The Esztar Code | A Mafia Romance Thriller |18+|

C H A P T E R 19

"He's fine. He's so much less injured because I saved his ass every time." He sassed.

"Don't you think Luca will retaliate?" Why aren't they worried about it?

"Of course he will." Toby affirmed. "Luca has just one weakness. His brother. But we're still stronger than him. He can't harm us."

"Yeah whatever. Leave all that aside. I'm sorry I'm disturbing you. You need to rest." I got up and handed him his meds.

"No I don't want them. They're bitter." He turned away making a face. I sighed at his childish behavior and at the same time reminding myself this is the same person who has probably killed god knows how many people.

"Toby!" I warned.

"No." His muffled protest came from under his duvet which he wore over his head.

Twenty minutes.

It took me twenty minutes to get him to swallow three damn pills. Too much of a work! And Rafael says I'm difficult to deal with. Such a hypocrite!

After completing the tedious task, I decided to reward myself a stroll in the garden. The day was pleasant with sun shining brightly which made the plethora of flowers look even more radiant.

Someone cleared their throat from behind, catching my attention. I turned back to face Jake holding a yellow rose for me. I was frozen for a second with shock. "For me?"

"Yes ma'am." He answered in a straight tone.

"Stop calling me ma'am for heaven sake. I'm the age of your daughter Jakey." I pouted.

"You looked sad this morning. My daughter says flowers make girls happy. I hope it worked."

A bubbly laugh egressed from my lips as I accepted the rose and wore it in my hair. "How do I look?" I did a dramatic hair flip.

"Like a doll." He smiled.

"What's going on here?" Oliver walked over to us with a confused look.

"Jakey gifted me this rose. See it even matches with my dress."

"Uh.. I'll get going sir." Jake went away, leaving us alone in the garden.

Oliver kept staring at me without blinking his eyes, holding a well known dead expression.

"Do I look that bad with a rose stuck in my hair?"

"I don't understand you." His brows creased in deep confusion.

"Pft! I don't understand me either. Big deal." I shrugged.

"You could've gotten yourself killed yesterday, Vittoria. Why did you risk your life for Ava, a girl you don't even know?"

That's it? I thought he was going to ask me how to propose Ariel.

"I don't know her, but I know you. Or at least the pain in your eyes when you talk about her. I did it because I can relate to your pain. Besides, I trusted you guys. I knew they won't let me die. After all, I'm the bullet for your gun." And after that, I'm useless. But I didn't say that out loud.

"Thank you Vittoria, really." He sandwiched my hand between his warm ones. "There are very few people who selflessly think about others. I haven't met anyone of that kind. But that was until today."

"What will happen after you find Mason? Let's say he tells you everything about the Visitant. Then what? What will you do with us?"

He looked away, letting go of hand. "You skipped dinner yesterday."

"You skipped the answer to my question."

"We'll let you go of course. It goes without saying. Now you answer my question."