When left alone neither of them spoke. Distant sounds from the other tables, the clinking of glasses and silverware could be heard from the other side of the restaurant. Lorenzo picked up the wine menu as the silence grew taut, examining its contents.
He closed the menu and waved over the nearest waiter before turning back to her.
" Nero d'avola?" He asked but Claudia just stared blankly at him. " You're Sicilian, aren't you?"
Claudia looked away. She was annoyed enough to want to ignore him completely but then she paused when a thought struck her. If she was going to have to sit there and tolerate his presence, she might as well get some answers as well.
She nodded in response to his question. " My father is Sicilian."
She wasn't sure why he was even asking. It definitely wasn't out of curiosity. Her father knew Salvatore personally from the way she saw them interacting that night. She wouldn't be surprised if he already knew everything that had to do with her while she knew next to nothing about him. Just another way to make her feel off-kilter.
Lorenzo hummed. The waiter walked over to their table and Lorenzo relayed his wine order. Claudia barely drank alcohol. She didn't tell him that though. She didn't bother when he had already taken the liberty of ordering for them both.
" My father is Sicilian as well. My mother, on the other hand, is half Cuban. My grandparents moved from Italy to the states when my father was only ten." Lorenzo said offhandedly. He spoke with an airy tone of nonchalance. " I can feel you trying to scrape out the information from my skull with your gaze alone. I might as well just give it to you for free." He leaned back on his chair. He was so tall, his legs so long that the toe of his leather dress shoes brushed against her foot. His posture was the most relaxed she had ever seen on anyone.
Claudia on the other hand, was a vibrating ball of tension. A ticking bomb of nerves. One wrong nudge and she would explode into tiny miniscule fragments of herself, never to be whole again.
" It's more than your father told you. More than Dominic did, I'm sure." Lorenzo continued.
Claudia stiffened. Lorenzo watched her intently as though studying every change in her expression. It meant he knew how close she and Dominic had been throughout the years, or guessed on it at least. Whatever answers he was fishing for regarding her relationship with his brother, Claudia wouldn't give it to him.
She kept her stare blank. Her fingers tapped a steady rhythm on her thigh. One, two, three. One, two, three and repeat.
Lorenzo's lips stretched into a smile, the edges sharp enough to cut steel. " You're not even going to try to deny being close with my brother."
" Why should I? Dominic and I attended the same school and he was two grades ahead of me. Of course I know him. It's barely private knowledge when my entire family knows." Claudia sat up, her back straight and rigid. Every tap of her fingers against her thigh kept her mind calm and sharp, especially in situations like this one where all she wanted to do was lash out. The little taps kept her grounded.
The atmosphere between them reverted back to the strained silence they were previously enveloped in as the waiter returned to their table with a bottle of wine and began pouring each of them a glass.
Claudia stared down at the dark liquid in her glass while Lorenzo took a sip from his. " Why did you even bring us here?" She said this only when the waiter was out of earshot.
" To do what everyone else does in a restaurant. I brought us to eat a good meal and talk."
" Then talk."
If Lorenzo was peeved by how bluntly Claudia spoke, he didn't comment on it.
" This agreement your father made with mine," Claudia began. " How long have you known about it?"
Lorenzo was quiet for a while, staring at his now empty wine glass. He reached for the bottle.
" A year." His words knocked the air out of Claudia. Her tapping ceased. She fisted the side of her skirt, bunching the fabric. " But talks of uniting the families have lasted much longer. The arrangement was originally supposed to be between your brother and my little sister but your father wouldn't commit to it, at least that was what I was told. Then you came of age and the idea finally clicked." Lorenzo cocked his head to the side, a smile on his lips. " Go on. Ask me. I know you want to."
" Why are they so eager to unite our families? What does my family gain from this?" She asked.
" More power and influence. Money. What every man dreams of." Lorenzo answered. " Every man, especially your father." His words felt like a jab, his smile mocking and taunting at every turn.
" And you?" She looked him over with a keenness in her gaze that belied the hurt that was gradually festering in her chest. Lorenzo was in every way a stranger to her and yet one look into her family was enough for him to see how much less Gabriele prioritized her in comparison to everything. How little her happiness mattered to him. " What do you gain out of this?"
" What do you think?" He smirked. " I'm getting a beautiful wife from this situation. I call that a fair trade."
That was all she ever was to them. Something to be passed around by powerful men and her own father had been the first. To him she was property and he was ready to hand her off to the highest bidder. The ache in her chest was now a gaping wound and she was bleeding out. But instead of blood, it was her patience and will to remain calm that spilled out of her. She didn't know what she ever did to make her father dislike her the way he did. She had been the object of his hatred for as long as she could remember. When he looked at her; he didn't see a person to love and protect, he saw a means to an end.
It had been a long time since she stopped begging for his love, he hadn't deserved the times she knelt before him and wept at his feet. He hadn't deserved it then, and he deserved it even less now, not after everything he had done.
She pushed her chair back and stood. Their date was over before the food was even served. Claudia leaned forward and stared Lorenzo straight into his dark eyes. They were as soulless as her father's.
" With all due respect, Mr Kane, I say this with all the sincerity I am able to muster. We are not friends, so don't delude yourself. Nothing good is ever going to come from this. I'm flattered your father thinks I'm good enough for his first born but this," She gestured between them, " Us, will never happen. Give your father my regards."
She didn't owe Lorenzo anything, not her respect nor her kindness, not when her distress seemed to amuse him.
Lorenzo's smile barely wavered, not even when Claudia turned around and exited the restaurant, her wine glass still untouched. His smile was that of a man who knew he had won even before bets were made.