Easton
"Ms. Marino?", Kris asked, looking at me with a frown.
I maintained a neutral expression and blank eyes to avoid any suspicion.
"It's related to business, princess. You don't know her.", I said calmly.
"Why is it always about business! You should take some break, Tony.", she said with a huff.
Phew!
"I will.", I said.
"Then, can we go to a movie tomorrow?", she asked, looking at me with hope.
Sigh.
I hardly ever say no to her. And never when she asks so sweetly.
"Sure.", I said with a small smile.
"Great!", she exclaimed with a smile and looked at my assistant.
"Mr. Jones, you can take a break tomorrow too. My brother keeps exhausting you with work all the time. Isn't it?", she asked, looking at him with an expression of complaint.
"Sometimes, mam, yes.", he answered with a small smile.
He then looked at me and I arched a brow at him. He composed himself and cleared his throat.
"It's not exhausting, mam. I've been hired for this.", he said seriously yet with respect.
"Come on, Mr. Jones! You can tell me the truth.", Kris said, wiggling her brows.
"I'm quite comfortable with my job, mam.", he said gently, making her huff.
"Go and rest, princess. We'll have dinner together.", I said gently and kissed on her forehead.
She smiled, greeted Mr. Jones and walked away.
It's a good thing that she didn't probe further about Angel.
But I might not get a chance to visit the school with Kris around. I should rather complete the deals I've been working on.
I then looked at my assistant, Mr. Jones.
"I don't want Kris to know anything about Angelina. Don't talk about it when she is around, Mr. Jones.", I said calmly.
"Yes, sir. I'll take caution from now on.", he said seriously.
I nodded and looked at the file in his hand.
"Let's go to my study and discuss.", I said and gestured to him to follow me.
After we reached my study, I sat behind my table and Mr. Jones sat on one of the chairs opposite to me.
"What is this file about?", I asked.
"Sir, this information was collected from some of the men working for the Marinos. It was hard to make them speak but eventually, some of them answered a few questions and I dug some more from the police files.", he answered in his ever monotone voice with a neutral expression.
I opened the file and a frown etched on my face looking at the contents of the file.
"Sir, Ms. Marino was once kidnapped when she was 11 years old and was kept captive for a little more than two weeks.", he said and I looked at him with a serious frown.
"More than two weeks?", I asked with a hint of anger in my voice.
"Yes, sir.", he replied.
I knew she was kidnapped. I did get that information but I didn't know she was held for more than two weeks.
Two weeks!
What the hell was Vincent even doing?
Where the hell was he when she needed them?
"Did the Marinos not try to rescue her? Why did it take so long?", I asked and this time my anger was very much evident.
"That part is still a mystery, sir. According to the sources, though conflicts started to surface after the coronation of Vincent Marino, they still had a lot of resources to conduct the rescue successfully. But it is really odd that they took two weeks. In fact, more than two weeks.", he said, laying forth his doubt.
My frown deepened.
"There were conflicts after Vincent was declared the Mafia King?", I asked.
"Yes, sir. During his father's rule, some territories started rebelling against the authority of the Marino family in the underworld. Eventually, some underbosses declared their parts and gangs as free mafia organizations, openly defying the Marinos' authority. It was exactly during that time Mr. Vincent Marino was crowned as the king. And starting from his day of coronation, many territories started a rebellion and openly defied his authority.", he said.
"But isn't he the Mafia king to the entire underworld now?", I asked.
The underworld mafia I know now is entirely different from what Mr. Jones just described.
"Yes, sir. There is no one, neither the law nor a single underboss brave enough to challenge the present Mafia king's authority. None in the world.", he said.
Vincent recaptured everything?
At such a young age?
That guy is really beyond imagination!
"Why did the conflicts arise?", I asked.
"I hadn't found anything about it, sir. Also, Ms. Marino's abduction took place during the time of those conflicts. But yet, the Marinos had enough power to track and rescue her. It seems like the delay was not due to the lack of resources but something more.", he said seriously.
Could it be that Vincent didn't care to rescue her?
But it can't be.
The emotion I saw in his eyes that day in the hospital was enough proof that he cares for her as a father.
Could it be that I mistook him?
Could it be that his emotions were fake?
Or did I really overestimate his care?
Most importantly, am I doing right by trusting the Marinos with Angelina?
I rubbed my forehead to ease the headache that was slowly setting in due to all these doubts.
I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.
"Mr. Jones, find everything about this abduction. Find out why it took two weeks to rescue Angelina and-", I said and paused.
