ENIOLA
She was downcast.
It hurt her too much to give him space but she felt it was needed to at least give him some peace of mind. He had so much to handle and him having to deal with whatever they had going on at that moment would be too much of a burden on him.
She could see how much the whole Peppero—(whatever the Italian's name was) and mafia issue was fucking him up and she did not want to add to his stress. He was not sleeping well and was zoning out a bit too much. Enny couldn't tell if it was normal for him.
She hadn't seen him in eight years so maybe he had changed but the Tobias she knew never played with his sleep.
"Does Tobias zone out when you talk to him?" Enny asked Clara who just looked at the reality show playing on the television. Usually, she would religiously watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians but her mind was occupied.
"No. He's the most focused person I know."
"Oh."
So he hasn't always been like this? Enny frowned. Her situation must have broken her man.
She wished things could be less complicated. They could get a big house or something and have kids— If that was what he wanted and live happily ever after but no, she had to be in court the next day, flanked by bodyguards she had never met before who were going to protect her from impending doom. Enioluwa Josephine Gillian, why did you have to be so fucking stupid? She nearly slapped herself before sighing.
She really just wanted a quiet life with him. Away from all the New York noise. Somewhere far away in the forest... Like Twilight or something.
"Now I'm worried about him. What did you say he was doing again?" Varo looked at her as he lit a cigarette. He was so good-looking. Too bad his human decency was nonexistent.
"I said he was fucking busy." She defended and the man held her eyes as he took a drag before blowing out and holding the gold paper between his fingers.
"I'll bet my right ball that you pissed him off again." He said and she was about to make a statement about him cutting it off and putting it on the table to stake his claim before Tobias finally came down.
For some reason, he had changed into a pair of dark sweatpants and t-shirt.
Enny thought he looked hot.
"Are you going somewhere, jefe?" Alvaro asked as his boss came to stand beside him.
"Send the house address to Mateo. I want them all there in ten minutes." Tobias instructed and he nodded. "And Clara, I do not know if Don Fernandez told you but we do a lot of killings. There are a lot of bad people in the world and those bad people do not like us. We cannot let them work over us now, can we?" She shook her head. "So I, Varo, Mateo, Miguel, Luis and Ole do what we have to."
Who the fuck is Mateo?
"Well, I am not sure I can say the same about Luca. The boy does whatever he wants to and I have no say in that. Free bird, they say." He added and Varo scoffed quietly in the background.
Eniola couldn't help but notice how the duo's patterns had changed. Alvaro had somehow become another fly on the wall while Tobias who hardly spoke was the center of attraction.
"Tomorrow, you'll both be meeting four out of the five. Ole had work and his flight was delayed so you'll probably see him on Tuesday. Alvaro will be keeping watch as usual and unless you have another question or you're about to have another mental breakdown, have a good night's rest." He concluded, tucking his necklace back into his t-shirt. "I'll see you soon, Princess."
He was gone before she got a reply in. And she watched as he quickly stalked out of the house and onto the lawn and his car. The police were long gone and all she had to do was be present in court.
She could feel the headache coming as she realized there would be paparazzi and the media there too.
"Why the fuck is he mad?" Varo exhaled loudly as he pulled out his phone and slumped on a loveseat. He seemed to be holding his breath while his boss had been talking. "What did you do? Already broke up with him?"
"Are you scared of Tobias?" She asked, semi-curious about the organogram of their family. "And I didn't break up with him. Fuck me, we weren't dating in the first place."
The man loved eye contact as he gave a sly smile but paused. "What did you say before that?"
"Do you fear Tobias?" She asked again and this time, he chuckled.
Alvaro crossed a leg over the other, toying with the cigarette he had snuffed out for some reason. "Do you fear God?"
Eniola was confused.
"Am I not supposed to?"
He nodded. "Honestly, I fear the big guy up there because he creates life from nothing. Gato on the other hand takes that life and turns it into nothing if it gets on his wrong side. I don't know about you Gillian but that is fucking terrifying."
