Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
“Huh?” She was roused from her thoughts.
“Why are you crying, Rhea?” Lukas asked, his tone firm and lacking emotions with his serious expression that made her swallow down a gulp. Why does it seem like Lukas was mad at her?
“No – I, it’s just… I..” Rhea choked, unable to come up with a comprehensive answer.
…..
“I told you that I would figure everything out, and you shouldn’t worry about anything or don’t you trust me, anymore?” He asked, stepping towards her slowly.
“No, it’s not that, ” Rhea shook her head in denial, “It’s just that…”
“It’s what?” Lukas pressed futher, leaving Rhea no other choice, but to yell out,
“I’m scared, okay?!”
He stopped.
“While you’re up all night trying to find a way out of this, I can’t even do anything to help you. I feel useless and that I’m a burden to you,” She winced, “Maybe your father is right, you do need Clara -“
Rhea didn’t finish the rest of her statement because Lukas grabbed her arm and pulled her to him roughly,
“Don’t!” He warned, trying hard to contain his anger, “Don’t you ever say that again!” Lukas growled at her.
“I chose you and I wasn’t blind nor stupid while making that decision. While others with their myopic understanding, attempt to choose for me, not you, Rhea, not you too, please, because that’s a huge betrayal to me. Don’t you get it? You being here is a big deal to me. A huge relief that you don’t understand. With you here, I can breathe. I can live again even while being suffocated inside. You don’t know what you mean to me, Rhea. Lukas said, tracing her face with his fingers with emotions.
Rhea’s jaw dropped open in surprise, her eyes as wide as saucers. Sure, Lukas told her that he loved her, but he never told her why. Why did he choose her of all people? At least, until now.
He went on, “Sure, you might not be as smart as other women or from a wealthy family, but you give me something they cannot provide.”
What is it? Rhea might not have asked, but her curious gaze said it all.
Lukas smiled wryly, “You give me peace, Rhea. It’s crazy, but when I’m with you, I feel like I’m home. So I don’t care about your limitations or your qualifications, if anything, I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you, not after what I’ve done to you, who I am, and what I might do in the future. I would not give you a comfortable home as other men would. Staying by my side is like living at the tip of an iceberg, but one thing I can give you is my promise. I’m never giving up on you even if the heavens say I’m not meant for you. I would sooner let the world burn to ashes than let you go. “
Rhea didn’t even know that she was now crying until Lukas was clearing the tears from her face. Cupping her cheeks with his large palm, he asked her,
“Do you trust me?”
She nodded without hesitation, unable to say a word because of the excess emotions filling her.
“Thank you.” Lukas smiled sincerely at her before saying suddenly,
“I have to send you away.”
The color drained from Rhea’s face, “No, no -” She tried to protest.
“Shh,” Lukas pressed his finger against her lips to silence her, “You said you trusted me, right?”
It was a difficult decision but Rhea nodded in the end and listened to what he had in mind.
“I have a plan to stop all of this, however, I don’t trust my father, which is why I need to send you to a safe place,” He explained to her, “It’s only for today and I’ll come back for you as soon as possible,”
Rhea didn’t like this, but there was no other choice, moreover, Lukas needed her to trust him and there was no other time to prove that than now.
“I’ll go,” Rhea decided without a second thought.
Lukas had enough troubles on his plate already, Rhea couldn’t trouble him any longer; this was the least she could do for him. Moreover, she was tired of fighting him and Lukas was right. Daniel got into the base easily yesterday, and if Lukas already had plots of opposing the wedding, then she wasn’t safe here.
Daniel must already have his plans in store knowing there were chances of his son opposing him. She heard her father-in-law yesterday, his son, Lukas had always been submissive to his orders until she came around. Her intrusion into Lukas’s life ruined his great plans for him and what other way to correct that but to get rid of her – eliminate the problem from the root.
Lukas knew that as well, which was why he was trying hard to get her away from here. Rhea was so touched by the gesture that she fell completely for him at that moment. If there were doubts and hesitations in her heart firmly, he won her over. She has reached the point of total commitment.
No matter what happened today, whether Lukas got married to Clara or not, she would not leave his side. Clara might be entitled to him, but Rhea would fight for him. What the both of them had was real and she couldn’t give up on them just like that.
Rhea was filled with determination. She was not a loser and if Clara wanted Lukas, she would have to fight for him too. Sure, she would be at a huge disadvantage if she becomes Lukas’s mistress due to the public’s opinion, and right and wrong are determined by society’s standards. But she wouldn’t give a damn, after all, people knew nothing about them.
Lukas was relieved when Rhea didn’t argue with him like before and agreed to his plans easily. So he said, “I’ll give you time to get dressed, then Luca will drive you there. Daniel knows, if not all of my properties, hence it’s not safe for you. You’d be staying with a friend that my father wouldn’t even dare to cross.”
“And you trust him?” Rhea wanted to be sure before she jumped from the frying pan to fire.
“I trust him more than my father,” Lukas was sure.
“Fine.” She agreed, “Anybody is better than your father. When do I leave?”
There was a pained look on Lukas’s face when he said, “You leave immediately,”
Rhea nodded in understanding, there was no time to be wasted. So without giving Lukas a heads-up, she lowered his head and closed her lips over his in a kiss. Lukas responded instinctively as she kissed him long and hard. They kissed as if their life depended on it and they weren’t going to see each other again.
Thanks to the growing passion between them, the towel slipped off her body and Lukas groaned lustfully. Rhea then pulled away, staring at him deeply, “Is five minutes enough?” She was turned on.
“I can make it worth your time,” The look in his eyes held lots of dark promises.
“Let’s see what you can do then,” Rhea kissed him once again.
Sparks Fly Between Them
She was already beginning to miss him, Rhea realized as she was being led to the car by Luca. Looking back at the entrance, she saw Lukas standing there, his arms folded across his chest with his apathetic expression on display.
If she didn’t know him too well, she would have thought he wasn’t affected by her departure. But Lukas was hurting inside like her too and judging from how protective he was of her, Rhea knew that he was mustering lots of self-control to keep himself from going after her and stopping her from leaving.
However, walking over to the car brought back a lot of memories for Rhea and they weren’t good. Unlike now that she was walking with her feet freely, She remembered when Lukas handed her over to Big Joe and the memory made her halt in her step.
What if Lukas was sending her away to a so-called friend of his, forever? After all, this wasn’t the first time he sent her away. The doubt began to creep in but Rhea pushed it to the back of her mind. Unlike that time, Lukas promised nothing, no, he didn’t even look at her as she was taken away, but it was different now. She was going to trust Lukas for once.
Hence, Rhea turned around and before Luca could stop her, she ran back to Lukas. There was confusion on his face and Lukas looked unsure as she ran back to him, however, she didn’t say anything and merely hugged him, reliving every single second she was cocooned in the warmth of his hug and felt protected.
Lukas didn’t say anything either and hugged her tight as if he was afraid of letting her go. He didn’t need to say a word because the gesture communicated all of his untold feelings and when they broke apart, he clasped her cheeks,
“I’ll be coming back for you,”