Chapter Seven- Dior
I wiped the single tear away from my cheek as it rolled down my face. I was so mad and so emotional, and I wasn’t even quite sure why. After I got back from Edwardo’s, Buddha did one of his famous disappearing acts; he had been doing a lot of those lately.
I’ve been lying on this bed hoping the sandman would visit me, but when I looked at the time on my phone, it was after midnight, and I was still awake.
In times like these, I missed Lotus the most; I wished she never had to pay for the bull-shit this family has going on.
Fresh tears sprang to my eyes as I remembered how terrified I was of Lotus at first, and then I eventually warmed up to her, and we became the best of friends.
“Fuck it,” I muttered, kicking the sheets off me, realizing I wasn’t going to fall asleep any time soon. The rumbling of my stomach had me rolling my eyes, because now, on top of everything I was feeling, I was now hungry. “Great,” I said, climbing out of the bed.
Just as expected, the door to the guest room where Buddha had been sleeping was open.
A clear indication that he wasn’t home yet.
I decided not to get in my feelings as I made my way to the kitchen to see what quick meal I could make.
Grabbing a loaf of bread, I opened the fridge and took out a container of Provolone cheese slices.
Placing two slices of bread in the toaster, my stomach rumbled even more as I placed the cheese between the bread.
I closed my eyes as my teeth sank into the bread. I stood there happily eating my sandwich when the front door suddenly opened. Buddha walked inside and seemed surprised to see me filling my face after midnight.
Normally, when he saw me, he acted as though he was happy to see me. However, it’s been so long since I’d gotten any kind of emotion from him that it began to feel almost normal.
“Can you make me one of those. I’m gonna have a shower,” that was all that he said before he disappeared inside of the guest bedroom. There was something that looked like blood on his forehead. I did my best to pretend I never saw it.
I didn’t say anything at his request as I finished my midnight snack and then started preparing one for Buddha.
He normally ate four slices of bread, and he loved it when I packed a lot of cheese between the bread.
I made his sandwich the way he liked and grabbed a beer.
Just as I was placing his meal on the table, he walked out of the bedroom.
Wearing only a pair of boxers, his curly hair a little wet from his shower, as it touched the tops of his shoulders.
The smell of his masculine body wash filled my nostrils.
I wanted nothing more than to hug him, burying my face in his chest as I sniffed his freshly showered body.
Instead, I turned to walk away so I could go to bed and hopefully get some sleep.
“Where are you going?” He called out to me as I was about to leave him alone with his sandwich.
“Back to my room, so I could try and get some sleep,” I answered his question over my shoulder, not bothering to turn and face him.
“Sit down, I need to tell you something.” Immediately, I turned around because something told me this wasn’t going to be good.
My heart began racing as I walked over to the table and took a seat.
Buddha took a bite of his sandwich before he looked over at me.
I wore one of his T-shirts with no bra and thong underwear; I tucked my legs under me as I waited for him to spill the beans.
“I’m leaving for Italy,” he said with a mouthful of bread in his mouth. I held my tongue as I twirled my index finger around my ponytail.
“When do you leave?” I asked, believing I already knew the answer to my own question.
“In the next few hours,” Buddha said, taking a huge gulp of his beer. I tried my best to hide the fact that I wanted to practically cry my eyes out. The last time he left me, I found out he got shot. I already knew he was going after Francesco and Luca.
“Ok, I just want you to be safe, that’s all, and come back in one piece,” I said, holding it together the best that I could. Even though I felt my heart break with sadness. Buddha placed his sandwich on the plate and wiped the corners of his mouth as he looked at me.
“There’s one other thing. Catalina was part of what happened; she helped plan this shit with Francesco, Edwardo, and Luca all along.
You also didn’t meet Enzo by accident, and he knows Edwardo is his father.
Everything was a set-up from the moment we arrived in Italy.
” I listened to what he said, and all I heard was that Victoria had been right about Catalina all along.
“What was the reason for Catalina doing all of this?” I folded my arms, feeling myself getting irritated that Enzo was not innocent; human beings really were something else.
“Money, she was hoping to get a payout from either me or my mother. Then she decided that the black diamonds deal would be more profitable. I really dropped the ball when it came to her, believing her fucking bull-shit,” Buddha said, with a disappointed look on his face.
