Chapter Seven Daniel
Chapter Seven
Daniel
The moment Jennifer sits down and shrugs off her white coat, the doors creak open, then shut again with a soft thud—the sound echoing through the room.
I exhale quietly, comforted by the voice that follows. I don’t even have to look. I already know who it is.
Of course, she’d know we’re here. She’s scary sometimes, having eyes and ears everywhere. But fuck, am I glad she’s here now.
“Daniel, you’re finally home! I’ve waited all morning; Hayden wouldn’t tell me what’s—” Her yapping suddenly stops as she sees Jennifer.
“Oh my, hello my dear!” She smiles at her instantly, and to my surprise, Jennifer smiles right back. But this time, it’s a genuine smile. Not like the one she gives me, which is filled with worry and anxiety. Well, fuck. She’s absolutely mesmerizing with that smile of hers.
My mom turns her head to me and gives me that smile— the one that makes me pretty sure she thinks Jennifer is my girlfriend… She’s just like my brother, always trying to ensure that I continue our family tree. I try to show her it’s not like that, but even then, she won’t listen anyway.
“You look gorgeous, how did you two meet?” my mom begins to question Jennifer as she sits down.
Fuck. I can’t help but smile. The situation I’m in is fucked up, but the way they interact makes my heart— no.
Not happening. Not today, and especially not with her. Fuck that.
I clear my throat loudly as I take a seat next to Jennifer, facing my mother. “Mom, listen.”
Mom looks at me, and although she’s my mother, I know she respects me. She knows that I’m the boss, and that sometimes, it’s serious.
She’s not scared of me, nor is she scared of my dad. Hell, it’d be terrible.
But she does know that the men in our family often have important things to do, so whenever I get serious with her, she knows just how to react. That’s why I love her so much.
She can be a loving mother and a good wife all at once. And besides that, she respects her children.
Don’t know how my father did it, but he got a treasure by his side. I will forever be grateful to have women like her and my sister in my life.
Other women—I don’t have time for them. Which is seriously annoying, considering I got Jennifer sitting here.
This family business takes up most of my time, so until now, I haven’t considered dating women.
One, because I don’t have time, and second—try explaining to your date that you’re a mafia boss. Yeah, that’d be pretty fucked up, right?
“I’m listening,” Mom replies. Her eyes wander over to Jennifer once, but her focus stays on me.
Jennifer hasn’t said a single word to my mother yet, so I’m just hoping she’ll trust my mother enough to let her pick up Mary, her daughter.
Even if my mother and her daughter just spend a little time together, I’m sure she’ll be anxious about it.
Who wouldn’t be? We’re all strangers, after all.
“Jennifer is not my girlfriend, if that’s what you think,” I make it clear that I’m not intending anything romantic with her.
Yet my mom knows about our rules: never hurt any women or children. And that’s why I’m sure she’ll understand the dilemma I’m in.
“She saw something this morning. You know, when Hayden and I were… doing our job.” I sigh, remembering what my dad always tells me.
Never tell any woman about what we do, even if it’s your own mother.
It’s not an act of disrespect or discrimination; it’s an act of safety. If anyone finds out about what our family does and they question us, the women won’t be able to say anything, even if they’d want to.
It’s to protect them.
If the police would believe them if they’d say they’re innocent? Nobody knows. But we’re not planning to find out, either.
What we do know, though, is that the police can’t capture women who have never been involved in anything, and as long as they stay out of our business, they’ll be fine.
They can’t fuck someone over without any evidence. It’s why our family business is only showcased below a “family” home.
This mansion is home to the Caruso family. My parents, my siblings, my nephew, cousins. There are exceptions, such as Hayden.
Only the closest members of our business are allowed to stay here—or even allowed to know about the existence of this building.
We handle all the business shit in our basement. There’s a tunnel of rooms, including a huge storage room, shooting targets, practice rooms and drug labs.
It’s safe. It’s foolproof. The police have tried searching our mansion, but they never found the entrance to our basement.
And fuck, I need it to stay that way. It’s how my family survives. The Caruso family has been in the news before.
They tried calling us “dangerous gang”, “mafia” all that bullshit. Yet, they never had helpful evidence. Only evidence they had was other gangs putting shit upon us.
