Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
Looking in the mirror, Rhea found out she had red, swollen eyes from crying. Aside from that, her cheeks were sunken and she was emaciated from the stress. She wasn’t sickly thin considering Lukas never starved her but her collarbones had prominent holes that needed to be filled up.
Rhea couldn’t help but wonder if Elijah would like what he saw the next time they met. She bet not. That brilliant shine in her eyes was gone, replaced by rage – that was the only thing keeping her working this day – and unyielding hope.
Rhea was intimidated by her situation, however, she hasn’t lost hope at all. Lukas can’t keep her here forever, he’d eventually get bored and let her go, or she would escape and never be captured again. It was two of those options because she doesn’t depend on the third option anymore – Elijah was going to come for her.
Sorry, but Rhea needed not to dwell on false hope anymore. Believing she would just sit there and Elijah appears out of nowhere to save her ass was the mentality slowly killing her. For now, she was on her own.
As she expected, the wardrobe was filled with new clothes which could only mean her stay here was permanent. He has no plans to release but that won’t be long. For now, she would sit and observe his plans for her.
Rhea chose a pair of oversized shirts – that wouldn’t reveal her shape – and pants that would protect her better than a dress – which he could easily access. She pushed the memory out of her mind yet couldn’t help but blush upon seeing the panties.
Hopefully, he didn’t select those by himself because it was mortifying trying to guess what he was thinking when he got her this. But then, who was she kidding? If she could find a set of female panties in his closet, this wouldn’t be a problem either.
Hardly had she dressed up before a knock came on her door but Rhea didn’t answer, what’s the use of the sudden courtesy now? After three unanswered knocks, the door was opened by someone that wasn’t Lukas. It was an unfamiliar woman. An older woman.
“Miss,” She called her, and Rhea did not doubt at that moment that this was a staff member working for Lukas.
“What do you want?” Her voice was not kind either. She just wanted them to leave her alone.
“Boss wants you to have dinner with -“
“Tell your boss that I’m not interested in his dinner. Now, you can go,” Rhea dismissed her while checking out the motion sensors installed in her room. She guessed that was how he was able to predict she was awake.
Damn Lukas, but then, it was better than a surveillance camera. She would go bananas knowing he watched every single one of her activities. That would be a full-scale invasion of privacy, but thankfully, he thought it through.
He installed the motion sensor in the corner of the room that will give the sensor the widest possible view of the space below. The sensor pointed at the doorway, with no obstructions in the way while the other was placed above the doorway, keeping it out of sight.
But then Rhea was surprised to see that the woman was still standing in her room when she clearly dismissed her. For an older woman, she was fiddling with her hands and looked anxious.
“What are you still doing here?” On other days, Rhea wouldn’t be this harsh but she wasn’t in the best of moods. With each passing day spent in captivity, she was becoming sensitive, foul-tempered, and austere.
This lifestyle was changing her, no, scratch that, it has changed her into someone her past self wouldn’t be able to recognize. She has killed for f*ck sake – taken a life that she didn’t provide in the first place. Well, it was to kill or get killed. If there was anything better, this place turned her into a stronger person.
Lied To Her
“Y-young miss,” The woman stuttered and Rhea sighed, running her hand through her hair. She hated the defenseless look in the woman’s eyes because it seemed like she was at her mercy.
And that was the case.
“The boss says I can’t return if I don’t bring you downstairs,” The woman confessed, shaking like a leaf in autumn. It made Rhea feel guilty knowing this was someone’s mother and she has always treated older women with respect.
And Lukas must know that which is why he intentionally sent the woman to get her. He wanted to guilt trap her. Fortunately, she had her plans as well.
“Then you can sit with me….” Rhea tapped the side of her bed, “I’ve been craving company for a long time now.” She assumed that would work but Lukas was much smarter than she gave him credit for.
