MATEO For the first time, I had to stoop low to listen to Dominic. Not like I never listened to his advice before, I meant on cases like this one.I couldn’t clearly tell why I was being this way towards Bruno. Not like I haven’t seen just enough to know he was on my side. But then, I just wanted to vent my anger on him. Maybe, that’s because I wanted him to see how annoying it was to suddenly hate an innocent man.But that wasn’t helping in anyway.I stared at my phone, but didn’t make a move to touch it. It was too early to give him that call, right?I’ll definitely do that later in the night.Lily walked in without knocking. I was too busy to even notice that.“Oh my gosh!” She screamed, covering her mouth with her hands. I looked at her, trying to know why she had suddenly shouted.She pointed at me, stammering like I had suddenly turned ghost. “What’s wrong, Lily?” I asked, trying not to transfer my aggression to her.“Your face, it’s burning red.” She finally spoke. “Did you ye
MATEO I sighed frustratedly. “I guess calling you here was a mistake then.”The smiled turned to a smirk. “Who said so?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m quite less busy today, so I think being here is the best choice.”We sat in silence for a long time. Trust me, I wish I could smack his face a million times. He keeps getting on my nerves, giving me reasons to get annoyed even more.“If you don’t have anything to tell me, I guess you should get going now.” I told him.“Fine. I was even about to do that now.” He stood up, heading for the door. “I really need the information, Bruno.” I said, trying to be calm as possible. “I need to know what step to take next.”“And I said no, Mateo. I can’t give you the information you need right now.” He smiled. “I will definitely tell you, but not today. And not even anytime this week.”I never knew he was damn serious with his words until he walked out of my room without hesitation. I walked towards the window, watching as he stepped into his ca
MATEOI found Clara watching a show when I walked into the house.I guess she was feeling better since she wasn’t asleep like she had been the past few days.“Oh, I didn’t hear you come in,” she said when she finally noticed my presence.“I was quiet in case you were sleeping.”“Well, you didn’t need to do that. Most of the time when I fall asleep I’m usually dead to the world,” she replied.Don’t I know it?Sometimes I wished I could sleep the way she did but I guess that’s virtually impossible. I doubted she had much to worry about.“Have you had dinner?” I asked.She nodded. “Yes, Christopher fed me before he retired for the night.”“That’s good.”“Uhm… do you want me to dish out your dinner?” she asked.I shook my head. “No, I can do that myself.”“Okay, then,” she said and turned her attention back to the show she was watching.I turned to go to the kitchen but stopped in my tracks when she called for me.“Can I talk to you?” she requested.“Sure, what do you want to talk about?”
CLARAI parked my ass on one of the hard benches in the chapel and dialed, Lucaa’s number.“Hey, girl!” she answered in her usual chipper voice. “I wasn’t expecting a call from you today.”“Stop playing, Lucaa. Since when do I need to inform you before I call,” I replied.“I was just kidding,” she replied with a light chuckle. “And I’m going to guess and say you’re in the chapel so what’s up?”“I have news for you. In fact, I’m sure you would classify this as good news,” I said.“Ouuuu…I’m set. Now tell me what it is,” she demanded like a child and I couldn’t help but let out a little laugh.“Okay, I had a conversation with Mateo about the baby shower,” I started.“Okay….” She replied tentatively, obviously having no idea where this was going.So I went ahead and narrated the details of my conversation with Mateo. And in true Lucaa fashion, she listened without interrupting.“That seems to have been a very interesting conversation,” she said when I had finished giving her the details.
