I didn't go to school the next day. Enzo was supposed to tell dad about us going together to Italy, so I preferred to stay at my penthouse and wait for dad's call.
I knew he would call once he heard about it.
But the day passed as heavy, and silent as it started. Around noon Jason finally got the balls to call me back, but I rejected.
I don't feel to talk to anybody right now, much less to the one saying he can't handle me. Or my family.
And truth be told, I don't fret much about him being weak because he is out of my life just the way he wants. So, I don't see the purpose of his call, nor am I curious about what he has to say.
My stomach has been crimpy since morning, and I know I'll throw a tantrum at anybody trying to talk to me right now.
I ate nothing but chips and sweets all day, idling in front of the tv, switching Netflix on all genders, finding nothing to watch.
Around six in the evening, there was a knock at my door and I really hoped it was Enzo coming with the details of how my dad has taken the news about me wishing to travel.
I open the door with the widest smile I can spread on my face just to see mom standing in front of me with her usual royal air, smiling gracefully like a queen, guarded by no other than Jason, staying tall behind her.
I could never be my mother, nobody could have the grace she stands.
"Mamma," I mumble in wonder, staring at Jason all along, wondering what the hell is going on.
There is something very different about him. His puppy eyes are now hard and shining like a steal surface, and his lips are pressed into a thin line.
I can't wrap my head around the sight in front of me. What is mom doing with Jason? And why does it looks like I've never really known him?
"Hey, sweetheart," mom says with the sweetest smile she can wear, but I know her. There is tension behind it, squinting at me, her green eyes piercing mine.
"What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" I ask, obviously in awe, as she never leaves the house without my dad.
"Of course, honey. Why wouldn't it be?" she replies with a glare filled with millions of meanings.
"Well, you never leave the house without my dad. How is dad?" I ask, feeling my stomach already shrinking with anxiety while mom enters my apartment passing by me.
She smiles sweetly and sits on the sofa, placing elegantly the purse next to her.
"He will be fine, dear."
"Will be?" I frown. "What's wrong with him?"
I walk close to her and sit on the coffee table, waiting for her reply, shivering, thinking that dad has taken the news so badly that he preferred sending mom to talk to me.
"Well, for first he's wondering why his only daughter hasn't dared to tell him herself she wants to travel."
"Mamma..." I try to explain to her, escaping a sigh instead of continuing to talk.
"Eve, I know your father can be... overprotective..."
"Can be? He is, Mamma! He has always been," I reply, feeling composed enough to have this talk with my mother, but not with my father.
And as surprised as I might look, I'm glad she has come to talk to me. I wouldn't know how to talk to my dad about the subject.
It has always been easier to talk to mom and I don't know why I am such a brat and avoid talking with her. She has always been nothing but comforting and enjoyable to talk to.
"He only wants what's best for you. And he wants you to be safe."
I look into her eyes, and I know she's right. If anything was to happen to me the earth would burn, and that by my dad's hand.
And then, realizing once more, if that is even necessary, how overprotective my dad is, I frown my eyebrows and stand up, feeling my cheeks burning and sweat forming on my forehead.
I walk towards the door where Jason is still standing and get inches close to him. I stare into his eyes, trying to find that something that already horrifies me. His eyes flicker, and I understand my hunch is not just a hunch.
I squint and see his cheeks changing colors, struggling to keep eye contact, but he lowers his look.
"You are my dad's undercover security guard, aren't you?" I ask Jason in a monotone voice, hoping that I'm wrong, but his eyes tell me different.
"Eve..." I hear mom saying softly as if trying to put off the fire growing in me, heating my brain and making my blood boil.
She knows I'm going to explode. I'm my mother's daughter with the very strong nature of my father. She knows me well.
"Mamma, please! Just stay out of this," I tell her without shifting my eyes to her but pointing at her with my index. "Answer me, Jason. Are you my father's spy?" I shout, unable to contain anymore the anger twitching under my skin.
"Eve..." Jason tries to say.
"Don't Eve me! Answer!"
"Yes! Yes, I was your father's spy," he admits, and instantly my hand jerks up and I slap him, the sound of it breaking on the walls and making mom whimper and Jason groan deeply.
My palm is burning and judging by the red fingers shaping on Jason's left cheek, his face must be burning too. He squeezes his eyes tight and clenches his jaws to suppress the anger that I can read in his frowned eyebrows.
He seems to take it well because he doesn't look back at me nor does he replies, and I almost read regrets in his eyes.
"Get out of my house, Jason," I order him, and he hesitates, looking behind me at my mom for approval.
I get angry and raise my right hand, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at me.
"Don't you fucking ignore me! You work for my dad, you fucking work for me! Get out!" I yell.
Yup, I've lost control. F word just came out of my mouth, not giving a shit about being around mom. If before Enzo came into my life I had hopes for me and Jason, right now, after finding out that he lied and played on me, I was sure he would have no chance even if he cut an arm for me.
His eyes are still looking at my mom and from the corner of my eye, I see her nodding to him before he opens the door and leaves my penthouse.
