Chapter 8 Meeting The Family

• The car pulled up in Dawson's mansion, and Lena's heartbeat intensified —this was the first time she would be meeting with someone from Darian's family, she hoped she would be treated nicely, and nothing like how Darian regaled her.
• As expected, it was a big mansion with lots of compartments. The outside was painted white and cream, and there was an orchard that beautified the house. Lena sighed, the Dawson family had a thing for flowers, it was evident from how they planted flowers all around the house.
• Darian pulled up in the garage that contained about ten more luxurious cars, 'They must be wealthy.' Lena thought as she got out of the car, Darian hurried to her side, and helped her out, he placed his hand on her lower back and walked her into the house.
• The guards welcomed Darian and Lena and accompanied them into the vast living room, as Lena stepped in with Darian, she tried to conceal her nervousness, she checked out the living room, and her jaw dropped, Darian's mansion was big, but this was even twice the size of Darian's mansion. Different sets and designs of chandeliers were hung around the living room, giving it its glowing bright colours. She'd never seen a house that beautiful all her life.
• Gaius's wife, Talia, a young woman in her late thirties walked up to them, and Darian kissed her hands and cheeks, she pulled Lena into a hug, patting her back lightly.
• "She's really beautiful," Talia smiled, revealing her cute dimples. She was a very tall woman, slender and curvy. She was betrothed to Gaius after his first wife, Cassie, died of cancer. It was a marriage of convenience, as the two got along so well after marriage, and it didn't matter to her if he was far older than her, he treated her right and that was all she ever wished for in a man. "What's your name?" She inquired of Lena.
• "Lena," Lena replied with a small smile, Talia seemed like a cool person, and she loved her already.
• "I'm Talia, welcome to the Dawson outfit." She smiled as she ushered them to the dining room where other members of the outfit were already seated, waiting for their arrival.
• Gaius beamed with a rich smile when he saw Darian with Lena. He chose a really beautiful bride, he thought to himself.
• As demanded by the culture of the Dawson Mafia, the Don or the future Don was treated with great respect, they all stood up to acknowledge Darian's presence when he arrived at the table with Lena.
• They sat down when he was seated, Lena was still confused, she had no idea what was going on, and her father didn't tell her much about Darian when she had asked him, he only mentioned that he was a dangerous man.
• "Darian, what a beautiful bride you've got!" Gaius beamed as he studied Lena. "You made a great choice. What's your name, young lady?" He asked her.
• "Lena Johnson," Lena cradled her head, and a smile appeared on her face. "But now that I'm married, it's Lena Dawson." She said sarcastically, causing Gaius to laugh a little. "Nice meeting you, may I know your name too?" She asked politely.
• "Gaius, come over here," he gestured to Lena, she directed her gaze to Darian for his approval, he shook his head, and she stood up to where Gaius sat, he stood up to meet her, and he placed a soft kiss on her forehead and blessed her. "Welcome to the family." He sent her back to her seat, she crouched next to Darian, but he didn't acknowledge her. His eyes were fixed on Judson who didn't take his eyes off Lena, and it annoyed him more that the look on his face was lustful, he was going against the rules of the family, and he would kill him if he did anything silly with Lena.
• Lena introduced herself to other members of the family, she met Gaby, Gaius' daughter who was some years younger than her. Andrew, the consigliere, and his wife, Hadassah, who was a little woman, and Lena wondered how she got married to a man that huge, she thought of how their bed experience would be, and cussed at herself for being so silly. She met Judson, the underboss, and Abigail, Judson's wife. Caleb, one of the soldiers smiled at her, Anna, his wife to be was also present, she met a few more people, and the others weren't on seats, some were in their outfit that was in Dallas to handle some businesses.
• The few ones she met seemed to be very nice to her, aside from Judson who didn't spare her a smile, his face was always cold, and she was quick to form a nickname for him in her head. "Cold fish," Her husband was no less different from Judson, he was as cold as him, if not colder.
• Gaius called on Annie, the cook, to serve the table, and in no time, the table was filled with varieties of food, viz, assorted meats, rice, snacks, cookies, fruits, fried chicken, croissants, mangoes, steaks, walnuts.