"Find the b**tard who planned her abduction.", I said coldly, looking straight in his eyes.
"Yes, sir.", he said firmly and stood up.
He gave me a curt nod and started walking out of the study but halted at the door when I called him.
"Take a day off, Mr. Jones. Come back on Monday morning.", I said calmly, looking at him.
"It's fine, sir. I was just joking when I spoke to Ms. Reece. I apologize if I have offended you.", he said seriously, looking at me.
"There's no need for an apology, Mr. Jones. Also, I am not asking you if you need a break. That was an order. I don't want you anywhere near my office nor yours till Monday morning.", I said firmly, looking at him.
"Thank you, sir.", he said with a very faint smile on his face and walked away.
Mr. Jones is one of the people I genuinely respect. He had been working for us for a very long time now.
Even dad respects him a lot.
Anyway, there are a lot of loopholes in Angel's past. It's going to take some time to find all that out.
But is it fine to conceal my identity from her till then?
I can't act on impulse. I need to put a thought into it.
I checked the time and hurriedly stood up, realizing I am late for dinner, too caught up in my own thoughts.
I walked to the open dining area and cursed internally, looking at the sulking woman sitting at the table.
I braced myself and walked to her.
"Princess", I called.
"You're late.", she said in a flat tone.
"I'm so-", I was saying but she cut me off.
"Don't apologize and instead cook for me.", she said with a frown and an accusatory glance.
"Fine. What do you want to eat?", I asked.
She looked at me in excitement and dictated five different dishes.
"No way! I am not going to cook all that. I will just make one dish among those.", I said with slightly widened eyes.
"But-", she was saying but I cut her off.
"Only one, Kristen.", I said firmly.
She slumped on her chair and looked down at her lap with a depressed expression.
"Fine. I'll cook all of those.", I agreed, not able to see her sad.
"Start quickly then!", she exclaimed with a smile and stood up.
Wow!
Sadness lasts only for a few seconds!
I shook my head at her antics and walked to the kitchen to satisfy her demands.
"Aren't you hungry, princess? It'll take time for me to cook.", I said, searching for the ingredients.
"It's fine. The chef made me some snacks.", she said and settled herself on the kitchen counter.
I stopped what I was doing and looked at her with a raised brow.
"And couldn't you have asked the chef to make all these?", I asked.
"It's been so long since I ate food cooked by you. So, I want you to cook.", she said, looking at me with puppy eyes.
Sisters sure know how to get their demands fulfilled!
The rest of the evening went by with me cooking and Kris telling me about her university and her friends.
We ate and dispersed to our rooms after I forced her to rest as it is impossible to stop her once she starts speaking.
I wouldn't have my sister any other way though.
The next day, we watched a movie in the theater inside a mall and Kris demanded we eat at the food court in the same mall.
As we were walking to the food court with Kris's hand looped around my own, we suddenly bumped into a girl.
"I'm sorry", both Kris and that girl said at the same time.
Arianna!
Oh no!
I am sure Angelina would be somewhere around here too.
"Hey!", Arianna greeted me with a smile and a surprised look.
"Hi, Arianna. How are you doing now?", I asked, remembering about her poisoning the other day.
"Fine. Thanks to you.", she said smiling.
"It's nothing. I'm glad you are fine.", I said gently.
"Will you not introduce us to each other, brother?", Kris asked, nudging me.
For a second there I forgot she was there too.
Maybe we can just talk a little and leave before Angel comes.
"Kris, this is Arianna and Arianna, this is my sister, Kristen.", I introduced.
"Hey! You have a beautiful name.", Kris greeted with a warm smile, looking at Arianna.
"Thank you.", Arianna replied, blushing a little.
Maybe we can leave now-
"Anna", I heard the voice behind me.
Oh god!
"Hey, where were you lost? I was searching for you.", Angel said, walking to Arianna.
"I was just going to come back but I bumped into Easton.", Arianna replied, pointing at us.
My heart rate started to rise slightly.
Angelina looked at us and smiled at me.
"Hey!", she greeted.
I gave her a small smile and looked at Kris.
She was looking at Angel with a very faint frown that wouldn't even be noticed if I hadn't known her for years.
"Angel, this is Easton's sister Kristen and Kristen, this is my sister, Angelina.", Arianna made the introductions with a smile.
"Hi!", Angel smiled at Kris.
"Hey!", Kris smiled and the frown on her face was gone.
" Are you girls here to eat?", she asked them with her usual warm smile.
