The Mafia's Flower (ON HOLD)

Chapter Fifteen

Valdez

I'd been so busy with work recently that I hardly had enough time for myself. The clients from New Zealand had been on my neck, talking about wrong shipments of goods and refusing to pay for the services rendered. I would have to teach them a lesson and remind them of who it was they were actually dealing with. But I decided to leave that in the care of Noah. He had been itching for a comeback ever since his screw up in Milan. This would be a good opportunity for him to redeem himself. I wouldn't deny being interested in seeing how he would work this out.

I heard the sound of a door close down the hall and my eyes diverted to the source.

Almost immediately sure that it was Fiona's door, my guess was confirmed when I watched the brown haired beauty saunter out of her room. Stretching her arms above her head and stifling a yawn. The usual smile I couldn't hold back whenever I saw her, crept up my features as I admired her from afar. She looked innocently down the hall, her eyes glancing my way before they skimmed down towards the stairs, like they hadn't seen me. She always seemed to look so confused whenever she woke up and I always wondered why.

"Good morning, beautiful." I greeted, watching as she paused in her steps on the stairs.

She turned and looked up at me, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. Maybe she really hadn't seen me earlier. But then I noticed the dark circles underneath her eyes. She looked like she didn't get a good night's rest. I frowned almost instantly.

"Michael? What are you doing here?"

"I live here." I shrugged, finding the question charming.

"I know," I watched her roll her eyes. I hate it when she does that. "It's just, you're mostly at work by this time. I was only wondering—"

"Yeah, I know." I cut her off. "I decided to work from home today. Almost like a mini day-off." I lied. I still had a pile of work load waiting for me at the office, but ever since she'd told me about her new friend—Abel Price—last night, for some weird reason, I felt like I needed to see him well one on one.

I couldn't quite understand why, but their new friendship seemed to irk me a bit. I thought it was just the tiredness from work last night, but I realised the slight irritation was still present when I woke up this morning. I hated getting irritated, especially by things I didn't understand.

"You're not happy I'm around?" I decided to tease her, leaning on the railing as I smirked. A poor attempt I would admit, at trying to mask the disturbing thoughts that were beginning to plague my mind.

Fiona's blue eyes lit up once more, and I couldn't help but marvel at how much they reminded me of the Pacific. "What? No no..." She looked away from me and the familiar shade of red began to highlight her slim cheek bones. She always blushed so easily and it would made her look even more cuter than she already was. It always had the opposite effect on me when she rolled her eyes.

Remembering that I still had some work to do, I didn't want to allow myself be distracted by Fiona. At least, for the moment. Being with her always seemed to make time fly by without me even noticing. This made me extra cautious of the times I spent with her. I couldn't afford to let loose.

I began making my way back into my study when the thought of Abel crossed my mind. Was he going to be here soon? If he was, how long would he stay? How close were they already?