"Lina, I thought you were sleeping," I whisper, looking at her with a confused face. Last I checked, everyone except me was sleeping. As I look at Catalina, she also has a confused look on her face -- which makes complete sense. I mean, it does look really weird. Mateo just randomly showing up at 2:30am, me going for a walk with him. And who knows if she saw our little front door moment where we made me feel the safest I've ever felt. She motions towards our bedroom, where I assume she wants to have the conversation. I follow behind her, making sure to close the door quietly.
"Lina, I swear I can explain," I say once I close the door, now talking in a more regular voice. She sits on her bed and just looks at me. Then, after what feels like forever, she gives me a small smirk.
"Ella, are you guys dating?" She says, with the smirk more visible.
"No no no, I mean I wish. But no," I say, laughing. I walk towards my closet and go inside, changing into pajamas. As much as I would love to date Mateo, I honestly don't know if it would work out -- especially since with the recent discoveries. Catalina walks towards my closet, leaning on the door frame and watches me as I put my hair into a bun and tie my headscarf on.
"Okkkay, if you're not dating then why was here?"
"Because he's in the Mafia and someone is threatening to kill him, and me. So he wants us to move into his Mafia house for our safety," I say, looking at her through the mirror while I tie on my headscarf. For about thirty seconds, she has a straight face. Then she balls over, hysterical laughing. I stand up and look at her, she's literally on her knees laughing and I just stare at her with a straight face. After about a full minute of her laughing, she looks at me.
"Ella, why aren't you laughing? That was a good joke; now tell me why he was really here," She says. I just stay silent; hoping she realizes that I'm not joking. Although Mateo is suppose to come over tomorrow and explain the full thing, I don't want her to have this reaction in front of him. Because I know my best friend, and I knew she would think this is fake. Once she realizes that I'm serious, I walk towards my bed and sit on her, as she walks towards hers.
"Oh my god. Ella, what the hell?" She says with her jaw dropped -- similar reaction that I had when I found out.
"Yeah, it's a long story. He's going to come over tomorrow and explain in better depth. But we're moving out tomorrow. Some of his men are going to help us pack, Mateo included. He's going to continue to pay for rent and bills for here -- so we don't lose the place while we live there. And we'll live with him for free. Like I said, he's going to explain more tomorrow," I say, leaning backwards and going on my phone. Although I'm more than terrified, I don't want to show it. Catalina is the type to feed off of people's energy, and if she feels me being nervous, it'll make her more nervous.
"Ella, I have so many freaking questions for him. How the hell did you find this out? Was it at the gala the other night?"
"Yeah, I should've told you sooner but he wanted me to keep it a secret."
"Are you sure we're okay?"
I give her a small smile and look at her, "We're okay. Mateo is making sure of that. Get some sleep; tomorrow is a busy day." Once I say that, she smiles softly and lays down, turning on the tv to watch Cupcake Wars. I decide to pull up my text conversation with Mateo:
Hey, tomorrow at 10:00am I'll be going to brunch with my friends. Btw, Catalina has a ton of questions for you -- she knows. Night!
Once I send the message, I lay down and drift off to sleep.
----------
The next morning is the same as every other Saturday morning. Everyone wakes up with a hangover, we throw on sweats and a sweatshirt, then head out for breakfast. There is a small restaurant down the street, so we usually walk there. I woke up to Mateo sending me a thumbs up emoji, and when we go outside to leave, the men aren't sitting on the front stairs anymore. I guess Mateo had them leave so my other friends wouldn't ask questions; which I appreciate. Catalina doesn't say anything about what she found out last night, and I'm beyond grateful for that.
Once we get to the restaurant, we order drinks and food, then talk about last night -- adding more to our stories that we remember. Once we get our food, we start to plan out our day together. Like I said, we normally spend all day Saturday together -- just like we did in college -- but today Catalina and I can't. We decide to make up some excuse that her parents are coming from the Bronx to visit, and they'll be at the place around 1:00pm. Christina frowns and Santiago grunts, but they understand it. After that conversation is done, we keep eating our food and chitchatting, talking about everything under the sun. After we finish, we all part ways, hugging and saying goodbye.
As Catalina and I walk towards the apartment, we see Mateo with six other guys standing outside our apartment. I'm walking with my head down so she bumps my arm.
"Look," She says, pointing towards the men. I look up and smile, waving at them, while Mateo just looks at me with his usual, emotionless face.
"Aw look, if it isn't the criminals. How you doing boys?" Catalina says with a gigantic small on her face, looking up at Mateo. I walk up the steps and unlock the door, giggling a little bit. I motion for everyone to go inside and they do, Mateo stopping to give me a small kiss on my head, which has my face turning red and Catalina secretly fangirling. Once they are inside, Mateo tells Catalina he'll explain everything in the car, just right now we have to get packing -- so we do.
We decide to leave all of our furniture, and just take our clothes, shoes, makeup, hair products and tools, accessories, and anything else we may like. All the men help out a lot, with putting things in boxes and moving them to their cars. After about two hours of packing, we finish up.
Catalina and I stand by our front door, holding hands and saying goodbye to our apartment. Although it's not forever, it's weird to think that we won't be here for a few days, or a few weeks. Hell, it could be a few months -- who knows. Once we say our goodbyes, we get into the car with Mateo, me sitting in the passenger seat and her sitting in the back. Three of the men drive in front of us, then three other men drive behind us.
Once we get on the road, Mateo starts explaining the situation to Catalina -- wasting no time really. He explains the whole story with the Mafia to her, and why we need to live with him. Then he explains that we will live there for free -- no rent, no bills, no buying food, no nothing. He even says that he'll drive us to and from work since we can't use public transportation. After asking a few question, Catalina seems cool with things. Excited even. She tells Mateo that she's always wanted to live a double life, and can even become the next female fatale -- which receives a laugh from me and a grunt from him.
The rest of the drive is silence, with music playing quietly in the background. After about 45 minutes of driving, we pull up to this gated driveway. Once the gates open, we drive about a mile down the driveway and right in the open is the massive house. It's absolutely gorgeous, with a long, circle shaped drive-up -- in the middle is a beautiful fountain. There is a 15 car garage, and the outside of the house is a beautiful cream color. The windows in the front of the house are huge, and there is even a chandelier outside the doorway that shines light. I look out the window, amazed at what I'm seeing.
"Oh my gosh, this is absolute gorgeous -- I don't think I've seen anything prettier," I say as Mateo opens my door, taking my hand. He then goes and opens Catalina's door, also taking her hand and helping her out the car.
"I know right Ella? I mean, this is everything I pictured and more -- I don't know why I didn't get involved in the Mafia sooner," She says, standing next to me in awe. Some of the men who helped us move already are bringing our boxes inside, and Mateo stands behind Catalina and I. He then walks around us, and towards the door -- us following.
"Welcome home girls," He says, motioning for us inside.
-
-
-
Author's note:
Hi everyone! This chapter is slightly longer -- I hope you enjoyed it!
Let's talk: how did we feel about Catalina's reaction towards the Mafia thing? Was it what you expected it to be? And how do you think things will work out with the girls living in the Mafia house? Let me know what you think!
We're already at 75 reads... which is just surreal to me! Thanks so much to all of you -- means the freaking world to me!
xoxo,
Ashley
YOU ARE READING
Power & Pleasure
RomanceAntonella García • Bubbly • Confident • Funny Antonella is a bubbly, confident 28 year old. She's loved a beautiful, successful life; worked her way up the ranks. She lives with her best friend in an apartment in New York City, works a great job, an...