I sighed softly and reached for his hand on the table. “It’s not your fault. Catalina was very convincing, the way she acted when she first saw you in her cafe. She knew all along that you were in Italy, and she planned on lying to you about Enzo being your son. That bitch is fucking diabolical.”
“I don’t want you staying here alone. Pack your shit and stay with Sofia or at the main house. Matter of fact, both you and Sofia should go to the main house until this blows over and Snow and I are back home,” Buddha picked up his sandwich again and resumed eating.
“I don’t want you to go,” I finally said to him, wishing that none of this ever happened.
Now, he was about to leave and have some kind of confrontation with Francesco.
Buddha was a really scary man when he was dealing with these sorts of situations.
I saw it when he had his gun pointed at Edwardo.
Something sinister was in him, and I didn’t like it.
“That’s not an option,” He said with his eyes on the bread in his hand. I just knew I was about to hyperventilate the way my chest tightened.
“Don’t I get a say? Don’t I get to tell my husband that I’m scared he won’t come back to me?
Can’t my husband just leave things the way that they are and forget Francesco and Luca, and stay here with me where I know he’ll be safe?
” I stared at him as my eyes grew misty.
All Buddha did was continue staring at that fucking sandwich, like that’s who was speaking to him.
“All I’m hearing is you want me to be a pussy. Ricci men are anything but pussies.” Buddha said with finality as he drank the last of his beer.
“I just want you to be alive, Buddha. The last time you left to meet Francesco and Luca, you got shot. If it wasn’t for the bulletproof vest…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence. I looked away from him because I didn’t even want to get emotional.
“What don’t you get? Francesco and Luca tried to kill all the men in this family.
They killed my friend Lorenzo; they killed Lotus.
Do you really think I’m about to roll over and act like that shit didn’t fucking happen!
In the next couple of hours, I’m hopping on that plane to go to Italy, and I’m killing every-fucking-body!
” Buddha said, slapping the palms of the table so hard that I jumped and gasped at the anger and coldness in his eyes.
The room got deathly silent as we both just sat there, not saying anything to each other. “Sometimes I feel as if all you know to do is kill, Buddha, and that shit is fucking scary,” I muttered under my breath with my head bent, avoiding looking at him.
“Yeah, well, this is my life. It is what it is…maybe you’re just not cut out for it.” Those words felt like he stuck a dagger deep inside my chest. I slowly lifted my head and looked over at him.
“What does that even mean?” I asked him, holding my breath as I waited for his answer.
“What do you think it means, Dior? If all you're gonna do is fucking complain every two seconds about what I’ve been doing my entire life, the door is right there,” Buddha said, pointing behind me at the front door.
“You really just said that to me? After all I’ve done to stand by you and this bull-shit I’ve been thrust into against my will, mind you.
You have all the fucking nerve to tell me some shit like that, Buddha!
” I looked at him incredulously, trying my best not to hop across this table and strangle his dumb ass.
As if my words fell on deaf ears, Buddha got up with his dishes and walked into the kitchen. I think I’d officially had enough. Hopping up, I marched my ass into the bedroom and picked up a suitcase and unzipped it. Walking toward the dresser, I began yanking my clothing from that mothafucka.
Fuck, folding these clothes—I was ramming and cramming them into the suitcase. The faster I was done, the faster I could leave this godforsaken place.
“This what we doing now? You’re about to do what exactly, Dior? You’re about to leave me?” Buddha asked, standing at the door. Ignoring that he even existed, I continued with my task as if he hadn’t just asked me something.
“You want me gone, so I’m fucking going, you fucking half-Italian asshole!”
“You know, I’m getting really tired of you calling me that. I’m starting to think it’s probably offensive, but I’m not quite sure yet,’ Buddha said, walking over to me as he began throwing my clothing out of the suitcase. The more clothes I packed, the quicker he took the shit out.
“Would you stop doing that shit!” I shouted at him, balling my hands into fists at my side as I stared at him.
“Dior, the only place you’re going is to the main house or Sofia’s. Fuck whatever else you think is about to happen,” Buddha then proceeded to pick up the suitcase and toss it off the bed onto the floor. “I didn't mean for you to leave, and you fucking know that.”