Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
…..
However, as if the temptation was not enough, Lord Lukas suddenly took her hands in his, and though she tried to pull them back, he held onto them tightly and she was unable to pull away. He began to rub circles in the center as he spoke the same time,
“We’re set to get married anyway, so what’s wrong with performing our nuptials a little earlier than usual? Moreover, I’m sure you’re curious to know what it feels like, my lady, so why don’t you just agree to a night of passion between us?” He baited her, his gaze never leaving hers.
“And I guess this is the point where you charm the ignorant lady and she would end up in your bed, isn’t it, lord Lukas,” Rhea was taunting him this time as she burst into laughter. The play had been fun, but it was time to return to reality.
“What do you think, Lady Rhea,” Lukas couldn’t help but join in her laughter as well and they weren’t exactly subtle because a few heads turned in their direction, but they didn’t care about the others. It was just the both of them that mattered at this moment.
“I never thought that I would say this, but I’m grateful that you weren’t born in the medieval era else you would leave a trail of broken hearts,” and girls shamed by society.
Rhea knew how the olden days worked and if the girls were not found bleeding on their wedding night, they would be shamed by the society – except, of course, they had a pretty understanding husband. But that was hard, considering the worth of women was determined by their virginity. Imagine Lukas deflowering a huge number of them and their bleak future in the search of a suitor. Damn.
“Nah, If I was born in the medieval era, I doubt I would be a lord but a pirate.” Lukas said, thinking deeply, “I would prefer being out there in the seas than the boring stuff Lords do.”
“Lords attend royal balls and host lavish balls at their manor,” Rhea argued.
But Lukas grinned at her, “I can assure you that pirates throw far more exciting parties in their ship, although not quite lavish, but we’re not restricted to upper-class demeanor and that’s the fun of it. Freedom,” Lukas breathed wistfully.
“Yeah, freedom,” Rhea murmured, biting the inside of her cheek and trying to hide the sadness that tried to envelop her, however, Lukas saw it all yet said nothing.
Instead, he picked the menu and handed it to her saying, “I hope you eat nothing at the base before coming because it’s a nine-course meal and we are going to have it all. Are you up for the challenge, my love?” Lukas said excitedly
“I never back down from a challenge,” Rhea informed him, restless to begin and the tension from earlier vanishing as they fell back into the conversation.
“Tell me about your mother?” Rhea suddenly said and Lukas stiffened briefly, eventually relaxing when he found out she was merely curious.
“What do you want to know about her?” He asked.
Rhea pulsed her lips thoughtfully, “Well, first of all, I want to apologize for disrespecting your mother in the past,” She referred to that time she angrily told him to go fuck his mother, “It was highly inappropriate and wrong of me.”
“All forgiven,” Lukas said, “Moreover, I know that you didn’t mean it.”
Rhea said just as a chaff moved to their table and began to serve them whatever was written on that menu – she hasn’t been able to pronounce it. She swore those chefs did that on purpose just to confuse people like her and rob people like Lukas of his money. The longer the name, the pricer the food. Sigh.
“What was your mother like?” Rhea decided to start from there. This was a date and there was no way on earth that she was leaving here without knowing something personal about him.
But then, while Lukas and Rhea were having the time of their life, Clara was also heading to the same restaurant with her friends to have dinner and they had no idea of that.
Her Reason For Living
“What was your mother like?” Rhea asked out of sheer curiosity.
As a child who grew up without one, she has often wondered what her mother would look like. Does she have her red hair? Where did she get her looks from, her mother or father? Thoughts like that had always filled her mind and the loss made her feel empty – she would never get to find out.
But Rhea didn’t know which one was more devastating, the fact that the mother she had always longed for was alive and never bothered to come for her. It made Rhea feel unwanted and sad – just how much had the woman hated her that she never even wanted to see her face. No wonder their father didn’t have a single photo of her on the walls, the woman must not have wanted her to know her identity.
Anyway, she was good, Rhea already made peace with reality. The woman didn’t want her, so she wouldn’t search for her either even though her father’s last wish was to find her. Sorry, papa, but her life was better left the way it was with less complication. Rhea was completely sure that if her father was alive to see the kind of mess that she was in, then he would agree to her decision.
“My mother was a kind woman,” Was all Lukas said and Rhea looked at him questioningly, urging him to speak on, but all she got from him was a confused look.
Rhea sighed, this was a total disaster. Does Lukas even know about the word opening up? No, it wasn’t going to work this way.
So she explained to him, “I can assure you that ninety percent of people in this world would agree that their mother is kind. It’s engineered into our system to want to defend not only our mothers, but our fathers as well. We would want to only see their good side because that’s what makes our parents our superheroes and that is what I want to know, Lukas. What makes your mother your superhero?”
Lukas swallowed, and the slight discomfort she noticed around him told Rhea that he now fully grasped the hint of what she wanted from him.