• Annie and her partner asked each person what they wanted, and it was served as demanded, they left them alone and returned to the kitchen.
• "So, how did you two meet?" Gaius asked them, Lena wasn't sure who the question was directed at, but she looked at Darian, and he nodded his head that he could handle it.
• "Through a friend, I saw her a few times, and I found her presentable. I approached her and told her about my feelings and she agreed to be mine." He looked at Lena and feigned a smile. "Right?" Under that smile was a dark expression, that looked authoritative, and told her to agree with his words. Even without saying it, Lena knew what it meant.
• "Yes, right." She smiled and focused back on the food in front of her.
• "Your feelings? Do you have feelings?" Judson scoffed as he took a spoonful of rice, he glared at Darian and didn't care what was going on in his mind as he twirled the knife in between his fingers.
• "Oh, that's great. How has it been so far with him?" Gaius let his wife ask Lena this time, he let her do things because he loved and respected her dearly. Talia ran the family casino alone, he trusted that she was good enough to manage the casino so well, and she had done a great job over the years. "How has marriage been with him?"
• Hell! That was what came to Lena's mind but she dared not say it out, she smiled and shook her head.
• "It's been good so far, we are still getting to know each other." She admitted, staring at Darian who was also looking at her.
• "Good! You can always come to me when you have anything bothering you. I have been married to Gaius since I was eighteen, and I must say that it's been great." She looked at her husband and kissed his cheeks, "I love you, honey." Everyone in the outfit knew how much Gaius loved his wife, and the feelings was the same on Talia's side, she loved her husband dearly.
• "So, do you know your husband belongs to the Dawson Mafia outfit, and he's about to be crowned the Don?" Gaius asked her, she had no idea what he was talking about.
• "Yes, she does." Darian quickly chirped in. Lena's gaze rested on him. She sighed and agreed to his answer, fury evident in her expression.
• "Let her speak too," Gaius cautioned Darian.
• Gaby and Lena shared a meaningful glance. Unlike Talia who had a sweet smile on her face. Gaby seemed to be mad about something from how she stared at Lena or was she just overthinking things? Maybe that was her usual facial expression.
• "He's right about everything he has said." Lena supported him; she will ask him what they do in their Mafia later.
• "Good, we wanted Darian to get married before he's crowned the Don. Now that he's married, and can provide heirs, we are rest assured we can move on with the process." Andrew chirped into the conversation after permission from Gaius.
• Lena wasn't sure she was cool with what he said, did he just marry her to give him children? She adjusted on her seat but the anxiety on her face was not visible, she peered over her shoulder to look at Darian, she expected him to say more, that he didn't just marry her to give him kids but of course, she knew too well that he married her because her father owed him a lot of money and nothing else.
• "What else do you want to ask her?" Darian finally spoke again, the sound of his voice sent her chills, she swallowed hard and drank some water to suppress her anxiety.
• "Are you familiar with the Mafia, and who are your parents?" Gaius stared intently at Lena as she played with the cutleries in her hands, she dropped them and smiled.
• "I know a few things about them but not a close relationship with them. My mother is late, and my father is Gavin Johnson, he used to be a high school teacher before he got fired from work." She responded.
• Gaius bobbed his head, he loved how simple and coordinated Lena was.
• "Do you have any relationship with the cops?" His eyes were still on her.
• "I made my findings and made sure she's the right choice for me, Gaius." Darian was tired of the unending questions, he was getting impatient. "She doesn't have any relationship with the cops. If that's all, we would like to take our leave now. I just brought her here to show you all." He pushed the plate in front of him to the side and looked over at Lena.
• "Darian, I must say again that you made a good choice. Treat her well." Gaius said for the last time.
• "Thank you, I will do just that. Are you ready to leave?" He faced Lena, who was still struggling with her meal. She would have loved to stay a little longer, but the cold look on Darian's face made her shiver, she feared he would leave her alone and go home. She preferred the family house to their own house.
• "Sure," she stood up and was met with Talia who kissed her cheeks and gave her a gift before leaving. Lena hugged her tightly and left the house with Darian after saying their final goodbye.