Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
Although the woman went along with her kids, she turned once more to glare at Rhea and Lukas.
Unfortunately, her eight-year-old son shouted after them, “That was so hot!” He gave them a thumbs up.
This time the woman looked like she would explode.
“Christian!” She screamed at her son, before dragging all of them and stomping away angrily.
Rhea and Lukas burst into laughter instantly. They laughed so hard that their stomach hurt and they just laid in each other’s arms. It was the first time the both of them felt such genuine happiness in each other’s presence.
“So I was thinking,” Rhea cuddled up to him.
“Thinking about what?” Lukas embraced her tightly, a smile on his face. Damn whoever was staring at them. He didn’t care.
“What do you think should be our couple’s name?”
“Couple’s name?”
“Yeah? I’m thinking of Marrianna? Marcelanna? Mianna? Manna” She chuckled and went on, “Amarcel? Aricel? Arel? Arial? Ariane?”
Dear God, Lukas groaned, have mercy on him.
“I think Acel sounds better,” Rhea was still on the issue of choosing a couple’s name for them as Lukas arrived at the base.
“Fine, anyone you choose,” You’re the boss, Lukas added in his mind.
Rhea stepped out of the car before Lukas could come around to help her. As romantic as it was, she was no princess and could take care of herself.
Lukas didn’t say anything when he saw her action. She was the boss, remember? He barely stepped out of the car when his phone rang and picked up instantly, “Lukas speaking…”
Rhea leaned against the car waiting for Lukas to be done with his call only for him to shout, “What?!”
She pushed off the car at once and turned to stare at him. There was a deep frown on his face and she could tell instantly that something was wrong. Rhea patiently waited for him to be done with the call and as soon as he lowered the phone, she asked,
“What happened?”
Lukas looked at her, an emotionless look on his face that unsettled her. For a moment there, she thought he wasn’t going to answer her, only for him to say, “Daniel has been shot.”
“What? Daniel has been shot!” Rhea was shocked, “Hallelujah -!” She was about to scream only to catch herself at the last minute and changed her expression into a sad one, “That is so unfortunate,”
…..
Yet Rhea still asked, “Did he die?” She was anxious for an answer. Honestly, Rhea didn’t know how to respond to this news. Like come on, she was scared of the man and loathed his sorry ass, and it would be a huge cause for celebration if he stopped sucking earth’s oxygen.
No one wanted Daniel around.
But on the other hand, Daniel was her boyfriend’s father and no matter how much Lukas loathed him, he was still his father. If Lukas loathed Daniel as much as he claimed, there were plenty of opportunities for him to end him over the years. But no matter how bad a parent is, he’s still his parent – his flesh and blood – and Lukas could only hope that he becomes better in the future.
“It’s alright, you can feel whatever you feel for him, I’m not judging. You’re not entitled to feel sorry for him, not after what he has done. I feel nothing for him as well,” Lukas told her plainly, but Rhea knew that he was lying.
Not that the both of them could be friends, like a normal father and son relationship, however, avoiding and denying his feelings wasn’t going to work. The both of them had to sort out their hard feelings and bad blood, or else more people would only end up getting caught up in the crossfire – people like her.
Rhea didn’t say anything and merely stepped towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly.
“I don’t need comfort,” Lukas said.
“I know,” Yet Rhea hugged him tighter.
“He didn’t die,” Lukas confessed.
“Oh,” Rhea lifted her head and looked at him. He didn’t need the comfort at all. She slowly pulled back yet stayed by his side.
“What happened?”
Lukas ran his hand through his hair, saying, “I don’t know the details yet -“
“But you need to go see him,” She completed it for him.
He nodded in agreement.
“You should go then, just be careful,” She warned him just in case this was a trap. Although Rhea doubted Daniel would harm his son. Take it or leave it, Daniel loves Lukas in his own twisted way. Nonetheless, the man was manipulative and there was a need to be careful.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” Lukas said, lowering his head and pressing a brief kiss on her lips.
“I’ll be waiting,” Rhea told him as well before they separated and Lukas got into the car and drove off. She kept on waving after him till he was gone.
Rhea returned to the house with the thoughts of doing some stuff on her computer only to bump into Mimi on the way and her eyes widened in surprise. She never told her that she was coming.
But that was until her eyes fell on Victor who came up behind Mimi and understanding dawned on her. From the slight tension between them, Rhea could safely surmise that Victor told her about his condition.
The next minute, Rhea and Mimi were on the balcony, leaning on the glass balustrade while the wind blew their hair in their faces. It was almost evening and the temperature was beginning to drop.
“I guess you know everything then,” Rhea was the first to speak up, breaking the silence between them.
“Yep, he told me everything. Quite a shocker, don’t you think so?” Mimi chuckled as if it was nothing, but Rhea knew that was just her way of dealing with it.
“Yeah,” Rhea nodded.
“I should have known, you know,” Mimi went on, “Stuffs like this are easily noticed by others, not the victims. I bet he wouldn’t even know. Victor just had this strange energy, he was willing to try anything and everything, and I didn’t think much about it. I just thought he was being Victor.”
“What are you going to do then?”
“He’s agreed to treatments and therapies,” Mimi sighed, looking down at her belly and rubbing it affectionately, “He’s scared, you know. But at the same time, he wants to be a good father to the baby and if a bunch of science jumbo would make him better, so be it.”
Rhea reminded her, “It’s not going to be easy, Mimi. There might be roadblocks, relapses and of course, frustrations in his course of treatment, and they can last a lifetime. Are you ready for that?” She was sincerely concerned for her friend.
Mimi tilted her head and looked at her,
“Love was never meant to be easy. If it were that easy, then it wasn’t love at all. And speaking of which…” She faced her fully, “You need to tell Lukas the truth about Elijah, he doesn’t deserve any of this.” Mimi said sternly.