"I didn't know he was that bad..." Clara said and Alvaro shrugged.
"Depends on your definition of bad in this context. Bottom line is, good or bad, God-complex or not, he is Tobias Fernandez. Your boss that you've known for seven years and..." His eyes went to Eniola. "And your— I don't even understand the dynamic between you both."
His genuine confusion made her laugh. He was effortlessly funny.
"Did you two fight or something? You were both pretty upset when you came down here." He asked and she shook her head. It was nobody's business except her and Tobias'. "That was what I thought. Y'all almost fucked on the dinning table less than three hours ago. You can't fight so quickly."
"How long do you think he'll be gone?"
He shrugged. "Hell if I know but he should be back before midnight, I guess. If he isn't then you might just see him in court tomorrow. The guy is a perfectionist. Has to see what Clara and I did to the place before giving his stamp of approval." Varo answered with a yawn. "I better make some coffee, two years of complete beauty sleep has ruined my body clock."
It was already 9 o'clock but Eniola did not think she would be able to go to sleep without Tobias.
"I'm going to bed." Clara announced, sluggishly getting up from the couch. Despite being accustomed to the nature of life, she still seemed to be affected by it.
"That woman will not be able to sleep a wink. Worries too much." Varo said as he walked into the living room with two mugs. Enny was just about to thank him before he reached into one of his coat pockets and brought out a white pack.
He skillfully poured out two capsules and emptied their contents into one of the mugs.
"For her sleep." He elaborated with a playful wink and Eniola shook her head. She was not going to be a party to it.
"I won't let you drug her." She said and Varo laughed.
"Aww, how cute. Vamos, pick up my coffee for me would you?" He said merrily as he jogged up the stairs before Enny could even get a word in.
"I don't think this is right, Varo!" She called after him, climbing slowly to avoid spilling the coffee on her floor. The cleaners wouldn't come in until Tuesday and she would hate for the stain to last that long.
"Chito!" The man called back to her before loudly knocking on Clara's bedroom door.
"Hi." Eniola was shocked to see Clara open the door and hurriedly pack her in a bun in a bid to look more presentable in wrinkled sleeping clothes. She felt bad about what Varo was planning to do.
"Hello."
"Tigress~" The man drew a sickly sweet song. "I made hot chocolate for you so you won't have difficulty sleeping." He grinned widely, making Clara's gaze move from his to her own.
Eniola wished she could aid his facade by smiling too but ended up grimacing.
"Okay. Second random beverage. But okay." She slowly answered, taking the mug from him. "Thank you. Have a good night Enny... And Mr Montez." Clara greeted after sparing another glance at Eniola.
Don't drink it! She tried to speak telepathically.
"You know, if I was doing that to poison a top-tier politician or Don or something and you did that, I would have had to kill you." The man spoke casually as he took his coffee from her. "Thank you."
Her eyes widened at his words but still followed him to the balcony, feeling the cold November air bite her skin.
"Winter is late this time." She said, making herself comfortable on a makeshift bed she always put outside when she felt too lonely.
"I don't know how the New York weather works. It's never this fucking cold in Cuba." Varo complained, warming his hands with the hot cup of coffee. "And I was asked to keep watch, not you." He added making her roll her eyes.
"I know, I'm not sleepy yet. And I wanted to stay up a bit. You know, to get to know the person I'm letting stay in my house." She quickly brought it up. She planned to get more information about the family from him too.
"Oh, you could. But I'll know if you're fishing for information about the family, Nina." He answered after taking a sip of coffee.
"Were you and Tobias initiated into it like a frat or something?" She asked, making the man laugh loudly.
"A frat? What is this? 21 Jump Street?"
"You've seen the movie? It's a good movie."
"It's a great movie." He answered grimly and she just nodded.
"How did you meet him? He said you two have known each other for a while."
Varo shrugged, "I moved to Spain in 1989 and our parents introduced us to each other."
