Ugly Ronney: mafia romance [English]

Chapter 16-4

Yeraz got into the car, his face stoic.

"Isaac, drive us to my mother's house!"

"To Camilia's?" I stammered. "That wasn't planned."

He didn't answer. The car started. I was relieved to leave this place.

"How did the meeting with Hamza end?" I dared to ask after a while.

"Everything is settled."

Yeraz had answered a little too quickly. Something was still bothering him, but I didn't insist, despite my desire to get answers to my questions. He was lost in his thoughts. The situation seemed to be completely slipping away from him.

The drive was very quiet. How had he convinced Hamza to review the terms of the contract without involving me?

When we arrived at our destination, I followed Yeraz, my mind still numb, to the door of the residence. Before it opened, I took a deep breath and turned to him.

"Come with me to see Daphne's show on Saturday night."

Surprised by my unexpected request, he stared at me for a moment, then scratched an eyebrow with his finger before burying his hands in his pockets.

"I can't. There's the gala. Be thankful I gave you the night off on this important day for our family."

"Can't you leave for an hour or two?" I paused for a moment and then said in a shy voice, "I bought a ticket for you a while ago. I don't know why. It was before all this."

Yeraz sighed. The attention seemed to have touched him.

"I would have preferred seeing Belinda on stage, believe me."

"Belinda?"

Yeraz shrugged theatrically. "That's her name. You have this annoying habit of giving people fake names. I, on the other hand, like to know everything about them."

Just as I was about to reply, the door opened. Yeraz immediately put his mask back on his face. A slight smile appeared on Abigaëlle's lips when she looked at me. Indeed, she had been looking at me with a less severe eye for several weeks, and for good reason: I was part of the Khan landscape now. Yeraz murmured a vague greeting and entered as if he were at home.

"Your mother is waiting for you in the parlor, Mr. Khan. Miss Jimenez, would you like to have lunch while you wait?"

I frowned and looked at Yeraz.

"Listen, I need to talk to my mother alone. Abigaëlle will take care of you."

I fluttered my eyelashes as I searched for words.

"Why can't I come with you? What is it that you're not telling me?"

Yeraz looked up at Abigaëlle.

"Prepare Miss Jimenez's meal, please."

She bowed her head before leaving. Finally alone in the hall, Yeraz talked to me in a softer voice.

"Trust me. I told you I had it all figured out. To be honest, it's my mom who can get us out of this mess. I never thought I'd need her help one day."

I nodded and whispered a thank you. Today, Yeraz had chosen me, and nothing would ever be the same again.

I watched him walk away without trying to hold him back.

Peter's voice suddenly came to me from above. He was scolding some employees. I decided to go see him for the pleasure of seeing him roll his eyes when he saw me. Camilia's assistant didn't impress me anymore.

I walked down the hallway, which smelled of fresh perfume. This house was warmer than Yeraz's. I felt good here.

"I don't understand why the suitcases weren't checked when they left the airport. Camilia has just lost tens of thousands of dollars' worth of jewelry. How is this possible? You're really useless! Children who--"

When Peter saw me appear, he stopped talking and did exactly what I had predicted.

"I don't have time for your coaching session, Ronney. Do you think the world revolves around you? Saturday is the gala and everyone is very busy. Except for you, of course, walking around for no reason."

I entered the room and gave a compassionate glance to the two giant men, who were twice my height.

"Yeraz is downstairs talking with Camilia."

Suddenly interested, Peter brought his closed fist to his lips. I had just aroused his interest.

"Really?"

His gaze then turned to the two men. Peter raised his chin in their direction to patronize them.

"Can't you see I'm in the middle of a conversation with my ghetto Cinderella? Come on, get out!"

His hand twirled in the air to dismiss the two employees, who seemed to be refraining from reducing him to pieces. Camilia's assistant accompanied them to the door and waited for them to be sufficiently far enough away to turn towards me, a sparkle in the eyes.

"Tell me everything!"

I revealed to Peter the existence of the Kayser plan, which linked Yeraz to the Rosa Negra, and told him that in order to follow through on this arrangement, I had insisted that my parents' restaurant be removed from the list of businesses. I also mentioned the employee exchange.

"Exchange you? You?"

Peter, bewildered, dropped onto a chair when he heard the proposal Hamza had made to Yeraz.

"But you are far from being a trophy, my dear."

I slapped him on the shoulder.

"I'm a very good assistant!" I retorted.

"Okay, enough with the jokes. The Rosa Negra is a very powerful organization, so this is a sensitive matter. For them, a deal is a deal."

"Yeraz's life isn't in danger, is it?"

Peter looked at me suspiciously.

"How about that! Our Ronney is more worried about her boss than about herself. My dear, it's you who risks being sold like cattle."

"Exchanged!" I crossed my arms.

Peter continued, "I don't know which one of you is the craziest. Would you really be willing to sacrifice yourself for him?"

"I just don't want anything to happen to him!"

Peter shook his head and abruptly changed his tone. He was more serious than ever.

"Something's bound to happen to him one day, Ronney. When you're the head of a criminal organization like this, you don't live long enough to regret anything in your life. Yeraz will always be young."

Something broke inside me when I heard those words.

"You should prepare yourself for the day when you have to say goodbye to him, one way or another."

I looked away and scanned the room with my eyes. The pain in my chest was growing. Peter's words were true, but unbearable for me to hear.

"Well, Camilia doesn't need to know that you broke rule number one," he exclaimed to change the subject. "And what about rule number two?"

Taken by surprise, I looked into his eyes. I stammered a few unintelligible words before finishing with, "It doesn't matter."

Peter's eyes opened wide. He couldn't believe it. My cheeks flushed.

"Jesus! And I thought nothing could surprise me anymore."

He was about to saysomething else, but Abigaëlle came to the door to tell me that my lunch wasready. Peter decided to accompany me, which was fine with me. I didn't want tobe alone to brood.