Chapter 13 - Of Many Firsts

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Hello, lovelies! Here's chapter 13 for you all. I hope the length makes up for the wait. Sorry.

Hope you enjoy it and please remember to vote, comment, and fan if you did. (: Thank you.

Laters, baby! :D <3

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~Cisco~

We had just left the hospital, now sitting in a cab with each of us by a window seat. The one in between was empty.

Josephine was pronounced dead at twelve fifty seven in the afternoon, exactly fifteen minutes ago. And Mila was in a state of shock. She stared blindly outside the cab's windows, no sounds escaping her. Her eyes were just as gone, withdrawn from the world and pretending to watch the city as it sped in front of her. The only sign of emotion she gave was in the way she held her hands together, so tightly that her knuckles were white from the strain. And I wanted to reach out for her, comfort her with words and the touch of another human being. But how could I do that when I feared she would crumble if I disturbed the thin wall around her? Hell, I had much preferred she would crumble in my arms, kicking and sobbing, than stay that distant and removed. I needed to know she was there. Alive. Yet I knew I had to give her space and let her cope in her own way at least for now because she was far gone in a state of shock that I didn't dare try to break her from. It was impossible. I would help her break it herself.

I tore my eyes away from her and looked forward, still keeping her in my peripheral vision, then remembered the letter Josephine had given me nearly a month ago. Why it came into my mind at this moment, I wasn't sure, but it had to be nonetheless because of her death. And I remembered that I hadn't removed the letter from the very leather jacket I wore at the moment. I quietly retrieved it, knowing Mila wouldn't see it or care if she did. Not now, that was.

I read the letter for the second time, noting I'd have to put it in a safer place when I got home.

Dear Francisco,

The money is being securely kept in a safe deposit. You can retrieve it at your better judgement: when you know my daughter is safe. I know you'll do everything it takes to protect her until there's nothing or no one left to harm her. You must be wondering why I trust you so well and most probably deem me a fool for doing so but the answer to that question is simple; I trust you because Mila trusts you. As we've already established, my daughter is not exactly the trusting type so when she trusts so wholly, so unconditionally, and so quickly then I know there's no danger. She's only ever trusted you, Cisco, as I described. Therefore, the information to access the safe deposit is kept secured in my personal safe at home. It's in my bedroom, in a compartment at the end of my closet. The code is in one of my books; Northanger Abbey. In that safe are a number of other important papers and documents that I need for you to retrieve and keep safely hidden at your better judgement. Apart from documents there is a necklace I'd like for you to give to Mila.

There, that is all regarding the safe but not all I have to say.

For about the seventieth time, please, Francisco, take care of my daughter. Don't let her get hurt. I want her to live a long and happy life where she can look back on me and think of me with a smile on her face, not a frown as she remembered everything my money put her through. Give me some peace when I go wherever it is that dead souls go by letting me know my daughter is safe with you.

And the last thing before you fold this letter and put it away is something I need you to keep an open mind for, Francisco. I wouldn't be surprised if you found yourself thinking, "How in hell would this woman even know of such things?" I don't. Yet a mother can always dream. And she will always know her child better than she knows herself. So here I go, imposing and nosy, but always in Mila's better interest... Be gentle with her if she ever grows to love you, whether you share the feeling in return or not because I cannot bare to see her heart broken when I am supposed to be sipping margaritas in heaven with greek gods fanning me and feeding me grapes. I know my baby girl. When she loves, she loves with her all. When she cares, she does everything in her power to make the person she cares for happy. She feels everything with an intensity I cannot begin to describe. She's her father's daughter. I'm not jumping in and saying the future will play out just as I suggested because I'm not clairvoyant but if it does... You'll know what to do, Francisco. I know that. And I also know you care for her, too.

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