“You don’t understand young miss…” The woman shook her head, her eyes threatening to water, “He’s going to fire me if I don’t carry out this task. Sadly, I can’t lose my job now, I need the money to feed my children, not to mention I’m the breadwinner of the family. Please help me.”
The guilt trip was successful.
Lukas won this round because there was no way she would stay still after hearing what that woman just said. If not for anything, the thought of the children starving if she loses this job. Rhea couldn’t accept it.
Having grown up on the streets, Rhea understood how hard it was to survive and parents scraped by with whatever they could get their hands on. Thinking of it now, she was kind of grateful her father left something behind even though her uncle hogged everything.
…..
Rhea might have slept in a smaller room compared to Costanza’s lavish one but she didn’t have a leaking roof over her head; she was schooled compared to others who dropped out due to lack of resources; She had a trust fund to forward to, unlike the others who inherited nothing from their poor parents. In one way, she was blessed.
She had to help this woman.
“If I had dinner with him, he wouldn’t fire you again, right?” Rhea wanted to be sure of what she was doing knowing Lukas was good at tricks.
“Yes, miss,” She nodded.
With a sigh, Rhea followed after her. Her plans of going on a hunger strike were now ruined. Lukas must have predicted that she would take that route and stopped it before she even started.
But then, Rhea came to a startling discovery on her way down. Her room was directly above Lukas and for some reason, it felt intimate and annoying at the same time. How can she escape when he was this close to her? Well, don’t give up hope now, Rhea, we are just starting. She comforted herself.
Rhea found him in the dining room already digging into the meal without her. Heck, why the hell was she annoyed about that? Why should she care that he didn’t wait for her? They weren’t friends anyway.
Yet she couldn’t help but drink him in, especially the casual shirt he was wearing; the way it fits snugly, displaying the hard muscles there. But then, his eyes suddenly connected with her, and Rhea’s heart slammed into her ribcage.
She turned away at once while hoping to God he didn’t catch her staring at him. God, this was so embarrassing, she shouldn’t have come here. Now, he was going to think she was going soft on him. So annoying!
Rhea made sure she looked calm and in control even though her heart was still pounding in her chest. She can’t show she was flustered by his appearance. No, she can’t fuel his already huge male ego.
“You’re here,” He said, rolling the spaghetti in his fork, “Join me,” He put it in his mouth.
But Rhea didn’t join him, she said instead, “You resort to lowly threats now?”
Lukas wiped the corner of his mouth with the napkin, then looked up at her, “Don’t you know your table manners, Rhea? No talking during mealtime,” He said casually and that irked her the more.
“You were going to fire her!” She raised her voice but instead of Lukas reacting with the same intensity, he asked calmly,
“Who said anything about firing her?”
She shut her eyes, trying to rein in her anger, “Don’t play the pretense game with me, Lukas. I know that you threatened that poor woman to -“
“I’m sorry I lied to you,” Someone said from the side and Rhea turned to discover that it was the woman from earlier and she was getting more food on the table as if the ones there weren’t enough. Would more people join then because she was sure she and Lukas wouldn’t finish that – that is if she even lays a hand on the food.
Rhea’s brows furrowed at that statement and she couldn’t help but feel something wasn’t right – like a sense of betrayal. She stared at the woman hard, “What are you talking about?”
“Young Master Lukas did nothing like that, I was the one who told the lie,” The woman said and her jaw almost dropped to the ground.
Why would anyone lie for Lukas without him forcing them? It was utterly ridiculous! That was until she saw the both of them exchange looks and knew there was some sort of connection between them. Rhea could almost liken it to the relationship between Lukas and his cousin, Victor – she hasn’t seen for a while now. One thing was for sure, they were close.
“Rhea, let me introduce my Head Housekeeper, Beatrice. She just returned from her long break and has been there for me over the years. I hope the both of you get along,” Lukas introduced her.
“Nice to meet you, dear,” Beatrice extended her hand for a handshake but Rhea just stared at her skeptically.