Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
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She was close to squirming in her seat, however, the arrogance Cindy exuded gave her the courage to stay still. Adele knew that she couldn’t show weakness now else her family was going to eat her alive. Lukas was right, they can’t know about the baby. At least, not for now.
“I’ll say give him the chance of a trial. it’s the brother to the head of the commission that we’re dealing with here and a war with the Draven family wouldn’t be easy and detrimental to us.” Victor advised them.
Looking down at Cindy, he continued, “And perhaps the next time we call an important meeting like this, children shouldn’t be invited.”
All eyes were on Cindy which made her face heat up with embarrassment while her father, Benjamin scratched the back of his head, ashamed. Why were his children such a big disgrace?
Seeing the condescending look from Victor, Cindy had no choice but to shut her mouth and mind her business.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Carmine supported her son, “Jumping head first into a war is not good for business.” She was proud of her son’s wisdom. He made his momma proud.
“Then we invite Elijah over,” Lukas inputted. As much as he hated Elijah’s ass, killing him just like that without an explanation did not sit right with him for strange reasons. Somewhere deep down inside of him, Lukas knew it was because of Rhea – this was the reason that she kept Elijah’s identity from him in the first place.
Even though Lukas was beginning to understand why she did it, it didn’t mean that she had forgiven him. Had she told him on time, he would have solved it another way that wouldn’t require him being killed or brought to trial. He would have thought of something for her sake.
Perhaps, he would have turned a blind eye or forged his identity just so the case could be closed; only if he was repentant. But now, Elijah had to face the music the hard way and it was on her.
“As if he is going to come knowing it’s his slaughter,” Robert found the idea laughable.
“Which is why the invitation would go to his brother and the head of the commission, Eric. He needs to be aware of the crimes his brother committed and perhaps, we can come to a settlement,” Lukas said and not even Robert could refute it. Instead, he cleared his throat awkwardly, turning the other way.
Daniel chortled, his son put the fool in his place. But Lukas glared at him. What was funny? He must take delight in other people’s misery.
“The only settlement we would accept is him handing his brother over!” Benjamin made his own suggestion, feeling left out in the conversation.
“And if he doesn’t hand Elijah over? What are we going to do? Start a war with the commission? Are you going to be at the front line of the battle? If you are, then I suggest we get rid of these formalities and kill Elijah right away.” Carmine spit at Benjamin with a ferocity that made him unable to say and just stared at her open mouth.
Everyone at the table went dead silent while Victor fought the urge to laugh out loud. At least someone just got a piece of his mother’s mind and it felt honestly good. Now Benjamin knows why he too rarely gets on the woman’s bad side.
As if she didn’t just speak down to Benjamin, Carmine fluffed her hair, turning to the others with a sweet smile all of them knew better than to trust, “Anything else?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” Daniel said right away and the ominous clouds gathered once again.
A Nightmare
“As a matter of fact, yes,” Daniel destroyed everyone’s mood with that single. Most young people in the house were close to rolling their eyes toward heaven, but they just didn’t.
The fear of Daniel was the beginning of wisdom. Lukas was not the only one who detested the man, however, he was the only one who openly showed his dislike. Others were just too scared that Daniel would come after them if they openly disrespected him. So they simply endured him like a pest and talked behind his back instead.
Each of them knew that Daniel could not take their life without drawing the attention of the others but then, who knows what was going on in his mind. They believed Daniel was a psychopath and could manipulate their death in such a way that their parents would not even be able to suspect him. So yeah, they really hated his ass – and his son, Lukas.
“Does your father ever give up?” Victor leaned closer and whispered into his ears.
Lukas lifted his gaze only for it to connect with his father’s instead, Daniel was watching their interaction.
“Don’t encourage him,” Lukas said to Victor who lifted his gaze as well and saw Daniel as well. He got Lukas’s point and sat up straight without saying a word.
