Chapter- 1

Loving the Mafia Heir

Chapter- 1

 “Meet you on Monday,” Lisa says as she and Naomi came out of their class after discussing their new assignment with which they were partnered.

“Sure,” Naomi gave a smile.

“What’s your plan for the evening?”

“Nothing, you know Nicholas is having a match so everyone went there to see it and my mom will be picking me up at the entrance,”

“You are going to watch the match?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Naomi nodded with no enthusiasm.

“Enjoy then, bye,” Lisa smiles as she walks to her car. This is the first time they are having a proper conversation since middle school.

Naomi has either surrounded by her brothers or by books. She didn’t get any interest to make friendships with others when her brothers occupied most of her free time in the house and in school. They are everywhere she goes, and she never felt alone in these seventeen years of her life.

So she never cared that she doesn’t know anyone except her family members. They all have grown up that way. It’s all because of their father, who has put a lot of restrictions on mingling with other people.

There are rules which they need to obey. Sometimes her brothers would frown while following that, but she got no issues and always stayed as the obedient kid in the house.  

She knows and apparently seen the dangers her family has faced over the past years. But whatever the hardships, they are the best. One can’t ask more than what she’s getting right now.

Naomi came to the gates of her school campus and looked at the busy roads hoping her mom should show up late. Her school is one of the prestigious institutes in the city and all her siblings and cousins were studying with her.

Usually, Magnus would drive her home along with the other siblings or the driver would be there if she gives a call.

Her father wouldn’t allow her to travel on any public transport. He’s crazy rich, and also got a lot of enemies compared to others. His business is like that; very dangerous. Naomi just knows that her family has links with Mafia but she doesn’t know the entire story behind it and her father is the most dangerous man in the country.

The time is 5.12 pm, she wishes this time should move fast.  The match starts at 5.30 and it would be freaking annoying if she’s on time.

She doesn’t want to go there but the decision has already made. She can’t be the only person who can hate Nicholas when he was loved by everyone.

And also she doesn’t like seeing fights, though she hates Nicholas, she can’t see him getting punched and bleed. It doesn’t mean that she has a little bit of affection for him. It’s just a nameless emotion that lingers inside her for him but she didn’t realize that yet.

When she was in her thoughts, she turned, hearing the familiar horn sound. Her mom’s black SUV entered the lane.

“Sorry, I am late,” Ashley, her mom says as soon as Naomi got inside.

“No problem, Mom. We can go late,” Naomi smiles.

“If that what you wish then I can take the long route,” Ashley smiles back. She too hates fights, blood and especially when it happens to someone she loves. Even Tamika has the courage to see her son getting hurt but Ashley can’t see it.

Ashley has admitted this to everyone. She never felt bad to tell her children about the things which she isn’t perfect. And she raised them telling, ‘Embrace your imperfections.’

Naomi smiles hearing that. Her mom is the best person she ever knew in her life. She’s more like a friend and Naomi admires her in many ways.

Ashley got only one or two wrinkles to indicate that she’s aging but other than that, she is the same when Naomi first saw her. She still has that same enthusiasm, smile, and kindness in the way she speaks. She loves her mom and dad more than anyone.

“Darling, how was your day?’ Ashley turned to Naomi.

“Today was great. I got my first term results,”

“Oh, I guess you have scored the usual?”

“Yes, I again got the A+,” Naomi smiled.

“I knew it. My darling is so brilliant,” Ashley said giving a gentle pat on Naomi’s shoulders. Even if she had scored C she would have told the same. She doesn’t care about the grades as long as they stood strong in their basic education and to her relief, all her children were highly intellectual. It’s all because of Hector; he’s so strict in this, he will cut allowances if they score below eighty percent.

Naomi stood out in this, she’s the smartest among everyone.

“Thanks, mom,” she smiles.

“Can’t wait to see you one day as a lawyer,” Ashley heaves a sigh.

Naomi smiles to know how much her mother cares about her ambition. The strength that your mother was there for you no matter what, is enough to get everything you ever wanted. She doesn’t know anything about her birth mom but even she couldn’t have given her this much love and compassion.

She turned her gaze to the road. The sun is setting at the far end painting the sky in bright orange which is one of her favorite colors.

All she did was stretching her lips and leaned against the window watching that.

“What about Jorge’s score?” Ashley asked.

“He got a B+,” Naomi answered since they were in the same class.

“Thank god. I was so worried about him,” Ashley sighed. During the exam time, Jorge had a Jiu-jitsu competition in which he took part amidst his father’s opposing.