I’m still questioning how the police found out about the location of our mansion, but honestly—I didn’t care enough to do research on that.
My mom looks at me and nods in response. I gulp. “Listen, mom… she saw everything happen. This never happened before and I—” Before I talk too much, I shut myself up and squeeze my eyes shut, my hands curled into fists. I can’t do this.
Not in front of Jennifer, especially. Fuck. If something is actually hard for me, it’s showing my feelings.
It comforts me to talk to my mother, but since I’ve grown up, it got much harder. It mentally haunts me. It makes me feel weak.
“I don’t know what to do.” I admit. It’s not too much information about what happened.
Just enough.
Having Jennifer know about Roy’s death is enough. My mother doesn’t have to know.
This is fucking bullshit. I’ve always known what to do. In every situation, I knew how to handle everything. My dad is counting on me, after all.
But this? It never happened before. And as much as I’d like to think that Jennifer would never tell a soul about what she saw and just let her go live a happy life, I can’t risk it.
She seems like such a sweet soul. I’ve seen it when she talked to Andrew. But I simply can’t risk it. I fucking can’t.
She’ll have to earn my loyalty, and I’ll have to earn hers.
“Well, Daniel. As your mother, I can only say to trust your instinct.” She speaks quietly, yet clearly. Her voice stays soft, although I’m sure my mom can count two plus two together and realize— whatever I do with Jennifer, it will feel wrong.
For me. And for her. The both of us are in a fucked up situation.
Talking about this woman while she sits right next to me feels wrong. Knowing her daughter is away from her while she’s in our mansion?
I feel like a coward. It wasn’t my fault she’s seen Roy die, and yet I feel guilty.
“What’s your name, my dear?” my mom asks her. Jennifer looks at me for reassurance, then simply smiles at her.
“My name is Jennifer.”
Mom smiles at her. “That’s such a wonderful name. Now, I’ll have a talk with you later, alright? I have to meet my husband soon; we’re going out for lunch later.”
I smile at the thought of that. Their marriage has lasted for years, yet they act like a newly married couple.
Jennifer nods while smiling. “That’s fine with me. Enjoy your lunch later…” She looks at me for help, but I stay quiet. “Erm… what should I call you?”
“Just call me Lilia.”
As my mom gets up from the table, I do the same. “Wait right here, and don’t move.” I look at Jennifer, and she nods. “I won’t.”
“Good.” Girl. Sometimes thoughts are supposed to stay thoughts.
The second I close the door and look behind myself, I see my mother looking at me with a worried look on her face.
She knows damn well what’s going on, and I didn’t even have to mention it.
“I’ll have to hurry, my darling,” she whispers before we start to walk down the hallway, reaching the foyer and walking into another hallway.
Judging by the direction we’re headed, we’re walking to my father’s office. “What do you need, my son?”
“Can you help me with this?” I ask her. Based on her change in expression, I continue to speak before she has the wrong impression.
I’ll never include my mother in this business. “She has a daughter. And she won’t trust me before her child is with her,” I explain.
“I understand that, I would feel the same,” she replies softly. “I’ll help you, of course. Just tell me where and when I’m supposed to pick the little sweetheart up, and I’ll make sure she gets back to her mother safely, like she’s supposed to. Oh, and do tell me the little one’s name!”
I smile. “Her name’s Mary. Thank you for helping, mom.” She gives me a subtle hug before she leaves me alone in the corridor.
A deep sigh escapes me just a second before I hear a bit too familiar voice just a few meters away from me.
And just thinking about this guy accidentally entering the dining hall and seeing Jennifer all alone, it makes me feel uneasy.
Fuck. I don’t even have to wonder how she is gonna feel if I already have doubts.
Fuck this. I shouldn’t have left her alone. Though only our most loyal guys are here, I still don’t trust them.
Besides, there’s one man I could never trust. He’s too fucking shady. Julian.
I walk back to the dining hall as fast as I can, shuddering at the words I hear just as I stand outside the hall, facing the door. This motherfucker… Of course, he always finds a way to find his way into the wrong situation.
I push open the door silently, seeing his back facing me. If this bastard makes her feel uncomfortable, I swear I’m going to kill him the second I get the chance to.
“What’s a wonderful woman like you doing here, all alone? I don’t think I know you yet, love.”
