Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
Rhea closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she could do this. She would go over there and have a nice conversation with Lukas. Since the mission was tomorrow, he probably wanted to set things straight between them to avoid unnecessary awkwardness.
Yes, that was right. They would be working as a team tomorrow and hence needed to be in harmony. She can’t let her emotions get the best of her and ruin what they prepared for a long time.
All of them had made a lot of sacrifices, even though she had no clue if she would reap her own benefit from this deal – Lukas exploded when she mentioned her need for a cellphone.
But then, this was important for Lukas – he needed his sister as much as she needed her freedom. Who knows, Lukas might have a change after all of this.
So Rhea bravely made her way over to the gazebo. Lukas had his back turned to her with a glass of his favorite whisky neat in hand, turning when he sensed her movement.
There was a tensed silence between the both of them the moment their gaze connected. Rhea stared at Lukas and couldn’t help but wonder if he had been in the same agony that tortured her because he didn’t seem to be in his finest mood either.
“You’re here,” He acknowledged her presence with the glass in hand and then sat down, expecting her to do the same.
Rhea hardly settled down when Lukas told her, “You wanted us to meet and talk, what do you want us to talk about?”
“Excuse me?” she felt like she heard wrong.
Lukas looked at her confusion spreading on his face, “What?”
“I’m sorry, but you were the one who wanted to speak to me, you even wrote a note to me…” She stopped and thought over the whole thing and it finally made sense to Rhea.
Of course, why would Lukas write to her when he could easily send one of his men to call her over. Sigh, Mimi fooled her.
Lukas snorted when he too realized that he had been fooled by his cousin. He had sensed something was off when Victor told him Rhea desperately wanted to see him before the mission tomorrow.
But he feared that Rhea was about to change her mind about helping him tomorrow, and had to answer. It was not like Rhea’s nature, she would help as far as it involved saving a soul even at her own expense, right?
Rhea took a deep breath and then placing both hands on her knees, she rose with a deep grunt, “In that case, I’ll leave you to enjoy your company then.”
She was about to leave when Lukas said hurriedly, “Please don’t leave.”
Rhea turned to him surprised, a hint of hope growing inside of her.
But Lukas realizing how ambiguous those words sounded, quickly explained, “They might have fooled us into meeting, but we indeed needed to talk,” He added immediately, “I need to talk to you. So please, sit down.”
“Sure,” Rhea sat back down, without looking directly at him. She couldn’t look him in the face without remembering what transpired between them earlier in the day. Moreover, she wanted to keep those little “flutterings” in check.
“I want to apologize for my attitude earlier, I might have lost it for a while there and made a huge mistake by laying a hand on you which would never happen as long as your stay here lasts. Also, you would get the cellphone you asked for when you return tomorrow, “
Rhea turned to him in surprise and said quickly, “You don’t need to bother yourself with the phone anymore, I’ve changed my mind.”
If the mere thought of a phone could bring that much trouble, what would happen then when he has the slightest suspicion she’s in communication with Elijah. Not that it was going to happen, considering she knows nothing about her boyfriend Elijah – including his phone number. But misunderstandings could arise in the future and she wanted to avoid the trouble now.
“No, your life is worth more than the phone and you would risking that in tomorrow’s mission. Hence you deserve the phone you’ve ever wanted, it’s the least I can do. And like you said, it’s not like it wouldn’t be monitored.”
“Oh sure,” Rhea nodded with an excitement that didn’t touch her eyes. Her hope of a little privacy evaporating in the atmosphere. Well, at least he’s honest, than monitoring her on the secret.
Coming To Terms With Her Feelings
Music recommendation:- Off My Face – Justin Bieber.
“And I’m sorry as well for playing around with your feelings. You were right, it’s unfair on you.” Rhea sincerely apologized to him, meeting his gaze for barely a second before taking her eyes off him.
She went on, “The truth is that I resented you for taking me away from my normal life. Sometimes I can’t help but imagine what my life would look like had I never encountered…all of this?” Rhea said instead, afraid to hurt his feelings with the word she would have used.
“But the truth remains that I got entangled with the bad side of the society and compared to the bad guys I encountered so far, you’re the kindest,” she said.
“I should take that as a compliment but the truth remains I’m not kind,” Lukas was quick to correct her.
“Yeah, you’re not. But you are to me,” Rhea pointed out, finally looking him in the eyes for the first time since she arrived. However, Lukas was quick to look away, choosing to sip his drink, and disappointment cut through her.
“The truth is that I wanted to use you when I found out you had a fondness for me, Lukas.” She laughed awkwardly, rubbing her hands together, “I guess it backfired,” she muttered under her breath, hoping that he didn’t hear that.
Lukas heard that yet didn’t comment on that. What was the point? It would only give him false hope. He had to make it easy for her – and himself. Even if she doesn’t belong to him in the end, he should be satisfied with seeing her – till the day Elijah comes for her.
…..
He said, “You don’t need to apologize to me, I understand you. Also, I had no right to demand you choose between me and the love of your life when I’m merely an intruder. Your life is already ruined by meeting me, I can’t ruin your happiness as well.”
Rhea wanted to refute that statement, tell him that he didn’t ruin her and maybe, just maybe… this was fate?
All this while, she had been striving for perfection – a perfect husband for her would be perfect children and family. But then, the world was imperfect already, and what if some perfections came with rough packaging? It looked worthless and unattractive on the outside yet was a diamond inwardly?
Rhea opened her mouth to say something when Lukas said, “I guess we’re good then?”
“Sure,” She nodded, pulsing her lips and choosing to close her mouth rather than vomiting those words she wanted to say to him. It was too late for them now.
After that, the both of them sat in tense silence, unable to come up with a reasonable topic for conversation. It was awkward.
“What happens tomorrow if the mission flops?” She decided to start with a topic not far from home.
“Well, for starters, you could die,” Lukas was quite candid.
“Wow,” Rhea breathed. She was beginning to realize the gravity of her actions recently.
She pointed to his drink, “Can I have that?”
“Huh?” Lukas was surprised by her bold request, “But I thought you said you don’t drink -“
He was still saying when Rhea snatched the tumbler from his grip and chugged the remaining content only for her eyes to nearly pop out of her socket in the next seconds.
“Holy God!” Dahlia cursed, entering a coughing fit as the fiery warmth sank down her throat. Her eyes water from the heat and she wondered what in the name of madness had driven her to take such a thing.
“Easy there, easy,” Lukas comforted her as she continued to cough. He leaned closer to her and began to rub her back soothingly.
“That hurts,” Rhea laughed when she recovered. She didn’t mean to cry but tears still slipped from her eyes and that was as embarrassing as hell.
Or so she thought because Lukas didn’t seem to mind when he reached out and brushed the tears away from her face and she froze up.