The Mafia's Maid

Chapter 29-3 Days Left

Leah POV

Everybody was up early for the drive back to Vlado's house. And the goodbye was...emotional. At least it was for Giorgia. She acted as if she was never going to see Vlado ever again.

The drive wasn't very eventful either, just Vlado and me chatting and listening to the radio. It sounds boring, but it was actually pretty fun.

We were back before lunch, and I met with Mary and Amelia by the driveway. As soon as I had left the car, I was almost toppled over by Mary. I managed to keep my feet on the ground as she wrapped her arms around me as if I was going to fade from existence.

"I missed you! Why were you gone for so long?!" She exclaimed as she somehow managed to squeeze me tighter, making me gasp for air.

"I was gone for less than three days."

"I know." She pulled away. "But it felt much longer with everything that's happened here."

I tilted my head in confusion. "What's happened here?"

She waved me off. "It's too difficult to explain. Now, I need to speak to Clarke. Like, right now." Mary left me standing with Amelia as she went off to find Clarke standing next to Theo. I looked at Amelia with a raised eyebrow, and she just shrugged.

"Don't ask me," she laughed. I laughed with her and got my bags from the back of the car.

"So, what happened to you when we were gone?"

She shrugged again. "Not much. Really. Kinda boring actually." We laughed.

"Well, I'd say my time gone was pretty interesting. We went to Vlado's club and-"

"Leah, there you are!" I looked away from Amelia to Romero as he came jogging up to us. "It's good to see you. Have you seen Mary yet?"

"Uhh, yeah. She was the first person I saw."

He looked off to where the cars were and nodded. "Cool." He turned back to us. "Has she told you anything?"

I gave Amelia a quick glance, and she looked just as confused as I was. "Uhh, should she have?"

Romero scratched the back of his head. "No, I was just wondering. Well, I gotta go. See ya!" He was gone before either of us could respond.

"Uhh, bye?" I said, even though it sounded like a question. I looked at Amelia, and we just ended up laughing before we continued with our walk and my story.

Mary POV

"Woah, Mary! What's so important that you had to drag me from there?" Clarke chuckled as I dragged her to my room. I quickly pulled her in and locked the door behind us.

"Locked door?" I turned around to see her with a smirk. "Must be serious."

I rolled my eyes, but had a fluttering feeling in my stomach. "It is serious, so focus." I gestured to my bed, and she gave me a salute before taking a seat. I stayed standing as I moved in front of her.

"So, I learnt something very interesting while you lot were gone." I laughed. "And I have no idea why I'm not so much angrier right now." The amused look on Clarke's face faded and turned into one of concern.

"Did something bad happen?"

"Oh, yes, something very bad happened. So, I felt like there was something..." I paused, thinking of the right word. "Off, with this place, and it turned out I was right." I turned to Clarke.

"Turns out having guns here is a regular occurrence." All the emotions on Clarke's face turned into just one. Guilt. "Romero told me that I should ask you because I would believe you more than him, which is actually true." Clarke's fingers drummed on her legs quietly as I waited for her to respond.

"Well," she finally began, "what did he tell you?"

"He just told me that you guys worked in a profession that requires guns. And don't bother trying to say you guys are cops, cause let's be honest; that's bullshit."

She nodded silently. "Yeah, well, you might want to sit down for this one."

I scoffed. "What? Am I gonna faint because it's so 'shocking'?"

She chuckled. "You're strong enough to hear this, but it isn't exactly everyday news." I pulled a face for a moment before I sat down next to her.

"So, I'm not gonna try to beat around the bush, I'm just gonna get straight to the point." She looked at me with raised eyebrows. I nodded. Clarke took a breath.

"We work in the mafia."

Everything stopped. The mafia? The mafia. The people we lived with worked in the mafia. That's...great. That's great. Just great. Actually, not just great-fantastic. I took Leah away from her abusive excuse of an ex to a house full of people that work in the mafia.

Lovely.

Clarke laughed uncomfortably. "Heh, that's sounds so weird now that I say it out loud." She may have been laughing, but I was not.

"So, you all work in the mafia?" She nodded. I sat there in silence for a moment longer before I clapped my hands and gave her a smile. "Welp, I think it's time for Leah and me to leave then."

I stood up from the bed and started to walk to the door, but Clarke pulled me back.

"No, Mary, please. You can't leave. Not until I explain everything." Her eyes pleaded with me. I sighed and gave her a small nod.

"Alright, so all of us are part of the Sanchez Mafia, which Vlado leads. Everybody but you, Leah and Amelia, that is." She took my hands in hers as she explained. "We all have to use guns in our line of work. It's for safety, it can't be any other way. But just because we're part of the mafia doesn't mean that we're monsters, or cruel. Sometimes...sometimes we have to do what we have to do though." That was a nice, simple way of putting it, but it had a much darker meaning.

"So, you kill people?" I didn't want it to be, but I knew it was true. I mean, what kind of mafia group wouldn't? That sounds very stereotypical, but it's just the truth. Clarke just stared at me for a moment before nodding with a sigh.

My heart beat faster and my stomach twisted, and I had to take a couple of breaths.

"But, Leah and Vlado have been getting closer recently, and I don't want her to get hurt."

"No, no, no, you don't have to worry about Vlado," she comforted quickly. "Sure, he can get a bit...confrontational at times, but he would never hurt her."

I took in her words for a moment. It was true. The worst he ever got was when he confronted Leah about how she punched him so well. If you ask me, it was because his fragile ego got broken, but that was what I used to think. Recently, he had actually been careful about what he's been doing around Leah, thankfully. I was actually beginning to trust him, too. But that trust has been put on hold for now.

"Does Leah know?"

"No-and you can't tell her either. She has to hear it from Vlado."

I scoffed. "But we're best friends; we tell each other everything."

"Well, you can't tell her this." Clarke spoke with a firmness that I hadn't heard from her before, taking me slightly by surprise. I know it wasn't my secret to tell, but Leah was my best friend. We told each other everything. Literally everything. It was a very difficult thing to consider. She was practically my sister, we had been through that much together. But I couldn't tell her. It wasn't for me to tell.

"...Fine." Clarke grinned. "But he has to tell her soon."

Her smile didn't falter. "Deal! I'll go tell him now." Before I knew what she was doing, Clarke pressed her lips against mine in a chaste kiss. I stumbled back slightly from the suddenness of the kiss but returned it. Just as quickly it had happened, she pulled away again and strode to the door.

"I'll see you soon, Mary. Bye!" The door slammed behind her, and she left me standing alone in my room with a bubbly feeling in my stomach. Mixed with the guilt.

Not a very fun combo, but hopefully it wouldn't last too long.