There would be many words to describe Roman Cecilio, but one would be: malicious. Don of the Italian Mafia with no remorse, but what happens when he meets a woman and her daughter?
Jasmine Torres shelters her daughter from any and all harm, hiding...
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Two weeks later... "Luis."
"Yeah, Mom?" He says, raising his head. His eyes widen slightly before they fall and his eyebrows furrow.
He must think I'm crazy and maybe I am. Maybe I'm finally going into a psychological breakdown. I can't tell.
I have managed to get over the anxiety of the gym, I can walk anywhere in this estate and not feel a single thing towards it, I can look out the windows and not have to worry about the weight in my chest.
I am doing exactly what I need to get better but I still feel like I am missing something. I can't seem to put my finger on it. I am not as anxious about Ansley's wellbeing, I am fine with people leaving, I talk to Roman a little, I spend a lot of time with my children.
"What are you wearing?" He chuckles, standing to walk closer to me.
"What? I thought it was nice." I frown, look down at my choice of outfit. It's a white sundress with blue little flowers on it, it has puffy sleeves and goes down to my ankles with a slit on the left leg.
"It is nice. I'm just confused on why you're wearing it, and with no shoes!" He gasps, looking at my bare feet. I've always worn a pair of slippers, no wonder he's looking at me like I'm crazy.
"Will you walk with me? I just-" I furrow my eyebrows, tilting my head, "I just need you to not ask any big questions and walk with me. Please." I say as my heart pounds against my chest.
His face scrunches in confusion but he still nods and laces our fingers together. I smile slightly before we start walking around the estate.
"So how has school been?" I ask, glancing towards him.
"It's been good. My old science teacher went on maternity leave or something because she left and I don't think she's coming back but anyways, we have a new one and she's crazy. She talked about how she used to cut dogs heads off when she was a scientist and lit stuff on fire all in The first day." He laughs, making me chuckle.
"Oh my, that's crazy. Do you like her?" I ask, still chuckling slightly.
"I guess. She's funny but her class is really hard, I don't really understand what she's saying half the time." He shrugs.
I hum as I wrap my other arm around the arm I'm holding before I lay my head on his shoulder. We continue to talk and walk around the estate, we even gathered Ansley.
You never know how much you will miss something until it's gone and something reminds you of it or it happens again. I've missed talking to people. It's not like I don't anymore, it's just one sided. It's my fault that it's one sided, there's no excuses anymore.
"Mom." Luis suddenly stops, looking ahead of where we were walking to. I already know what it is but I'm not going to look.
"I know." I whisper, giving him an encouraging smile as I hear Ansley squeal and take off running outside the door I previously opened. I know the men are still standing by the door.
He nods stiffly before he starts to lead us outside as I take deep breaths. I'm getting over this, it will not hold me back anymore. I've gotten over everything, this will not hold me back.
I deserve to be happy. I have earned the life of having Roman, Luis, and Ansley as my family. I deserve the dream. Alejandro is no longer here to hold me back. No one is holding me back besides myself and it won't happen no more.
I inhale deeply, smiling as the smell of pine trees fills my smell. I can feel the warmth of the sun on my skin and the hot concrete underneath my feet. I can hear the rustling of the trees and Ansley's giggles.
I see everything for the first time. ——————————————————————— "Let's go." I whisper as I smile at Ansley.
She nods before running off with me not far behind her and the men not far from behind me. They've been assigned to me already. I haven't even had the chance to speak to Roman about it before there was four men standing at the door, waiting for me. Roman already knew that I would want to go somewhere.
"Mami! Let's go in here!" Ansley stops in front of a candy store as her sparkling eyes soak all of the colors in.
I grab her hand and nod before we walk inside. I help getting the things that Ansley wants, as well as a few things I want but I also noticed one of the men would get some of things but I shrugged it off because I don't care enough to question him about it.
After running in circles, I finally got Ansley to leave the candy store and walk into a clothing store.
"I'm think about changing my whole wardrobe. What do you think?" I ask her, watching as she tilts her head in confusion.
"No more missions?" She asks, pulling her lollipop out of her mouth.
"Yup, no more missions." I say and couldn't help but smile from the large smile Ansley gives me. It also doesn't help that more weight falls off of me as I say that.
"Yay!" She squeals loudly and it's clear I've let her eat too much candy but I'll let it pass for today. "What kind of clothes do you want then?"
"Um, I don't know. Maybe some more light clothes or girly clothes." I shrug as we walk further into the many racks of clothes.
"You've come to the right person!" She squeals once more. ——————————————————————— "Hey, Jasmine. How di-"
I turn around quickly with my eyes wide as Roman stands in the doorway with the same facial expression as his eyes trails down my body. Suddenly, I'm feeling very shy. I was looking at my body in white laced lingerie.
I knew he was going to come in here, he always comes in here before he goes to bed. I feel stupid and humiliated that he caught me but a small part of me thinks that maybe I wanted to be caught.
"Mama." He breathes out, his eyes flickering to meet mine before going back to my body as he shuts the door behind him.
"You-" he starts but cuts himself off with a shake of his head.
"How long is this going to last?" He asks suddenly, sitting on the edge of my bed as I watch his jaw clench and unclench.
Then the humiliation kicks over my body and I grab my robe and tie it tightly around me.
"How long is what going to last?" I spit, keeping my back to him. God, what else are you going to shove down my throat?
"This. I feel like I'm losing my mind." He chuckles breathlessly.
"I don't know, Roman." I answer honestly.
"I've given you space, and you still don't know. What else am I supposed to do, Jasmine? I was there for you, I gave you space, I let you roam free! What else am I supposed to do?" His voice progressively grows louder as I hear the thud of his shoes hitting the ground before I turn around.
"Roman, I'm trying. I thought I lost her." I try to reason with him.
"I thought I lost her too! You are so caught up in yourself, you haven't even thought about what it was like for others! For me!" He shouts, raising his hands and I couldn't help but flinch.
