Betrothed To The Mafia CEO

"Are you meaning to tell me that Gustavo isn't there? He isn't paid to lay around and take up space. Neither are you too. So, get to work, and fucking do what you're paid to do!"

I slam my phone recklessly on my bed, not caring if the force broke it or not. I can't believe it. I'm just getting out of bed and the first thing that I get to hear is how incompetent people are for being paid their salaries on time to enable them to work well with large bonuses and are slacking at their jobs.

At this point, it would have been much easier to hire a bunch of homeless hobos off the streets, train them in the art, and pay them half the price being wasted on these idiots. At least my yelling this morning will be worthwhile.

Fuck! The day hasn't even started and I'm this irritated. I genuinely hope the rest of my day won't be filled with shit like this, thou it probably will, that's just the way my life rolls.

"Li! What's wrong baby?" The curious voice of my mom calls from the other side, and I wince slightly. I shouldn't have lost my cool like that.

So not professional.

"Nothing to worry your pretty head over, Ma. It's just some mishap at the bar. Nothing I can't deal with." I say back to her. I know she's just a few seconds from opening my room door, and I don't need her worrying over my mood or it would dampen her day.

"I'll be down in a few," I tell her, standing from my bed. "Why don't you go down and make me something sweet like you always do to help me have a great day."

Just as I thought, she was a few minutes from opening my door but she pauses, "Li baby, don't let whatever it is get to you. It'll ruin your day, kiddo."

I nod, even though she can't see me. Isn't my ma, the sweetest sweetheart? You probably won't agree with me because you don't know her much, but hearing her like this, I'm certain my day is going to go well. You might be asking yourself why a grown man is living with his mom. Well, that's a story for another time.

"I promise, Ma. Now I need to get ready for work."

"Come downstairs when you're ready!" I hear footsteps, and it's not until I'm sure she's gone before I rush to my bathroom to get ready for the day.

And I've got only thirty minutes to spare.

Okay, so I know I said it was going to be a good day but what the fuck is happening?! Everything is going crazy!

It was going well after I had my shower, got dressed, and had breakfast. But the moment I stepped out; it was like some switch had been turned on to let all bad things start up automatically.

It started with a dead bird falling on me from nowhere. No blood or anything of that sort, just the poop it managed to smear on me as it was landing. I had to go back to change and take a shower which took valuable time away from me. Ten minutes, if I had to be exact.

Getting into my sweet baby Margarita (my precious 1968 black Mustang), and already five minutes behind time, the shortest route to the bar was blocked due to an accident and I had to be subjected to having to manage my anger and irritation in the traffic which made me late by another thirty minutes.

And what more rotten luck could I get on reaching the bar, I was greeted with the headlines carrying the picture of my dad and his latest eye candy caught in another scandal.

I couldn't believe it.

The nerve of the old man, claiming to be retired just to avoid having to deal with all the formalities yet subjecting my half-brothers to answer to him at his every need and call. Oh, that includes me getting rid of all evidence concerning the latest scandal he's involved in.

He was ruthless enough to have all my savings and trust funds on hold. I know it's highly unbelievable right now, but he was able to successfully get me under his thumb because I got into a lot of shady things while growing up.

Let me let you in on a little not-so-open secret, I'm the black sheep of the Dinero family. Family rules and whatnot, yeah, I don't follow ancestral procedures. I preferred to do things my own way, the way I wanted. My father saw that to his advantage and decided to use it.

But he also knew I wouldn't be here taking his bullshit, and neither would he have been alive.

I was willing to take the ground from beneath his feet, crush him to bits, and have him sink into a bottomless pit of despair. It's the least I could do after what he did to my mom and me.

And to think I had the misfortune of having to be late to a meeting we've been trying to have with some investors for a year now.

I took two deep breaths as I opened the door to the bar while trying to recite the mantra, I made for myself when things got a little bit crazy. However, as soon as I opened the door, everything flew out of my head and my anger came back in full force.

My rough morning was stuck in my throat and all that could come out was a croak. There she is, in all her shameless glory. Maria Lucia Gonzales, a pain in my ass.

"What are you doing here?" I'm nearly screaming in rage. Just seeing her sitting there with that sly smile on her face makes my skin prick with irritation. I can't believe I nearly got married to that woman.

