Mexico - 10 Years Later
The door of the private jet opened and a woman confidently disembarked, four bodyguards trailing behind her. When her clear-strapped heels clicked onto the tarmac, Jade paused to inhale the fresh air.
Her sleek purple hair was styled in a bob cut, which stopped at her shoulders. The colour of her glossy tresses contrasted beautifully with the white pants suit she wore.
Taking off her shades, the charms on her yellow gold bracelet sparkled in the sun. Squinting her green eyes, she looked around the private airfield. A smile came to her face at the row of five silver Land Rovers that were parked, waiting for her.
The backdoor of the vehicle in the middle suddenly opened, and a child's voice happily greeted her, "Yay you're back! I missed you so much!"
Grinning broadly, Jade leaned down and picked up the toothy five-year-old, whose brown wavy hair was styled in cute pigtails, "I missed you too, pumpkin!"
"Marta Blaire Morales! I told you to wait for me!" Cristiano said, as he walked up to them.
With his face having matured slightly, he now sported a low beard that complimented his medium-length textured haircut. On the left side of his face, however, ran a long and deep scar from his brow to his jawline. It was a gift from his father José as punishment for helping Jade escape back in Miami all those years ago.
Truth be told, the scar made him even more handsome, giving him a dangerous and rugged look, one suited of a Cartel boss. The colour of his blue-green eyes was as bright as ever as his gaze travelled over Jade's body.
"Sorry Papa," Marta pouted.
"I swear she takes after you," Cristiano chuckled softly as he looked at them.
Jade grinned as she replied, "You say that as if it's a bad thing."
Even though he raised an eyebrow at her reply, Cristiano could not deny the truth of her words. He would be proud for Marta to grow into such a strong an independent woman. The last decade had been interesting to say the least, and there was no doubting the love he had had for Jade all these years later.
Shaking his head to refocus his mind, he kissed his daughter's forehead then pecked Jade's cheek before he escorted them back to the vehicle, the young girl sitting in between them.
"So, how was your flight?" Cristiano asked.
Grinning, she replied, "Oh you know I always have the best time when you send the jet out for me. Especially when Felipe is on bodyguard duty."
The years had been good to Jade, and while there had been a lot of emotional fluctuations, she had not changed much physically. Well, except for her hair and one other small yet significant change.
The Calvetti insignia had been tattooed on the right inner side of her left ring finger.
"Will you be staying longer this time, Aunty J? Why didn't you bring Aurelio with you?" Marta's light brown eyes sparkled.
"Sorry sweetie, but he went with his dad to New York..." Jade said before adding, "Auri did send something for you though, I'll give it to you when we reach the manor."
Beaming, the little girl then focused on the magnetic tangram puzzle on her lap, allowing the adults to talk.
"I take it that Alessandro finally caved and asked for Dominic's help again?" Cristiano enquired with a grin that showed off the two gold teeth at the back on the left side of his mouth.
"As we predicted," Jade answered, her smile just as wide.
When they arrived at the large mansion, Jade lifted Marta into the air, hugging the young girl tightly to her once more.
Seeing her hold his daughter always pulled at Cristiano's heart, and his mind would constantly begin to question the different paths their futures could have taken.
As Jade placed the happy young girl back on her feet, one of the maids came and took Marta to play inside the house. Jade and Cristiano then moved to discuss business on one of the verandas overlooking a beautiful garden.
"Before we get into the more serious stuff, how are you doing? How's Marta been holding up?" Jade enquired as she reached her hand over the table to cover one of his, giving it a brief squeeze.
"I'm fine, you know me," Cristiano chuckled nervously, "as bad as it sounds, I was never in love with Sabrina, I just married her to secure an alliance with the Tamaulipas Cartel."
"Yes well, you never know, the love that you had for her could have turned into a romantic one over time," she countered.
Shrugging slightly, he allowed himself to look at the features of her face.
Cristiano had never fallen out of love with Jade, even after all these years. And he knew, deep in his heart, that he would love her forever, even if it meant from afar. He was content with that. She was happily married to Dominic, and her happiness was all that mattered to him.
His eyes fell to the gold bracelet she had received on her twenty-first birthday. The charms from everyone were gleaming in the light. He briefly paused on the charm given by Blaire, and he smiled as he remembered their friend.
Turning his gaze to the other charms, he saw his own golden charm. The words 'Always by your side' were a promise that he had kept all these years.
Realising that he had yet to answer her, he shook his thoughts clear before speaking.
"Perhaps, but we'll never know now. Marta has finally stopped being upset and has accepted that her mother is in a better place. I mean she was only three when it happened, it's amazing how much they remember from back then." Cristiano noted with a sigh.
Jade nodded in understanding.
