Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
Not to mention that after such a tense negotiation with Eric, Victor wanted to make sure that this wasn’t a trap by Eric to end him once and for all. Lukas let him do his job anyway considering he can be quite careless when it comes to matters concerning Rhea.
Hence Lukas didn’t get into Eric’s car and followed after him instead in their own ride.
“Do you think we can trust him?” Victor asked him on their way to Eric’s place, trailing after his car.
“I don’t trust him,”
Victor frowned, “Then why… ?”
“But Eric is an honorable man. If he’s going to get rid of me, it won’t be like this. And not while using Rhea to lure me because she would never forgive him. Perhaps, it’s in my favor that he ended up with Rhea’s mother as a wife. Whatever happens to Rhea would affect Natalie and he loves her so much he wouldn’t dare to incur her wrath. The both of us are similar in that way. ” He said.
“Yeah, lucky you,” Victor joked.
After some time, they arrived at their destination and for the first time, Lukas was let in through the gate under Eric’s directive. Victor followed their actions by packing in the open space before he and Lukas stepped out, only for one of the soldiers to walk over to them and said, “Surrender your weapons.”
Victor turned to Lukas for direction, were they really going to trust Eric blindly? Without their weapon, they were defenseless and as good as dead.
Eric stepped out of his car, saying, “It’s a compulsory procedure. I can’t allow an outsider to possess weapons while being in close contact with my family.”
“And what about your brothers?” While Lukas might trust Eric a little bit, the same couldn’t be said for his brothers.
“You are my guest, they won’t lay a hand on you.” Eric gave him his word.
Lukas gave up his weapons and hoped to God that he was right about him.
Seeing Lukas In A Positive Light
Rhea had thoughts of hiding in her room all day after the confrontation with her mother last night. But then, for how long was she going to avoid the woman? Fine, she had to face her problem head-on.
So she headed down for breakfast as soon as she was alerted by one of the staff. These days, her schedule is pretty predictable. Wake up, eat, rebel against her mother, gossip with Mimi, and plot on how to meet Lukas, sleep, and the circle continues.
Although it gave her time to plot for her future knowing that she couldn’t depend on her mother, Draven or Lukas forever. Rhea wants an occupation before she ends up a housewife – if she marries Lukas. She would be twenty-four soon and would receive the trust fund her father kept for her. With that money, she would achieve a lot. Rhea could already see her bright future.
Rhea stopped short when she saw her mother at the dining table with Rose and her throat dried up suddenly while the air in the room seemed to have been sucked up. Although she braced herself for this moment, it still didn’t make things any easier.
What was she going to do? Should she join her mother at the dining table and wave at her like yesterday’s incident never happened? Or she could keep a straight face and have her breakfast in silence without showing that she was affected by the tense ambiance. You know, play it cool and all?
Ugh, Rhea groaned inwardly. She hated this kind of tension. Why was her relationship with her mother so complicated? Was their conflict normal or was she the only one in the entire world unable to get along with her mother?
Fine, Rhea decided to play it cool. Moreover, what did she do so wrong last night aside to express her – Natalie- prejudice towards Lukas? She did nothing wrong and had nothing to fear.
“What are you standing there for?” Her mother’s voice roused her from her thoughts, startling her. The woman knew that she was here.
Natalie turned to her and said, “Are you waiting until your food gets cold, or don’t you want to have breakfast with your family anymore?” She murmured under her breath, “It’s not like anyone is forcing you to observe the tradition anyway.”
…..
“Huh?” Rhea was confused. What was going on here? She had expected her mother would be cold and unresponsive toward her. Why was she playing it cool? That had been her plan.
Still reeling from the turn of events, Rhea had to force her ass on the seat and wondered what was next.
“Hello, sister. How was your night?” asked Rose, the most enthusiastic out of the three women present at the table.
“It was good.” Rhea tried to match the kid’s energy. She didn’t want to seem unapproachable and detached from the kid when all she wanted was to have a loving relationship with her step-sister. Moreover, Natalie would worry less if they got along as sisters. Not to mention that she was older and should set a good example.
“I heard you and mother fought last night…” The girl said, suddenly looking downcast
Rhea and Natalie’s gaze connected and held, however, they broke apart in the next minute without saying a word to each other.
“Sister…” Rose grabbed her hand and enveloped it with hers since she was seated beside her, saying, “Please don’t fight with mummy anymore. Violence is never the right answer.”
Rhea cleared her throat awkwardly yet she nodded her head, forcing a smile on her face.
“Good!” Rose let go of her hand and got out of her seat only to walk over to Natalie who was seated opposite them.
“And mom, you shouldn’t be angry at Rhea for too long,”
“Who said I’m still angry -” Natalie was still saying when Rose grabbed her hand and pulled it across the table before taking Rhea’s hands and doing the same until both of their hands were intertwined together.
They didn’t dare withdraw their hands, scared to kill the hope ignited in the young girl’s eyes. In one word, both of them had to make up under Rose’s strict supervision.
“I’m sorry for last night. I shouldn’t have judged and talked to you in that manner.” Rhea apologized to her sincerely.
Natalie said as well, “And I’m sorry for forgetting my role as a mother was to listen to my child’s opinion too. I shouldn’t have abused my power as your mother.”
“So are we good now?” Rhea asked her, unsure.
Natalie nodded, “Yes. We are good.”
“Yes!” Rose jumped, pumping her fist in the air victoriously. However, seeing the looks they gave her, the young girl quickly composed herself, reining in her excitement.
She suddenly said, “I’m suddenly not hungry. The both of you should enjoy your meal.”
“Wait -!” Rhea said, but the girl had already zoomed off before she had the chance to stop her. For a young girl, Rose was quite smart. She knew deep down that Rose left on purpose to give them the chance to talk.
They didn’t talk immediately as Rose wanted them to, instead, they ate their food in silence. Fortunately, the suffocating tension from earlier subsided and Rhea could relax in her mother’s presence compared to earlier.
“Where is Eric?” Rhea decided to start the conversation.
“He’s out for a business meeting with Lukas,” Natalie said and Rhea’s hand holding the spoon halted mid-way.
She lifted her head to look at her mother, surprise in her eyes.
“A business meeting.”
“The boy is quite intent on promoting peace between both families.” Although Natalie’s voice was flat, Rhea could sense a tinge of satisfaction in her tone.
Rhea was so proud of Lukas that she wanted to sing his praises at the top of her voice, no, at the rooftop, but she had to control herself in front of her mother. She had no choice but to hold in her excitement else her mother changes her mind about him. Not when she was beginning to see him in a positive light.