-Aleksandra inspiration above
Rosie
Walking arm in arm with Mateo we set foot outside through beautiful arches full of roses in pink and whites and Italian ruscus. As we reached the final arch an announcer could be heard announcing, "ladies and gentlemen please give a warm welcome for: Mateo Adrián De Leon and the guest of honor, Rocio Giovanna De Leon. " The stage below us illuminated Teo and I as we walked into the limelight. The crowd below us was clapping as they watched us like zoo animals on display.
Teo walked ahead of me down the first step and turned around for me to grab his hand to get off the stage safely. Nino was waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs with his eyes smiling proudly. "You look beautiful mi niña " he complimented me as he pulled me in for a hug. Nino took my arm in his as we faced Teo. My godfathers face went from loving to cold and serious as he ordered Mateo. "Go talk to the Serafin's for me they are asking about the other days encounter." Teo silently nodded and walked away into the crowd searching for someone.
"Rosie, walk with me for the night" my godfather asked. I smiled back at him, and we began walking through the crowd. There were people of all parts of the world here. Most of them in suits showing off their wealth. Men walking around with heavy gold jewelry and tattoos. At one point I spotted a man missing a finger and another missing an entire arm.
A tall man with silver hair and the build of a football player accompanied by a pretty young blonde in his arm walked up to us halfway into the celebration. He shook Nino's hand and in a heavy accent said, " Welcome Rocio, I am Viktor Novikov, and this is my daughter Sasha. My boy is somewhere in the crowd discussing some business, his name is Alexei. I'll have him introduce himself to you afterwards. We hope to see more of you around Ms. De Leon." I shook his hand with a firm grip and gave him a slight nod. Nino looked over at me proudly, " You handled that very well mi niña. You didn't get intimidated by him and it shows you are strong."
Right after them another family approached us. I could tell they were Italian because they were speaking really loud to one another while they waited for the Novikov to leave. The eldest man stepped forward. He was a tall slim man in his early 50's. He shook Nino's hand and then reached out for mine, "Nice to meet you Rocio, I am Niccolò Lombardi this is my wife Gianna, and my son Aldo. Aldo was tall man with olive skin about early 30's and a foot shorter than Teo. He had gray eyes and a smile on him like he's trouble. He was wearing a grey suit with red tie. As I extended my arm to shake, he pulled me in on catching me off guard causing me to lose my balance. He kissed the top of my hand, "Nice to meet you Ms. Rocio, I look forward to dancing with you tonight." I pulled my hand away trying not to show that I want to punch his face in. Nino clearly witnessing the whole thing cleared his throat with a murderous look at Aldo, Niccolò cut through the tension and said, " I apologize for my son's actions, he can be a bit rough sometimes." Nino looked at Niccolò and give a silent nod of approval and with that Lombardi's' walk away.
Before anyone else could have a chance to walk up to us I excused myself from Nino and made my way away from the crowds. They had fancy porta potties outside everywhere, but I knew the bathrooms in the house would be much better. I didn't want bump into anyone else for the night. The party was beginning to get tiresome and boring. When I exited the bathroom Mateo was waiting for me outside. Are you okay mi reina? Teo asked. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just met the Novikov's and Lombardi. Especially Aldo" I rolled my eyes. Teo's jaw clenched tight as he pulled me to him reaching his arm around my waist to place it perfectly on my ass. "What exactly happened Rosie?"
"Nothing, just an overly confident douche, who tugged at my hand to kiss it and said he wanted to dance with me later. Am I sensing jealousy on you Mateo Adrian De Leon?" I teased. "No one's dancing with you tonight but me." He said as he grasped me tighter. I lift my head to meet his eyes. His face smoothened out to the boyish Teo I knew and lowly replied, "Yes, I'm jealous, mi reina I'm a very selfish man who just got with the woman he's secretly wanted and loved for years, and he wants her all to himself." I couldn't help but blush at Teo's sweet words. I pulled his head down to mine and kissed him tenderly. "You're the only one for me Teo". He gave me a kiss on my forehead and took my arm in his," come mi reina, I owe you a night of dancing. "
We made our way back out to the party were Nino intercepted Mateo and I. "Mi niña I have two more families you need to meet and then you two can carry on with your dancing." My godfather ordered. Mateo didn't let go of my arm and walked with me as we made our way to meet our final guests. We approached a tall man around the same age as Nino with brown hair and blue eyes and a younger version of himself standing right next to him both men in navy blue suits and golden ties. The older man shook Nino's hand and then introduced himself to me, " I am Cillian Clarke It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Rocio, your godfather speaks very highly of you as one of his own." Cillian said. "He mentioned you are from California, if you ever need anything when you're back out there let me know and it can be arranged, my sister Tara and her husband Connor McAllen are very influential and powerful people out there."