Each one of their sons has enrolled in an extracurricular activity. Magnus is interested in football. Jorge in Jiu-jitsu, Leon is good at running and Elijah is a good tennis player. They do not play for fun; they were getting trained by professional coaches.

And Nicholas is a star junior boxing player. He is even featured in the newspapers after winning countless matches. They are now heading to see one of his matches. Her brothers have already gone there, she purposely, avoided going with them and asked her mom to give her a ride.

Naomi is the odd one here, she didn’t have any special talents like her brothers. She’s just good in academics, she tried to get part in their sports but she backed off because of one embarrassing moment. 

“How’s Elijah? Is he alright?” Naomi asks.

“Yeah, he’s fine. Dad took him to the doctor and they both were in the office.”

 Elijah got dysentery in the morning so he stayed at home today.

“Isn’t Dad coming to watch the match?” Leon asks hearing that. He knew his father will never miss the match.

“He will come with Elijah, don’t worry.”

“Oh,” he again leaned back in his seat. Magnus, Jorge, and Derek have skipped classes from the afternoon to cheer up their brothers.

“I said him not to skip his classes. Uh… he’s not listening to me these days,” Ashley frowned.

“But mom, he’s so excited to see Nick’s match,” Naomi talked in favor of her brothers who are also her best friends.

“Still, they can’t skip classes when I have already told him that I will take him there on time.”

“Derek compelled him,” Naomi reasoned.

“Whatever, he should have listened to my words,” Ashley frowned. She doesn’t like when they don’t pay attention to her words.

“These days Magnus is reckless and not even listening to anything I say. Uh… my babies have grown up,” she gave a frustrated nod.

Naomi knew the reason why Magnus has turned so irresponsible but she doesn’t want to think about that person.

Not only him, but all her brothers were also greatly influenced by the one person she hates the most. She couldn’t understand why all her siblings were so crazy about him. What is there in that mean-spirited, cunning, arrogant jerk; Nicholas –he’s the walking image of all her hatred.

Magnus and Nicholas were those childhood best friends who do everything together. Because of Nicholas, Magnus joined the football team. Jorge got an interest to practice Jiu-jitsu and he’s like that big brother who has been an inspiration to all of them. If only he’s not mean to her, Ashley would have seen him in the same way everyone does.

Naomi sighed and decided not to think about him because if she does then her day will turn blue. She loves all her family members except him, she doesn’t want to hate him like that but he pushes her anyway.

“Seems like there’s a big crowd in here,” her mom says seeing the almost filled parking lot.

“Mom, shall I get something to drink?” Naomi asked getting down from the car.

“Okay. I will go inside,” she said and went in the opposite direction.

Naomi walked to the nearby café. Her brothers must be there so she got their favorite drinks too. As she walked into that stadium she realized how annoying it would be if she hears Nicholas’s name repeatedly. He’s a pretty good boxing player and she admires that yet she can’t admit it.

When Naomi was walking to the seat, she looked at Derek and Jorge talking with their mother. She went there and they both turned to her.

“Ask Naomi. We were in the class until evening,” Jorge lied.

“Jorge, don’t lie to me. I hate that,” Ashley scowled.

“Okay mom, I skipped two classes,” Jorge said and turned to Naomi for support.

“Yeah, mom, they just skipped two classes,” she took his side.

“Whatever,” Ashley shrugs.

“Okay, take your drink both of you,” Naomi says to Jorge and Derek.

“Thanks,” Derek smiled at Naomi. She then took her drink and gave it to her mom before taking a seat behind them. Jorge and Derek filled the seats next to hers. They were four rows away from the front seat. That time, Uncle Dan and Aunt Tamika joined them. They were so excited to see their son Nicholas boxing like a pro and getting cheers from the crowd. She said hi to them and got settled in her seat. Apart from her parents, she respects her uncles and aunts who were so supportive like another parent.

“How did she knew that I skipped classes?” Jorge whispered in her ears.

“Don’t you know; mom will find out everything. She guessed that you might have skipped classes,” Naomi answered in his ears. “Just leave it, chill,” she said and put her arm around his shoulders to make him smile.

“Wow, look at Nicholas. He’s so charismatic,” Naomi heard that from one of the girls behind. She must be his fangirl.

She turned and looked at that girl who made that comment; she can’t help but smile seeing those poor girls admiring the wrong person.

“Where is Magnus?” Naomi asked.

“There, near the pole,” Jorge pointed

She smiled seeing Magnus, her sweet brother. He’s so protective of her as her father. One time in middle school he punched the guy on the nose just because he called her deaf. He always used to warn people not to tease her disability and Jorge is more like a bodyguard to her. He won’t let any guy come closer to her sister even if she’s interested in talking to them. And then her twin brother, Leon, and Elijah were complete entertainers. They wouldn’t do anything without Naomi.  

