Nora resumes her path, walking backward from the place, silently pleading not to run into a similar situation. She had barely gotten out from the last one.However, something about the way the tattooed man sat at his seat, full of confidence and power, irked her in some way. She could only dream of reaching such a point in her life, where she would feel the same .
She admired him for that. A string of discomfort grew within her but she pushed it away.
'I couldn't protect my sister. I couldn't protect myself." The thought alone laid heavy in her heart.She fiddled with her hands as she set on the path to the hospital. It would soon get dark outside and she decided it would be best to ask around in the town until early morning would arise, allowing her to explore further than the huts she had gotten to. Apart from that, there was one main reason why she wanted to return. Deep down, Nora knew that she wouldn't be able to get enough monIt was cold outside during the middle of the night, the wind blew harshly against the trees, causing the leaves to rattle endlessly. A few of them break off and huddle together on the ground at the root of the tree; where Marcos sat waiting with a silent shiver.'What have I gotten myself into?' He wonders as he brings out his phone and starts playing a video game to fill in the time.Hours passed.He had meant to arrive in the morning itself but he knew Mateo would have his head if he didn't immediately start focusing on his work.And so he waited and waited; until he saw a petite brown haired female pop out from the hospital's front doors...."We will begin the treatment." The surgeon glances at Nora emotionlessly. He was used to this in his line of speciality, as a super specialist heart surgeon many a times patients could not afford the treatment. What else could he do about it? He hadn't the means to pay the government himself, t
"Let's talk somewhere else." He stated as he referred to the surroundings. Nora almost shivered, thinking of how she would be treated here if she had been brought in as the enemy instead. The wires . The knives. All of it seemed multiple steps upward from Amanda's preferred methods of torture. It took every ounce of her energy not to let the memories rush and flood back into her head.She was better at it now. She wouldn’t let it take over her mind.Noticing how she wasn’t handcuffed, she simply got up from her seat- the only chair that was present at the centre of the room. She almost held her breath until the door was opened and she could walk out into the familiar dark hallway. She let out the breath she had been holding with relief as the tightness in her chest retreated back to it’s home, unaware that Mateo’s eyes were observing her every movement with curiosity, never leaving her for even a second.Everyone had a story. Mateo wanted
Mateo had never hesitated, especially not after joining the Mafia.However in the current moment he felt something strange, something he could only name as hesitation. He knew that the first month of training is required for all members of the Mafia. There hasn't been a single member who didn't go through it, not even the cleaners.He also knew that once it was done, there was no going back. After becoming an official member of the Mafia, that would become your whole life. Was he really going to ruin Nora's entire life because he was bored and intrigued? - is what kept going through his head.At last, he finally came to a decision."You'll start training today. I'll take you to the training centre."Nora scurried behind him, looking up at his tall figure as he moves with strength and dignity, things she could only dream of - according to her.She admired the jet black hair that was slicked back with formulas and gel."
