The Mafia's Maid

Chapter 7

Leah POV

I scooped another mouthful of the scrambled eggs into my mouth. Everybody sat around the large dining table, enjoying their breakfast. Mary and Clarke were opposite each other, having a light conversation as they ate. Amelia and I chatted, facing each other as we spoke. There were three other people sitting at the table; Vlado, Romero, and a man that I hadn't met who was sitting next to Clarke. Vlado and Romero sat at the head of the table, talking to each other and occasionally Clarke and the other man.

I listened to Amelia as she told me a story about her brother, taking another bite of my toast.

"So, he snuck out to the party, and when he got back, dad was pissed. And I'm not talking about, 'don't do that ever again, I'm talking about full rage monster." I laughed at her storytelling, waiting for her to continue. "Long story short, he was grounded for a long time." We laughed together at her brother's misfortune and continued eating.

"Enough!" The happy chatter stopped immediately. Everybody looked at the source of the noise. Vlado was now standing and looked furious as he glared at Romero. He must have said something really bad.

"I don't want to hear another word of this!" Vlado snapped. I saw Romero give me a side glance, causing Vlado to look at me as well. His eyes were full of anger as they kept fixated on me. My stomach twisted into knots as I thought I did something to make him angry.

Vlado stormed out of the room, and he slammed the door closed suddenly. I felt my body shake as I heard the loud noise, I just had to hope that nobody else saw. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm my thrumming heart. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. 

I saw Romero speak, but I didn't hear anything. I couldn't. My mind was racing, and I couldn't keep up with all the thoughts. There were too many thoughts going through my head. What did I do? How can I fix it? What's he going to do? I felt myself start breathing. Hard. My vision was blurred with tears, and I didn't know what was going on.

"Hey hey hey. It's ok. It's alright." I heard a soothing voice break through my train of thoughts. I tried to blink away the tears when I felt a hand rub my back softly, but they fell instead. 

"Just breath. It's going to be alright, Leah." Mary reassured me, pulling me into her arms. As my senses came back to me slowly, I realised that we were alone and that I wasn't sitting on a chair anymore. I was on my knees, being held by Mary, who was also kneeling on the floor. I wrapped my arms around Mary and held onto her as if she was the only thing keeping me afloat. Because, in a way, she was. She was always there for me when I needed her, and I don't want to take her for granted. She takes the time out of her day to make sure that I'm ok, and always makes sure that I am included in conversations so I don't feel lonely. I felt my tears streaming down my face like a waterfall as I leaned against Mary.

"You're gonna be alright. Let it all out." She soothed, placing her chin on my head as I cried into her shoulder.

Clarke POV

I peered through the doors of the dining room. Mary was holding Leah on the floor. I felt a twist in my stomach seeing Leah cry. Even though I didn't know her as much as I would like to, she was Mary's best friend. Leah was important to her, which meant she was important to me. I quietly closed the door. When I heard the soft click of the door closing, I made my way to Vlado's office.

As I walked through the hallways, I saw Romero talking to Theo. 

"Guys, what's going on with Vlado?" I demanded as I walked up to them. Romero had a guilty look on his face when he spoke.

"He hasn't told Leah that we're involved with the mafia, and he told me that he doesn't plan to either."

"Romero tried convincing Vlado to tell her, but that clearly didn't work out." Theo continued. I felt angry with Vlado for not planning to tell Leah because that meant that I couldn't tell Mary either. But that anger swiftly formed into confusion.

"But if he doesn't plan on telling Leah, then why was..." I trailed off.

"Why was what?" Romero asked. If Leah nor Mary knew, then why was Leah upset? Did Vlado say something to her? It's a possibility, but not a large one. There's something going on. But the others don't have to worry about that. I'll figure it out myself.

"Nothing. I gotta talk to Vlado." I ran off before they could answer.

I raced along the halls before I finally made it to Vlado's office. Without knocking, I barged into the room and saw Vlado sitting at his desk. He had his head in his hands, and it was obvious that he didn't feel like talking right now. Well, too bad.

"Vlado."

"Not right now, Clarke. I have a lot on my hands right now." Vlado didn't meet my gaze, so I inched closer to his desk.

"Like what? Not planning to tell Leah anything, so what else could there be?" I sneered. Vlado slammed his hands on the table when he stood. He gave me an angry glare as he spoke.

"I have a leak to find, and yes, I don't plan on telling Leah anything. She doesn't need to know, and neither does Mary or Amelia." He rebuked, challenging me to fight back. But he should know by now that I don't back down from a fight.

"Well, if they're going to work for us, they should know what the risks are," I informed. "This isn't personal. This is human decency. Sure, we may have to be cold-hearted sometimes, but that doesn't mean we should be hiding things from people who deserve to know." Vlado stared at me before he sinks back into his chair with a sigh.

"You're right. We should tell them. But now is not the time." I was about to disagree again, but Vlado stopped me. "Once we catch the leak, we can tell them. The leak is the number one priority right now." I sat down at a spare chair facing Vlado.

"So how will we find them?" Vlado thought for a moment.

"We will move the rest of the team here."

"Won't they find that suspicious?"

"We'll just say that it's an extra safe house that was built recently." He answered. "Now get Romero and Theo in here. They need to hear this."