaved, you could tell it was anything but that. He was, for lack of better words, trying to forget.

"Goodness, I just keep bumping into you today!" And there he is again. "Say, this would be a perfect time to ask, then, if you'd like to accompany me to a dinner?"

Leaning over the counter, he waited expectantly for your answer with a wide, hopeful smile, as you broke open pomegranates opposite of him bit by bit, Pink Floyd busy cleaning the seeds.

"Well, if I happen to be free, then I wouldn't mind having dinner with you. Thing is, I need to know the time, as Cioccolata asked me to go somewhere with him at six." 

"Then just cancel with him then! It probably won't be important~"

Again, you ask yourself, was he serious? Canceling on Cioccolata? The mad man who'd cut your head off with one wrong move? 

"Apologies, I really can't cancel with him, he'd planned this last week, and canceling it now for something spontaneous would be irresponsible of me. I would be more than happy to go out with you tomorrow, if that's an option." You spoke with your head down, eyes trained on the ceramic knife peeling through the thin skin of pomegranates.

Tiziano fell unto the counter and pouted, inching further along the table until his head was dangerously close to the cutting board. "Really? Are you sure you don't want to cancel for me?"

"I really, truly am sorry I'm not able to go tonight if you're trying to leave somewhere around six or seven. Any other time today would be fine if you would still like to go, however."

"Mnh, fine--" He snapped, pulling his head away from the cutting board to lean back into his chair. "--Be ready and out the door by eight, then, 'cause if you're any later than that, then I'll drag you out of your room no matter how dressed you are."

"Understood."

You'd hate to bring up that Cioccolatas fun outing should last until eight.