"Frank." How did I fall for that drawl? Just hearing my name out of her mouth has my veins popping out in annoyance, and the hair on my skin rises with irritation.

"I believe this is supposed to be a business meeting. Why don't you sit down so we can talk business? Time is money they say." Red lips tip up, and I have the small urge to flick them.

"Where is Señior Romano?" I ask, looking around the bar, hoping to see the old man's familiar face. "This meeting was supposed to be with him."

"He wasn't feeling well you see, so I had to come instead. Why don't we drop all this negativity and put our heads together to make a successful deal? What do you say, Eli?" Noticing how all eyes in the bar were focused on me, I realized I had to put my pride and anger aside for the sake of my success.

"Sorry for my rudeness," I say through gritted teeth. "Didn't mean to keep you all waiting. I need to use the bathroom if you all don't mind. I'll have the bartender give you the samples we're supposed to be talking about, you can start with sampling. If you have any questions, ask Antonio, he will be more than happy to provide the answers you need. I'll be back in a few minutes." I left before she or the men she came with could react.

It took all my willpower to try to sound sane. I can't let my rage take over my actions just because of this deal. It's very important to the growth and success of my bar and I can't let the presence of one of the people I hate in my life, ruin all I've been planning for months now.

Okay, I know it was crazy of me to act the way I did. But I guess Señior Romano's guys were very understanding of the fact that Maria and I have some nasty history. I imagined I was going to walk out and meet an empty bar, but they were all still seated going over the samples with Antonio.

Two hours later it looked like something good was finally coming out of my day. We were shaking hands in anticipation of a good signing and letting me know they'd get in touch soon.

I still couldn't help the nagging feeling at the back of my mind. Maria is definitely up to something, so I must do whatever it takes to be on Señior Romano's good side, and also that I had to avoid anything that had to do with this deal and let Antonio handle it from now on.

Later that afternoon, I had nearly gotten into a fight with the guys at the warehouse because some goods I'd been expecting were broken, apparently, they let a newbie handle some packs, and a good number of my glasses were broken.

What got me pissed the most was how they tried to sneak it in amongst others so I wouldn't notice and have them pay for damages. Fucking psychos trying to rip me off, the nerve of them to think I'll let them get away with this while also having the nerve to look me in the eyes while pretending to be shocked.

Not falling for that shit, I asked to see the guy in charge, and they dared to lie about his whereabouts. Clearly, they had no idea he was one of the contacts I had on speed dial.

The shocked and scared look on their faces, when they realized who I was talking to, meant nothing to me as I was fighting so hard not to punch in the face of the guy who lied to me. Seemingly, they were newbies placed in charge of offloading and reloading. And the guy in charge, Ron, was begging me not to sue. It was too late as I had already made up my mind to have my lawyer visit them and I let him know they would be paying heavily, and I was no longer going to require their services after that.

I really couldn't take any more shit from anyone anymore. I did that a lot while growing up and it took a lot of shit in silence which made me long so desperately for a place of release and peace. That led to me getting involved in many shady things and having to take more shitty things in return. I'm not doing that anymore. Not for anyone, I'm not.

Getting into the bar after my shitty day, I see that the bar is full, and business is booming. That was some sort of comfort to this day. I had to work out this anger in some way, so I took a run after leaving everything to Antonio to deal with. That includes getting in touch with my lawyer and filing a lawsuit against the warehouse.

I always do that when I need to clear my head, I work out at the gym, run, have sex, or do Yoga at home. As this is the only option, I'm taking it. Starting with a light sprint, and my ear pods plugged in, I take a very familiar route which is one of the longest I usually take.

Thirty minutes in and I'm running fully at this point. Not caring what's going on around me or who I pass on the road. Just me and my thoughts, deeply wondering if I was cursed by someone? I'm not about to give in to whatever the hell is happening to my day, I'm clocking out early and going to meet my ma, she'll make this all better.

That was when I decided to take an abrupt turn and head back. I didn't see the bundle of speed coming behind me and I slammed into something or someone or rather whatever it was slammed into me and we both came tumbling to the ground.