"Yeah. We're waiting for our brother.", Arianna replied.
"Oh! Why don't you join us. It's just the two of us anyway. The more the merrier.", Kris exclaimed with an excited smile.
Angel and Arianna looked at each other and looked back at Kris.
"Sure!", Angel replied.
"Great! Now, let's go find a table. Tony will get the food for us. You can tell him your order.", Kris said, looking at them.
"It's fine. We'll get our own foo-", Arianna was saying but Kris cut her off.
"He's going to bring mine anyway, so he'll get yours too. Right, Tony?", Kris said looking at me.
"Yeah", I said, concealing the nervousness in my tone.
All the three then gave me their order and Kris dragged both of them with her to find a table.
As they walked away, I looked back at Kris and she looked pretty normal.
Did she not recognize?
It's possible.
After all, Kris never saw Angelina's mom, aunt Lil.
She just saw her in pictures but never in person. So, it's possible that she didn't doubt Angel looking like aunt Lil.
I just hope she didn't get any doubts about Angel.
I don't want my parents to know about Angelina right now. Especially mom.
If mom comes to know of Angel, it's going to be a mess!
Angelina
It's Sunday today and Aurelio left late last night.
He had some important work and had to leave.
I miss him already.
Anna, him and I had so much fun stalking our brothers, trying to figure out who exactly the lover boy is.
Lover boy sounds weird but that's what Elio termed the mysterious brother as.
I rolled my eyes internally at the lame nomenclature.
Anyway, we decided to visit the mall today to buy a few things for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
Vince didn't allow us at first, saying Anna still had to rest but we persuaded him into accepting.
By we, I mean Theo and Anna.
I am in no position to ask for a trip to the mall as I'm still grounded.
But Anna and Theo convinced Vince to let me go, much to the annoyance of Dylan and Ash.
Hmpf!
So, here we are in the mall right now, strolling through various stores.
Theo is the best shopping mate. He won't complain no matter how long we take and how lazily we walk, unlike Dylan who forcefully drags us out if he sees us even remotely slagging off.
Theo had to take a call so he asked us to order food for ourselves and wait at the food court.
While we were there, we met Easton and his sister, who looked like a really interesting person and very beautiful.
We are sitting at a table of five, with me and Anna sitting beside each other and Kris sat opposite to us.
Oh yeah, she asked us to call her Kris instead of her full name.
"How's life at the university?", Anna asked, excited.
"Great. We can make a lot of friends and not necessarily from the same branch so it's quite interesting and an exciting experience. But getting top grades is one tough job.", Kris said with a thoughtful expression.
"But it doesn't feel that tough if we love what we do.", she continued with a smile.
"What's your major?", I asked, looking at her.
"I'm studying law.", she replied.
"You know, there are a lot of hot guys in the university. They just make the experience even more exciting.", she said with a wink and a teasing smile.
My ears perked up at that and Anna chuckled.
"Is it just like how they describe in books and movies?", I asked, excited.
"It's not that dreamy but fine, I guess.", Kris replied, tight lipped and with a thoughtful expression.
Anna looked at both of us and shook her head with a flat expression.
"Do you have a boyfriend?", I asked, wiggling my brows.
"Not yet. Courtesies of your friend and my brother, Easton.", she said with a sour expression.
"You don't need one at this age.", Easton's voice interrupted our conversation.
"I am 21, Tony.", Kris complained.
"And that's too early for a boyfriend.", Easton said firmly, looking at her.
She huffed and turned away.
He then looked at us.
"And both of you, don't even dream of getting one anytime sooner.", he said firmly, looking at Anna and me.
We nodded at him obediently.
"Good.", he said gently and served us our order.
As we were eating, we talked about lighter topics and laughed now and then.
Kris is really an interesting and exciting person.
She can make the atmosphere lively even without having to try.
She's easy to get along with and very warm.
Anna looked pretty relaxed around her too and looked genuinely interested and amused with her talks.
Easton excused himself from the table when he got a call.
What's with these brothers getting so many calls today!
After a while of laughing, Kris looked a little zoned out.
"Kris", I called.
"Kris", Anna called.
"Kristen", Anna called loudly.
"Uh yeah.", she looked at us and gave a sheepish smile.
"I zoned out a little, didn't I?", she said with a sheepish smile.
"You were", Anna said with a slight chuckle.
"No wonder.", she said.
Anna and I looked at her with a frown, confused.
"I mean, I just spotted a man. A very handsome man with a capital V.", she said, bending a little forward towards us and glancing behind us at someone, who I presume is the man she is talking about.