"Eve, come here, sweetie. We need to talk," mom says, grabbing my arm and pulling me after her back to the living room and reaching the kitchen.
She pushes me to sit on one stool at my kitchen island while she fills two glasses of gin.
"I don't think I'm up for talking about dad right now, Mamma," I tell her in a low voice, refusing to look at her and wishing by God Enzo will arrive soon and we leave from here.
"Eve, how do you think your father will live with himself if anything happens to you? Or to me? I'm sure you know how much you mean to him, and I'm also sure you know he'll be nothing but a dead man walking if anything wrong is to happen, isn't that right?" mamma speaks and I listen to each word she said.
I choose not to answer because I know she's right.
I have been a brat almost all my teenage time, a rebel, and against my dad's decision just because I want a normal life like the rest of my friends.
I've always hated to be treated like a damn golden brick. I wanted to be normal. I wanted to do things that any teenager would do without being watched by closets in black suits circling me.
I wanted to go out, hang with my friends from school, and have dates that my father would worry about the time I come home but not send soldiers to watch over me.
And the only way my dad can agree to offer me the life I've wished for was to send someone like Jason to be close to me and watch me.
Now I understand why dad has agreed with canceling the guards when I've started college. And I don't blame him for it as much as I blame Jason for lying to me.
I look at mom and I grab her hand, looking into her green eyes, still warm and understanding, looking at me with infinite love.
Now, more than ever I want to leave for Italy, with or without Enzo, I want to be far from here. I want to see the world and be on my own. I want to do things where my dad cannot control me.
Even this penthouse is something that I've wished for, but not the one I've wanted because dad had to pick it for me.
And I'm not dumb. I'm not disabled. I don't need constant care and supervision.
"I want to freeze the school year," I tell mom and I see the green of her eyes darkening.
"Eve, what are you talking about?" she asks in awe.
"I want to start cooking classes," I explain, and my throat gets dry, being for the first time when I dare to express freely about things I want to do.
"Eve, I know you like cooking and..." my mom starts talking, but I really can't let her ruin the moment for me. It's now or never.
"Mamma, I want to have my own restaurant. I don't want to be the heir to dad's business. I'm not cut for it."
I don't think I have ever been so blunt with my mom before, but I should start from somewhere, right? And if there is something I am totally sure of, is the fact that I am perfectly cut to run dad's business.
I'm rough and slick and maybe my appearance doesn't tell, but I know exactly how to impose myself when needed. I know how to deal with people and how to turn things in my favor.
Sometimes I believe I may be allowed to be a brat as part of my dad's training.
Fuck, even being a brat is not my own choice.
Mom looks deeply into my eyes, and I can see conflicting thoughts running through her head, eyes running all over my face.
"Okay. But I think you should talk to your father about it. If you think you are old enough to take your own decision, you should be brave enough to tell your father yourself, sweetheart," she says, and I hate when she's right.
"I'll pass by the mansion tomorrow, Mamma," I tell her proudly, lifting my nose, stepping not even an inch back, and knowing very well that this is the only way I can make my father listen and take me seriously.
She smiles at me and as surprised as I may be, I can read satisfaction in her eyes.
"You do that, sweetheart," she replies, standing up and grabbing her purse.
We walk to the front door and before mom leaves she turns around towards me and pulls me in a warm hug.
"I'm proud of you, Eve," she whispers, and I hug her tighter.
"Thank you, Mamma," I reply, and she turns around, opening the door after planting a kiss on my forehead, exiting in the same grace as she has come in, walking gently and elegantly, with her purse hanging on the right arm while running her left one through her silky hair.
When the front door is open, Jason snaps his head to us and locks his eyes with mine while I give him the coldest glare ever.
Mom shifts her glare from me to Jason, and she feels the tension between me and him.
"Jason, I'll be waiting for you in the car," she tells him, knowing that Jason wants a few minutes with me.
"Thank you, Mrs. Tate," he replies without breaking our eye contact.
"I don't think we have anything to talk about," I protest, but mom ignores me and disappears in the elevator before I have the chance to send Jason away.
"Eve, I just want to say I'm sorry. It was just a job for me at the beginning but..."
"Jason, I don't care what it has been or what it is now. I just can't believe you've lied to me to such an extent as to make me believe you are an innocent young boy while you are a fucking hitman for my dad. I hate being lied to! Or spied in! So please, don't you ever come close to me again," I spit in a rough, cold voice.
He keeps himself quiet, listening obediently and giving me time to be done with my tantrum, and then nods, pursing his lips in a thin line.
"I understand. Just, I really care about you, Eve. I wished you could ..."
"No, I couldn't, Jason. Not with the filthy family that I have. Funny thing how you are not afraid of my dad anymore," I reply, tilting my head on my right side, boring holes in his eyes.
I hear the elevator ding and the doors open while Enzo comes out and stops in his way when landing his eyes on me and Jason.
I keep staring at Jason in front of me with an angry face, almost ready to combust if he dares one more word.
*****
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