“I don’t know your definition of a relationship, Lukas, but partners share secrets. They show their weakness, with the hope that it is accepted by one another.” Rhea said to Lukas, knowing that he had trust issues. Also, that was not the way of the Mafia. What if things changed in the future and she used that against him? She bet Lukas was thinking that.
…..
So Rhea reached out and took his hand and squeezed it with assurance,
“I swear on my life that anything you tell me in here would never escape another ear,” She took an oath, and only then, was Lukas able to relax enough to open up to her.
Lukas took their hand and intertwined them, staring at the action as if it was fascinating, yet he had this far away look in his eyes as if he was lost in those memories that formed part of his personality.
“My mother never wanted to marry my father,” Lukas confessed and Rhea felt her throat constrict with emotion. He barely began and she was already feeling sympathy for him, what would then happen throughout the rest of the story knowing that Lukas had a rough life?
“Heck, I heard that she had plans of aborting me, but when Daniel heard that he knocked her up and she was already pregnant with a son, he couldn’t let that happen. He needed an heir and a perfect opportunity just presented itself.”
Rhea squeezed his hand tighter as if providing some level of comfort even though Lukas didn’t show it. But she was no fool, Lukas was hurting inside. It was not easy to open up about experiences like this one, but here he was, doing it all because of her. Both of them were unwanted by their mothers, but unlike her’s, Lukas’s mother changed her mind in the end and accepted such a cruel fate because of him.
He went on, “Her family refused at first, but Daniel went on to threaten them and they had no choice but to give her up rather than bring on his wrath. So they got married and my mother was left all by herself and then, she had me. It was not easy to survive there with my father’s brutality, but she did and the only friend she had was Victor’s mother. Unfortunately, even at that, it was still not enough.
“It wasn’t surprising that she fell into depression with the way my father treated her. I might have been a kid but I understood domestic violence quite well and each time, it was almost as if my father was throwing his aggression on her… as if she made him lose something precious… as if she was undeserving of him and she was nothing but a flea that bothered him…” Lukas swallowed hard, thinking about it,” It was almost as if he was blaming her. “
His gray eyes bored into hers and Rhea knew he was beginning to perceive the motive behind his father’s action now that he thought about it. Lukas’s jaw was clenched while he was holding onto her tightly to the point of almost bruising her, not that he knew.
“I asked him to divorce him and run away from here to save her life, I could see my mother withering away before my very eyes, but she wouldn’t listen. Mafia families hardly divorced because of the risks but Daniel had kept my mother away from the family business hence she knew nothing nor would he even flinch if his enemies caught hold of her. If anything, they did him a favor and Carmine wouldn’t accuse him of murdering her. But my mother was damn stubborn, her only reason for living was me and she wouldn’t let go. “
Steal Other people’s Fiancé
“When you have just one thing to protect, you realize that nothing else even matters, even your life,”
Rhea gulped when she heard those words from Lukas. She didn’t know how his mother died, but she hoped to God Daniel didn’t kill her else she would reconsider marrying into this family. No matter how much she loved Lukas, she loved her life more. Imagine, if Daniel were to realize that she was getting in between his son and his intended bride, Clara, he would definitely kill her.
“She wanted to run away with me and Daniel knew that which was why he kept her like a prisoner. No, calling her a prisoner was mild, my mother was treated like a caged animal. She was never let out and the few times she needed to leave the premises, there were enough soldiers to make sure she never thought of anything stupid. Just like that, he broke her spirit little by little until she was a shell of herself. So then, I decided to take the cross upon myself and saved my mother before I lost her finally.
“I knew that if we were going to escape my father, we were going to need a large sum of money to cover our tracks, so I began to steal as little as I could from him without creating suspicion – he trusted me anyway. But then, I was a kid and thought everything was possible with sheer will.
“But before I could finish gathering my little wealth, she died. My mother fell sick and I couldn’t do anything about it except grace her deathbed with my presence. Daniel didn’t even know when she died, I had my mother’s corpse in my arms for hours before Carmine came over and raised the alarm. Daniel had left for business out of the country, not that he would have come to visit even if he had been around… ” Lukas chuckled as if he found it funny, “I bet he even traveled on purpose.”
The ridiculous laughter gurgled to a halt and he stared at her with a pained expression, “Now, you can understand why I can never forgive that man and you shouldn’t either. Doing that is equivalent to betraying me. I can’t kill him and will not kill him because I want him to suffer. I want Daniel to regret every single bad deed he has done to my mother and I want him to wake up every day in agony. ” Lukas said, his voice filled with venom.
“That is why you’re cutting him off, ” Rhea figured it out.
“His legacy is the only thing that matters to him and he intends to mold the perfect heir which is why he can never come near my kid,” He corrected under his breath, now rubbing circles on the top of her palm, “Our kid,”