The Mafia's Flower (ON HOLD)

Chapter Three

"Are you willing now, to let me know where we're going?"

"Nope." He said, popping the 'p'.

I sighed. "But we've been driving for hours now. Are we at least close to the place?"

"Nope." Popping the 'p' sound again.

I grunted. "Okay... since we're no where near it, can I at least take off the blind fold? It's itching my skin." I asked at least hoping this time he would say yes.

He didn't reply quickly, as if he were actually considering the request before muttering an 'Okay' out loud.

"Thank you." I mumbled, pulling off the thick scarf that he'd tied almost too tightly round my eyes. Turns out I was actually right with the car, I'd recognised the insides in no less than a second after I took the blindfold off. It was his favourite Chevrolet that he hardly took out unless on special occasions.

I sighed in an effort to mask my excitement. Turning over, I stared at him in silence as he drove. With his hands firmly gripped on the steering wheel and a soft classic rock music playing on the stereo, it felt like this moment with just the two of us now was enough.

No work. No excuse. No interruptions. Just us.

I sighed again before leaning into the soft leather seat. I began to wonder, when exactly it was I had fallen for him? Was it recently or had I always harbored hidden feelings for him from day one?

I racked my brain as the first day my dad had brought me into the Valdez estate played back in my memory. I had just turned 15 and it was around this time of the year three years ago. Dad had made me wear my finest dress before bringing me into the estate.

He'd insisted that Mr. Valdez- Michael, would look after me for a few days as he was bound to go on a business trip far away from home. He'd told me that he would keep in touch and that I should be respectful to Mr. Valdez and should always obey him and do whatever he said without any cause for argument. He didn't even need to inform me on that; reaching the estate alone and noticing the aura Michael gave, I knew he was a respectable man and I would not mess up my chances.

Loving and respecting my dad as he was my only remaining family after mom had died, I agreed without complaint and followed him into the ridiculously large estate claimed to be owned by one man. Dad had said that Michael was an old friend of his who he'd helped in the past and was just repaying back the favour from all those years passed.

The moment Michael had come out to meet us in the foyer, even I at such an adolescent age couldn't deny that he was a good looking man. So far, was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen face to face. Men weren't supposed to be beautiful but he was an exception, as he was a rare mixture of royalty and poise to match. I was smitten by him almost immediately but cautioned myself after the age difference suddenly came into mind. He was 24 then and surely was above my dating limit for guys.

Sadly, my dad bid me his farewell but not before pulling me into a heart raking hug as if his life depended on it. It felt like he was never going to come back as he left me reluctantly with tears filling his eyes. I knew my dad loved me but something about that sad moment felt like he was indirectly saying goodbye to me... forever.

Not long after, Michael introduced me to his staff- Gregory, who was in charge of the household maintenance, Joan and Belinda who took care of house chores, Matthew who was the cook, Taylor who was in charge of checking for whatever the house needed in supplies and Hilda, who ought to be Gregory's assistant- a gloomy old woman too but who was currently always away on one business or the other.

I was home schooled and probably given even better education at home than the kids who went to school. Having my classes online over the desktop computer in the house's study, I couldn't complain. But the cons that came with it was not mixing up with kids my age, but I also wasn't complaining.

All I had then to converse with was the household staff and in no time, despite being either up to 5 or 8 years older than me, we got along quite well. So far, from everyone in the house, the closest to my age was Belinda who was 5 years older than me. It didn't take long for a bond to form between us.

For what seemed like a few months, it led into a year and yet my dad hadn't come for me. At one point though, I'd almost wished he wouldn't as I'd fully been accustomed to the house and to everyone. Michael was being a good guardian too as whenever he was around, he inquired about my well being and on very rare occasions, took out time from his busy schedules to stay by my side.

And like that, three years had gone by and he still hadn't come for me. My dad had left me and no matter how much I didn't want to admit it, it was however becoming too difficult not to. So far, within these three years, I'd only been receiving letters from him and they all came to a total of 5. I'd constantly asked myself, 'Had he made so much money that he would forget his own daughter?' Or 'Was I being a liability to him all this while?'. I'd understood then that living wasn't easy yes as we were the definition of poor but, I thought that at least he'd loved me then nonetheless. I didn't know that I was just a baggage that he'd dropped at another man's door.

"What are you thinking about?" Michael's voice suddenly drew me out from my thoughts.

"Nothing much." I idly replied, trying to recover from the devastating thoughts.

"And why do I find that hard to believe?" He asked, throwing a quick glance at me before returning his eyes back to the road almost too quickly.

I sat up. "How long do we have left to get there?" I asked, quickly changing the topic. He gave me a look, a knowing look which indicated that he knew what I just tried to do so he didn't push it.

"Just an hour or so."

"Where the hell are we going? To the end of the world?"

He chuckled. "If I asked you to, would you accompany me?"

I stayed mute and blinked as his question registered in my brain. Nowadays, sly comments that he'd made were what I'd taken seriously. Knowing Michael, he loved to tease but with the sudden emergence of this crazy feelings came the ability to stop sensing when he was joking or not. I was always literally fighting for a second meaning to whatever he used to tease me about. It was becoming frustratingly annoying.

"Anyways, in the mean time, why don't we pass away time with a little game." I suggested.

He looked over at me, his eyes falling to my body again before forcing them back onto my face reluctantly. "Like what game do you have in mind?"

I cleared my throat before the idea came into words. "Truth or Dare."