I could swear my path was clear just now. Despite my usual clumsiness, I was certain no one was heading this way. Now, all my things are scattered on the floor, and I'm really going to be screwed on my first day as a catering waiter. I can't afford to miss the last ferry ride to Staten Island.

I've been searching hard for another job to take care of myself and pay my mother's medical bills. Growing up, it was just me and my mom. My name is Melissa Bells, the only child of my single mother.

My mother's story begins with her being the first of 6 children to religious parents with average salaries. Tragedy struck when my grandfather had a stroke, leading to financial struggles. My grandmother took on extra work, and my mother assisted, leading her to meet the man who later fathered me.

He was initially kind, but things changed, and he took advantage of her innocence. When she became pregnant, he denied any involvement, leading to my mother being disowned by both her parents and the church. She survived through menial jobs and met Rosario, who looked after her until I was born.

But enough about my past; I need to get out of this situation. I can't afford to miss out on the last ferry ride. Proceeding to gather my stuff, I started by giving a heartfelt apology.

"I am really really sorry, I didn't see you there, I could swear no one was there, I hope you weren't injured..."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." That was when I looked up at the guy because I was rudely interrupted and the first thing, I noticed were his dark eyes which were very dark. I couldn't tell if they were jet black or midnight blue. Caught in the haze of his face was when I noticed that he was laughing.

In a split second, his face changed and the next thing I heard sent a chill down my spine, "You really must be fucking blind or dumb to believe that I would take that bullshit right now!"

Okay, the shit just got real.

"I really don't know why you are pissed at me by swearing at me, I was just trying to apologize to you because I felt bad that I hit you. But looking at it, it goes both ways. You didn't see me coming, neither did I see you coming. If you aren't blind like you just rudely accused me, you should have seen me, so I guess we're both blind then!"

I wasn't going to let anyone bully me and get away with it, much less a man. I've learned to be strong since I was young so I'm definitely not letting him get away with insulting me. I guess what I said shocked him because he was quiet, and I took that opportunity to pick the last of my stuff off the ground.

He rudely stepped on my hand. Not so hard, but enough to keep me down.

"What the hell?! Get your foot off me, I'm not some fucking servant that you can treat like a rag. I'm going to have you sued if you don't get off in the next ten seconds!" I shouted at him as I tried to yank my hand back.

"Try it, I dare you." He bent down as he whispered into my ear. Why am I getting goosebumps on my skin? Focus Melissa, Mom's sick right now and you need to be on the ferry right now. You need to get yourself out of here as soon as you can.

"Get your foot off my hand or I'm going to scream rape and tear my clothes right this instant. Let's see you get out of that since you think you're so high and mighty." He was about to give me a reply, but we were both interrupted by the sound of Frank Sinatra's 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life.'

I choke back a small laugh. You've got to be kidding me, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. What are the odds of a bully like him listening to Frank Sinatra, more or less having it as his ringtone?

"You've got to be kidding me!" I couldn't help but blurt that out as soon as I got myself together.

"Frank "Falkner" Dinero, I'll be waiting for your lawsuit. Send it to 'The Anchor Bar' in the next three days at most. Anything later and I wouldn't take you seriously." Saying that he picked up his call and rudely left me still bent forward on the ground.

That does it, I am certain I'll be late. God, I feel the tears coming in. My frustrations of the day are beginning to set in. Hurrying to catch the last ride as I let out a stream of frustration.

Whoever's up there, if you exist please help me get to Staten Island tonight, if not for my sake, for the sake of my mom. Please, please, please, please!'

I can't have another terrible thing happen to me today. I was late to my job at the diner because I got caught up in traffic caused by an accident on my way from the hospital. Then, I nearly got written up and my shifts were slashed as agreed by me in the terms of the agreement. But I was let off with a warning since it was my first time.

I had to rush their cause there was an emergency.

My mother was properly diagnosed just a week ago, and since then, I've been working multiple jobs to meet her medical bills and we can't afford to miss any of the medications or the follow ups she has to go on.

My only luck in all these is that Rosario left her home to my mom and me. We have a roof over our heads, so I don't have to worry about rent or the next place I'll be sleeping.

As I was running, a voice spoke into my head.

"You got this, believe everything is going to work out.'

