Bon Appétit! :D
Elizabeth's POV
"Come on, Raf. It's just a girl and one that you didn't sleep with!" I comforted Rafael, who had his head in his hands. A shocker, I know.
The ice pack was now liquid against the swelling bruise on my face, the biggest damage done to me in tonight's fight. My injuries were numbed out by the alcoholic drink in my hand as I accompanied Rafael at the bar of Cheese In The Trap. Black Bear was missing a fighter and I was not dumb enough to refuse money, hence I became the replacement.
The charming Valentine prince could only manage a smile when he congratulated me for taking out my opponent. After that, he remained blue and drowned his sorrows with alcohol.
I was just making a joke to get the unusually quiet prince to talk but he did not take it well. "Did you sleep with Angelo's girl by accident or what?" Rafael had spat his drink onto my face.
It was just this afternoon when Angelo introduced his girlfriend to Rafael and Julian at lunch when I was on duty in the Raindrop. Being in the Oracle's influence for so long, I was spot on about Rafael being on very friendly terms with the red lady Angelo was officially dating.
Her name is Jessica Gold.
I would have asked Black Bear to put me up for another ten fights, if it didn't mean exposing my crush on Angelo. One of the rare example of having both brains and brawls, Black Bear was spectacularly sensitive when it comes to shit like this.
When I pointed out the different taste the two best friends had for girls, Rafael only whined that somehow Jessica Gold is the perfect specimen for their ideal type. She was the first one that the two best friends have both fell for.
I loved the feeling of my heart sinking down to my feet as the man I like and my close friend decide to fall for this pageant-winning goddess of a woman.
"Do you really like her? Like you want to look at her every second of your life?" I had to make sure Rafael is sure about the feelings he had for Jessica. A moment of confusion could be fatal.
Rafael chuckled at me,"That sounds more of a creep than a person in love, Piccolo. Are you a-?" I spluttered embarrassingly under Rafael's amused stare. "I will have my five exes giving you a call if you want me to! Of course I have been in love before!" Rafael communicated "nice try" with his pitiful eyes and annoying smirk as he took another sip.
I am a dead ass virgin of love, mastering the art of single life after nineteen years. And at the look of it, probably gonna be single for a hundred more years! How the hell am I suppose to know what does love feels like?
Before I could come up with more ways to convince Rafael that I had experience, he soberly said,"Jessica is just different from everyone else. She's very mature and understanding." I nodded to myself but hesitated to ask the next question.
According to Julian, Angelo had fallen deep for Jessica. He was putting everything aside for this girl, even the responsibilities he had dutifully took charge since birth. Everyone knows Angelo Mietitore values his friendship with Rafael as much as he did for his title as the Mietitore second-in-line, heir of the family.
Now, he had already forsaken the latter.
Would he give up on the former too?
While I'm no social butterfly, breaking a friendship since birth over a girl is a fucked-up thing to do. Worse, Rafael seems to be contemplating about the same thing too.
"Piccolo, you got a message." Rafael shook my iPhone in my face. It was a text from Carina, asking when we can visit Alexander again. I smiled, expecting her message. Carina never backed down from cold personalities when she makes friends, I am the best example.
Anytime, I texted back.
Prior to my fighting session, I have brought her to visit Alexander. The middle-aged woman was staying in one of the hotels near the Mietitore office building, making it a short trip for me to visit her whenever I had the free time. Despite Alexander being cold and reclusive on the outside, I could tell that she craved for company. "Do whatever you want, I'm too tired to refuse you." Alexander had grumbled but her response had gave her away when I asked if I could bring a friend to see her.
Rafael poked my cheek as he leaned on me, looking at my texts. Mistaking my happy smile, he scolded "No boyfriend allowed!". Then proceeds to snatch away my phone and tugged it into his waistband. My nose scrunched up at the sight, my unconcealed disgust causing Rafael to laugh.
