Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
…..
“I just want to see Penelope,”
“The Luciano family owns the plot Penelope is buried on and the walls have ears. What if you draw attention to yourself and Daniel comes after you?” Jason reasoned.
No, he was tired of reasoning with her. But then, he’d be in hot soup if Eric finds out he has been helping Natalie with stuff behind his back.
Natalie lifted her head, “Well, that’s the problem, I’m not scared of Daniel anymore. I have spent half of my life fearing him, perhaps, it’s time he begins to fear me,” She said coldly, her lips pressed together.
She had come back here to spend the rest of her days in peace, but after hearing about Penelope and Edward, she was furious. Daniel deserved to pay for all he has done to her.
“So can you move out of the way?” Natalie ordered him. No one was going to stop her from seeing Penelope today.
Jason tapped his feet against the ground, thinking hard.
“At least, cover your face properly,” He said, pulling the veil over her face. If she was going to take such a risk, he didn’t want her to be seen.
Natalie was dressed thoroughly in black like someone in mourning. And Yes, she was mourning. Although she was mourning too late, Natalie would give the dead that respect. The two people she loved so much lost to the cold hands of death and she never even knew.
After Eric’s family rescued her, Natalie erased her past thinking it was much better. Let everyone assume that she was dead and move on. It was much safer that way. Moreover, she had nowhere to go, not after her father had betrayed her.
Jason stepped out of the way for Natalie to get into the car. The veil covering her face would make it difficult for one to see her face, a precaution since they were walking into untested territory.
“What are you doing?” Natalie was surprised when Jason climbed in after her.
“As if I would let you go alone, boss would skin me alive if anything happens to you,” Jason said, trying to fix his tie, but the exasperation on his face was obvious. No wonder he was having a hard time with his tie.
Natalie simply turned and helped him fix his tie and he had no choice but to let her. Done, she patted his tie and let out a small smile, “Thank you,”
Jason didn’t say anything, but he turned the other way, clearing his throat. Women, he sighed inwardly.
She didn’t have a hard time identifying Penelope’s grave because, unlike the others, it was embellished with gold. Natalie couldn’t tell how Penelope’s life with Daniel had been, but it was obvious from the gesture that her son, Lukas, loved her. She hoped so. Just like she held on for Rhea, she prayed Lukas gave her enough happiness.
Natalie placed a bouquet on the grave, staring at it for a while. She lifted the veil covering her face and said, “Hello Penelope,”
No response came other than the breeze.
“You must be cold in there, aren’t you? And I am a very horrible friend,” Natalie sniffed, brushing away the tears from her eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” She apologized, bursting into tears as she was unable to control her emotions.
“We made a lot of promises, but I failed every one of them. However, do you know what pains the most? The fact that you took my place. You shouldn’t have married Daniel in the first place. I was the one you wanted, but then, you took up the punishment for me. I thought leaving my daughter was the worst punishment I had been given, but knowing that you went through without me, with no one by your side, it breaks my heart the most. I can’t breathe… I feel like I want to die… I’m the most horrible person.
“No, I’m probably the most selfish person. I forced myself into believing that never searching for you and the others was the best thing, but then, I must have known inwardly. I just didn’t know how to face it. I’m so sorry… Can you ever forgive me….?” She poured out her heart on the grave.
Natalie cried so hard that she didn’t even realize her phone was ringing until Jason appeared in her peripheral.
“W-what is it?” She hurriedly cleared her eyes with the back of her hands, embarrassed he saw her crying.
“We have to leave now!” Jason said firmly, taking her hand and pulling her along before she could ask what was going on.
Rhea’s Mother
She was protecting Elijah!
She fucking still has feelings for Elijah!
Was it possible to have feelings for two people?!
Lukas had a lot of thoughts running amok in his head and he didn’t like it one bit. He doesn’t like Complications. No, this was the reason he hated relationships – he hated its complications. But he thought it wouldn’t be the case with Rhea. He had never been happy with anyone else the same way he was with her. No, he gave her all of him only to find out that she was holding out on him.
The beast in him wanted him to stomp back and force the truth out of her lips with methods she wouldn’t like. He shouldn’t mix business with pleasure. Elijah was an enemy, he needed to be punished. He shouldn’t be too weak.
Weak!
He hated that word.
Knowing that he would likely end up doing something that he would regret, Lukas left the base. There was only one place that he found comfort in times of turmoil and that was speaking to his mother.
Lukas entered his car and drove to the graveyard. It has been a long time since he visited his mother and he could use her comfort right now. He stopped by a flower shop on the way and purchased his mother’s favorite lilies.
…..
When he was little, she loved planting those in the garden. She loved comparing him to the flowers, claiming he was handsome as the lilies of the field and he was the finest in the land. Remembering those memories made Lukas’s heart constrict painfully. He missed her.
Upon reaching the entrance, Lukas saw another car parked by the side with tinted windows, and he frowned slightly. His family had their graveyard, but his bastard father refused to bury his mother there, claiming she was never his wife and included in his will never to be buried beside her.
His mother was buried in a public cemetery and it wasn’t until Lukas acquired enough power that he purchased the plot of land where his mother was buried and several other plots. Just like his father made his decision, he made his too and once he died, he would be buried alongside her. His mother would not be lonely forever.
A mere look at the car told Lukas that it was expensive and he assumed that a big shot came to visit too. Lukas didn’t think much about it knowing like him, many others purchased plots in the cemetery too. So he parked his car and went in.
It was a long walk to his mother’s grave and it didn’t help matters that the cemetery was on a hill. However, that was the least of Lukas’s problems since he kept in shape until he arrived and found out that someone had been there before him.
Confused and his face set in a frown, Lukas stared at the flower on his mother’s grave and the ones he had in his hands, it was the same. No one except him knew his mother loved lilies, his father simply didn’t care, no, Daniel would be the last person to visit here.
As if something struck him, Lukas dropped the flower and broke into a run. The car parked outside, it must be them. Whoever dropped this flower must know his mother.
Lukas didn’t know his mother’s ancestry because Daniel wouldn’t say and he had no clue where to start looking. It was a dead end because his father erased every piece of information about her and his mother was too afraid to tell him when she was alive. After all, she feared Daniel. Penelope was like a ghost existing until she finally just stopped existing.
Whoever visited his mother’s grave must know her and Lukas needed to know. He needed them. It wouldn’t change the past, but knowing his mother’s people would give him inner peace.
Thanks to the hilly terrain, Lukas was able to spot them from his position. There were two of them – if you didn’t count the driver – and a gut feeling told him that it was the woman that brought the flower. Judging from the way she was being guided to the car, he knew instinctively that she was someone important.
But it was too late. Even if he ran with all of his might, he wouldn’t be able to catch up with her. And Lukas just did the only thing that came into his mind.
“Hey!” He screamed, the echo carrying across the quiet graveyard and she stopped.
The universe must be working in his favor because she turned and the resemblance struck Lukas like a sword to his chest.