I decided to listen to the voice in my head and I kept chanting it like a mantra hoping that some miracle would happen. But I guess all the odds were against me. As soon as I reached the harbor, the ferry had already left.

Feeling something wet on my face, I couldn't hold back the tears that came. I can't believe it. How did I get so unlucky today?

Having no other feeling of hope but absolute sorrow and helplessness. I sank to the ground and cried my heart out. I really needed this gig, and I really needed this night to go well. But it isn't going halfway the way I planned.

Damn, is what it feels like to be alone. I don't know how I'll survive if my mom doesn't get better, but I don't want to think about that now. It's really too much to take in and it's making my chest really heavy.

'I don't know how I am going to do it, but I have to. I'll definitely find something else that would be better.' I was slowly assuring myself and trying to reduce the waterworks because I was certain that I had already made a spectacle of myself.

And that's when I felt it, a stare so intense that it felt like whoever it is was trying to bore holes in my back with their eyes. It sent a chill down my spine. Turning slowly, I didn't have to search long. Right back at me were dark and stormy eyes staring at me with much curiosity. I then watched them slowly turn to irritation. It was the guy from earlier. Immediately his face changed, he turned abruptly and headed in the direction of the harbor. Curious, I wiped my eyes and I followed him.

"Is he dumb or something? There's no other ferry going across tonight." I couldn't help thinking out loud. But then I noticed that before he reached the end of the pier, someone came up to him and I was able to hear him apologizing profusely with his head bowed for not getting the boat ready on time.

I couldn't believe my ears. Is this guy some big shot or something? How does he have this man practically on his knees and apologizing without even saying a word.

Enough about that, I guess I was due for some good karma. If I heard correctly, he said something about a boat. I don't know where it was headed, but I believed if I groveled really hard, he would help me out.

"I'll just have to try my luck." Saying that, I proceeded to approach him.

"Hey. Ma!" I can't believe that my mom had to call me right at that moment. I already had her cornered. She was actually very fun to play with. One minute I was really pissed and the next minute I was over whatever it was that made me angry. I couldn't help it, there was just something about her that was very amusing.

"Masquerade Party? What masquerade party?" I was too distracted to even listen to what my ma was telling me.

"Okay, I didn't forget about it, I just had a lot on my mind ma." I absolutely forgot about it. I knew there was going to be some form of celebration, but I really didn't expect them to go all out. It was supposed to be the birthday celebration of one of my uncles on my dad's side and we all had to be in attendance, or else all hell would break loose.

Honestly, I don't care if hell breaks loose or freezes over. Anything could happen to any of them, and I wouldn't bat an eyelid. I am only doing this because of my ma. She's the only reason I can stand staying in the same room with my dad and his fake ass family.

"Ma, I told them I would come, I just had a lot on my plate today. Okay, okay. I'll find a way to get there. I know it's at their place in Staten Island. Okay fine, I'll be there." My ma can be such a pest, but in a good way.

"Stop stressing Ma and keep them from asking about me till I get there. Give them some random excuse till I come. Thanks, Ma. I love you too Ma. Bye!"

This isn't what I had in mind for today. Nothing went as planned. Now I have to add tolerating a group of shit ass people who will give me shit for my life decisions tonight. On top of that, I have to do it with a freaking smile on my face and act like I fucking miss them and care about them even though I don't. They all know that I don't care about any of them.

I would usually avoid these gatherings and have my dad nag my ma about her bringing me up poorly. I usually tried to avoid my extended family and anything that made me come in contact with them.

As funny as it sounds, I'm being forced to attend these gatherings now because my father holds my future over my head. I know it sounds funny. I come from money and own my bar. So how the hell does he have the power to hold my trust fund over my head?

Well, it's simple. I fucked up too much. So much so that the Feds got fed up with having my dad bail me out and they made me sign all my assets to my dad. He is only allowed to release them when my parole officer feels like I have done enough good deeds or something like that, or, if I ran a legitimate job for five years, without getting into any form of trouble during that time.

I decided on the latter. There's no telling how many years it's going to take my parole officer to see that I am clean and have turned a new leaf, especially with the high possibility of my father exerting his influence over my parole officer. You got that right; my father believes that everyone has a price and he doesn't hesitate to use that to his advantage.

