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“A Grandmother?”
Michel thought he’d been ready for this gala, vowing to stick close to Luca this time in case anybody got the wrong idea.
And then he learnt about Vincenzo’s adoptive grandmother.
Luca nodded, “She was the mother of the old Don Cassano. She retired to the country a few years before his death.”
“And… she and Vincenzo are close?”
“Very.” Luca then seemed to notice the look on Michel’s face, “She’ll love you.” He reassured him, “How can she not?”
It all depended on how close she was to Paulo as well.
Michel didn’t say this out loud though.
“Come on.” Luca gently tugged on his arm, “We should head on downstairs before she arrives. She doesn’t tolerate others being late, finds it the height of rudeness.”
If Michel clung onto Luca’s arm a little tighter than he usually would have done, Luca was kind enough not to comment.
……………………………………………….
He had yet to meet the matriarch of the Cassano family, still nursing the same rocks glass of whiskey that he’d had poured for him at the beginning of the evening. He hadn’t even taken a sip of it, it was getting watery and a bit warm from his grip, but better that than lose his inhibitions around this people.
“Well, aren’t you so… exotic.”
He tensed at the voice, looking over to see a man well into his sixties, possibly early seventies leering at him. He probably though the purr in his voice was seductive, but all it did was make Michel shiver in disgust.
“And just what might your name be.”
Michel opened his mouth to answer but couldn’t find the words.
He hoped it would be obvious that he was ‘related’ to Vincenzo, what with them being the only Koreans in the room.
“You know, it’s very rude not to answer darl- Ah!”
Michel flinched as a wooden can wacked the stranger around the shin, an elderly lady glaring at him.
“You leave the poor boy alone Alfonso!” She snapped, “Don’t think you’re too old to put over my knee!”
The man, Alfonso, muttered an apology and made a hasty retreat, leaving Michel alone with the lady.
“Now, let me have a look at you.” She peered at him, as Michel took in as much as he could about her.
She was probably in her earlier seventies, hair only just starting to grey, tied back in a stern bun.
“Not a heavy drinker I see.” She commented, “Good. You need your wits about you when you attend one of these gatherings.”
Michel hated how the words continued to get stuck in his chest but was relieved to see an amused look on her face.
“You’ll get used to it.” She held out her hand, “Maria Cassano, Matriarch of the Cassano Family.”
“M-Michel.”
“Michel…” She paused, waiting for his last name.
“… Cassano.”
“Hm, Vincenzo told me that he’d brought a little brother into the family.” Maria chuckled, “I would have preferred to meet my new grandson sooner, but beggars can’t be choosers. I gather he’s not mentioned me at all?”
“I-I think he was worried, what with everything that’s happened?”
“Paulo is an idiot.” She scoffed, “Vincenzo is much more up to the task, and everyone knows my opinion on that.”
Michel sighed in relief, finally taking his first sip of the evening, “Vincenzo-hyung will be pleased to hear that.”
“Hyung… that’s a Korean word correct? What does it mean?”
“Oh, it’s usually used to refer to- “ Michel coughed slightly, frowning when it worsened. When it finally stopped however, he was dismayed to find that he was still having trouble breathing.
“Michel? Michel!”
Shit.
The glass shattered when it slipped out of his hand, finally tasting something a little odd on the tip of his tongue.
His knees collapsed out from under him.
“MICHEL!”
That was Vincenzo’s voice, as there was a sudden cacophony of voices.
“Easy, easy.” A soft voice, Maria, whispered, her hands brushing through her hair, “Calm down and don’t panic, okay?” She then snapped out a command to someone else, but Michel barely heard that, hearing Luca’s voice beside him as his boyfriend took his hand.
His vision was going black
“Stay awake! Don’t do this to us, please!”
And that was the last he heard.
………………………………………………………………………..
“He’ll survive.” Vincenzo reported to his Grandmother, “The doctors found out which poison it was easily and administered the antidote.”
“Good.”
The older woman’s eyes never left the trembling bartender, her grip on her cane tightening for a moment, before she pulled the thin sword free and pressed the sharp point up against the young man’s cheek.
“I won’t ask you again.” She hissed, “Who are you working for?”
“I-I’m not!” The young man winced as the tip dug into his skin, a bead of blood making it’s way down his face, down his neck and staining his white collar, “I-I-I didn’t know- “
“- That it was poison?” She sneered, “Do you often have people asking you to put something in other people’s drinks?”
Silence.
“Let me guess… the occasional drug to make a young girl much more agreeable to a lecherous old man’s or woman’s advances. Or perhaps it’s a young man who receives the attention.” She dug the point in a little further, “So long as they’re paying you, you’d drug anyone, right? Old or young, man or woman.”
“P-Please- “
“- Vincenzo.” Her voice was sharp as her grandson practically snapped to attention, “You need to do a better background check on your employees.”
“He was never caught, so there was nothing in his background check.” Vincenzo’s voice was low, clearly infuriated, “But I see your point.”
“Hm, a lesson for the future.” Back to the bartender, “Who paid you this time. I want a name.”
“H-He didn’t give it to me!”
“He? Someone at the party?”
“N-No! He came up to me before the party!”
“Name?”
“I-It was P-P-P-P- “
He didn’t need to finish.
Her and Vincenzo knew exactly who had been behind this incident.
Paulo.
………………………………….
Safe in his own home, Paulo felt a shiver run up and down his spine. A sensation he recognised intimately from his childhood.
Grandmamma was angry.