Chapter 27.

**Tessa’s POV.**

I had never felt so nervous while walking the large hallways of the mansion before- I never had or saw a reason to be but right then, on my way to the dining room, unwanted nerves fluttered through my body and they had the solid right to. I was about to have dinner with Andrew O’Connell and his three sons- one of them being my ex, another my crush and another, my boyfriend.

I wish I had just done what my mother had told me to do- cancel and tell him that something came up, it would have been much easier to run away from this. But it was too late.

On my arrival, the doors to the large and spacious dining room where pushed open by the overzealous housekeepers, “Ummm, thank you”, I said awkwardly and made my way into the room. I was tempted to turn back when I saw two sets of eyes narrowed at me in both confusion and suspicion. It made me feel out of place, which I was, clearly- the sun dressed I had pulled on was no match for the elegance of the dining cloth laid out on the table.

“What are you doing here?”, I tried to form an answer to Kevin’s question but I just couldn’t, all I could think of was how much of a bad idea this whole dinner was in the first place. Heck, we had not even started yet and it was already extremely awkward.

The door was opened once again and I prayed to whoever was up there that it was Gabriel that had come into the room, “Ah, Miss. Tessa”, I had to suppress a groan that was begging to come out after hearing Andrew’s stupid voice, “You came”, was I not supposed to? He walked up to my and placed two extremely inappropriate kisses on my cheeks, I had to scrunch up my face in disgust at the sloppiness of his lips on my skin.

He moved away from me and sat down at the end of the table, “What is going on?”, I saw Alex mouth to his father, clearly, he was not pleased with me being here and honestly, neither was I. At this point, I would rather be anywhere else- dead in a ditch or something, it would’ve been better.

“Boys, I believe you are familiar with Tessa, Gabriel’s girlfriend?”, the way he said his words were designed to hurt them, “She would be joining us for dinner”, he looked up at me with the most cunning smile I had ever seen, “Isn’t that right Tessa?”, I gulped harshly before nodding my head, unmoving and frozen to the spot.

I could not bring myself to move my legs, it was something about the way both Alex and Kevin were looking at me; jaws clenched, muscles tensed, fists rolled up on the table tugging daringly on the cloth, mouth twisted up in a scowl and eyes narrowed to slits- they both looked scary and I wanted to run and hide under the table.

“If you don’t stop looking at her like that, I will fix your faces”, large muscular arms were around me and I felt the tension leaving my body slightly. I breathed out and leaned closer into him, needing the warmth and comfort that came with him.

“You are late”, Andrew had placed on a completely blank face, void of emotion as he chastised his son,

“I had some business to take care of”, he left my back, taking my hand in his before walking us to the table, we sat down opposite to Alex and Kevin but a few seats away, not wanting to get too close. Even Gabriel knew this was a setup for a fight by Andrew- how would he even think about putting The O’Connell step-brothers and I in one room if he wasn’t an evil minded maniac?

“May I know what this ‘business’ is about?”, I felt Gabriel tense beside me and his hand on mine changed from a gentle hold to a death grip so tight that it hurt and my knuckles became white due to lack of blood flow, but I did not complain.

“It is personal business”, his teeth were gritted together painfully and his jaw ticked in agitation, I was tempted to place my hand on his chest or lap to calm him but that would be a risk to my other hand,

“You are my son Gabriel and you live under my roof, all your personal business is mine”, Andrew challenged, leaning forward so he could intimidate his son, “Unless, you do not want to be my son anymore?”, again with the silent threats? This man was a shallow and manipulative, let us not forget petty, piece of shit. He was so open to torture Gabriel every single time he actually wanted to live- he was garbage at being a father.

“Fine”, Gabriel’s hand left mine, going to comb through his brown locks and I silently thanked God for the freedom to move my fingers and wrist, “I went to get condoms, okay?”, I nearly choked on my own spit, coughing vigorously at what he had just said, condoms? Does this mean?

“Well that is certainly personal, isn’t it boys?”, he was clearly talking to Alex and Kevin and I do not know why I did it, but I took a quick glance at them. Once again, they had the same facial expressions on their face; eyes widened, mouth apart in surprise and features twisted. Then I looked to Gabriel once again, he had a smirk on his face as he stared at his brothers,

“It certainly is”, he was so smug and it shocked me how quick his mood had changed- he was enjoying this, every second of my cheeks flaming with embarrassment was amusing to him. If this dinner wasn’t going to be shitty, Gabriel was going to find a way to make it just that- not shitty for him but shitty for both his step-brothers who looked as though they were going to burst up any moment from then.

I poked him in the rib and when he turned to look at me, I gave him a stern look to which he shrugged and took my hand once again. The food came in shortly after, dishes upon dishes piled up in a tower. It smelt amazing and I was very sure it tasted heavenly as well, I could feel my taste buds begging and my mouth watering, my teeth restless and in need for some action but somehow, my appetite was lost the moment my mother stepped into the room. Once her eyes caught mine, she gave me the dirtiest glare she could muster before standing at the edge of the table, announcing the food as the other maids placed them on the table and pulled open the lids.

Taking in the look of my food on the table brought my lost appetite back- presentation: a hundred percent. My mother did not matter to me anymore, all that mattered right then was the food and the three brothers- even though two of them had no clue.