It was a dark windy night. Though she could not see outside because there were no windows, she could hear a light whistling sound that seemed to be radiating from above the facility. Her eyes painfully drifted to the clock at the wall; it was 8 pm.As her fingers slowly moved, she gripped the sheet of the bed into a fist, trying to gain enough strength to stand up. She felt that if she made any sudden movements, she would instantly throw up. The nausea was building up every second; an uncomfortable feeling in her epigastric region.After raising her head slightly, she noticed her surroundings. She was in a room. It was moderate sized with black white and grey toned walls. A study desk laid at the front corner to the right; the same wall bore a door and beside the bed were 2 side tables. A closet could be seen beside the free end of the side table. Gaining quite a bit of her senses, she raises into a sitting position, trying to recall the last thing she remembered
Nora paused for a second. It didn't seem like a big deal to her, after all she had changed in front of him before. She simply nodded in compliance. She was too naive for her own good.Mateo had half expected her to tell him to leave so her sudden acquiescence partly shocked him.He told himself he wouldn't look as he took off the oversized baggy shirt of his. Secretly he really liked how it looked on her and was a bit disappointed that she wouldn't wear it again.As he took it off, his gaze was focused on the interesting tile pattern of the bathroom wall until there was an obstruction in the shirt's path. The corner of his mouth fought hard to stay solemn as he looked down at her."I can't take it off like this." He tells her, seeing as her arms were at her side and not raised above her head. Mindlessly, Nora wasn't even paying attention. Despite sleeping for such a long time, she felt exhausted from the constant sharp pain shooting up her body with e
Chapter 14"It seems to be a case of internal bleeding." The doctor uses the MRI present in the underground facility. There was a specific room denoted to first aid, anything that could possibly be needed was present here- from ventilators to CT scans. One of the reasons was, it wasn't convenient for them to go to hospitals with every injury and nor would it be advisable since depending on the wound types, the cops could be alerted like in gun shot wounds or stab wounds.If the condition was serious, however, a few trusted doctors with affiliates to criminal organisations were asked to come in and help with the treatment. In severe surgical cases, they even agree to perform the surgery in their own clinic without alerting any authorities or having it show up on medical records."Is it severe?" Mateo asked with a clenched jaw."Mild to moderate. Lot's of bed rest for a few days and a strict liquid diet should do the trick. I'll also give her some painkille
He was selfish. In his whole life there was no one who would spoil him with the things he wanted so as a result he took it upon himself to do the same. He decided to take what he wanted, whenever he wanted.He decided to be selfish.He was.Yet in this moment when he looked at the peaceful face that sleeping so calmly. A certain tightness in his chest told otherwise. Because he was selfish enough to keep her here, she had gotten hurt. And though Mateo told himself over and over again that he did not care, at the end of the day he was still a human.He leaves her sight.‘Us meeting again was just a coincidence. This is for the best.’ He assures himself.…“I can just leave? What about the debt?” A look of confusion drawls over her face.The amount he had paid to save her sister wasn’t a small one. It was almost 2 million and he was willing to let it go just like that? Even if he was, Nora didn&rs
The room practically had an air quality index of 150 as rings upon rings of smoke were blown out. Adding on to it were a few bottles of bourbon carefully splayed on the working desk.There was a sudden interruption attributed to a few knocks and the opening of a door.“Seriously? You’re drinking now too? Talk about responsibility.” Marcos stifled his mocking scoff before noticing that Mateo was too drunk to lash out at him.“What the fuck do you want?”“That’s one of the rare times I’ve heard you swear.” Marcos didn’t bother holding back his amusing grin.“Tell me.” His legs were unusually placed on the ground in a man spread as he rested his elbow on the arm rest of the chair. He moved his glass in a circular manner to mix the alcohol well with the soda as he took a puff with his other hand.“I wanted Brian kicked off from my mission.”“I won&rs
This book is now complete. In the future if some of you want some extra side stories or more fluff, I would be willing to write them. For now, I'll be focusing on my exams (which is why I didn't write any extra side story chapters about their kid and married life.) Thank you to all of those who left positive reviews. Every single one of them made my day. Even though I felt like this book did not reach the potential it had because of some academic issues in my life, I hope it still appealed to you in some way. I am grateful to those of you that enjoyed it. Thank you for reading ☆
*a few years later*Some people aren’t lucky enough to get a happy ending. No matter how much they hope for something to happen, it doesn’t. That’s how life is.That didn’t stop Nora from praying in her sister’s room everyday. Every birthday, she would bring cookies into her private room, asking her to wake up so they could eat it together. It continued like that for a while, not receiving any response.Nora let out a sigh.“It’s too early for that.” Mateo mumbled, still half asleep. His arm was draped over Nora’s waist, his head muffled in her pillow next to her head. He could feel every breath she took. Even though he left his old ways behind, he was still cautious of running into old enemies.Of course, the organization itself didn&