I'm two and a half years away from getting my life back. And this time, it's going to be much better, because I realized how much of an asshole I was especially to the point of stressing my sweet ma. Who the hell am I kidding?! Once I get the feds off my back, it's going to be payback time for people like my Maria Lucia my dad, and his unbearable brothers.

I've always been the black sheep because, unlike my older brother, I've always known what kind of person our dad is. I can't believe that my brother still kisses his ass at his age. Well, he's always been weak.

Overlooking the way he treated our poor mom. I really shouldn't go down this train of thought. I have to fess up and get ready for today's shit show. But before I do that, I have to ensure that everything at the bar is going smoothly.

I proceed to call Antonio, my second-in-command and best friend. Antonio and I go way back to when we were still kids. We were both born into very wealthy families. We were both forced to live lives that weren't really ours.

Antonio unlike me was the only son and last born out of five children. Like me, Antonio's looks let him geet away with anything, even thou he's got a nasty personality. We both realized early on in life that we weren't cut out for the lives our families created for us and we sought to create a life we love for ourselves.

No one introduced the other to anything. I will say we were both discovered this shady path at the same time. It all started on the day Antonio and I started high school. We got so bored of what was happening in school that we snuck out towards the end of the school, during gym class.

Having no destination in mind, Antonio told me about his uncle who was a biker and was into bike racing and that was because a motorcycle passed us. Antonio's uncle had a garage which we went to and that was where our love for bikes came from.

Not only did we end up falling in love with bikes, but we had the opportunity of meeting experienced racers of both bikes and cars alike. We also learned a lot from the smallest to the biggest things about the care of them and how to ride them.

Antonio and I would often get involved in a lot of races, from bikes to sports cars and trucks. We were also into drift races. It was in the heat of this and my strong passion to go against my father that we got involved with gangs.

I wasn't one to listen, so I got into more trouble. We did mini raids, had street fights, and most of our racing competitions became a gang thing. It was always one gang against the other. We had fallouts with each other because of girls. Oh what fun and trouble we would get in.

That was where I met her, with fierce brown eyes that had a thousand secrets hidden in them. With petite features from her head to the very last toenail on her legs. Her hair was the only thing other than her eyes that spoke to one's soul, very voluminous and luscious.

Well, her looks were just enough to draw you in and keep you wanting more. But she was like a rose, so pretty yet, when held close would pierce your skin till blood comes out. 'Bella Rosa', was her nickname. She was a lot more than a pretty face, took me some time to get close to her, but I didn't know she was the devil's spawn. She dragged me down deeper than I could imagine till I saw her for who she was, the Devil in stilettos!

Why am I reminiscing about a past better left forgotten? That's what I'm going to do. Leave it where it is, in the past.

As soon as I was done checking on Antonio and I was satisfied with the progress report, I gave him instructions for the night as well as the mantel to handle all issues in my abscence. Now, I'm about to go and be Mama's good boy for the night.

I took an abrupt turn and headed in the direction of the harbor and at that instant, I went back to thinking about my encounter with the woman I bumped into earlier.

I'll be honest with myself; I was lost in thoughts and didn't see where I was heading till we bumped into each other. I couldn't help but be reminded of how shitty my day had been and not meaning to, I poured out all my anger on her. I didn't even let her finish whatever it was she was saying.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Yup, there it is, my pent-up rage from the shitty day I had, starting to rear its ugly head.. I couldn't help the nasty laugh that came out next. It was a mixture of my frustration from all the shit I faced today and the shit to come tonight.

I saw the look of shock pass her face as the next words came out of my mouth.

"You really must be fucking blind or dumb to think that I will take that bullshit right now!" The look that crossed her face reminded me of Tiffany's face whenever my dad calls her name.

This is batshit crazy! I can't stand it when a woman is close to me, but that doesn't mean I'm intentionally rude to them. I don't know who she offended today, but she must be unlucky to be at the receiving end of my anger. Then I saw her face change in a split second, it looked like she had what some would call a 'resting bitch face'.

