SWNOVELS Mila: The Godfather: Part 2 – Chapter 46
MILA
“She’s my masterpiece.” – R
I’ve been seeing the same person every day for as long as I’ve been alive, reflected back at me while looking in the mirror. Just an ordinary girl with ordinary looks. Boring. Safe. Just me.
Nothing to get excited about.
Not today.
Today, the person looking back at me in the mirror feels like a stranger and a friend at the same time. I can’t put into words or explain this feeling more eloquently.
It’s like it’s me, but not really.
I’m wearing a mid-length, blue-green satin, backless dress that is neither casual nor too elegant. It’s very pretty and matches perfectly with the clear strap heels and the tiara on top of my head.
Yes, a tiara.
One with small butterflies made of diamonds.
It’s safe to say that I don’t look like I typically do. I ditched the mom jeans, sneakers, and oversized shirts, which are my go-to attire. Oh, and my cap.
I don’t have it with me.
“You look so beautiful…” A chirpy voice startles me, and I turn away from the mirror to find Maeve standing at the doorway of the room she brought me into after we left Riagan in the living room area. She changed her clothes and is now wearing a dress similar to mine but in a different color. Black. Her pink hair is pulled up in a high ponytail with her bangs perfectly divided in the middle. She looks stunning and kind of like an anime character.
“Thank you.” I offer her a small smile, feeling a bit anxious about being alone with her. Not because there’s something wrong with her but because it’s just a habit of mine. She’s been nothing but kind, but you never know. “You look very pretty.” I mumble, focusing on her pink strands.
“He picked it, you know?” She steps into the room and comes to stand next to me near the mirror.
Frowning, I ask. “Who picked what?”
“Your dress and the hairpiece. The boss, Riagan, picked all of it.” She laughs softly. “He sent me to pick them up last week, and I thought he finally lost it. All those hits to the head must’ve done a whole lot of damage because why would he purchase a wedding dress when we’ve never even seen him with a woman. Not one that was serious, anyway.”
The thought of Riagan hurting makes me nervous.
But the thought of him with another woman, serious or not, makes me angry and sad.
More sad than angry, actually.
“He didn’t know about me a week ago.” I whisper while I play with the ring on my finger. His ring.
“Oh, he knew about you, sweet Mila.” My eyes meet hers for a moment, and they seem happy. “You’re everything he was missing and more.”
I find myself at a loss for words.
What should I say? What’s the appropriate response here?
“He is very kind.” I tell her and I mean it. Riagan has treated me with kindness and respect, and for that he will always have a special place in my heart, regardless of what the future holds for us.
“To you and the people he cares about, yes. Others?” I stare at her face for longer than I’m comfortable with. “Not so much.” She stops talking for a second and then continues. “You needn’t worry. He really is a good guy to the people he loves.”
Love.
My eyes grow big, and my blood pressure spikes the moment the word slips from her mouth.
“He doesn’t love me.”
Maeve lifts a white bag and hands it to me. “I beg to differ.”
“What is this?”
“Open it and find out.”
I do.
Opening the white bag, I pull out a cap. A plain white one. Huh. Searching the bag for more, I find a small sticky note with writing on it. Turning it, it reads:
Just in case. — R
Just in case things become too much today and the world starts to cave in. He gave me a cap so I can feel less anxious.
These are the little things that make me fight off any doubt I might have. Riagan is not a saint. He has done and seen things that would give me nightmares, yet I’ve never felt unsafe with him. He has never made me feel like I shouldn’t trust him. Not once in all the moments we’ve shared.
He might look like the villain in a fairytale, but his heart? There’s nothing cruel or evil about it.
It’s beautiful, just like he is.
Click.
The flash of a camera makes me look up to find Maeve smiling widely with her phone in her hands after taking a photo of me.
“Why did you do that?” I ask curiously. Here I thought I was an odd duck. I think maybe this girl is even odder.
Maeve puts the phone down. “I bet once the boss annihilates the threat to your life, your sisters would love to see how beautiful you looked on your wedding day.” That is… sweet. Very sweet of her, actually.
“Do you know my sisters too?” I step forward, looking at her eyes for a few seconds, then at the five diamond earrings in various sizes on her ears.
“Know them? No. But I do know of them.” She explains.
“How?”
“Well, one of your sisters is banging the most powerful man in the country while the other is making waves as the first female boss in Detroit history. They’re pretty rad.”
Smiling, I say. “They are. They’ve always been pretty amazing. Even before the president and the title of boss.”
“You’re amazing, too.”
Heat creeps into my cheeks, and I look away from her and down at the baseball cap in my hands. “You don’t know me.” I blurt out truthfully.
“What the boss has told me about you and what I’ve discovered online is pretty amazing.”
“Discover? What do you mean?”
“I’m one of this country’s best hackers, babe. I can find anything about anyone.” She steps back with a grin on her face. “You should share it with him, you know. The things you do are incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it.” I think I detect a hint of awe in her voice.
I wonder why she hasn’t shared what she found about me with her boss? If she’s been looking up things on the internet, it’s safe to assume that it was by his command, then why didn’t she tell him?
In truth, I’m not hiding anything. I just figured there’s nothing special about it. To me, it’s just a hobby. Something that I did to pass the time while I was trying to be invisible. The internet helps with that. I could upload my projects, and no one had to know the person behind the screen. Their identity.
I guess someone did find out.
Maeve.
“I won’t tell him, so get rid of that frown, will you?” Her voice is gentle, and so is her smile. “Now, come on. He’s waiting for you. Has been for a really long time.”
My mind instantly goes somewhere else.
To the days prior, where I created so many beautiful memories with a man that some call the Godfather of this city.
The one I will call my husband from today onward.
I think of him, his smile and all the overwhelming feelings he stirs in me with just a gentle touch and kind word.
The way his lips feel.
I think of all that he is and a smile takes over my face.
I don’t think there will ever come a day where I’ll regret this arrangement.
I’ll regret him.
Maeve’s words come back to me, and for the longest time, those words are all I can focus on.
He’s waiting for you. Has been for a really long time.
Holding the baseball cap to my chest, I tap it three times in awe of how fast my heart is beating just from the thought of him.
Thoughts of becoming his wife.
For real.
No arrangements.
No expiration date.
Forever.