"Thank you, Cillian, for the generous offer we'll keep it in mind" Teo thanked him. Ronan walked up as Cillian went to speak with my godfather. "A lovely pleasure meeting you Ms. Rocio". I had a feeling that he wanted to kiss my hand like a gentleman but with Teo shooting daggers at him and his arm linked tight around mine a Ronan was smart enough not to.
All of tonight's high table leaders had been very much organized with presenting their families to us and using the same cookie cutter introductions. After seeing these families interact with each other it was clear that everything said tonight was written out or thought beforehand to not start any problems. As Nino and Cillian continued their chat, a blond-haired man in his late 40's wearing a cardigan and dress pants walked up to me and Teo. He spoke in a thick accent, "Hello, Ms. Rocio. My name is Eryk Serafin. He turned around and signaled to the behind him to step forward. She was around my age with blue eyes and the same blonde hair as her father. She shyly walked up and introduced herself as Aleksandra Serafin. "I do apologize for my son Aleksander's absence he is handling some business out of the country right now" Eryk said.
Aleksandra politely smiled at me and shook my hand. She pointed out my necklace and her amazed by it calling it "deadly but pretty." I smiled brightly remembering that's along the lines of what I thought too.
Eryk began talking to Mateo leaving me and Aleksandra behind.
"So how are you getting used to this life?" she asked.
"It's been okay, having my godfather and Mateo here with me is what makes it better. Just a bit boring not having many friends." I sighed knowing I had to be cautious of what I say. She rolled her frosted blue eyes and laughed, "Same! my father always keeps me locked away like a princess in a tower. I only have my twin brother Aleksander to keep me company when he's not off running things with my father."
"Are you enjoying your party? Aleksandra asked.
"Not really" I replied scrunching my nose. "Parties aren't really my thing. I'm more of a hit the beach and relax type of girl."
"Ahh from the west coast I see" she said as she observed me from head to toe. "Yes, I am" I replied smiling. "Well Ms. Leon how about these two princesses have some much-needed fun? There's champagne, food, and I saw your pretty bitchin pool on the way to the backyard. " I looked to Mateo and saw that he was busy deep in conversation with Eryk, Nino and Cillian now. My chance of forming a small friendship was tempting me more than my logical side saying she could be luring me away to kill me. I agreed and grabbed two bottles of champagne from the next waiter that walked by me while Aleksandra walked over to the catering table to grab a silver platter stacked with a bunch finger sandwiches. We both stared at each other laughing and made our way through the stoned side trail that led to the pool.
When we reached the pool we sat on the black woven pool chaise chairs, both of us taking off the torture device high heels. We popped open the bottles of champagne and began to eat some of the sandwiches. "It's nice to have someone to talk to amongst all these people" Aleksandra said. "I really miss Elly. She always made stupid events like this fun."
"What about the Russian girl?" I asked Aleksandra. She scrunched her face making it bitter, " Sasha is too loyal to her father practically trying to be like her brother Alexei so I stay away from her for my own safety." I raised a brow up at her double taking at her mentioning Elly, "You knew Elly?"
"Yes, me and her were best friends, Aleksander and I were heartbroken" she sighed with a heavy voice and watery eyes. "Now you are here though" Aleksandra said with a half-smile. " I hope we too can be friends."
"Of course, we can" I smiled as I raised one of the bottles of champagne in the air for a toast, " To Elly and new friendships!"
"To Elly and new friendships " Aleksandra smiled with tears running down her cheeks.
We hadn't finished our bottles of champagne yet, but I could tell I was tipsy and so was Aleksandra. My body felt warm, and the refreshing pool seemed extremely tempting. Aleksandra was way ahead of me already removing her jewelry and trying to unzip the back of her floral gown. I walked over to help her zip it down. She then returned the favor and helped unzip my dress too except I left the heavy necklace on.
We jumped in the pool and swam around in our underwear and bras not giving a shit for a while. We were just having fun like normal people. After we got tired of swimming, we made our way back to the chairs and grabbed the towels underneath the chairs to wrap ourselves up. We had finished our bottles of champagne and the entire tray of sandwiches. Laughing and giggling about memories of Elly and about other normal things like celebrity crushes and gossip. For the first time since I'd been here, I feel a sense of normalcy. Like we both were just two normal people enjoying a fun night.
We laid on the chairs drunk off our asses looking at the stars trying to see who can count the most stars. Aleksandra's voice was slowly slurring more, and her hands were swaying back and forth uncoordinated as they pointed at the sky. Until I couldn't hear her anymore, I realized that she had knocked out cold. I laughed a little too as I found myself feeling just as tired.
Moments later, I woke up with a jolt of fear and look over to Aleksandra who jumped out of her chair and ran to sit next to me. Locking one of her arms in mine while she held her towel in place with the other. We began to hear a bunch of men yelling, "Spread out men! Find them fast!"
