My cowboy mobster

- POV LAYLA

Mom always made it clear to me that things were easier before she left.

But unfortunately, the disease took over her lungs and took her away from us, leaving my father alone with two girls to raise.

I don't want to be selfish and think that fate hates us. It took me a few years to get over how much I missed her, and I still do, only now with less intensity.

It wasn't easy not having someone to tell about my first time menstruating, but my father was a warrior, he was and still is interested in my opinion and that of my sister.

Except for now, when he says we're going to move to some fucking place in Texas called Braston City, come on. Who the hell puts a name like that on a city?

From what Mali has researched, the city has no network coverage, so that's what's going to happen to us in a nutshell.

We'll be leaving civilization and going back to cave times, but I understand my father, he worked hard to give us a good future and financial stability, the problem was that the company he worked for went bankrupt and everyone lost money, including him.

So either we move to Texas or we join the homeless.

I'm not a very social person, and that doesn't bother me so much, but Maria Luiza has been having a fit of hysterics since my father announced our departure.

Which happens to be today.

But there's someone who's quite happy about it, my snake of a stepmother, a hot model, who unfortunately fell out of favor with my father.

At first, she was sweet and gentle, but it was only after she won him over that she showed her true face, to me and my sister of course.

"MARIA LUIZA COLLINS! COME ON!" I shout and hear her sigh as she drags her suitcase and closes the door to her room.

"Why does the world hate me? What did I do wrong in my last life to pay for it in this one? Why does living without Wi-Fi drive me crazy just imagining it?"

"There are books we can read," I suggest, and we look at each other and smile.

"You're a good joker as if I'm interested in reading, I like going out, living life."

"And I love our father above all these things, so I suggest you shut your mouth and support him, we don't even know what the city is like, we don't have the right to complain on a full stomach."

"You're such a goody-goody that you make me dizzy... hold me... hold me, I'm going to fall," she says, putting her hand to her chest, pretending to faint.

Ordinary.

"Stop being silly and get your bags into the car... Dad's waiting."

"And what are you still doing here?"

"Waiting for you, I can't stand being in the same place as that snake for long."

"Then let's go before she poisons our father even more." She says, pulling her suitcase and I follow her.

(...)

"Dad, we're going to have our place, aren't we?" Maria asks and Antonela smiles, making fun of her.

"Darling, we're not going to live in an apartment, because the city doesn't have buildings, but we're going to stay in a beautiful house given to us by Mr. Caccini, my boss."

"And what's he like?" she asks.

"They say he's authoritarian, but he works within the law."

"No, I want to know if he's handsome."

"Maria Luiza! He's in his thirties, he's not for you, girl." Dad scolds her and she smiles.

We're already at the airport, waiting for the driver from the farm to pick us up, but I start to think he's coming by camel.

After a few more minutes and listening to my father list reasons why neither I nor Maria Luiza should get involved with anyone in this town, the driver arrived in a silver pickup truck.

Great! A pick-up truck is quite comfortable, at least it had four seats.

My father and the driver went in the front, while Mali, Antonela, and I went in the back.

She went between the two of us and to avoid confusion, we turned our faces away and stared at the vegetation the whole way.

The town wasn't bad by any means, but it was still strange not to see a coffee shop nearby, nor a restaurant.

But there are bars, and in thirty minutes I've already seen three.

When we approached a huge house, I thought we'd be staying there, but the driver mentioned that it belonged to Caccini, so we saw the sign at the entrance "Coming to Caccini Vill".

And our house was next door to his. When the man parked, Maria got down too quickly and it took me a few seconds to believe what I was seeing.

"I feel like I'm in colonial times," she said and I laughed.

"the house is beautiful." Antonela comments.

"I agree," I say, and I think it's the first time in my life that I've done that.

My father smiled happily, and we waited for the driver to give him the keys and we went inside.

The entrance to the house is beautiful, despite the old style, such as the wooden doors and windows and the burnt yellow walls, and with lots of plants on the façade, it looks very much like a house in the interior of the United States.

Nothing a good coat of paint couldn't solve.

But what enchanted me was the inside of the house, the newly bought furniture, the varnished floor, and the whole kitchen to myself.

"I like the house," I confess and Dad kisses my head, his phone rings and he asks to be excused and goes out onto the balcony.

Luiza approaches and I smile at her frown, she loves the place but she's playing hard to get.

"You agreed with the snake, where's the sisters' union?"

"It still exists, confess it, you loved the place," I say and she smiles without showing her teeth.

"You know what, I'm going to find my room, and I hope yours is awful."

"Go on, you child." I joke and watch her walk up the stairs. Antonella looks up at me from the sofa and smiles, and I smile back.

Things wouldn't be easy, but for my father's sake, I'm more than prepared.