As soon as I see a hint of panic in Jennifer’s eyes, I decide to let him know she’s not alone.
In fact, now that I know he seems to like her, I’m never leaving her the fuck alone anywhere and anytime.
This dirty bastard.
“She’s my girl, Julian. Get your ass out of here.”
All hatred I feel against him gets so fucking much worse the second he turns around and smirks at me and opens his mouth.
“Come on, Daniel. Why didn’t you tell me about her? She’s such a pretty whore. How much did you pay?”
“She just arrived ten minutes ago. It’s none of your business, anyway. She’s fucking mine. So don’t you dare touch what’s mine, or I’ll cut your hands off. Besides, dad told me you should be busy today; you have tasks to do. Don’t you, soldier?”
Soldier. The most painful reminder he’s not in a lead position, and therefore, not gradually important here. He’s hated it the whole time.
I’ve seen him convince my father once, trying to give him reasons why he should be the boss instead of me. Lucky for me, this is fucking family business, and my father wants it to stay that way.
I don’t mention which tasks he has to do specifically to protect Jennifer, but he knows damn well he shouldn’t be sneaking around here right now.
“You’re right,” he smiles as if he has a wooden stick up his ass. “My apologies. I’ll get right back to my tasks, boss.”
“You know damn well I’d never accept any of your apologies,” although I know I’m provoking him and my father would hate me for it, I don’t stop.
“So please leave me and my girl alone. Go do your work, servant.”
He clenches his fists, which only satisfies me more. Oh, I love getting on his nerves. Especially because he’s too loyal to my father to do anything to me.
He’d never disobey me. He’s a fucking pussy.
My dad does appreciate him as a good soldier, a loyal one at that, but he’d never choose anyone over his actual family.
Because there are people in our mafia who are family by blood, like my parents, Andrew, Victoria, and me.
And then there are guys like Julian who… Well, I have to admit he did an excellent job at trying his hardest to join our family.
I really wouldn’t say Julian is bad at what he does. Years of training under my dad’s leadership is showing off, I can’t deny that.
He’s an excellent soldier for our family, but I simply couldn’t care less about him.
In fact, I would’ve preferred it if instead of Roy, Julian would’ve died. Probably makes me sound like an asshole, but it’s the truth.
The actual problem I have with this bastard is that he does shit nobody else in our family supports, and he knows damn well.
Julian never cared about some of our rules; in fact, he tried to involve us in some of that shit once. Human or sex trafficking is something we despise.
We’ve been a clean business for years, ever since my dad took over the leadership. I’m not planning to change that.
Julian takes one last look at Jennifer, which makes me want to throw my fist into his face, yet I stay calm. I wouldn’t be a good boss if I acted out of anger, after all.
Strategy is always better than being emotional and letting my feelings lead the way. Always.
I’ve learned from my mistakes pretty quickly when I was younger.
“Alright, Jenny.”
“It’s Jennifer.”
I nod. “Whatever you say, Jenny.”
She scoffs. “You’re so…”
She doesn’t finish her sentence; the only recognition she gives me is an annoyed look on her face with a hint of confusion.
Overall, I’m sure she’s confused about the situation. About Julian. About the fact that he quite literally thought she was a whore who was supposed to feed my lust.
Poor thing. Panic, anger, confusion—all emotions which are normal for her today.
I have no idea what’s going on in her mind right now, but if she thinks I wanted to protect her from Julian because I like her, or because I got some sort of jealousy on my mind… She’s wrong.
All I want to do is protect her from assholes. I’d do that for any woman. And as much as I like our job, some guys we’re in contact with are terrible creatures. Not humans, no. Creatures.
A creature just like Julian. Worse than him.
A mafia is never a clean thing; everybody knows about that. But we draw the line at sex-trafficking.
That was the first thing he tried after my dad started to trust him, and ever since then, I despised him.
‘I know a dealer’, he told my father. My father made it clear that we won’t get involved in shady businesses, and that innocent women won’t get involved either.
Julian tried again a few years after, but when my father saw a woman tied up in our training room, Julian almost got killed by my father personally.
Call me a sadist, but I would’ve loved to keep seeing him try. Maybe, one day, my dad would’ve killed him. It would’ve made me happy, at least.