His Proposal

His Proposal - 12.5

Jai's POV

Eliana enters the bar with an overnight bag, which she places on the ground beside her. She looks at me. "Are you ready to take me to Amalia's place?"

What's she talking about? I never said I was taking her to Miami.

Riker looks at me. "I'm sorry, Jai. She won't let anyone take her except you. You were the one that told her she should go away for a while, and she chose Florida with her cousin, who can't stand our family."

Eliana sits next to Riker. "That's a lie, Riker, and you know it. It's your father and you who don't like her. It's not her fault that our Grandfather did what he did to divide our family. The business that's been going down isn't Amalia's fault. You could fix all the damage that father did. He was the one that made the company fail."

Looking at Riker, I say. "If you need help with the damages he did. I will help from Los Angeles. I don't want to spend any more time away from home."

Riley and Irina walk into the club together. They both have overnight bags, which they place next to Eliana's.

Are they going with Eliana?

Riker shakes his head at Irina. "I'm not letting you meet my cousin. She's worse than I am. I'm afraid she'll hurt you."

Irina places her hand on his shoulder. "She's not going to hurt me. I want to get to know your family. You don't talk about them much."

He pulls her into his side. "That's because my family are bad people. You've seen some of the stuff I'm capable of, and I don't want you to be pulled further into things you don't understand."

She kisses his cheek. "I'll be fine. I have Eliana and Riley with me. If you can let them go, then let me."

Riker looks at his sisters. "I want you both with my girl for the entire trip." He pulls out a ring and puts it on her finger. "This ring will let Amalia's family know you belong to the Mesi. If Marino touches you, I will kill every one of them, including our cousin, without remorse."

Eliana gulps. "You can't be serious, brother."

He looks at her. "I'm deadly serious, Eli. I would never let anything happen to my siblings and girlfriend." He places his face against Irina's neck and inhales.

I wish I had that type of relationship. While I would be protective of the woman I love, it's too early for me to know how I feel about Chloe. What I know is that I like being around her.

I gave Riker the documents for all my properties and the clubs I sold him. "Have fun in the new business, Riker. Can you do me a favour?"

"Sure,"

"Can you check on my condo from time to time? I want to ensure the place is still there when I come here." Pulling my keys out of my pocket, I give them to him. "Thanks, Riker."

Riley looks at me. "Can we go now?"

"Let me grab a bottle of water from the fridge, and then we can go." I walk behind the bar and open the fridge. Pulling out four bottles of water, I put them in the backpack. Turning towards the girls, I say, "I'm ready. Let's go."

Riker kisses Irina and tells her how much he loves her. She says the same thing to him, and he has a stupid smile. He places his hand in hers, and they walk over to the overnight bag on the floor. He lifts it and carries the bag out for her.

Riley lifts her bag and places it on her shoulder. She heads for the door. "Shotgun," she yells, running to the car.

Eliana lifted her bag and handed it to me. "Be a doll and carry this to the car for me?" she walks behind me, and I feel her eyes linger on me. "You know I can't ever get the image of that sexy ass out of my head. I want to have one more go with you."

Turning towards her, I say. "Eli, we're not going to happen. When I was living here, I was someone I detested. I let that man go, and now I am happy with who I am. Living in Los Angeles has changed me. I won't change back into Jai 'the mafia's right-hand man' because that's not my title anymore. I am Jai Marshall, former football player and now 'Lusive' nightclub owner."

She waves her hand. "You can be whoever you want with me?" she moves her hand to my shirt and begins to undo the top button.

I move her hand from me. "It's not going to happen, Eliana. Now, get to the bloody car and sit in it. For the entire trip, I want you to leave me the hell alone."

She walks to the car as if nothing happened.

As I leave the building, I see her wrap her arms around Nixon, Riker's left-hand man. She kisses his cheek. "I'm going to miss you, Nix. Maybe you should take us to Florida. I don't feel like travelling with the anti-fun guy."

Riker looks at me and mouths. "What happened?"

I walk to the car and throw the overnight bag into the trunk. Then, I walked over to him and told him what had happened between Eliana and me.

He seems unhappy and turns towards Eliana, who is now making out with Nixon. "Eliana, would you stop making out with my men? You should also apologise to Jai. He's the one taking you to Florida. Even though he would rather be heading home to the girl he likes."

Eliana scoffs. "Like she would like Jai. She doesn't know anything about his past, but I know the type of guy he truly is."

Riker moves towards his sister. "I've had enough of this attitude. Until it's gone, you will live in Florida." He turns his back on his sister and then moves towards the car, where his girlfriend sits in the backseat.

She pulls down her window and talks to him.

I climb into the driver's seat and start the car. Eliana doesn't say anything as she climbs into the backseat. She looks out the window, ignoring everything around her.

"Bye, Riker," Riley says from the front seat.

He kisses the top of her head. "Stay out of trouble, brat."

She sticks her tongue out at him. "I can't keep that promise, bro."

Pulling out of the parking lot, I head towards Miami. I change the channel, and a country song comes on, and Riley begins to sing along.