Chapter 376
His Promise: The Mafia’s Babies
Vincenzo Fabio High School Diary 1-
Donny and I stole fatherâs Mustang and drove it around town to show off.
Unfortunately, father came home early and was livid. Dotard got in trouble, and I didnât, so itâs all good.
Thereâs also a new transfer student in our class, and she scares the shit out of me. She wonât stop staring at me with those beautiful demonic black eyes, and I donât know how to stop her.
Sheâs been following me all week, and Donny heard rumors that sheâs been telling the entire school that sheâll marry 1.
A handsome man like me doesnât have the urge to be tied to one woman for the rest of his life.
âWhatâs wrong with that man.â An embarrassed and guilty chuckle escaped from my lips. I wasnât supposed to laugh at him, better yet-I wasnât supposed to laugh at his words, but I couldnât help myself Who was this Donny guy and why had I never met him?
Too ashamed to read further, I folded the paper and stared ahead. It turned out Fabio had also left me some diary from his teenage years, which now I used as an excuse in order not to read the letters which were meant for me.
The thought of that man once being a teenager, pulling mischief, and stealing cars all seemed so strange to me, mainly since he used to scold me for doing the same.
Was it really that surprising, though? The man in the diary was the same man who left behind many dangerous weapons and left me to deal with them.
I was still not over the shock and had yet to come up with a safe plan to get rid of the weapons.
The Moralesâ took our union very seriously, so who knew? Maybe one day, I would return to a renovated factory and an empty basement.
A knock on the door made me hide the papers in a rush. âCome in?â I called out, expecting it to be my nosy wife. Instead, a maid opened the door.
âSir, thereâs a woman at the gate.â She avoided my eyes, placing her hands behind her back. âShe says sheâs Luisâ new teacher?â.
Dazed. I got up from my chair. I had been so occupied with the marriage, the business, and Fabioâs letters that I had forgotten all about Livia.
âAh yes, let her in!â
As soon as the maid left the room, I rushed to the mirror to look at my outfit. Being all dressed up for no reason made me look stupid, and Luis thought the same. Although, I did have to admit-just as Aria had told me, many did take me more seriously.
I brushed my hair with my hands and a dumb smile on my lips, unable to remember the last time I had put such an effort into anything. It was probably because I knew Livia wouldnât hide from pointing out every flaw, so I wanted to look appropriate. That mustâve been it.
As I walked down the stairs, I already noticed Livia at the door. Her hands were on her hips, her hair with even more volume, and a sarcastic smile across her sculptured face.
âHi.â I greeted, standing right in front of her. Livia was not taller than 5â2, stood on her tippy toes, and smiled at me daringly.
âWhatâs up, tall guy?â She raised her head before stumbling, but I grabbed her arm just in time. Any other person wouldâve been embarrassed, but not Livia.
Since the first time she had attacked me, she showed me just how much she didnât care.
âYou cut your hair.â
âI did.â I froze as the woman stared deep into my eyes. âSo, whereâs the baby?â She stepped closer, standing on her tippy-toes to look behind my shoulder.
The baby?
Of course! Luis.
âHeâll be here soon,â I spoke. With my hands in my pockets, I stepped back and widened the space between us.
âWhere is your baby?â My mind went to her seven-month-old child as I had made it clear the baby was more than welcome. âDid you leave it with its dad today?â
âMy baby is not an it. His name is Dace.â Livia pushed her hand against my chest. âAnd he doesnât have a father.â
Not knowing how to react, I tried to find a way to change the subject. The smile on Liviaâs face told me she didnât care, but the crack in her voice said otherwise.
Whatever was going on in her personal life was none of my business-as long as she could tutor Luis and get him back on top again.
âDid you look into the information I sent you?â
âYes.â Livia nodded. âThereâs no good reason for someone whoâs used to get straight Aâs to fail his classes like this-
âThatâs what I thought-â
Livia raised her finger, shutting me up. âOther than negligence.â
âWhat?â
Not agreeing with a single word, I grabbed her arm and led her to the backyard so we could get to the bottom of this nonsense.
âSo itâs all my fault?â Once we sat down, I beckoned one of the maids to get her something to drink, earning a disgusted look from Livia.
She rolled her eyes. âI understand your job requires a tight work schedule, but I strongly believe this couldâve been prevented.â
Tight work schedule?
I had been doing nothing but partying and picking up women for these past years. Hearing I was the cause for Luisâ behavior from someone other than myself hurt my ego.
âYou shouldâve supervised him whenever he does his homework and ensured he finishes it through the end.â
âOkay, good,â I spoke. âAnd since Iâm paying you-youâll do it for me?â
âYes, I will supervise him instead, and Iâll take your money.â She leaned in her chair, legs crossed.
âTaking care of your brother is the least I can do after you were kind enough to excuse my dad.â
I snickered. âAre you finally thanking me?â
âNo.â Livia shook her head. âYou should really learn a bit more about sarcasm.â
Sarcasm?
I did not get the chance to get any further as Luis had already found his way to the backyard. The boy always had his game device in one hand, but this time he had his school books in the other. It was a great start.
âLuis, come here!â I said. âThis is the tutor Iâve been telling you about.â
On commando, Luis sat down on the chair. âYo.â He raised his head. âWhatâs up?â
Taken aback by his words. I smacked his head and pulled his hair to lower his ear to my lips.âYo?