- POV LAYLA

After the call, my father returned to the living room, and my stepmother and I disguised our expressions of hating each other's company and acted normally as if two seconds ago she hadn't been giving me the middle finger and I had been returning it with a banana.

She gestured with a swear word and I would have said it back, but my father walked in just then.

"Who was that, dear?" he asked interested.

"That was my boss! I'll have to go to her, I'll probably only be back for dinner, he's still going to send a maid here, so Layla... the kitchen is all yours daughter," he informs me and I can't hide the happy smile that forms on my lips.

"Yay! Thanks, Dad!" I celebrate and hug him warmly. I go up to my room and finish putting my things in the closet when I hear the doorknob click.

"Hey big guy!" he calls.

"What is it?"

"We're starting school tomorrow," she says excitedly.

It's my last year, and I'm as happy as a history teacher having to teach a class of forty students where only five pay attention to what comes out of his mouth.

"Yay!" I celebrate, showing no interest, I hate school, I didn't like my school where I knew people, imagine this one where I don't know anyone.

"What? It'll be nice."

"If you say, now come on, I've finished here, let's go downstairs, I'll make us some dinner."

In my absence, Dad is a great cook and I've learned to make a lot of dishes with him

"Wow! I love it when you cook... don't tell Dad, he thinks it's mine..."

"I'll keep your secret busty."

I see his smile turn into a frown, and I smile back.

"You don't know how to joke."

He speaks to me tongue-in-cheek.

"Me? You're the one who doesn't know."

"Shall we stop playing this stupid game?"

She says angrily.

"All right! The one who said it is no longer here." I say, raising my hands in surrender.

"You'd better! And I'll have macaroni for dinner."

"Only if you cut the cheese," I suggest as we head down to the kitchen.

"Sure, I'll get it right away." She says excitedly, and goes to the fridge, takes out the cheese, and starts cutting it into small slices.

I grab the macaroni and the rest of the ingredients, ready to be a master chef.

...

We hear the door open and I see Dad with a huge smile on his lips.

"Wow, that smells good!" he compliments and I thank him with a smile.

"Dad, Layla made it, but I cut the cheese, which was essential for the dish." Luiza comments and he bites his lip before speaking.

"Of course it was and you Layla, you've always been our master chef," he comments and I laugh.

"Oh Dad, you're being kind," I say and he looks at me seriously, but then smiles, comes closer, and kisses my forehead and Luiza's, then goes upstairs, I think he's after Antonela.

Dad comes down with his girlfriend and we start our meal, and believe me, it's all gone in the blink of an eye, he offers to do the dishes, so Lu and I go up to our rooms.

I decide to take a long shower, put on a sweater, and look out of the window, noticing that now my father's boss's house is even closer because someone's window is only one wall away from mine.

I look up at the starry sky and smile, my mother was fascinated by astrology, I remember when I was little she used to draw some things related to it.

My attention is drawn to the window opposite, the bedroom light has been switched on and I see a male silhouette.

I feel like I'm invading the privacy of whoever the man is, so as soon as he starts to take off his shirt, I shake my head in the negative close the window, and throw myself on the bed, staying there lost in my thoughts, and finally falling asleep.

...

I wake up stretching on the edge of the bed, take a shower, get ready for school, and go downstairs to have coffee. When I open the door, I see Luiza staring at me.

"You look beautiful baby."

"Thanks, big tits, you too." I thank her with a wink.

"Okay! My day has already started badly, if I punch you in the face, I'm sure it'll get better."

"Wow, I love you too! Now let's go."

"you're lucky."

Dad and Antonela were already at the table, we joined them, had a quick coffee, and went straight to school, using Antonela's new car, since Dad's is broken.

...

We arrived at the school, and soon I saw the huge name Braston High School on top of the big school in front of me, with lots of students in their little identification groups.

I parked the car and we got out, walked into the building, and received a lot of curious looks, some comments like "Wow, just what was missing here in Braston, you little bitch" and "I bet they're all holding their noses".

I've always hated this stereotype that we big city folk are shallow and characterless. Of course, but Luiza and I weren't like that, and that made me furious, so I was ready to spill my guts, but my sister took a firm hold of my arm.

"Get a grip! It's not worth it."

"You're right," I say and take a deep breath.

Before we went to the classroom, we stopped by the principal's office to find out where our classes were.

"Hi, I'm Katherine Caccini, but you can call me Kate or Kat," she says, excited to meet us.

"Hi, I'm Maria Luiza, but you can call me Lu, Iza, or Malu, and this is my sister, Layla, we're the Collins girls."

She hugs us, taking us by surprise by her attitude.

"Well, Miss Collins... I'm going to show you all around the school."

She says, taking us in her arms and leading us down the corridors, I just hope I don't meet someone who makes me hate this school.

And I don't need to like any boy, that's all I need, I'm already screwed up from my previous relationship, and I don't need another guy thinking he owns me.