"I will shout Black Bear if you don't give me back my phone!" The slap on his bare back was loud but Rafael look unaffected, keeping a smirk. "I will tell Black Bear that you've a boyfriend!" His threat shut me up effectively. Black Bear would give me hell if he even heard the words "boy" and "friend" separately in a sentence involving me.
"Fuck yo-" I pushed Rafael aside before I could even finish my sentence, the gun aimed at the stranger's head. The stranger obediently halted a few feet away from the prince upon having a gun in his face. The customers sitting near us carried on their own businesses without giving a hoot about me, this was just an ordinary scene for the illegal fight club.
The stranger had the hood over his head, hiding his face in shadows. He was dressed in an oversized black hoodie and a familiar pair of light denim jeans. Holding Rafael's pistol steadily in my hands, I moved towards the stranger who had walked straight towards the Valentine prince.
Rafael stayed with me as we approached the stranger who had took the initiative to put his hands up. When I was at arm's length from the stranger, Rafael pulled back his hood to reveal...
A Julian Makatski.
I swore as I lowered the pistol while Rafael slapped the back of Makatski's head. Julian let out his square smile as he rubbed his head,"I wanted to surprise you guys." Giving him another slap to the head, the three of us sat back down at our seats. Rafael tugged his pistol back into the hidden pocket in his purple leather jacket and resumed drinking. Now I know why he favoured this jacket. It's design was brilliant even though it had failed to fool my eyes.
The dark eye circles under his hazel eyes have grown even darker since the lunch we had together. "You still have time for surprises?" I asked Julian who looked like he could use a year's worth of sleep. A forced laughter escaped him as he drank from my glass.
"I've came to tell you that Angelo have granted my request to let you assist me in my job. You know since he is so up his own ass with that Jessica." Julian fell asleep immediately after the shocking news.
No matter how hard I hit him, he wouldn't rouse from his deep slumber. Leaving me speechless and pumped with questions that only he could answer.
The White Coffin looked a little depressing, as the Mietitores suffered blow after blow from the Mafia members. It was a crucial time for them but their heir have chosen this time to be capricious and selfish.
One of the housemaids rushed to open the gate for me, her expression anxious. Julian was snoring away on my back as the housemaid guided us to his room. I had sent away a drunken Rafael to help him dodge Angelo.
Took me the whole night to call enough courage to ask the question we both wanted to avoid, "Will you fight your own brother over a girl?"
Rafael answered with clarity, despite his swaying body.
"Never, if I still calls him my brother."
Now, the situation depends on Angelo. His move will risk destroying not only the Mietitores but also the ties he shared with the Valentines.
"Young master," The housemaid paused and bowed to Angelo who had just came back. He wordlessly walked past us, not caring that he was the reason why Julian was like this. I scoffed at his manners before following the housemaid, who was practically running away from the Mietitore young master.
A moment later, Angelo blocked my way by standing in front of me. He must have heard my scoff for he was glaring down at me. I bit the inside of my mouth at his reaction.
What rights did he have to be angry at me?
The frightened housemaid whimpered and bowed once more before escaping the scene. "Don't leave! You haven't bring us to Julian's room!" I turned to chase down the maid but upon hearing him, my body stopped trying to get away from him.
"Why would you need the maid when you have me?" His velvety voice echoed in the corridor.
Get a fucking grip on yourself, Elizabeth. Hold onto a nearby pole or something, you are too insane to function properly!
Refusing to handle him, I strode past him and wandered off in search for Julian's room. I prayed for some obvious signs to point me to his room, my energy sapping away quickly from carrying a dead log.
The weight on my back disappeared suddenly as Angelo roughly pulled Julian off my back. He slipped the sleeping boy onto his own back before noisily kicking open the door to Julian's room. One that I had walked past several times.
Who knew that the relatively innocent nineteen year old boy sleeps full nude? Under Angelo's rough handling, Julian was slightly jolted in his sleep. He had managed to make a ruckus about removing his clothes before falling back into sleep. I ended up peeling away his layers of clothes by myself as I forbid Angelo from touching Julian. That man was too rough! Leaving his boxers on, I started to take out Julian's belongings as I folded his clothes into a neat pile.