She turned her attention to the match, sipping her drink. There she finally noticed Nicholas. He’s sweaty, half-naked and there’s slight bleeding from the corner of his lips. She didn’t want to pay attention to him but she couldn’t help it. He’s there wherever her gaze turns.

Always he’s there at the corner of her eyes, she never stayed without meeting him for more than a week. In one way or other, he will come to their house and irritate her with his gracious presence. Maybe it’s something unavoidable, he’s someone she couldn’t avoid.

It’s an important semi-final match for Nicholas. The junior boxing league of their county. Right there Nicholas is struggling with that bulky guy and got the right time to kick him on his face. A roar of applause shuddered her when the opponent guy fell on the floor. Her brothers at the side front row, her mom, and Nicholas’s mom and dad were cheering for him.

“Derek, where is your mom?” Ashley asked turning to him.

“They were on the way, Aunt,” he answered.

“Oh, okay,” she nodded with a smile. After two straight weeks, all their family members were going to meet and have dinner. Which even more excited everyone.

Naomi got so irritated by the constant chanting of Nicholas’s name from the girls. She takes off her hearing aid not wanting to hear that. She can understand what others are speaking with their lip-sync and she knows sign language. This hearing aid is only for her safety.

With no sound and only watching people’s expressions were sometimes funny and fascinating for her. She never felt bad for her disability because she has the ability to mute the rest of the world whenever she wants. She didn’t want to care about other people’s rants, she’s just happy to be who she’s right now. She has a wonderful life, family, and incredible brothers who will stand by her side even if the entire world is against her. And her cousins Derek and Julia are the best except Nicholas.

In her life, she never tried to escape from someone this much. The sad thing is she tries not to hear his name in the environment where it’s so dominant, which is frustrating. He’s a good guy and everybody loves him. Her parents see him as their son and her brothers consider him as their elder brother.

She doesn’t know when this hatred has grown so much in her. It happened gradually over the years will all the fights, teasing, and bullying she endured from him. He never liked her presence in this family and he has shown that on a lot of occasions.

She has no clue about how they were going to be in the future, but she thinks she can never be normal with him.

Most of the time, Naomi forgets her feud with Nicholas because she got a wonderful family which one envies to have. They love her irrespective of her disability and not a single moment they treated her as someone else. Not just her family, her Aunts, and Uncles love her the same way as her parents. She just feels so grateful for everything she has right now.

“Wow, that’s an incredible punch,” Jorge exclaimed but Naomi doesn’t hear anything, only his actions shown that Nicholas has again knocked down the guy.

Whatever the misunderstanding they have she always esteems the way he’s talented. He’s the one who gave this kind of mixed emotions to her, no one made her feel this way.

The match ended, Nicholas won using his signature knockout. How much she tries not to accept it, he’s spreading out his charm and that pushes her to achieve something great like him.

She stared at him from afar while her family went to congratulate him.

Naomi’s father and Elijah arrived late because their business meeting got delayed. But everyone was present at the end.

Everyone talked like there’s more chance that Nicholas will win the tournament. It would be wonderful, and she will be glad if that happens. After all, he’s her cousin.

She didn’t congratulate Nicholas because she’s still angry at him for the fight they had last week. But when they came face to face in the locker room, she chose to cheer him for courtesy.

“You played well, Nicholas,”

“Thanks, Naomi,” he smiles. She gulps to hear her name as she didn’t expect it at all. Shortie, ugly, babyface, grandma, and sometimes when he’s too angry he would call her dump. Naomi will grit her teeth and say that one cuss word she uses very rarely, ‘jerk.’ Because she doesn’t like calling him names.

“So you both are cool now?” Jorge asks in the same surprise, standing next to them.

Nicholas gave a vicious smile, and Naomi understands he’s still that evil jerk.

“I still remember what you said, ugly. I am just in a good mood,” he says and removes his shirt.

Jorge rolled his eyes seeing their fight and walked away. Naomi heaves a sigh and watched his well-built torso. For the first time, her heart starts to race in the strangest way. His sweaty abs glowed like a light of a fallen angel. She couldn’t take her eyes off him until when Nicholas said, “Stop staring at me, pervert.”

She frowned at the same time blushed, “I am not,”

Naomi couldn’t stand there anymore so she left the room looking down in embarrassed confusion.

I hope you all enjoy this story as well. Please give your reviews. Thanks for reading.