It was the next day.
Tina woke up to a slight knock on her door early that morning. It turned out it was Ronita, whom she welcomed into her room.
Ronita came in holding something that somewhat looked like a red dress and cream colored sandals which she carefully placed on her bed.
She then stood still wearing her usual calm expression.
"Good morning, ma'am Tina. The master has requested that you get ready in 20 minutes and meet him downstairs. When you're ready, I'll come fetch you," Ronita said.
As Ronita left, Valentina went into the bathroom to bathe and suddenly started thinking about why Lorenzo would request her.
"What else does he want from me?" she mumbled to herself.
After taking her bath, she began dressing up.
Tina moved to the bed where Rosita had placed the dress. She picked it up and couldn't help but admire the beauty of this thin-strapped velvet red bodycon dress with red feathers at the bottom.
She got out of the towel and put it on, tying her light brown hair in a high ponytail, exposing her beautiful facial features and complementing her equally light brown eyes. At her feet, she wore cute cream sandals.
She was satisfied with how she looked.
Rosita knocked and came in, then took her downstairs, where she saw Lorenzo sitting on a couch wearing a white dress shirt and brown suit pants, paired with brown Italian shoes.
His slicked-back hair exposed his strong masculine cheekbones. He cleared his throat, snapping her out of her daze.
"Let's go," he said as he stood up.
Valentina followed him quietly behind, wondering where they were going. She hadn't been everywhere in the house, just a few places.
They passed through a door and wound up in a garage filled with expensive cars. Valentina knew nothing about cars, but all the cars she saw looked luxurious. It made her question just how rich Lorenzo really was.
While she was in a daze, Lorenzo snapped her out of it.
"Get in," he said.
She noticed that they stood in front of an oxblood-colored red car with four seats and an open roof.
She quietly entered the passenger seat while Lorenzo took the driver's seat.
As Lorenzo started driving, she was anxious, wondering where he was taking her.
Valentina observed the environment from the moving car. The place looked very unfamiliar to her since they were in another city, far from where she stayed with her parents.
Out of curiosity, she couldn't help but ask a question.
"Where are you taking me to? Valentina sled with her eyes staring at the road.
Lorenzo raised a brow, shocked that she would speak at this moment as he remained silent for a short while.
"You'll see," he said a few seconds later.
As the journey continued, she noticed he pulled up to a big bar that seemed like a club. She couldn't help but wonder why they would come to such a place so early, as the sun was just beginning to set.
She remained silent as he parked the car. Then she got out, following him behind.
Lorenzo walked a few steps forward and stopped, then brought out his hand, indicating that she should hold it.
Valentina was shocked by this, but immediately held onto his hand. Fear gripped her heart, as she didn't know what awaited her at the bar, but she put on a straight face to show she was strong.
As they walked to the door, two men in black clothes with stud piercings in their ears stood there. One looked familiar to her, while the other didn't.
Both men bowed their heads to Lorenzo and opened the door.
Inside, the bar was quite empty and hadn't begun to function.
As she walked in with Lorenzo hand in hand, she noticed a man and a woman having a conversation. Once they caught sight of Lorenzo, they stopped and bowed their heads to greet him.
Lorenzo responded with a nod. Then they both continued their conversation.
Walking further, they stopped at a door. Lorenzo took out a key from his jean pocket and swiftly opened it. The door led to a staircase.
They walked in, and the stairs led to another door.
But this door was different; it had the same symbol she had been seeing at the house. Her eyes widened. She was scared of what awaited her, but she couldn't show any fear, so she tried her best to look tough.
As Lorenzo put his finger on the door handle, it opened.
As the door opened, she noticed a long conference table in the room with two rigid-looking elderly men and one younger man who had the same facial features as Lorenzo, but instead of dark green eyes, he had dark brown eyes and chestnut hair.
His composure looked less cool than Lorenzo's but gave off a sense of slyness, as if he was not someone to be messed with.
These men noticed Lorenzo's presence as he walked in further. They stood up and gave a slight bow, which Lorenzo returned.
Tina, confused by this exchange, didn't know what to do but stood firmly. Lorenzo had already let go of her hand by this time, but Tina followed him behind.
He pulled out a chair and gave her a look, signaling that she should sit down and stay quiet.
She sat down quietly as Lorenzo took another seat.
The elders were Lorenzo's uncles. They exhibited looks of confusion on their faces. One of the uncles was visibly irritated by the sight, while the younger man remained calm and let out a small smirk, implying that he understood what was going on.
The meeting began. The uncles tried their best to ignore her presence.
Valentina remained quiet as she listened to the meeting.
The meeting was about a rival gang. She didn't really understand what they were saying.
Once the meeting was almost over, the uncle with the look of irritation, whom Lorenzo had referred to as Uncle Raffaele, suddenly let out a sigh and looked at Valentina with pure disgust.
Then he spilled his drink on the floor on purpose and looked at her.
"You, clean this up!" Uncle Raffaele said in a commanding tone.
Valentina looked back at him, not backing down or showing any fear.
"Excuse you?" she replied, her tone full of irritation.
Lorenzo noticed this exchange and remained quiet.
The other uncle, whom Lorenzo referred to as Uncle Enzo, stared at Valentina with a hint of curiosity, while the younger man remained calm, raising an eyebrow at her response.
Uncle Raffaele got angrier at her actions.
"And who might you be? Look, young lady, just because he picked you up from wherever and brought you to this meeting doesn't mean you're anything. I don't know why my nephew would stoop so low by bringing a filthy thing from the streets here, but he has his reasons," he said loudly.
Valentina, infuriated, was about to reply to his statement when Lorenzo suddenly uttered words that kept the whole room in silence.
"She is my wife-to-be!"