Fixing his face with a smile, he added, "She's much happier now, so that's all that matters. Marta always looks forward to your visits, although I think her attention is more focused on a specific blond hair blue-eyed boy. Naturally, she seems to have a crush on your son Aurelio."
Throwing her head back, Jade laughed, "Oh trust me, the feeling is mutual! He constantly talks our ears off about her. He's been asking to up the weekly Skype sessions but I told him that for now, once a week will have to do. I can't believe that he's six already! Imagine if they grew up to get married, that would definitely cement the Calvetti/Morales alliance."
"Fucking hell! I could just imagine the carnage the two of them would get up to," he said and shook his head.
With a grin, Jade countered, "Nothing wrong with a little carnage..."
"Uh huh..." Cristiano commented before asking curiously, "Are you and Dominic planning to have another child? Will you use the same surrogate?"
"To be honest, I think that we're happy with our son, at least for now. Maybe in a few years' time things might change, we'll see," she simply replied.
"I must say once again how much I admire what you and Dominic have accomplished over these years. You guys have expanded and now have strong alliances almost all over the North-East as well as the Southern region of the States! Those who looked down on him because of his appearance are definitely wishing they had supported him back in the day," Cristiano then lit a cigar and puffed out a ring of smoke.
Jade smiled as she joined him, exhaling with a relaxed sigh, "Don't act so modest, we have you to thank for assisting us in gaining some of those Southern alliances. I mean, you have done amazingly well for yourself. You've definitely surpassed your father's expectations, too bad he's not here to see it."
"Yes, too bad indeed," he replied sarcastically, showing no signs of remorse for having killed his father.
"You might carry his blood, but I'm proud to say that what you've done overshadows him, so people no longer see you as the son of José Hernández García but simply as Cristiano Morales!" Jade said proudly.
Cristiano smiled at the compliment.
Tilting her head slightly, she enquired, "Now, what does the big bad Cartel boss need my help with? I know that the Durango gangs have been acting up, but you don't need my help with that."
"What can I say, your godchild wanted to see you and I know how you like blowing shit up," Cristiano grinned.
"I do, sucks the Pak40 couldn't have fit on the plane," she said with a slight pout.
Raising an eyebrow, he countered, "Seriously? You were really going to bring that thing?"
"Oh, don't give me that look! You know that I always like to be armed and ready," Jade stated, as she blew cigar smoke in his face.
"Don't remind me..." Cristiano waved his hand to clear the smoke as his mind wandered back to the time she had literally blown up an entire Mexican village where some of his rivals had been hiding out.
"I did walk with a few Panzerfaust 3s for your men though," she cheekily added.
Opening his mouth wide, he laughed loudly as he said, "Of course you'd bring some kind of anti-tank weaponry."
"What can I say, some things don't change," Jade replied as she ran her hand through her hair.
They would spend the next hour catching up, updating each other on their respective business side of things. They then got into a discussion about expanding into Europe, and Cristiano stated that he knew someone in Turkey who could meet with Dominic's contact in Germany.
After finalising further details, their conversation got relaxed once again.
"You know, you were supposed to continue filling me in on what happened with James recently, "Cristiano said as he suddenly remembered.
"Oh yes!" Jade's eyes lit up as she proceeded to continue where she had left off.
By some odd twist of fate, the Irishman ended up rescuing a young woman by the name of Kiyana who had unfortunately gotten herself into some trouble with the IRA. Turns out, she was Raeni's younger sister. When Kiyana had realised that she was in over her head, she sought out James, hoping that he could help her.
Of course, Raeni was not happy to hear about such things, but that only made James and Kiyana's story all the more interesting.
It was nice to see James finally opening himself up and allowing himself the possibility to find love again. While Jade continued to fill in Cristiano about what had been going on in Ireland, her phone suddenly vibrated.
Upon reading the message, Jade giggled and said, "Give me a minute, Cris, let me reply to this fussy man of mine..."
Dominic:
"Wife!
Why didn't you message me that you reached safely?"
Jade:
"Oh you know how I just love
pissing my husband off...
Besides, you already knew that I was safe. I saw the texts
between you and Cris!"
Dominic:
"That mouth of yours...
I don't know how I put up with you."
Jade:
"The same way you have been
these past 10 years.
By gritting your teeth
and taking it like a man 😛"
Dominic:
"Just wait until
I see you in a few days!
We'll see if you're still as bold..."
Jade:
"I can't wait, daddy... 🤸♀️ 😉"
Seeing the look of mischief on Jade's face, Cristiano could only shake his head. As much as the Cartel boss loved her, he did not envy Dominic one bit, knowing what an absolute handful the woman could be.
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A/N: I hope that you'll enjoy the Bonus Chapters!