Ugly Ronney: mafia romance [English]

Chapter 6-4

I sat on the steps of the stoop at the entrance to Aunt Maria's house. With tears in my eyes, I put the headphones of my Walkman on my ears. Elvis's voice calmed me down immediately. My hands stopped shaking and I could breathe calmly again. Yeraz must have left already. I hadn't seen him inside the house and his car wasn't parked out front. Good! He had, once again, ruined my day. The rain had left an odor in the air with small floral notes. I took a deep breath and rested my head on my lap. What a shitty weekend, I thought.

"Your cousins aren't exactly nice to you."

No, he was still here. But where had he come from? I didn't make the effort to look up, simply because I didn't want to see him. Yeraz sat down next to me.

"I can see why my comments don't hurt you. You must be more than armored to survive in this family."

I turned up the sound of my Walkman so I wouldn't hear his voice. Unfortunately, this old device lacked power and didn't cover much of the noise around me.

"Why don't you tell them to go fuck themselves?"

I slowly raised my face to him and took the headphones out of my ears.

"This is my family, Yeraz!"

It was just the two of us, and his name slipped out. He didn't correct me.

"So what? You have to learn to say no in life."

I had to be dreaming. Yeraz Khan was giving me lessons on how to behave in society. I looked around and then back at him.

"If this is the only way they can feel better about their lives, then I'm willing to play the role of the underdog. I'd rather have them pick on me than on another one of my little cousins. Because I can handle it. They can't."

Something crossed Yeraz's eyes, an expression I didn't know.

"My world is dangerous, Ronney. If I treat you so harshly, it's because I don't want you to be part of it."

I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you, I understood that. But I need the money and I don't want yours. So, what can I do to get you to stop following me around on my weekends?"

Yeraz looked away from me. He took a deep breath before looking me in the face with an air of challenge.

"Learn to say no!"

"What?"

"I'll leave you alone when you learn to talk back and say no."

I adjusted my glasses and shook my head.

"Impossible."

"Then we're destined to spend every weekend together until your contract ends."

Just as I was about to open my mouth to retaliate, the door opened behind us. My mother and aunt appeared in the doorway, relieved to find us there.

"Ronney, darling, I've been looking for you everywhere. Why are you on the stoop? Come inside."

"Mrs. Jimenez, I have to go."

My mother didn't hide her disappointment.

"Already? But you will come back?"

She and my aunt were suddenly worried that this Prince Charming would leave and never return.

"Yes, we will have the pleasure to meet again very soon," declared Yeraz in a tone full of promise.

I tried to hide my disappointment at the idea of spending all my time with him.

"We're delighted."

My mother gave my aunt a satisfied look.

"Ronney?"

"I'm coming, Mom."

The two women said goodbye to the man they believed to be my boyfriend before leaving us alone again.

"Do you want me to take you home?"

Yeraz stood and put his hand in his pocket to take out his phone. I stood up too and politely declined his offer. I didn't want to be dragged away again. He quickly sent a message and not even a minute later, Isaac appeared behind the steering wheel of a big black car.

"See you tomorrow, Miss Jimenez."

I crossed my arms and watched him walk to the car. It was getting dark. In a few hours, I would join him in his world, as he liked to remind me. Suddenly, an instinctive force took hold of me.

"Yeraz?"

I went down the steps and joined him on the road with long strides. He was waiting for me in front of his already open car door. Facing his imposing stature, I forced myself to ignore his stunning charm.

"You have learned a lot about me today, while I know almost nothing about you. Why did you cling to this life when you had a chance to get out when your father died?"

I waited for his answer. Yeraz closed the door and answered me with disturbing calmness.

"While you got a doll on your fourth birthday, I got a .22 rifle on mine. If you asked me what my favorite animated movie was when I was a kid, I wouldn't be able to answer you because I never watched one. Except yesterday at your studio."

Yeraz opened the car door again and got in, looking more serious than ever. Before closing the door, he put on his opaque glasses that I hated so much. I was stunned by his words and just stood there, motionless.

The big car drove off into the night, leaving me in shock in the middle of the road.