Chapter 164 - A Brother My Sister Can Be Proud Of

"Dion, you're here?"

As soon as Julian's voice caressed Devon's ears, a shiver instantly ran down her spine. Her fingers and toes went cold as sweat immediately broke out on her back. She didn't turn in his direction, she couldn't. Her body and soul had reacted immediately in his presence, and the only thing she could do about it was to stop herself from trembling. 

"Second brother, what are you doing here?" Dion inquired with his brows furrowed. Although he had noticed Devon's reaction, he didn't point it out.

"With colleagues." 

"Ohh..." Dion rocked his head while staring back at Julian. Normally, he would invite his brothers over — even Lewis, although his eldest brother would pretend he didn't hear him. But Dion didn't invite his second brother this time, as that only felt the right thing to do. 

He didn't want to probe right now, as he wanted to be a little sensitive. Also, Julian wouldn't mind not being invited because he never failed to refuse Dion's invitation. Unless he approached them for a reason, then that was suspicious. 

"Don't cause trouble." Julian acted like usual, casting Dion a judgemental look while sliding his hand inside his pockets. He then shifted his eyes to Bella, who offered him a smile and a slight bow.

"It's nice meeting you, second young master," Bella greeted politely, recognizing this man who was said to be just as remarkable as Lewis. Although Julian's style and outfit were a little plain, he still somewhat gave this inexplicable aura which she couldn't pinpoint. 

"It's my pleasure, Miss Chang. Please be careful around you. We all don't want another rumor regarding my brother and you." Blunt, that was what Julian was usually like. So, Dion clicked his tongue after Julian's reminder, but Bella already got used to this direct way of talking of the Qin.

"Don't worry, second young master. Nothing like that will resurface." Bella smiled, while Julian nodded in satisfaction.

He then set his eyes on Devon and smiled subtly. "It's nice to see you again, sister."

Devon nearly jumped when she felt Julian's gaze on her. Still, she squashed down the fear in her head and smiled, forcing herself to face Julian. 

"It's good to see you again," she greeted back and cleared her throat before taking a deep breath.

The two of them looked at each other momentarily before Julian noticed the ring on her finger. His expression was still the same, but for Devon, she sort of got the gist of what he was thinking right now. Back in their world, Quentin, now Julian, used to stay silent before hurting her. It was as if he was pondering on the best way to torture her. 

"Nice ring," Julian commented but didn't dwell on it. Instead, he immediately set his eyes on Dion.

"Have fun," was all he said before he turned around and walked away.

Dion clicked his tongue while watching his brother's retreating figure while Bella tilted her head. When Julian was out of their sight, she turned to face Dion.

"Is your second brother always like that?" asked Bella out of plain curiosity.

"Do you mean if he is always that weird?" he snapped his tongue once again as he glanced at where Julian went. "Well, you can say he is always aloof. He and Assistant Wang were quite similar but different in a way. Both blunt and work efficient, but I don't know? If you get to know the two of them, the difference is distinct but hard to explain it in words."

"Ohh..." Bella nodded in understanding. Honestly, she didn't need to know Julian to notice that he was like Derek but felt different at the same time. One would think that was because Julian and Derek were two different individuals, but that wasn't the case.

There was just something in Julian's aura that one would be wary about. It was like Julian's presence could trigger a person's faint alarm to stay away from him.

"Anyway, back to the topic. Dev..." Bella trailed off as soon as she set her eyes on Devon. Her brows furrowed as she frowned.

"Dev, are you alright?"

Devon popped her eyes open as she darted her eyes from Bella to Dion. After Julian noticed her ring, she just totally zoned out. Dion was also staring at her with furrowed brows, tilting his head to the side.

"I..." she cleared her throat and forced a smile on her face. "I will go to the restroom first."

She didn't even wait for their reply as she hurriedly stood from her seat. She heard Bella say, 'wait,' but she didn't stop and just went to find the restroom.

*********

"Brother, you promised not to drink so much, okay?" Gabriella crossed her arms and stared at her brother, who sat from across her. "I will call Dad if you drink so much tonight again."

"Goodness." Quentin chuckled as he shook his head lightly. "I promise."

Gabriella pressed her lips together and stared at Quentin while he ordered their drinks. She could still remember the time he had drunk and hallucinated. Although he had been well after that night, she was having a slight trauma whenever he would drink. So far, Quentin indulged in his usual moderate alcohol intake.

"I will leave you alone here if you drink until you can't recognize yourself anymore," she threatened solemnly, only to receive a dry chuckle from her brother. "I'm serious, Ken."

"Yes, yes. Gosh... should we just leave?" Quentin sighed once again as he looked at her dead in the eye.

"Tsk. I just don't want to babysit my big brother."

"You think too much, Gabby. That's a one-time thing and I swear it won't happen again." Quentin leaned forward, resting his arms on the edge of the table with his eyes on her. He waited until Gabriella was staring into his eyes before he reassured her.

"Gabby, I know what I did to her is disappointing, especially that I have a little sister. I'm trying, really. Just give me a chance to prove that I can be better, hmm?" his eyes flickered with sincerity, sliding his hand towards her and flipping his hand for her to put her hand. "I admit what I did is wrong, and it's... hard to correct that. I can't be a better boyfriend to her anymore, but I want to be a better brother my sister will be proud of."

Gabriella stared at him for a moment before she sighed. She leaned forward and placed her hand on her brother's palms.

"I am only letting this slide for once because you are my brother. But I don't want to hear this kind of mess up break up or whatever." She clicked her tongue and exhaled another sharp breath. "We are not that kind of people, brother. Our De Luca family isn't that type of people anymore."

Quentin nodded, closed-lipped. "Yes. You won't hear news like that ever again. Even when the Qins annoy me to death, I will never resort to such extremities."

"Thank you," she expressed and squeezed his hand lightly. 

They looked at each other with a subtle smile on their faces, resolving the problem they had failed to deal with for the past several days. To make things better, the waiter arrived with their drinks and snacks. 

"A toast for a better life?" he raised his glass with the side of his lips stretching wide.

"A toast for moving on and a better person," she added and raised her glass. They didn't click glasses as they guided it to their lips. 

The two of them just chatted about anything. It showed how close they were as siblings since Quentin shared the progress in their business.

"What?" Gabriella raised a brow after listening to him talk about business. "We're going back home?"

"Yes. Things are starting to settle down, so we will probably stay for another month before we go back home." Quentin nodded as he smacked his lips while putting his glass down. "Why? Did you like here?"

"No? It's just... I thought we'll be staying longer."

A light chuckle escaped his mouth. "Well, your brother had been working hard. I also want to go home. I missed Mom's cooking."

His eyes softened as he gazed down, thinking about the things back in their home country. But deep down, he just needed his mother's comforting food to feel better. This country felt suffocating, after all. 

"Me too," said Gabriella as she reached for her glass of margarita. "I missed Mom's home-cooked food and Dad's nagging."

"You missed Dad's nagging?" he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, receiving a glare from his sister. "Haha! I'm kidi...ng"

Suddenly, Quentin trailed off as his eyes veered on the figure not far away behind Gabriella. Even when the place was spacious enough, he still recognized the woman who was walking as if panicking. 

"Dev?" he whispered, catching Gabriella's attention. 

"Huh? What's wrong?" she inquired at him, but before she could turn her head around, Quentin suddenly sprung up from his seat. "Ken, where are you…"

"I'll be back.." He cut her off as he trudged away in a hurry, leaving Gabriella speechless.