"I think we're in danger!" Aleksandra wept with fright. I held onto her arm and scanned the area for a place to hide but by then it was too late. A shadow appeared from the right side of the pool illuminating our faces with a flashlight, "They're over here!" More men circled us with flashlights making it hard for us to see anything. I could feel Aleksandra trembling with fear. I quickly removed my necklace and wrapped it around my knuckles ready to use it on whoever came close to us. Just then I saw a familiar figure pushing through the men, its Nino followed by Eryk and Mateo with their guns drawn. Eryk looked over at me and Aleksandra. Observing the state Aleksandra was in trembling with fear and me in a half I'm ready to fight- half drunk state of mind. "What were you girls thinking separating from the party without any guards!?" Eryk's voice bellowed.
Aleksandra looked at her father apologetically, "We were just tired of the party dad. We're sorry."
I looked at Nino who seemed the most worried and broken. It pained me to see him like that because of me. Teo was studying me with a curious gaze shifting from my knuckles wrapped in the necklace he had given me back to my face in my ready to fight till death mood.
Nino cut through the awkward silence that followed, " You see Eryk, they were just having some innocent fun here, no one was in danger. This place is like a fortress." As Nino lowered his gun, Eryk and Mateo followed suit.
"Take Aleksandra to your room and both of you change into some dry clothes" Nino ordered.
I didn't argue and quickly grabbed her arm as both of us wrapped in towels made our way back to my room. I gave one final glance to Mateo who had his back to me as he spoke with Eryk. He appeared to be very upset as he pinched his nose bridge in frustration.
Aleksandra and I made our way up to my bedroom. As we let ourselves in, we stumbled in not being able to pretend to be sober anymore and started giggling.
"My father is probably not going to let me out of the house for a while after this" she laughed. "I was so scared Rocio. I don't have any training to defend myself. My father has always said I don't need it, but you! You weren't ready to go down without a fight using a $139,000 necklace as a weapon. I respect that!" She giggled. I laughed at her comment, "now if only for that price tag it came with superpowers." I pulled put a pair of grey sweats and a baggy t-shirt for her to change into. "What is this outfit" she asked confused as if she had never seen the type of clothing before. "This my dear is called maximum comfort " I said handing them to her and shoving her into the bathroom to change. Once she stepped out of the bathroom, I couldn't help but laugh at how the clothes fit. Her legs were much longer than mine so my sweats were way up passed her ankles and the t-shirt that I thought would fit her baggy fits her perfectly in length.
I threw on a baggy shirt and some biker shorts before we could make our way back down the stairs still giggling from the effects of the champagne. When we reached the bottom of the stairs Aleksandra quickly froze and became quiet. The moment I realized why she did my eyes widened and I stopped dead in my tracks. Nino, Eryk and Mateo were standing at the bottom of the stairs with their arms crossed. "Chodź tu (come here)" Eryk said firmly to Aleksandra. She silently walked over to him and stood next to him while Mateo walked over to me and held onto my hand, leading to me to stand by him and Nino. The air was tense and thick as it felt like a faceoff between both our families. "It appears as though our girls have formed a friendship, Angel." Eryk said. I looked up to Nino who silently nodded in agreement as he studied Eryk." yes it does seem that way Eryk. Remind you of anyone?" he asked.
"Yes, kind of like our alliance Angel. I trust that if these girls are to continue this friendship, we will be needing to re-discuss our territorial boundaries for their sake, no? Eryk said raising a brow at Nino. "Ahh yes, it appears so Eryk. Let's set a meeting up later on." Nino offered.
"That way what happened at the dress store does not happen again" Eryk cautiously replied. "We'll keep in touch, "Nino said to Eryk with the hidden meaning of that is all. Eryk held on to Aleksandra to keep her from stumbling and shook Nino's hand on their way-out. Aleksandra hugged me goodbye and Eryk shook Mateo's hand, " To our successful future Mateo."
I look up to Mato as he silently nodded. Teo closed the door behind them. I didn't know what to do or say as I stood there embarrassed. I lowered my head and began staring at the marbled floor until I felt Nino's hand lift my chin up and let out a chuckle, " Did you have fun mi niña?" he asked. "I did Nino" I happily said. " I'm got to make a friend here tonight; Nino I was feeling really home sick." I sighed. Nino patted my head and said, "You've had a long day mija, Mateo will walk you to your room." Nino said his goodnights and began walking in the direction of his office leaving me and Mateo alone. Mateo stood in front of me and brough me in for a hug before picking me up off my feet and carried me to my bedroom. Where he gently placed me on top of my bed. I pulled him in for deep kiss. "Teo, we haven't told Nino yet."
"We will tomorrow after dinner when you have sobered up mi linda borrachita. (My beautiful little drunk)." I laughed as a pinched him on his sides. He gave me a passionate kiss and walked out the door. I didn't even struggle to fall asleep; I knocked out cold.
Note from the author: This chapter was my favorite in writing! For those that have read my other book: Unexpected Love, I hope you enjoyed the little easter egg! Comment or like when you read it 😉