After spending a whole day at the university in frustration, she learned one more thing. Early morning she had already received the lesson of people not repenting their mistakes even after completely uprooting an entire life. Clearly, she was referring to her mother.She learned something new at the university she enrolled in.“I am… so.. stupid.”She took the necessary subjects required to attend medical school. Mateo had explained the basic things he knew about it to her, though he hadn’t attended college himself so he wasn’t aware of everything.Nora was barely at a good reading level in English let alone study subjects like math and science. Though she was alright with history, owing it to the hours of television she had consumed when she had nothing else to do. This proved to be more di
As much as Nora hoped, it wasn’t the case that her sister was miraculously healed by the time she came to visit. Her condition was the same. She was glad that at least she was not worse and as long as she was kept on the ventilator, there was a chance that she could wake up.Dr. Miller had asked Nora how long she wanted Nova to be on the ventilator. She told her about organ donation and what it could mean for other people. Nova would be able to improve the quality of life of at least 20 people. It was the first time Nora had gotten so angry at anything. Usually the shy and feeble type, she was not used to feeling such rage. She wondered if somehow along the way, Mateo had some influence on her behavior.“There’s no way.” She grit her teeth.She straight up refused and let her know, she would keep Nova on the ventilator for as long
As she left, Mateo’s gaze was piercing, as if he was giving her a warning.“You’re not as calm as you pretend to be.” Marcos pointed out.“I’d say the same but I’m afraid you’re not pretending to be dumb.”“Inherited it from my brother.”“That’s not how it works.” Mateo couldn’t help but cringe. Despite everything, he had to suppress a smile. He couldn’t deny that he liked being called brother. He felt like he had a real family. Soon enough, Nora would be family as well, was his intention.“What do you think of this?” Mateo showed him a little black ring box.“Ew. Incest.” He immediately received a flick to his forehead.
“What? I thought you two made up, which surprised me.” Marcos’s face contorted in an expression of confusion at the end of his sentence. He had expected Nora to storm out of the place immediately after finding out what Mateo had done. Surprisingly, she had stuck around and even came to forgive him for what he did, though she needed some alone time to process everything that had happened.“It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t know and besides, my father was a criminal.” She mumbled.“Nora, we are criminals too, if you’re considering the law.” He made a good point.“That’s true, but you don’t traffic children.” Her hand went up to her hair and pulled at it in frustration. Her head felt like it was about to burst from all these strange thoughts and emotions. “I’m not normal.
He paced around outside her room for a while, unsure of what to do. Should he go inside and ask for her forgiveness or should he give her some space first? If he gave her space and she took off, never to be found again. What would he do? Mateo knew that he was being ridiculous, over thinking about it just because he was scared of what her reaction would be. He did not like the feeling. It was something he wasn’t used to.With Nora, it always seemed like he was experiencing new emotions, things he hadn’t encountered ever since he was a kid.Mustering up his will, he knocked on the door a few times. He called out her name when he didn’t receive a response.“I’m coming in.” He turned the knob slowly with a hasty breath, as if he himself was afraid of what was behind it. The expression she would make.
“So.. did you chop his balls off like Nora said you were going to do?” Marcos grinned as he watched Mateo suffer with his meal. His right eye was swollen and black and the lashes over his body burned.“She shouldn’t have had to see that. Why did you let her in?” He grit his teeth.“I tried but she’s tiny. She snuck in there before I could stop her.” He shrugged, feeling all the stares accumulating. The dining hall was more silent than usual. That could be owed to the fact that the main topic of gossip was none other than their boss who was sitting right in front of them.“What’s up with them?” Marcos asked in a muffling voice as he chewed on his food. He received a look of contempt from Mateo and immediately chose to close his mouth while he ate. Mateo’s disappointment always had a way of making him change.“They’re making me the new Mafia King.&rdq
"What are you doing?" Mateo mumbled, as if trying to warn her. His eyes were swollen and slightly black, his arms and legs were tied to the chair with a rope. Blood trickled down his forehead onto his bare chest and then further down his abs.Nora thought it was alot of blood, enough to make someone pass out. Mateo drew his head back, using the top of the chair as support, to get a good look at Nora. For a second he thought he was hallucinating, but she seemed to actually be there."The celebrity has finally arrived" Lucas smirked, there was a sinister tone in the way he had said celebrity. Mateo knew it was because he was still mad about her rejecting his advances and then further insulting him. It was also because he was mad about everyone completing the mission successfuly without any setbacks. No one had died, everyone had made it out alive in one piece which happened to be against that little plan of his. He was confused until after a little bit of digging,