Leandro Rosario (Book 5: A Mob Boss's son)

10. Jacob's Talk

Leandro narrowed his eyes at the scene. Was his brother crazy? This girl hadn't proven herself to even show she liked Leo. If the girl rejected his brother he was going to make her life hell. If she said yes, he was going to give Leo a telling off. Why ask her out when she was acting so un-Rosario like. She had to pay for her behaviour. She had a lot of de-merits for her rebellious actions against the dress code attending compulsory after school clubs. She was one of those students he would have loved to see punished publicly but he went easy on her for Leo's sake. He wanted to stop this nonesense. It bothered him that his little brother was getting a girl before he did.

Elena looked around nervously and then his eyes locked with Leandro who was standing from a distance staring at her coldly like he always did. She couldn't reject a Rosario publically unless she had a death wish for her family. Everyone knew that. She didn't intend to reject him. She just needed time. He bullied her team all the time. She didn't like his bullying ways. But she couldn't deny how much Leo had done for her. She would have been expelled by now if it wasn't for Leo. He had saved him a few times from Leandro's full force wrath. Of course he was not nice to anyone but her. She couldn't say yes but it was not true if she said she didn't want him to take her to prom. She breathed "I need to ask permission from my father. I ... will tell you tomorrow." She then walked off the platform.

Leandro liked her intelligence. Wise move.

Leandro walked away and thought of Jean. He couldn't make her his unless his father approved. He didn't want his father to know he had a girl yet. But he didn't want to be unprepared in case his father didn't approve. So he decided to send his father a fax. He was away on business that night. He didn't even know where he was. But he had his fax number. He went to a small communications room that he had there. He sent his father a quick telegram about jean Neuer. He thought carefully about his words. He mentioned he wanted to ask her on a date. But that was a lie. They already had been on a date really. But it wasn't official. Was it? . "I shall not lie" was what we believed in. He hadn't asked her out yet. So he said to himself "To hell with it." If his brother hadn't asked Elena out maybe he would have waited until his father came back. He just wrote. I need a date to the prom. Can I take this girl? Do I have your approval?"

He regretted sending the fax already the second he pressed the buttons. He couldn't take his father on. He had witnessed first hand how his father operated when someone was put on his black list. The smallest doubt about anyone meant they were to be banished from around the family or disappear. Some were dead of course. Was his father going to kill her? He hoped not. He was invincible at school and ran the place but outside he was to obey his father or get crushed.

Leandro made arrangements for departure and closing down. He was dreading to get back to the fax machine. The answer could come tonight instantly. His father always made it his priority to respond to his children in his office.

As Leandro went back to office to check the fax machine, he saw the piece of paper and he closed his eyes. He made the sign of a cross and said a prayer. He then picked up the paper.

It read "Her father, Johnny was a college friend of mine. I will speak to J tomorrow. You don't need to visit him to ask for permission. J will visit you if he chooses to. But it's unlikely he will ask to see you when he has seen me for a decade and a half. He knows what this means."

Leandro couldn't believe the message. Jean's father was Johnny Neuer. He was a business associate who ran ranches. He never understood why his father worked with the agricultural sector. But now it made sense. His father had mentioned he had one civilian friend from college called J. But he never mentioned it was Johnny neuer and Leandro in fact never cared. He wondered what impression Johnny had made on his father to make his father call him a friend. He even had a nickname for the man; "J". Was that a yes? He found it hard to believe. He had happened to fall for the daughter of the only civilian friend of his father. Johnny Neuer was not involved in crime dealings. He was legit. Rosarios dealt with civilians but none of them were a friend of Don Vincenzo. They were business partners.