"Oh? I thought you had been in Cuba all your life." Eniola said, hinting at his accent.
"Not quite but I live there at the moment. I'm not all chummy with the family at the estate. " He explained. "I also lived in England for a while because of my studies."
"Oh... What school?"
"Oxford."
Eniola was impressed.
Granted, the lawyer did not seem dumb in any way but she still had difficulty picturing him in anything close to a professional setting.
"That's awesome. That should be around the same time he came to America, right?"
"Not exactly. I was homeschooled throughout my senior year so I finished a year earlier. I think he stayed back for a while."
"Why were you homeschooled?" Eniola asked curiously and he hesitated before answering.
"Long story."
"Make it short then."
"I was suspended for a while but decided to not go back." He answered easily. "Set a boy on fire in my fourth year in secondary school."
She stared at him in shock.
He stared right back.
"Of course..." Eniola said unsure, wondering if Tobias was as wild as Alvaro. So far, Varo seemed like a person with a sort of undiagnosed personality disorder. "What's Tobias's anger like?"
Alvaro seemed to chuckle at the question.
"He never gets angry. Only pissed, pissed as in five to ten minutes, and he's done. He completely lets it go and moves on. The last time I saw him get angry was when Romelu cut Rebecca's hair. The bastard was deranged with a lot of insecurity." Varo seemed to frown at the memory. "And he was fucking ugly. Still don't know what Rebeccas saw in the Quasimodo incarnate. Personally, I'd flush him down a fucking toilet and not just let him ring bells. A threat to society if you ask me."
Eniola could not stop the hideous laughter that followed as he flatly roasted the Romelu person. "Fuck, he seems horrible. What did Tobias do?"
"Set the boy's house on fire. Burned it right to the fucking ground. And that was the only time his anger did not end with someone dying." He paused to take another sip. "He's pretty merciful if you ask me."
"Why'd you think this Romelu guy cut her hair though?"
"No fucking clue but I was told Rebecca called Tobias in the middle of the night, crying and shit and the next thing was him calling Mateo and asking for a tank of petrol. It was really funny though." He said, laughing. "You know he tortured the guy, locked him up in the burning house, and told him he would do the same to his family house if he didn't make it out alive? Yeah, I honestly don't know how the man crawled out of the burning mess with a cut open torso. He's been in the emergency room for a few weeks now."
Eniola found it difficult to pick up her jaw. What kind of people had she let inside her house?
"It's recent?!"
"Yeah, how's that for anger?"
He finally emptied the remaining of the liquid and dropped the cup. Enny could see white powder at the bottom.
"I thought you gave her that cup?"
The man just sat quietly, reaching into his pockets for a cigar.
"Do you smoke?" He asked, lighting the cigar and offering it to her.
"I'm not up for it at the moment."
"Yippee, more of the cancer stick for me then." He joked, taking a long drag from it. "I would never drug a person. We don't hurt people who don't deserve it, remember?"
"But—"
"The pill was meant for me. I don't sleep. And if I'm going to put up with the court and legal bullshit tomorrow, I'll need a little bit of shut-eye so I don't stab the judge in his fucking eye."
"Are you even a lawyer? And what do you mean you don't sleep?" She asked curiously. His answers just made her question him all the more.
"I went to law school, I passed six different bar exams so yes. I'm a fucking lawyer. Insomnia bullshit."
"You're a wreck." She shook her head in disbelief while he laughed.
"I'm your wreck." He replied wiggling his brows and she could feel herself cringe.
"Never say that again."
"You don't need to tell me twice, I almost barfed in my mouth."
"Are you friends with the guys Tobias mentioned?" She asked after a while of awkward goofy silence.
"Not really..." The man barked out a sad laugh. "Those grown-ass men would frustrate your soul."
"You must really hate them then?"
"Hate? They're my fucking family. I kill for those idiots and might also end up killing them but yeah— I'm not in a position to hate them." Varo coughed out smoke loudly. "Wrong pipe."
