Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
Adele looked at him in confusion, what was he talking about?
“I can be worse than my father. I would oppress and eliminate every threat to my position. To preserve their lives and that of their children, your family would have no choice but to submit to my rule. Only then would I be the cold and invulnerable Mafia Lord.” Lukas said.
“But then you wouldn’t be Lukas anymore, would you? You would be the perfect emotionless, cold-hearted, killing machine that your father created.” Adele told him, “Killing to defend your family is understandable, but killing your family to keep a spot, that’s crossing the line and you lose everything, including the ones you love. But then, you’re not capable of that, are you?”
They stared into each other’s eyes for a while until Lukas looked away. He asked her, “What do you want?”
“In there a while ago, why did you defend me? Why help me keep my position when you knew well enough that I sabotaged the call from Rhea?”
Lukas arched a questioning brow.
“Yes, I know you knew what I did. You’re not exactly subtle in hiding your murderous looks,” She asked him boldly. “You could just sit there and let my family take care of everything. Good riddance! It would be. And you wouldn’t even need to raise a finger.”
“What do you think?” Lukas told her, “I’m not going to lie, the idea came to me at first. However, I told you from the very start, I admire hard-working women and you look like you have a lot of changes to make around here. Bring this family and organization to modern times. Moreover, I was acting rational, rather than on my emotions.”
“I’m sorry,” Adele finally apologized, “I was not thinking straight then and behaved stupidly. You were doing me a huge favor and I just didn’t realize it, blinded by emotions. Just because of Aziz…”
She corrected herself immediately, “Elijah apologized on a piece of paper, that doesn’t make things right. It doesn’t erase the fact that he used and betrayed me and nothing is going to change that. A blood debt is paid with blood. He should have known that when he caused the death of those men. “
“Apology accepted. And you shouldn’t abort the baby as well,”
“What?!” Adele’s head whipped around so fast she almost snapped her neck in the process. She stared at Lukas with wide eyes, daring to believe what she just heard.
“You should keep the baby.” He said
Adele’s brows drew together, puzzled “But you said -“
“I know what I said, and I’m saying right now that you should give the child a chance to make that choice.”
“But the circumstances? My family? Our family? What if they don’t accept the child? What if my baby grows up hating me for bringing him or her into this world?”
“Do you hate your mother?” Lukas asked her out of nowhere.
“No!” Adele answered the question too quickly until she looked into Lukas’s eyes and had no choice but to answer honestly, “Maybe? Sometimes? I don’t know. Nonetheless, I’m happy to have come into this earth.”
“In that case, we’d leave that question to be answered years later by the child. And if he or she turns out to be a pain in the ass, I’m always here to straighten that attitude out.”
Yes, she could see, Adele thought inwardly.
“As for our family? You’re the underboss, got that? They get to fuck around with you if you let them. Perhaps, it’s time you realize the authority your position entitles you to.”.
Adele stared at Lukas open-mouthed, a tear slipping down her cheek. Out of nowhere, she threw herself on Lukas and hugged him tightly.
“Ah, better be careful there, otherwise you turn soft. That would be your weakness, you know that?” Lukas teased her.
“Thank you,” Adele chuckled amid the tears. She was so happy that she could die right now without any regret.
Talk Her Out Of Depression
“It’s been over a week already, do you think that I should still let her be?” Natalie asked in concern.
She was standing right outside Rhea’s door and though it wasn’t locked from the inside, there was a stop sign placed outside the door and she wanted to respect her daughter’s boundaries.
As Natalie was still practicing her baby steps in motherhood towards Rhea, she didn’t want to ruin the little trust they’d established. But it was getting hard to ignore, especially when the girl hardly communicated with anyone anymore.
Rhea just stayed in the room all day and the last time Natalie had entered to get rid of the half-eaten dishes, she was on her bed and staring out the window. Although she noticed her entry, that was all.
She didn’t say a word to her.
No communication.
Nothing at all
And Natalie was beginning to worry about not only her mental health but her overall well-being. Rhea was not eating well and Natalie wondered if she was sleeping at all because she had lost a lot of weight in just a week and it was beginning to bother her.
It had been surprising and a dream come true to hear Lukas break off things with her daughter. Like his Father, Natalie had thought that he would hold onto her like an obsession, but he failed her expectation in a good way. Now, Rhea would have nothing to do with that family who had done nothing but ruin them.
…..
But now, Natalie was beginning to wonder if that was worth it because her daughter was slowly slipping away from reality and it worried her greatly.
“I honestly don’t know,” answered Eric who was beside her as usual.
Standing behind her, he placed both hands on her shoulder and squeezed affectionately, “She’s going through heartbreak, you know.”
“Yeah, I know and that’s what worries me the most.” She turned to face him, “She couldn’t have possibly loved that boy, Lukas. He’s Daniel’s son for crying out loud. Having a father like that, he couldn’t be any different.” Natalie knew what she was saying.
The kind of darkness she had seen in Daniel, there was no way that his son could be any different. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Moreover, what if this was all a plan from Daniel, for his son to fall in love with her daughter to get back at her?
But deep down, Natalie knew that was not the case. Daniel didn’t even know that he was alive until recently, nor did he know she had a daughter. Had Daniel known from the start, Natalie knew Rhea would have been in a much worse state than when she found her. That asshole would torment her to his satisfaction.
“Well, he’s also Penelope’s son,” Natalie saw what Eric was hinting at and she shook her head in denial
“No, no, not happening.”
As much as Natalie was sorry for what her friend went through and her unfortunate death, Penelope still gave birth to Daniel’s son and she wouldn’t sacrifice her daughter to the wolf for their friendship’s sake.
“Natalie…”
“Not happening, Eric! I don’t even know which side you’re on!” She scowled at him.
“Of course, I’m on your side, Natalie. I’m just saying that children don’t always turn out the way their parents expect them to. Amid the past events and the circumstances, you have a smart daughter and she couldn’t have fallen in love with Lukas if she saw something in him.” Eric said, looking at him and waiting for her answer.
“I think we should go have our breakfast. I’m hungry.”
And that was her answer.
Eric has no choice but to respect her decision. After all, it was her daughter, not his.