Shattered

Chapter 34

                                                *A few hours later*

I woke up to a soft knock on the door.

I groaned quietly, making the door slowly open.

Propping myself up on my left arm, I looked to the smiling woman standing in the doorway.

"Hello Mrs. Adeline," The happy looking woman said, "I'm sorry for waking you, but your father is hosting a last-minute gathering, and he has told me to make sure you are ready."

Last-minute gathering?

"I'm sorry, what is it?" I asked groggily.

"Your father is hosting a last-minute dinner party tonight." The woman smiled brightly.

I sighed and laid on my back again, rubbing my eyes.

Once I was a little more awake, I followed Carry, the woman, to a huge closet full of beautiful dresses.

She let me choose which one I wanted to wear and made sure I was ok by myself before leaving me to change.

I chose a simple black off the shoulder, A-line dress with a slit on the left side.

Carry and I looked at a few pairs of shoes before we decided on the same, black strappy heels as last time.

They worked with almost every outfit, though, like the last two dresses I wore, I was too short, and the dress dragged across the floor a little.

It didn't bother me; I just didn't want to ruin the bottom of it.

Then she did my make-up, making sure to cover the dark circles under my eyes, and straightening my naturally very curly hair.

Once she was done, I slowly made my way to the stairs, thankful that we found a cute cardigan that went with my outfit and also covered my still very swollen, sore, and gauze wrapped arm.

"What are you doing?" Dad asked as he saw me coming down the stairs.

"Carry told me you were having a party." I said, still trying to wake myself up more.

"You didn't have to come down," He said, using his business-y tone like always, "You were meant to rest."

"I didn't want to be rude." I mumbled, snapping the hair tie against my wrist.

"It wouldn't be rude," He said, "All the people coming tonight know what happened, some even saw it. There are just going to be some people from the courthouse and a few of the boys' friends coming."

"No mafia people?" I asked.

"No mafia people." He confirmed, "I am sorry I couldn't postpone this; everybody wanted to get together as soon as possible after what happened the other night to talk about it and this is the only day for a few months that everyone is free. If anybody asks you questions, answer with what you are comfortable with."

I gave a small nod with a smile, turning to go to the kitchen before I was stopped by dads' voice.

"You look beautiful by the way." He said, making me turn around again with a small smile.

"Thank you," I said, "You do too."

He had his fancy suit on that he had worn the last two times people came over.

I went to the kitchen, seeing Chef Ricci by the stove, cooking something in a pot.

"Ah, my little chef, you are back!" He said with his strong Italian accent.