Harbinger Of Glory

When the two made their way inside, they found that the dining table had been set on the large balcony, where the doors stood open to the night.

Beyond the trees, the sea was only a dark stretch against the horizon, while the estate lights cast a soft glow across the gardens below.

Sienna waited until everyone had taken their seats before looking around the table.

"I hope you like the food. It’s been a while since I’ve cooked properly."

She proceeded to serve slightly, showing how to work around the food and when Leo took a bite, he couldn’t help but nod.

"That’s really good."

Hearing that, Sienna smiled before she also began to work her way around the food.

"Good. I’m glad you like it!"

Then she looked at Vittoria.

"Unfortunately, my daughter didn’t inherit the talent. She can eat a lot, though!"

Vittoria stopped halfway through another bite, slowly lowered her fork and looked at her mother.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she asked, feigning hurt, but Sienna shrugged.

"I’m only telling the truth."

"I can cook."

"Toast and oats don’t count."

"You don’t have to worry, Mom," Leo interjected after the scuffle settled a bit.

"I can cook."

Sienna’s expression immediately brightened before looking at Vittoria.

"See? It works out."

Vittoria, who was already battling against her mother, looked towards Leo.

"Whose side are you on?"

"Yours," Leo replied quickly as Sienna leaned back in her chair, openly amused.

"Look at you. Defending her already."

Leo felt the heat reach his face and looked down at his plate, something Vittoria noticed and smiled to herself.

Aldo, who had been listening quietly till that point, cut another piece of food before setting his fork down.

"Your interview after the England game," he said. "It caused quite a reaction."

Hearing that brought up, Leo couldn’t help but smile wryly.

"The reaction was probably bigger than what I actually said," answered.

"Perhaps."

"But I meant it."

Aldo waited as Leo continued.

"You can’t stop feeling Italian because the national team is going through a difficult period. The great teams people talk about now had to start somewhere too."

Aldo gave a short laugh.

"You haven’t even been Italian that long."

Leo smiled.

"Must be my father’s blood."

Aldo held his gaze for another second before picking up his fork again.

"Perhaps."

The conversation moved on after that as they focused on clearing what was at the table with Vittoria’s appetite really showing, giving Sienna more ammunition to troll her own daughter.

By the time the plates had been cleared, the evening had settled into something comfortable. T

here was no longer the awkwardness of the first hour.

Leo had stopped thinking about where to put his hands or whether he was answering questions correctly.

Vittoria on the other hand, had stopped also watching him every few minutes to see how he was doing.

Then Sienna stood.

"Vittoria, come and help me with something."

Vittoria looked at her before looking back at Leo, her father and then back to her mother.

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

Vittoria glanced once more before reluctantly getting up.

Aldo waited until the two had disappeared inside before he looked at Leo.

"Walk with me for a minute."

At that, Leo stood nodding.

"Of course."

With the women out of the way, they went through the main hall and into the study, a place where Leo recognised from earlier.

The bookshelves filled most of one wall, while the glass doors at the far end looked out toward the dark coastline.

Aldo gestured toward one of the chairs the moment they made it to his table, prompting Leo to sit, which he did while Aldo took the chair opposite him.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Aldo leaned back.

"Do you drink?"

"No."

Aldo raised an eyebrow.

"Never?"

"Not really."

"Why?"

Leo thought about it.

"I don’t always control my thoughts as well as I’d like. And so I don’t want to hand that over to something else."

Aldo studied him for a moment before nodding.

"It’s good that you know yourself like that!"

After he said that, he rested his hands on the arms of the chair before looking up at Leo.

"I’m going to be direct with you."

Leo nodded.

"I’d rather you were."

"I don’t naturally like people who live in the public eye. Like you!"

Leo remained quiet.

"It was one of the reasons I was against Vittoria doing what she does at the moment because it’s too much attention for so little reason."

"Too many people who feel entitled to know things about you but it was something Vittoria enjoyed doing so I didn’t stop her since she looked really happy doing it."

"But recently, I saw my daughter genuinely happy for a different reason."

Leo watched on as Aldo leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.

"You’re both young. Your names are already becoming bigger than either of you probably expected. That brings its own problems," he said looking directly at Leo.

"If this relationship goes wrong, it won’t stay between the two of you. People will have opinions. They’ll write about it. They’ll make things up. And Vittoria will carry more of that than you will."

Leo understood what he meant.

"I know."

"I’m not asking you to stay away from her."

"I wouldn’t."

Aldo nodded.

"I’m asking you to be careful. If it’s best, keep it under wraps until you can’t anymore!"

Leo held his gaze, meeting the man’s piercing eyes before nodding.

"We will. I care about Vittoria a lot, and I wouldn’t do anything deliberately to hurt her. I wouldn’t treat what we have like it’s something temporary just because other people might."

Aldo’s expression remained serious, but some of the tension had left it.

"Good."

They sat quietly for another moment, though there was nothing else that needed explaining.

Aldo eventually placed his hands on his knees and stood.

"We should go back before they decide I’ve taken you somewhere and buried you."

Hearing that, Leo laughed as he got up.

"I think Vittoria would notice."

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