Daniel prided himself on being respected. Except that his definition of being respected means being feared by everyone. Hence he knew instinctively that Victor had been talking about him and he took pleasure from that. The buzz. The attention. The respect. It was his drug.
“Dear brother, you do have a knack for being dramatic, but let’s hear you out nonetheless,” Carmine was technically another person who could speak to him without fear as well.
“I suggest that we establish a committee.”
…..
“A small committee?” Carmine was surprised by the idea while Lukas’s brow quirked, knowing instinctively that the man was about to ruin his mood as usual. His other uncles shifted on their seats when they saw this was another opportunity to exercise their power again.
With Lukas in power, Daniel and Carmine, and the rest of their family have more authority in the organization. However, if one of their own children becomes the Don, there would be a great seismic change and power would change hands, returning to their side of the family after a long time.
Unfortunately, for that to happen, Lukas would have to abdicate the position – or pass away. But then, none of them saw that happening anytime soon, not with Daniel guiding the boy like a mother hen. Hence, the alliance the three of them – Daniel, Robert, and Benjamin – had was only temporary because each of them had their own ulterior motive.
“Yes, a committee that would oversee the case,” Daniel announced with a brilliant smile.
“Are you kidding me right now? This is my job,” Lukas told him sternly.
“A job that you failed to handle in the first place. I told you, your accident rate is increasing nowadays and we need a success rate in this particular case without a hitch this time,” He reminded Lukas before turning to the others saying, “Does anyone support the creation of this committee that I would personally oversee.”
From the disgruntled look on Robert and Benjamin’s faces, it was obvious that they didn’t want Daniel as the head of the committee. But of course, the man was smart to take over before any of them could make a move. That annoying prick!
Daniel waited for the support of the people in the room, his eyes daring each of them not to be on his side. It was at that time that Robert and Benjamin realized that he had been using them all along – when they thought that they could benefit something from following him – because they were the first to raise their hands.
Thanks to the support of the elders, the others had no choice but to join in and support him as well. Literally, everyone in the room had their hands in the air all except Lukas, Victor, Adele, and Carmine. However, the woman, seeing that Daniel’s supporters were numerous and that she was losing out, had no choice but to lift her hand as well.
“Mom!” Victor whined. That was a low blow. He thought that she was on their side no matter what.
“It’s honestly not a bad idea,” Carmine told him, “You kids are young and temperamental, it wouldn’t be a bad thing having an elder with experience overlook the case and provide assistance.” She gave her reasons.
An elder with experience, his butt! Lukas swore inwardly. He didn’t believe that Daniel was here to help with the case, no, he merely wanted the authority to make his life more miserable. Lukas already had this thought about why his father wanted Elijah and he didn’t like it one bit.
Elijah took Rhea, what if Daniel wanted to get his hands on her or in the worst-case scenario, reconnect with his old lover, Rhea’s mother? He wanted to throw up. It was sick.
The voting was over and Daniel won. And when he stood up to his feet, a round of applause followed him.
“Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for your support …” He bowed his head slightly, pretending to be appreciative as the claps finally died off.
He went ahead to say, “I am not worthy of this position, but the only thing I can promise you is that I would use the resources at my disposal and find a more friendly way of resolving this conflict, possibly without the promise of war and tension.”
Daniel gestured to Lukas, “With my brilliant son Lukas and the Don of the family by my side, I believe that we would achieve great things together as long as this case lasted.” He said as another round of applause filled the room.
“I’m so pumped up! Woo-hoo! Can’t wait to see father and son in action!” Lukas made a jab at him while clapping enthusiastically.
This was a nightmare.
He Was The Problem
The meeting was finally over and while everyone was taking their leave, Lukas remained in his seat and so did Daniel. Anyone who saw the scene didn’t interrupt knowing that it was better to leave the father and son duo to their antics. And if they were, to be honest, it was their drama that made meetings like this interesting, and their family would be a lot boring without the both of them.