"Oh", is all Anna said and I didn't say anything.
"He's really handsome. The very definition of an eye candy.", she said with dreamy eyes.
I was going to turn around but she stopped us.
"Don't turn too abruptly. Turn very slowly and in a casual way.", she said.
Anna and I turned around at the same time but didn't know whom she was speaking about.
I spotted Theo but I didn't call him as I was busy searching for the supposed eye candy.
"Who?", Anna asked.
"The guy in the grey shirt with folded sleeves.", Kris said.
My eyes widened and Anna choked on her drink.
What the-
Anna and I looked at each other bewildered.
"I can understand your reaction. He is really handsome, isn't he?", Kris said with a sigh.
Anna broke out of her shock and looked at Kris.
"Um Kris, he uh he-", she was trying to say something, but was badly fumbling with her words.
That's when Theo spotted us and started walking to us.
"He what? Wait. He's coming this way.", Kris whispered and before Anna and I could say something, Theo already reached our table
"I am sorry, girls, I'm late. Did you eat somethi-", he was saying but stopped when he noticed Kris.
He stared at her for a second longer and looked back at us with a raised brow.
"Um Theo, this is Kristen, Easton's sister and Kristen, this is our brother, Theodore.", Anna made the introductions.
Kris looked at us bewildered and we looked away.
This is awkward.
"Hi.", Theo greeted with a charming smile.
"H-Hey.", Kris greeted back with an awkward smile of her own.
She then looked at us with a discreet accusatory glare, making us look away.
"Did you eat all these?", Theo asked, a little surprised.
"What if we did?", Kris questioned before us.
Theo looked at her startled at her offended tone.
"I was just asking. This food looks too much for just you all to eat.", Theo said calmly, looking at her.
"I ate all of these. So what?", she asked, standing up, pointing at most of the plates on the table.
"You've got quite an appetite, Miss.", Theo said with a subtle mock and annoyance in his tone.
"Are you mocking me, Mister?", she asked with a slight glare.
"Maybe.", Theo retorted calmly.
"I too have a big appetite. And just so you know, judgemental men are a turn off.", she huffed, folding her hands over her chest.
"I don't want to turn you on anyway.", Theo said nonchalantly.
"As if you can.", she scoffed.
"Are you sure I can't?", Theo said with a prominent smirk.
Kris's cheeks turned pink but she didn't let her gaze falter.
She then gave him a big smile and Theo looked a little startled.
"No, you can't.", she said with the smile intact.
Theo stared at her for a moment and looked away, muttering something.
Anna and I looked at each other clueless.
"What's going on?", Anna whispered.
"I think they are flirting?", I said, more like asked.
"Are you sure? It looks like they are fighting.", Anna whispered back.
Hmm.
Before either of us could say something, Easton walked to us.
"What's happening? Why is everyone standing?", he asked.
"I am here to take my sisters with me.", Theo said and I felt he slightly stressed on the word 'my'.
Maybe I just imagined.
Easton gave him a curt nod and looked at Kris.
"Shall we leave too, princess?", he asked gently.
"Sure.", she said with a small smile but her cheeks are still a light shade of pink.
Easton frowned a little but didn't say anything about it.
"See you again, girls.", Easton said, looking at Anna and me with a warm smile and we smiled back.
Kris walked to us and hugged us both at a time.
"I loved speaking to you both. Let's meet again sometime.", she said gently.
She then bent a little, still embracing us.
"Your brother is mean.", she whispered.
She then gently broke the hug and walked away waving at us with a warm smile and we waved back smiling.
I looked at Theo and surprisingly, he is still staring at the direction they walked away in.
"They're gone.", Anna said, making Theo snap his head towards us.
"Let's leave too.", he said, clearing his throat.
Strange!
We then told him what all we talked to Kris and about her while driving home.
"She's annoying.", he said.
"No, she's good.", Anna said.
"She's interesting.", I chimed in from the back seat.
"You can't decide that in just one meeting.", Theo said.
"You can't decide she's annoying with just one meeting either.", Anna retorted.
Theo just gave her a look but didn't say anything.
The rest of the day went on as usual.
Anna and I tried to make a plan of what all to do during Thanksgiving.
It's the first time we are going to celebrate it with Anna and I want to make it memorable.
Well, everyone wants to make it memorable for her.
Hopefully, nothing dramatic happens till then!
*****************************************************************************
Phew! That was a very long chapter!
How was the chapter?
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Yours lovingly,
Author.