Alex was a big mistake, and I don't intend to repeat it here, I also don't need a queen bee, the girl who runs the school who dates the bad boy, and who has loyal followers willing to listen to her nonsense and be together just because of her popularity.

But as in every root school, this one would be no different.

- POV LAYLA

After showing us around the school, Kat took us to Maria Luiza's room and introduced us to everyone there, then we went to mine, the same thing happened, everyone was kind, except for one girl, I suppose she must be the queen bee here, I don't know who she is, but I didn't sympathize anymore, after the introductions, we went to sit down and anger sat down next to me.

I wasn't worried about Maria Luiza, she can manage very well without me.

The hours flew by, and when it was finally time to leave, we were barred at the door by the queen bee, standing in the doorway staring at me with a disdainful smile on her face.

"I know you're new, so it's good to know that I'm in charge of this school, if you don't want any trouble, you'd better not step on my toes and stay away from what belongs to me."

I take a deep breath and count to ten, but I'm too angry to function.

It's my first fucking day, what kind of person thinks they have a right over what I say or don't say?

"My name is Layla, why don't you take your pride and shove it up your ass? I'm not from your town, don't threaten me, you don't know me, don't mess with me and I'll do the same to you."

Some people smiled, others applauded, and some booed, I picked up my notebook and left, it wasn't a show to have an audience, I just defended myself.

"Wow, girl, you kicked ass, no one, absolutely no one, stood up to Maya."

Kat says euphorically and claps her hands.

"You haven't seen anything yet, my biju is very angry." Maria Luiza appears in the corridor and I smile.

"I want to know, why are people afraid of this girl?"

"She's the daughter of the mayor of Braston City, she's the rich girl at school, and then there's the fact that my hot brother made out with her, and then declared himself the school fuck."

"Just when you think you've seen everything, you've seen nothing," I say and the redhead smiles.

"Let's change the subject, there's going to be a party at the house, my younger brother Thom is having a party, it's his birthday, and my VIPs are invited."

I am thinking about whether to go, but Luiza has already agreed.

"Come on Layla, will you?" Kat says, putting her hands together and begging me.

"OK, but where do you live?"

"At Caccini Vill."

I'm surprised, as I didn't connect the facts, it's logical, that Katherine Caccini must be the daughter of the owners of the neighboring farm.

"Fuck me, we're neighbors, of course we're going."

My sister said euphorically.

"Yes, you can confirm that, now let's go, otherwise Dad's going to pepper us with questions, and I'm not in the least bit inclined to answer them," I say, we say goodbye to Katherine and head off to where our car was.

When we arrived, Dad wasn't there, but for once his girlfriend was.

We walked straight past her, said hello, and went up to our rooms.

I locked myself in my room, did some homework that the teachers had given me, and then listened to some music. The next thing I knew, it was seven in the evening and I was wondering if I should go to this party.

And I decided yes, Katherine was very polite to us, and this would be my way of thanking her.

I take a shower, dry off, do a light make-up, opt for a tight black dress, and put on boots of the same color.

I let my hair down and perfume myself. I go downstairs and find Malu in the living room walking around like a silly pirouette.

"I know! You thought I wasn't going anymore," I say ironically and she rolls her eyes.

"Let's go, I'm not getting ready for anything," she says and I smile.

We take Antonela's car again, but this time I've asked Dad, but Maria Luiza thinks it's a theft and is quite happy about it.

Yeah, sometimes my sister's character is off, if a mafioso kidnapped her in five minutes he'd bring her back, I'm sure of it.

...

We arrived at Kat's house, and the party was already in full swing, there were lots of people there, from the school and also other people I don't know, I parked the car and we got out, it didn't take long for our hostess to welcome us.

"I still can't believe you've come, and by the way, you look beautiful," she says, hugging us and taking us to where people are dancing, I go to the bar and order a tequila, and the barman serves me and stares at me.

"What's wrong?" I ask and he's startled.

"Girls don't usually drink tequila here."

"Too bad for them, but since I'm not from here, pour me another shot," I say and he smiles, pouring some more into my glass.

I watch the young people dancing and having a good time, no worries, no bills, the Kikkat party is not so different from the ones in New York, except for the marshmallow and the bonfire, and also the guitar circle.

I look at my drink and down it in one go, the liquid dripping down my throat.

"Delicious!" I say, shivering from the cold and regretting not having brought a coat or jacket.

Any one of them would suit me very well right now and would make me hot.

I was about to order another shot, but I was interrupted by Kat accompanied by a handsome, strong guy wearing a T-shirt that showed off his muscles. Six feet tall? And he was accompanied by Luiza, wait a minute... Luiza?

I blink several times to see if I'm seeing correctly, or if it's the tequila that's already taking effect, but it's not possible, I've only had two shots and I don't get drunk easily, I rub my eyes one more time and draw my conclusion.

My sister doesn't waste any time...