My Mafia Daddy | REWRITTEN | DDLG 18+

Chapter Twelve

"Yeah, the whole table-" Ace mumbles quietly. 

"Why are they-" Cherry mumbles back. 

"I haven't been-" Parts of their sentences are broken off, and hard to understand. They keep going, muttering about someone being angry at some point and Ace needing to do something. 

"What's wrong?" I ask loudly, giving them a pointed look as they jump. 

"Nothing, bunny, don't worry about it," Ace replies, trying to give me a reassuring smile. 

"Well, I basically live here," Ace frowns at that. "And I have the right to know if something bad is happening."

"No,-" Cherry cuts Ace off, not letting him say his thought. 

"Her father is in a gang, too, actually the leader. She might know what to do about it, she could help. You can't hide her from everyone forever, either." Ace stays quiet at Chef Cherry's words, mulling over the decision. 

It's obvious to me. 

If you're going to have me here, make me useful. 

Confidence spreads through my core and I look at him, more determined to know what's going on. 

His eyes shift between me and Chef Cherry, then he sighs and looks back to me. 

"Yeah, I guess you're right," He says, going over to a chair and sitting down then motioning to me to do the same. 

"Go ahead," I tell him, sitting down and finishing the last bite of my sandwich. 

"Over the last few weeks you've been here, I've done a poor job of keeping up with my paperwork and I've been neglecting my duties. My people are getting restless and worried; unsure of what's going on and frustrated because they haven't had any orders, nor have been told what I've been... preoccupied with." He explains, pausing to look at my expression and try to see what I'm thinking. I nod to him to go on, doing my best to keep my face blank. "Some of my people are beginning to get reckless and are acting out. I need to take care of it, but it's piling up because my territory is, or was, growing and we're adapting to it. But I don't want to neglect you in any way, so I'm not sure what to do other than letting someone else, that I trust of course, take over for me."

Staying silent, I mull over everything that he's saying  and I shake my head. I've spent a lot of time with my father's mafia and I've done some basic "chores" for him occasionally. My father is a terrible man, but he's smart and resourceful. 

"Do you want my honest opinon?" I ask, looking up to Ace. He looks at me confused, not sure how to respond to my question. "I don't want to just put my opinion out there and you not like it and then it creates an argument for no reason, you know? You're going to do what you're going to do and I don't want to get in the way of that."

"No, no. Go ahead, I want to know what you think, too," He tells me, smiling gently at what I said. 

"I think that letting someone take over for you would be the worst possible decison you could make for your people and yourself. You already established your power here, your people have confidence and pride in you as your leader and if you switch that up, especially for a girl, your people won't accept you as a leader again. Your rivals would look down on you and think less of you, no one would be afraid of you - or, you know, they wouldn't think you're strong. If I can help, in any way, whether that's just letting you get your business done and putting myself aside because that's what you need, then I'm fine with that. I'm also fine with getting my hands dirty, just saying." I grin, finishing off my words as he looks at me with a smile. Chef Cherry looks at me with pride in his eyes, glad that I spoke my mind on the matter. Instead of responding immediately, Ace thinks silently and the brightness in his face soon dissipates. 

"If you did help, or even if I stayed, you could be in danger. Do you even know how to protect yourself? You'll have to make dangerous and difficult choices, are you okay with that?" He asks, his eyebrows furrowed with worry. 

"I promise you, if you put me in a shooting range than I could beat you. I'm amazing when it comes to self defense and strategy, I will be okay. Plus, I'm sure my father is looking for me - I'm in danger anyway," I tell him with a slight laugh, making a joke of things always helps. 

"We can try it," he says, a slight huff to his voice. "There's going to be a dinner here tonight - my father won't be able to make it but he's sending a man here in replacement. You can be introduced then, if that's alright. Do you have any clothes you can wear?"

"Proper or common?" I ask with a smile, a slight challenge in my eyes. 

---- 

"Bunny?" I hear Ace call out from below, the buzz of chattering slowly comes to a halt to the sound of his voice. I smile, the power of his voice slightly vibrating my heart. 

I can hear the loud clicks of my black heels underneath me as I walk around the corner, making my way to the side of the stairs to walk down. Ace insisted that I stayed upstairs in the bedroom until it was time for me to come down, I'm assuming so he can stage a huge entrance. 

I'm wearing a beautiful, soft purple, silky dress with a slit down the right side with a cropped, furry, black jacket that slips off the shoulder. A gold, shiny necklace with my name spelled out in cursive hangs from my neck - it makes me feel gorgeous. 

"I have someone, I feel is extremely important, to introduce to you all! She will help in taking care of our people and continuing our business. She's amazing and caring, and I believe that you'll all adore her, this is Constance!" Ace and Noah cheer as I reach the bottom of the stairs, Ace waiting to take my hand on the last couple steps. Everyone cheers for a second before pausing, waiting for me to talk. 

"Hello!" I let out a strong, confident smile as I wave to everyone staring me down. "I'm Constance Dante, I hope you all accept me and let me do my best to help, I'm so glad to be here!"