"Do know no boundaries between a guy and a girl?" Angelo questioned, remaining in the room.
Oh, why do you care?
I snickered, thinking about how he had spent the night with a lady he just met at the Red Devil. Double-standard bastard. "He's like a brother to me. He would do the same for me if I was the one drunk." I stated facts.
"He would strip you?" Angelo scoffed incredulously. From his tone, he must be wearing that ridiculous frown I was once so familiar with. Pity that I was backfacing him and missing out on such expressions.
A paper was crumpled up by Julian's mobile when I removed both from the pocket on his jeans. Checking to see if it is needed, I carefully unfold the paper.
S'Ox hour. Summit of the hill.
There were only these few words sprawled on the paper. Someone have used Julian to pass this was a message to me. My mind went blank at the Summit of the hill, it was a specific location only someone close to MJ would know about.
"Did you hear me?", Angelo would have seen the message if he did not speak. I crumbled the paper message in my hand and did my best to look normal as he soundlessly approached me.
Angelo eyed my balled fist after he turned the chair around, his eyes narrowing. "Sorry, I have a filter installed to automatically tune out trash and their words." I smirked, hoping to distract him. Given Angelo's intelligence, it was only a matter of time before he finds out.
His forehead creased at the insult but it was still not enough to distract him.
"Why are you so selfish?" I pressed on, crossing my arms. Though my main intention was to shift his focus away from my fist, the irritation and anger in my voice were no act.
Disappointment flashed in his eyes before Angelo covered it up with a loud sigh.
It must be an accusation he have heard enough since he began his relationship with Jessica. Maybe he had his own reasons, it would make more sense for his sudden change. However, no one have the time to deduce the thoughts of the Mietitore heir.
"Must we always fight when we are in a room together?" Angelo softly asked, eyes gazing into mine. He was closed in on me, both hands pressing down on the arm rest of the chair that I was trapped in.
His icy blue eyes absorbed me. They were so blue and beautiful that I could stare at them forever, his eyes were the only windows to his heart - the place where he could not hide his emotions. My eyes left his unwillingly and travelled down to his full lips. The small curve of his smooth lips promised pleasure, daring many girls to get closer, to find out more.
But with Angelo, pleasures and sins meant the same thing.
I caught his wrist before he could pull out the ball of paper from my hand.
It will always be like that with him. His deceitful smiles and heart fluttering moments were just tools to make a fool out of me or to get something from me. Yet every time, I still fall for it even if I know it was just his tricks.
"Only if you are being an idiot." I whispered.
Angelo Mietitore had just smiled and straightened up from the chair. Without a second word, he pulled me out of the room and drove me to the illegal fight club in silence.
"Elizabeth." The car window slided down and Angelo's head stuck out from the window. The hottest music from the nightclubs boomed as the peak hour of operation arrives.
"Do a good job as my assistant."
The silver Maserati purred as it drove away. Onlookers turned their heads to follow the luxurious car, like they were seeing a falling meteor.
Proud of myself for not getting lost in the forest surrounding the hill, I hummed as I climbed up the last flight of stairs to the summit. It was a great achievement to one, not get lost in the middle of the night and two, shake off the men Angelo had sent to stalk me.
The moonlight shown directly onto the rock, making my flashlight redundant. The summit was empty except for another woman sitting on the enormous rock. I knew the rock well, it has been in all the background of the photos displayed in MJ's living room.
The lady did not turn despite hearing the dead leaves crunched under my feet as I walked towards her.
She had opted for a white tracksuit instead of the white office suit but kept her high ponytail.
"Elizabeth Vivere."
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Miss Thith."
What would you do if you are in Rafael's situation? Give up on the girl/boy or your best friend?
Do leave a comment!
Thank you for reading and see you in the next chapter! :)