MATEOEvery time I had to be in Renzetti’s presence, I always had to remind myself that I was playing the long game and not to do anything rash.That was why I hated these general gatherings. First, I couldn’t stand most of these lords and the feeling was definitely mutual but most importantly, this was just a colossal waste of my time.However, for the time being, I still answered Renzetti so I couldn’t decide to skip out on the meeting without putting myself on Renzetti’s radar, that was if I wasn’t already on it.This particular meeting was not our regularly scheduled one. No, Renzetti called this meeting as a matter of urgency and I had a good idea what he was going to say.Bruno also walked in and sat at the far end of where I was, not sparing me a glance because none of the people here must know that we were working together.As far as they were concerned, we both hated each other and I needed it to remain that way.“Hey, Mateo, do you know what this meeting is for?” Alfred, on
BRUNO“Is that supposed to be a threat?” Alfred asked.I was in no fucking mood to deal with, his antics. Alfred did not know what personal space was and worse, he did not know when to get a fucking clue.That was going to get him killed one day.“I don’t make threats, Alfred, and I was just giving you a subtle reminder of what happens to people who refuse to mind their business,” I replied.He looked to Mateo, probably expecting tobe backed up but, Mateo just shrugged and closed his car door.His driver took off, leaving me alone with, Alfred who has refused to get a fucking clue and move on. “You don’t want to make an enemy of me,” he said and I laughed.Oh, he was hilarious. Just because he held the title of a lord, he thought he could threaten me with the little territory he controlled.“I don’t bother about people like you, Alfred. And just so you know, Mateo and I might be enemies but one thing that’s constant in life is change. You just pray that this change does not end up get
BRUNOI ended the call and turned to look at her.“Oh, good. You’re dressed. Do you want me to call you a cab?” I asked.“I thought at the very least, you would be a decent human being but here you are propositioning another person when I’m still in your house,” she said, glaring daggers at me.“Last I checked, I don’t owe you any explanation about how I live my life. Who I do or don’t invite into my home is none of your damn business,” I replied.“I can’t believe this. You used me and now you’re just trying to dispose of me like trash?”“Now, I’m not going to let you continue slandering me and assuming things I never even said. I have been patient enough with you and accommodating your shit. There’s a limit to the amount of shit I can take so don’t even push your luck, Linda.”“My name is, Lacey!” she yelled. “Jeez, you can’t even get that right.”“And what does that tell you?” I asked. “Why don’t you do us both a favor and just go.”She pursed her lips into a stubborn pout and sat d
BRUNO“You’re not going to offer me a drink?” Mateo asked and I glared at him.“Here I was thinking you were a hospitable host,” he added.“I’m only hospitable to people I invite into my home, you just decided to show up,” I replied.He nodded. “Fair enough, but what was that all about?” he asked.“Nothing important, she was just a girl that I brought home last night. But she seemed to have no idea what the concept of a one-night stand is. Somehow she got it in her head that we had something special going,” I explained.“And her accusation about you being gay?”“She heard our conversation and I told her I was expecting a guest. She interpreted it to mean that it was a lady and when you showed up, she made assumptions.”“Hmm… you sure do know how to pick them, Bruno. I never would have pegged you to be a player,” Mateo said.“Oh, please spare me the righteous act, like you don’t go chasing some tail from time to time,” I retorted.“Unlike you, I don’t sleep around and even if I did, br
CLARAI stared at Lily, unsure of what to say, but I couldn’t keep quiet any longer, so I went with the first thing that popped into my head.“I don’t think you need to thank me. I haven’t done anything except take up space in here,” I said.Lily shook her head in disagreement. “That’s not true and you know it. Stop selling yourself short, Clara, and just take the credit you’re due,” she said.But that was the thing. I wasn’t due any credit. That will just make me more of a fraud.“Listen, Lily. I don’t know what makes you think I’ve done anything to make Mateo a different man since I moved in here but I can assure you that I haven’t done anything,” I told her.“The fact that you don’t see it speaks a lot about the magnitude of what you’ve done,” Lily said.“Hmmm… I really think you’re mistaken. If there’s anyone that has gained anything then it’s me. Although our situation isn’t quite conventional, Matoe gave me access to a community of people that have accepted me and my son as thei
CLARAAfter Alina left, one of the housekeepers came over to clean up the mess she had made, and Christopher was gracious enough to fix me another plate.I tried to apologize to him for Alina’s behavior towards him but he looked at me as if I was the most ridiculous being on the planet for even doing that and told me I had nothing to apologize for.The atmosphere in the house changed and became lighter. Everyone, especially the staff had been walking on eggshells since yesterday and trying their best to avoid it, Alina and I didn’t blame them one bit because I was kind of guilty of the same.However, I was grateful that I didn’t have to deal with her again. The last thing I wanted was fight a woman over a man. A man whom I wasn’t sure how he really felt about me. It would be like pouring water in a basket and expecting it to get full, a wasted effort.Now that I had my son, the last thing I wanted to do was waste my time on things that aren’t worth it. Did I have feelings for, Mateo?