"I really don't know why you are pissed and swearing at me, I was just trying to apologize to you because I felt bad that I hit you. But looking at it, it goes both ways. You didn't see me coming, neither did I see you coming. If you aren't blind like you just rudely accused me, you should have seen me, so I guess we're both blind then!" I thought she was going to back down or cower in fear, but instead, she tried to hit me back in her own way. Cute. I think.

She reminded me of Tiffany a lot but there was just something about her that I just couldn't shake off. And it didn't like how I usually feel with Tiffany. This felt really different like I needed to protect her.

But from what? She's already a very feisty thing on her own. I am pretty much sure she could wreck a man if given a chance. Wreck a man. Crazy enough, that word was enough to bring back memories of all the shit I had gone through with Maria.

I was reminded of why I couldn't stand the opposite sex. I had this urge to act out of line and I did just that. I stepped on her hand as she bent to pick her stuff off the ground. It wasn't hard enough to leave a bruise just a little bit of hurt to dwindle whatever it was I thought I felt.

She isn't Tiffany, just some random girl who might turn out to be worse than Maria. I am not about to fucking see her as anything more than that.

"What the hell, get your foot off me, I'm not some fucking servant that you can treat like a rag. I'm going to have you sued if you don't get off in the next ten seconds!" Oh, I felt her tugging under my foot. But I sure as hell wasn't to give in to her little drama. So, I bent forward low enough to be on the same level with her ear and whispered slowly but loud enough to be heard clearly.

"Try it, I dare you."

I watch her face go through all kinds of emotions, trying to process my statement I presume and the face I am beginning to get familiar with popped up, her bitch mood face. In what I guess was supposed to be a warning tone, she went on...

"Get your foot off my hand or I'm going to scream rape and tear my clothes right this instant. Let's see how you get out of that since you think you're so high and mighty."

Oh, if this was supposed to be something I paid for like a movie or a show of some sort I knew I sure as hell was about to get my money's worth. She really had no idea who I was or what I was capable of.

I was about to give her an abrupt reply when the sound of Frank Sinatra's 'You Are The Sunshine of My Life' came up. There is only one person whom that ringtone was assigned to and it's no other person than my Ma.

Immediately the sound came on and she burst into a fit of laughter. Yes, it's definitely a funny sight seeing a man of my caliber having such a song as his ringtone, more or less knowing it. I wasn't about to back down easily.

"You've got to be kidding me." I am certain I took her by surprise because she looked like she was trying to gather her thoughts.

"Frank Dinero, I'll be waiting for your lawsuit. Send it to 'The Anchor Bar' in the next three days at most. Anything later and I won't take you seriously." Then I left having the last say as I picked up my mom's call to signify the end of our conversation.

Approaching the harbor, I heard the sound of someone crying. I couldn't tell where it was coming from. It was looking for the location of the sound and that's I saw them. Curled up in a corner and bawling their eyes out.

I tried hard to figure out who the person was. But judging from the size, it was female. I just couldn't tell if it was a girl or a woman. In that instant, had she heard my thoughts, she raised her head and turned in my direction.

I recognized her instantly; it was little miss feisty from earlier. I wasn't about to be caught staring, so I changed my expression and turned away. I couldn't help but feel odd. It felt like something was drawing me to her to try to give her some kind of comfort and wipe her tears away.

I really shouldn't be getting myself involved with her or any other woman I don't know. I don't need the drama. So, I did the best thing I could do for myself in that situation. I turned and went down the pier, putting distance between me and her.

At the end of the pier, I was approached by the guy in charge, and he started apologizing profusely for the lateness of our family's boat. I was tempted to let it get to me and flare out. But I remembered in that instant that I had something more to deal with and could not afford to let any form of anger out tonight. So, I signaled for him to follow me down the pier.

Like some kind of magic, we noticed that the boat was really close, so I decided to wait.

Five minutes later, I was aboard the catamaran, and I quickly headed into the bathroom to have a shower and get ready for the night's masquerade. A whole fifteen minutes later, I was done in the bathroom, about to head to the bed to get my clothes, and that's when I heard, a loud piercing scream from the next room. With a towel around my waist, I rushed out to find the cause of the scream. Immediately I opened the door, I couldn't help the shocked expression on my face when I saw who it was.

She really was the last person I expected to see here.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!"