Hey guys, make sure you read 00 to get a better understanding on both Orabella and Cole's background.
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C O L E
After leaving the mall with Serena and Reyna, we were currently on our way back to the house. Much to my dismay, Serena was the one driving.
"Oh come on Cole! Lighten up a little. Serena's driving isn't that bad." Reyna spoke out from the backseat.
"Yeah right. She almost ran over a curve, twice." I reminded her.
"Hey! I told you that there was something in my eyes, look at me now." Serena butted in.
"Eyes on the road Rena." I told her before sitting back in the seat. She pouted before focusing back on the road.
"You're always so serious, like dad." She complained, Reyna laughing at her words.
"Im just making sure I don't die, is that wrong?" I asked her. She flicked me off in response.
After a few minutes we finally made it back to the house. The three of us then got out of the car, the two grabbing the bags of clothes and accessories they bought. I helped both of them by grabbing the rest of the bags.
"You're such a gentleman Cole, your future wife is gonna be in for a special treat." Serena teased as we walked towards the door, earning herself a glare from me.
"Don't forget that I'm holding all the unnecessary perfumes that you bought. I won't have a problem with dropping them." I told her before unlocking the door.
As soon as we walked in a whole bunch of confetti was shot towards us.
"Surprise! Happy birthday Cole and Reyna!" They all shouted out, including Serena. Of course, I should've seen this coming.
In the room was mom and dad, Winston and his son, some family friends and our two other siblings. I couldn't help but smile when I saw my baby sister running towards me.
"Cole!" She cheered before I picked her up, kissing her on the cheek. Anna May was the youngest and last of us. Rome walked towards us as well. He's two years younger than Serena.
"Hey Anna, how have you been?" I asked her as she held onto me.
"Good! Happy birthday!" She told me before handing me something. I looked to see what was in her hand, it being a little piece of paper that she drew something on.
"Thank you sorellina. This looks really nice, who are these people?" I asked while pointing at the two people on the paper.
"This is me and this is you! We are playing on the swings." She told me. I nodded in response before Reyna came over.
"Hey little Anna, did you make me something for my birthday too?" She asked her before reaching out to take her from me.
Anna May quickly shook her head while pushing Reyna away.
"No."
Reyna now looked irritated. I don't even know why she tried doing that, the results are always the same.
Reyna then looked at me for help but I just shrugged in response, "I can't make her go to you Reyna, that's her decision." She pouted in response.
"She does this every time! She'll come to me when you're not around but as soon as you're here, she doesn't wanna be around anyone but you." She stated.
Mom then came over to us, laughing at the site. I hugged Rome after I asked about his day and he gave me and Reyna a birthday card.
Rome has always been quiet and laid back. He's kind of like me, doesn't really like being around big crowds unless it's necessary. One talent that he was blessed with would be art.
Most of the time Rome is either drawing or painting something in his room.
"Rey you know how Anna is whenever Cole is here. They barely get to see each other and you visit often." Mom told her.
"Well, yeah I understand... but it's Cole's fault for barely coming to see y'all." Reyna spoke out. I couldn't help but sigh out at her words.
She's always acting like a little child.
"Stop trying to make it seem like I don't like coming here. I've been caught up with a lot of work recently." I told her.
Before she could say anything dad and aunt Sophie came over to us, "Come on, I wanna take you guys a family photo." Sophie spoke out excitingly with a huge smile on her face.
This time it was both Serena and I that groaned out in annoyance.
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After we finished taking pictures with family and friends, my dad took uncle Maddox and I to the office for a discussion.
"My nephew is all grown up now. He already has his own place and now he's 21 years old." Maddox spoke out before wiping his eyes, acting as if he was crying.
I looked over to my dad who was looking at his brother weirdly, "Can you be serious for just one second?" He asked.
Maddox then cleared his throat, "Alright alright, no need to catch an attitude."
He stood from the chair he was sitting in, now walking around before looking at me. Before he could say anything the door to the office had opened, revealing my close friend, Lukas.
He quickly rushed in before shutting the door behind him, sitting next to me, "Sorry I'm late... traffic was kind of bad out there." He said, obviously lying.
My dad was the first one to laugh, "Lukas, glad you could make it." He spoke out with a small smile on his face. When it comes to us having friends my dad was always skeptical, barely trusting any of them.
Believe it or not, I have had friendships and even relationships where they were only around me for the money. But when I introduced him to Lukas, he immediately trusted him.
"Now since everyone is finally here... Cole, you have been running your father's company for at least four to five years now. With the help of Lukas, you two have improved so much throughout the years. Which is why my brother and I have decided to give you a extra gift." Maddox spoke out.
"What do you mean by "gift"? Lukas asked him.
"You and Cole may remember the time I brought the two of you with me to my other business, the most popular strip club around here. Well you probably can't tell due to my good looks, but I'm getting old as hell... it's starting to get difficult to manage everything over there and I would like a few extra pair of arms to help me out." He explained.
"So you want us to run the strip club for you?" I asked, him nodding his head in response.
"What I don't fully understand is why do you even run that kind of business? You could have you own company like this one." Lukas added.
"Both this company and the strip club are more so a decoy. All the things you do here are just like any other business, but we do other stuff on the side." Maddox explained.
"I'm not really following..." Lukas muttered out, making me shake my head at how slow he is.
"We've been running a mafia that was passed down to us from our father, your grandpa. I'm still in good shape but Maddox on the other hand... well, you see." My father added, earning a glare from his brother.
"Even though I'm not at the age of retirement, that's what we're going to tell the public. I've been too consumed with this business and I would like to stay home and focus on my family" My dad explained.
I figured it was something like that. Some of the jobs and meetings I attended seemed a little sketchy. On the other hand, Lukas actually looked shocked.
I then turned towards my uncle, "What about Delilah? Does she know about this?" I asked him.
A small sigh escaped from him before he nodded his head, "She does... she actually works at the club as a bartender believe it or not. But I don't want her to stress herself out with all of this." He explained.
"Do not say anything about this to your siblings. Not even Reyna, I don't want them knowing about this side of the family yet." My father told me. I nodded my head in response, I understood why they were being so serious about this.
There was then a knock on the door, "Come in." My father said. It was my mother, Serena and Anna May that came in.
Anna May quickly ran towards me, now sitting on my lap. I smiled as she began playing with my hair, Serena sitting on the other side of me.
"Principessa, did you forget about me?" Dad asked, a small frown on his face. Anna May ended up getting up from my lap, running towards our father.
"Daddy!" She cheered, making everyone laugh.
"But back to what we were talking about, I'll introduce and show you two around the place tomorrow." Maddox said, both Lukas and I nodded in response.
I didn't miss the confused look Serena gave but I chose to ignore it.
*****
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