MATEODid I leave unreasonably early for work today?Yes, I did.Was it because I was trying to avoid, Clara? As much as I’m ashamed to admit it, the answer was yes.I don’t know what came over me last night. I just blurted out that I didn’t care about the contract, which raised a lot of questions for her. These are questions that I didn’t have the answer to. So I did something I’d never done. I ran away. From a woman nonetheless.Damn, if Dominic knew about this, he was never going to let me live it down, which means he must never know. I was keeping this embarrassing bit of information to myself.The only downside to me leaving way early was I couldn’t send, Alina on her merry way but I was hoping my words sunk in well enough and she got the hell out of my house as soon as she woke up.Alina was trouble, and I wanted absolutely nothing to do with her spoiled ass. Even my mother was angry with me because of her, and I still haven’t figured out how I was going to get myself back into
CLARAI froze in shock at Mrs. Antonia’s words. I knew she couldn’t stand, Alina, but that was the last thing I expected her to do, and it seemed I wasn’t the only one shocked by her.“That better not be me you’re referring to as trash,” Alina said to her.“You’re the only trashy person I can see here, and it pans out because it’s the trashy ones that refuse to admit that they actually are trashy,” Mrs. Antonia fired back. “I’ve had enough of your nonsense, and since my son has failed to handle you, I don’t mind doing the job for him. You’re not welcome here.”“If anyone is unwelcome here, it would be this nobody and her kid!” Alina screamed, pointing at me. “I’m going to be your daughter-in-law. You can’t treat me like this.”“I already have a daughter-in-law, and you’re looking at her. Even if she wasn’t in the picture, there’s no way my son would ever end up with someone like you because as annoyed as I am, I like to believe that I raised him right and he can discern good from evi
CLARAMateo and I didn’t get to talk.Christopher told me that he left for work really early in the morning before any of us woke up.I was disappointed because all I could think about all night was the statement he made in his office and what he actually meant by it.I guess I’ll just have to wait until he gets back home. Luckily, I had some of mine and Ale’s clothes in Lily’s room so there was no need for me to go into the master bedroom.Alessandro was fed and bathed, looking like my little bundle of joy. It turns out that Lucaa was right, I was being paranoid for no reason. There was no way my son would be scared of me. He was literally my whole heart and even though it was too soon. He had to know that.Today, Mrs. Antonia had the bright idea to take, Ale to the park. I was against it at first because he was still so young to fully experience a kids’ park. All he was going to do there was sit in his stroller while she fawned over him.Besides, I didn’t want him to have his first
CLARAAfter everything that happened earlier today, I had expected Mateo’s mom to ignore me because pissed was an understatement to describe how she felt or in this case, was currently feeling. To my surprise, she didn’t even going as far as moving me and Ale into her room because in her words, it was just another opportunity for her to bond with her grandchild, like she wasn’t doing enough of that already.I was also aware of the fact that Mateo was home but what I didn’t expect was him barging into his mother’s room.I couldn’t hide the shock from my face. Wasn’t he supposed to be with his girlfriend?“Don’t you know how to knock?” his mother asked. “I know this is your house but that doesn’t give you the right to barge into my room unannounced.”He didn’t respond to her slew of angry words. Instead, his eyes zeroed in on mine before he settled his gaze on me.“Can we talk?” he asked, not taking his eyes off me.“You can see that we’re busy. Why don’t you go back to your whore and
MATEOI walked into my room and like Lily said, found Alina lounging on my bed as if she belonged there.What’s worse, she was laying on Clara’s side of the bed and I immediately saw red. She was also on a call and the moment she saw me, had the good sense to end the call.“Hey, baby. You’re home,” she said, giving me what I’ve come to recognize as her manipulative smile.That might work for an unsuspecting idiot, but not me, and she better have a good explanation for this nonsense.“What the fuck are you doing in my room!?” I growled.She was taken aback by my tone but she recovered quickly and pasted the smile on her face again.“Come on, baby. Where else did you think I would be? And is that the way to welcome the love of your life whom you haven’t seen in a while?” she asked and I couldn’t help laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.“Did I say something funny,” she asked, looking confused.“Yeah, you did. It’s very funny of you to think that you’re welcome in my house not to th
MATEO“Would that be all?” I asked, handing Dominic the rest of the documents.“Yes, I think we’re good for now. I’ll let you know if there are any other documents that require your attention,” he replied.“God, this is fucking exhausting,” I said.Dominic smiled. “The cons of running a mafia empire but you love it and dare I say, you’re fucking good at it,” he said.Well, I fucking knew that already. Why else would I be waging war against, Renzetti?Still, it didn’t mean that I had to like it. Running this business involved jumping through so many hoops you won’t even believe.Not to talk of having a legitimate business to act as a cover. Then, I have to run the said, legit business while also handling my other not so legit business.“Let me know once the money has been cleaned and our taxes have been handled.”“I’m already on it,” Dominic said. “When do you think we would be needing another shipment?”“Let’s hold off on that for a while. Bruno is still not back from his trip but luc
LILYNo, no, no.This can’t be happening. Just when things were finally going in the right direction, Alina just had to crawl out of whatever hole she was hiding in, and now things were complicated. Worse, how the hell was I going to make this right?Wait, why did this have to be my problem?This was Mateo’s mess, and he was going to have to clean it up. I just have to limit the damage.If only Mrs. Antonia didn’t say anything when I introduced Clara as a guest, but I knew deep down that there was a slim chance of that happening.Alina was the epitome of the kind of woman she couldn’t stand and there was no way she was going to be quiet while Alina acted like the grade A bitch she was.The surprising part was how calm Clara was taking everything that was happening. I had expected her to go off on Alina, especially after the demeaning way she addressed her but she ignored her and was currently helping herself to a serving of the pasta we were all about to eat.If there was anything Al