"Sorry." She soothed with a smile.
"It's alright. You'll like them... They don't hate the straight ones." He resumed his smoking. The heat provided little warmth to his lungs.
Eniola quietly watched him make little smoke rings as she snuggled further into the thick blanket. She kept in mind that the heaters were not working well so she probably had to have them changed.
"I've learned to tolerate them. Things have changed and unlike the teens we used to be where all we did was fight, the bastards have lives to live now. Like Miguel. He's a doctor. Has twins and a pretty wife. He used to be in the army. And Luis, my cousin. He's really into all this fashion stuff so he's the closest to me after Mateo."
"What about Mateo? What does he do?" She asked, looking at her watch for a second. It was a minute past eleven. Where is he?
"He's an attorney like me. Good guy and there's Lucado, our little kid." Varo paused for a moment before reaching for his phone. "Here."
It was an Instagram picture of a teenager.
The kid had a head full of black curly hair shaved at the sides. He sat on the hood of the car as he did a cute peace sign with a small smile.
"Cute... Is he, you know—" She asked curiously and Varo stared at her with amusement. The pose and light blue barbie t-shirt were not helping matters.
Alvaro just laughed, tucking his phone back in his pocket. "Don't let all that fool you. He's our Rambo."
"Him? You're fucking with me." Enny laughed.
He barely looked legal. She would believe if he was a member of a boy band or a child actor.
"I'm not. Luca deals with our weapons and ammo, you know, the big boom booms. If you need the gun Hitler used to kill his puppy, he'll get it for you. It's in his family."
"I don't think Hitler—" Did Hitler even have a puppy?
"He was not meant to be a part of the Cinco Grande. Poor guy was just there, chillin' like every other high school student. Smoking weed and you know, the usual stuff." Varo paused to rub his hands together. "It's getting really cold out here."
"It is." Enny frowned, looking at one of the heaters that had stopped working. Piece of shit.
"Well, that was until his brother Felicio had to go and die. Sad. Boo-fucking-hoo. So yes, Luca was added as a replacement because Gato and I couldn't find any other replacement. The poor boy was only seventeen or so then."
"You don't seem to like Felicio very much." Eniola pointed out and Varo pursed his lips in annoyance, looking away for a moment.
"Had it coming." He said a little too bitterly. Eniola thought she would ask Tobias about Felicio some other time. "But Luca is an angel. With the free contract he has to do the fuck he wants, he's still pretty loyal. Good kid."
"What exactly does he do?"
"He's a free bird. What would you do if you were one?" He answered dismissively, pushing himself off the bench. "You should go to bed, Gillian. Long day tomorrow."
She was still curious but ate her words. "Goodnight, Varo."
"Night, Gillian."
She too got up from her bundle of blankets and bade the man goodnight. She watched the man as he pulled out his phone again while he watched over her lawn and brought it to his ear before she walked past Tobias's room.
They were both strange people. They had another world she hadn't known existed.
One where Tobias was a leader and someone a lot of people looked up to.
No wonder he always looks so tired.
Eniola could swear she had learned about six different persons and a hundred different names.
Although she could not wait to meet them, a headache was already brewing at the back of her head.
She carefully removed all her piercings from their openings, noting that it would feel a lot better if Tobias had been the one to do it for her.
She begrudgingly looked at her phone time; 11:30 PM.
"He's not coming back is he?"
She sat quietly in the shower evaluating her decisions.
She had asked for space and had given him his own time in making the first move. She knew personally that she was more than ready to go all the way with him. She cared about him and he did the same too. What's so complicated about that?
Did he still see her as a little child?
She tried to put herself in his shoes. He had a lot of things going on and was the kind of person who would rather take things slowly.
Maybe giving him time was a good thing.
But she wanted him in bed with her. Even though he would just lie next to her and run his hands through her hair. It would always calm her down.
She needed him.