20. Misfortune

                                    

                                          
Arianna De Luca 
                          
Dario and I turned around to see Laura standing there with a man beside her who looked to be in his mid twenties. He had striking green eyes and dark black hair with some loose strands falling out. He was fairly tall, 6 something but still was a little short when compared to Dario. 
                          
The couple walked towards us. Laura and I exchanged a warm hug, giving each other a smile. I introduced her to Dario. They nodded their head in acknowledgment. Next, Laura introduced us to her boyfriend.
                          
"Arianna, Dario this is my boyfriend, Shane Argent." Shane gave me a smile and stretched his hand out towards Dario who took it giving him a firm shake. It was obvious that Shane went for the handshake first considering Dario was his senior and also since he owned the place.
                          
"Shall we?" The manager of the restaurant asked us politely and Dario nodded his head in approval. The manager led us to a table set for four which was situated by the balcony, a little away from the crowd present in the restaurant. Dario pulled the chair for me and once I was seated, he took the seat next to me. Laura sat across me and Shane was next to her. 
                          
The manager quickly handed us the menus. I decided to order a plate of Tomato Risotto and Dario went for the same except he had a Mushroom Risotto. Laura and Shane were a bit lost as it was their first time here.
                          
"I suggest, go for the Pizza," The pizza here are absolutely divine. It's definitely something considering we are in Italy. People from all over the county make a point to have dinner here if they happen to visit Rome. It's one of the reason why the place is always packed with people. Pizza is the specialty of the head chef here and so Dario has famously named this place, speciale dello chef which literally translates to 'The Chef's Special'. 
                          
After we were served our food, we started talking. The topic jumped from politics to tv shows to any random thing. We naturally dodged the questions which were related to Dario's position as the Capo and how we met. I simply covered it saying, Dario knew my father. It wasn't the whole story but wasn't completely untrue too.
                          
"Garcia means you're Spanish. What brings you to Italy, Laura?" Dario questioned, eating his Risotto.
                          
"Actually, my mom was Spanish and according to her, my father was Italian. I took my mom's surname. I have no idea who my father is and she never told me. All I knew was he was an Italian man who was very powerful and cruel. He was selfish and a coward. He left my mom when he found out about me. When my mom died, I decided to shift to Italy and find my dad. Due to lack of obvious information like his name or address, I never found him but then I took a job here and have been in Italy ever since." Laura explained.
                          
"I'm sorry, did your mom ever tell you where'd they meet?" Dario once again questioned. Where is this coming from? Hasn't he done his research on her enough. Knowing him, he'd never be at a table with someone without running through his or her background details.
                          
"They met at a bar in Spain, I think." Laura said but didn't sound so sure.
                          
"In what year, again?" Dario once again asked and I kept my hand on his. "Dario, what..." I left the question handing and eyed between him and Laura. I was sorry to her. It didn't felt like a light hearted conversation being carried on on a dinner table. It almost felt like an interrogation. 
                          
"It's okay, Arianna, it's old news and the topic's not difficult for me to talk about anymore." Laura reassured me. She gave me a small smile and turned towards Dario.
                          
"It was winter of 1996, as far as I know." Came Laura's reply.
                          
"I'm very sorry but do you have anything that the man had left you or your mother?" Dario questioned and I swear at this moment I felt like kicking his legs. Can't he stop with the questions.
                          
"This ring," Laura handed Dario a ring she previously was wearing on her right pointer finger.
                          
"According to my mom, he left her this ring when he last met her. She also said he used to always say a line, 'A powerful man is a man of worth. Rest all are abominations to the gender,' or something like that." Laura said and sipped her lemonade. 
                          
"So your mom was Spanish, your father was Italian. You were born in 1997, they me at a bar.... Was your mother named, Esmeralda?" Dario asked and I was a little sceptical of how he guessed that.
                          
"Yes, but how did you know?" Laura asked with her mouth a little bit open.
                          
"I think we have the misfortune of sharing the same father, Laura Garcia." Dario said with anger swimming in his eyes.