His Dolly

18. A Gentleman

Dolly watched on as the older man, Roberto's father grabbed him by his collar, slamming him into the wall behind him. Dolly could see the fear in Roberto's fear. No matter how much of a man you become, a boy will always be afraid of his father's wrath. He grabbed his father around the wrists trying to get free of his hold. Dolly stepped forward, her throat shaking with fear before she had even spoken. "How dare you?" His father's voice boomed through the halls. "Don't say a word there is no excuse. We have always raised you better than this, to raise a hand to a woman..."

"Stop, please". Somewhere deep inside, Dolly finally found the courage to speak up. Looking at the ground she continued. "He didn't... he wouldn't... he has never...". Still looking at the ground she mumbled out an apology to Roberto and turned to find the sanctuary of the bedroom. Half way up the stairs, she realized she was being followed. It when she reached the top, she felt arms wrap around her waist and gather her close in to his warm chest. "It's ok Dolly" he hummed as he held her close and stroked her hair. "It's ok Dolly. This is not your fault. You did nothing wrong Dolly." She still couldn't look him in the eye and kept murmuring "I'm sorry" through her tears. He pulled back, hooking his finger under her chin to look into her eyes, then kissed her forehead. "Come. Let me introduce you guys properly" he said as he wiped away the tears she had shed. She nodded her agreement as he took her hand in his as he lead the way back down the stairs. When the reached the bottom, his parents were nowhere in sight. She looked at him quizzically. "They wanted to give us privacy, so they moved to the dining room." He took her hand and led her towards the dining room. Giving her a confident squeeze before they entered the dining room his father stood up,holding out his hand to his son. "I am sorry son, I should not have assumed." He hung his head in shame as he looked toward his son for forgiveness. Roberto took his father's hand in a tight hold while still holding Dolly's in his other. "It's fine father, as you may have noticed I am a bit protective of her myself." He added a low chuckle to the end in effort to lighten the mood. Letting go of his father's hand he turned himself and Dolly towards his mother. "Mom. This is Dolly" His mother rose from her seat, taking Dolly in her arms holding her tightly. " I am sorry for my reaction earlier my dear. I have always raised my boys to be respectful of women and it would tear my heart apart to think of one of them hurting a girl especially one they claim the care for." Dolly nodded and smiled at Roberto's mother, not knowing what to say.

"Come let's eat." Roberto said from behind her as he wrapped his arm around her waist. He began to move them both towards the top of the table. A throat clearing brought their attention back to the door of the dining room. There stood in the doorway was two men she had not met before, although they had both had quite the resemblance to both his mother and father she could easily guess as to who they were. The older of the two was in the familiar three piece suit, while the younger was in black pants and a silver colored shirt. Both men looked her up and down raking in her body. She instinctively shrunk back, the familiar heat rising in her cheeks. " Now now little brother, mother thought you better manners than to start a meal without your guests." The older one chuckled as both men started towards the table. "Well, I never invited you so..." Roberto mumbled as lead Dolly towards the table.

Roberto pulled out the chair to the left of the top of the table and motioned for Dolly to sit, before taking his seat at the top of the table. His mother was seated at the other side of her. "So Dolly are you from around here? I don't think I have seen you before." His mother said. She looked to Roberto on how to answer this. He nodded subtly letting Dolly know that it was to be honest. "No I am from Ireland." She smiled at the older Lady knowing that this would be the rest of the night for her, answering a mother's many questions . "Ireland? Really... Where did ye meet?" she heard from across the table. She looked up to see his father staring intently at her. "We met at the club at home. His friend is my neighbor." Roberto froze for a minute trying to connect to a friendship with anyone over there. It took a moment for him to realize she was talking about the addict that he had used to gain access to her. He looked up at his father giving him a knowing smirk. Letting him know that there was more to the story. He father gave a slight nod and looked towards Alexandra who continued on the conversation. "And what bring you over here to New York?" His mother kept on with the questions. "ME!... Mother... She came to see me!" He said with an overly dramatic eye roll. Just then Mike arrived with the soup for starters.  Dolly paled a little feeling a little over done with soup in the last few weeks. "Dolly..."  Roberto warned. She smiled to herself and then nodded. "OK... OK... I get it, it's good for me." She smiled back at him and then gave him a small flirtatious slap on the arm. She was still very unsure of her roll in his life and felling she needed to play her part.