Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
God, she had to stop throwing up her food considering they were hard to come by without her husband’s order.
The name, “husband” filled Rhea with dread and made her skin crawl upon remembering the conversation they had outside.
Consummating their marriage on their wedding night? Rhea felt bugs all over her body. Even trying to conjure Big Joe’s hands on her body filled her with so much revulsion that she threw up a second time.
Was he kidding her? She would rather kill him and end her life afterward than let him lay a hand on her. That greedy, lascivious son of a biscuit!
Rhea didn’t have an ounce of feelings for Big Joe nor did she even see him as a brother. She must have been a fool to even think he had a bit of goodness in him and would treat her with respect. He and Kenith were just the same kind of person. They were all the same!
By the time Rhea was able to rinse out the vomit in her mouth and splash her face with water, she found another note waiting on her bed.
Eagerly picking it, Rhea read out, [Stay still. Do not make any move]
Was Elijah kidding her? She shouldn’t do anything and leave her fate to him? And what’s with the game of hide and seek? If he could sneak in a note here, why can’t he burst her out?!
…..
Rhea was frustrated, she just wanted all of this to be over already. If she had known it would turn out this bad, she wouldn’t have gotten involved with Elijah. No, she wouldn’t have answered Ruth’s call for assistance? All of this started with her!
If she hadn’t accepted to help her, she wouldn’t have seen Elijah that night and Lukas wouldn’t be after her for his identity. But then, all of this started with her uncle’s family selling her off to Big Joe.
Rhea groaned, there were just so many events leading to this point. It was almost as if fate already designed her future to turn out this way. What did she do so wrong?
A knock came on the door, startling Rhea who immediately tore the note into pieces and flushed it down the toilet just as the second knock came.
The door was locked from outside which meant that whoever was about to come in wasn’t Big Joe’s lackeys but a guest. Who was it this time? Her cake decorator? The catering service? She was honestly tired of all this. The last thing Rhea needed was getting reminded of her impending dark future – if Elijah doesn’t get her out of here.
So she didn’t answer and simply climbed into bed, her silence should convey her message. And that worked because the knocking on the door stopped or so she thought because the next minute, the door swung open.
With an annoyed huff, Rhea pulled the sheet on her away, “What part of my silence do you not….”
“Understand?” said one of the three women standing at the entrance of her door.
“Oh my God,” Her jaw almost dropped to the ground. How was this possible?
Standing in front of Rhea were the three female companions from before – Chelsea, Ashley, and Rose. However, her joy of seeing them didn’t last because she remembered how she used and abandoned them on the night of her escape. Who knew what Big Joe did to them?
Her throat felt clogged and Rhea just stood at the spot staring awkwardly as they stared back. She didn’t know what to say to them – or she could start by apologizing.
However, before the words could leave her mouth, Chelsea already strode over to Rhea and pulled her onto a tight hug that knocked the breath out of her lungs.
“Oh honey,” that was all the young woman said but Rhea could feel the compassion in her tone, and her heart melted at once. Chelsea understood what she was feeling.
At that moment, she wasn’t alone anymore and they showed proof of that when the three of them covered her small frame in a group hug. Tears slipped down Rhea’s cheeks, touched by their level of concern. She left them that night yet they still cared for her.
“I’m so sorry… I-I didn’t mean to -“
“It’s alright, baby girl,” Rose said, kissing away the tears on her cheeks, “Anyone of us in your shoes would have done the same, except we learned the hard way it was stupid running from Big Joe,”
Rhea knew there was a story behind that statement yet she didn’t pry into it knowing the girls would tell her if they wanted to.
“How did you girls find out I’m here? Big Joe did a good job of hiding me this time?” Rhea asked moments later after they’d settled down.
Rhea was lying in the middle of the bed with Rose and Ashley on either side of her while Chelsea sat up against the headboard.
“Well, we have our ways,”
And by ways, Rhea knew it was from one of the men here. It was not hidden what the girls did for a living nor was she judging them for a lifestyle they had no choice over. Sometimes circumstances mold you into someone you didn’t want to be.
“And they let you in like that?” Rhea found it hard to believe that Big Joe granted them freedom.
“Well,” Chelsea said this time, “We pulled some strings. Moreover, it was not hard to do that when we told them we’re part of your bridesmaid,”
“Oh God, you didn’t!” Rhea chuckled at their boldness. How could they make her dreary wedding interesting?
“Tell me you don’t mind us being your bridesmaid,” Ashley pleaded.
“Of course, I don’t mind,”
“Yeah!!” The trio of them rejoiced like kids whose mom just fed them candy. The mood in the room was lightened and she didn’t even realize when a smile crossed her lips.
“I’m going to be your chief bridesmaid!” Rose was the first to say.
“No, me!” Chelsea said.
“No, only moi!” Ashley demanded the role.
“Sorry, guys, but that role is taken already,”
The way their head whipped around to her simultaneously almost gave Rhea a heart attack. They looked serious.
“Who did you give the role to?!”
“Who stole my position?!”
“Who took my place?!”
“Cassie?” Rhea wanted to hide from the intensity of their glare.
“Which of the Cassie… oh..” Realization dawned on her however Rose’s face turned into one of disgust and Rhea noticed that.
“Why? What is it?” Rhea could sense there was a story behind that.
Ashley rolled her eyes, “You probably didn’t know what Cassie did after you escaped, else you wouldn’t have done that?”
No, she didn’t.
And Rhea was curious as hell to know.