Since when did we start greeting ladies saying âyo, are you crazy?â I hissed.
âOh, I donât mind.â Livia eavesdropped, smiling at Luis. âJust ignore your brother. Heâs too old-
fashioned, isnât he?â
âYes!â Luisâs eyes lit up.
âToo strict, ancient, kind towards others except you unless he feels like it.â She earned herself another nod from Luis while my pride was getting stamped.
âKeep going. I like where this is going!â
âHeâs anything but understanding, thinks heâs fun-but is actually boring-
âYes, okay. I think he gets it.â
âWell, was I spot on?â
âYes.â Luis stuck out his hand to her. âNice to meet you, miss. Iâm Luis.â
âPlease, Livia.â She spoke before looking at me.
âNow, if you donât mind, I would love to have a private talk with Luis.â
I was confused by her request but walked off either way. There was no point staying there if all she was going to do was take me down, and seeing the smile on Luisâ lips, I could tell he would be just fine.
Still wanting to look out for my brother, I waited inside and peeked at the two through the windows.
Well, I was trying to do that-but all I could really stare at was Livia.
She had an interesting personality, that was for sure. Interesting enough for Luis to laugh at whatever she said to him.
âWho is that?â Ariaâs voice startled me, and I didnât look back.
âLuisâ tutor.â
âTutor? I didnât know he needed one.â I felt a soft grip on my shoulder, begging me to look at her, so I did. âYou couldâve asked me. Itâs not too late to fire her.â Aria spoke, whispering the last part.
It didnât matter who it was, how old the person was-Aria would most likely always see any other woman as a threat, rightfully so. I didnât love her. I didnât care for her-but starting today, I had made a vow to at least try and respect her.
With a sigh, I looked down at her twitching plump lips. âIâm not firing anyone,â I told her. âBesides, being Luisâ tutor is not your job, princess.â
âYouâre right. Iâm sorry.â Aria removed her hand from my shoulder, lowering her head. âIâm so sorry.
âDonât apologize for being jealous.â A chuckle left my mouth. It was only a natural reaction for someone as immature as her.
âJ-jealous?â Aria gasped in a high-pitched tone.
âIâm not jealous!â
âWhatever suits you, princess.â I shrugged her off. âSo, what can I help you with?â
âI was talking to Angelo-â
âAngelo, of course.â I cut her off, shaking my head. Those two were like married couples in their own little way.
When I heard Oscar Morales had hired a Marino to be her advisor, I felt threatened, fearful-but soon realized his presence meant nothing.
Even though we lived in the same house, we walked past each other. Aria and Angelo did their thing while I did mine-even when his thing revolved around running behind Aria.
He seemed to care deeply for her, but it was not as much as Aria cared for me.
âItâs been brought to my attention that our guys donât get along.â Aria continued, not caring for my interruption.
Yes, brought to her attention by Angelo. âWow, I wonder why that would be.â
âThereâve been several disagreements and adjustment issues from the Garcia side, but itâs nothing a little speech from the boss canât fix.â She wiggled her brow. âI was thinking. Tomorrow we could visit all the warehouses and-â
âIssues from the Garcia side?â I rubbed my temple, doing everything in my power not to raise my voice at her. âThe Morales scare away our partners, threaten everyone, rolls their eyes all day-but there have only been issues from the Garcia side?â
âRepeat that sentence in your head and try to rephrase it,â I asked kindly, not wanting to see her throw any tantrums.
Most of the stuff, I let go because I didnât have any energy for arguing, but she had taken it too far.
âOkay.â Aria mumbled. âThe Morales and Garcia men have not been getting along, which is both their faults, mainly ours for not talking to them as one, and the only way to fix it is if we go there united and tell them weâre Garcia-Morales,â
Ariaâs words caught me by surprise. She could be mature if she wanted to-the problem was that others wouldnât let her.
It was nice to hear her opinion and not anyone elseâs words.
âGoodâ
âGood?â Aria bit her lip, looking nervously. âI was afraid you were going to start yelling at me.â
Her words left me speechless. Meanwhile, Aria had turned her head to stare out the window to the backyard. Yell at her? I had never wanted to yell at her. She was just frustrating to deal with.
âI think Luis likes her.â I could hear the dismay in her voice. âWhenever I try to talk to him, all he does is run away.
âIâm sorry. Iâll talk to him about it.â
âYou donât have to.â
âNo, I should.â I made my way next to her. âWhenever I do something, Luis follows in my footsteps, and Iâve been ignoring you for daysâ¦â
No wonder the Garcia men also werenât feeling her. They mustâve sensed I wasnât really into her, and something like that could potentially harm our business. See, I didnât care for the alliance but I did care for the Garcias.
There was no point in getting more deals and respect-if our families couldnât get al a matter of time before the others would catch on and this marriage would be useless âIâll go with you tomorrow,â I spoke. âWeâll visit wherever we need to and fix whatever t âThank you.â Aria sighed gratefully as I took a moment to look at her perfect side profile. her calm state-she looked more charming than I remembered her, but deep down, I could about the horrible things she had said and done.
âDo you think Iâm ugly?â Ariaâs voice cracked as she turned her head to face me. âIs that why you want me?â
âNo,â I spoke, shaking my head. âItâs not your face-trust me.â
âCan you at least try to be nice?â
âIâm trying.
âI see the way you look at that tutor.â Aria spat, falling back to her old behavior. âI understand, though. She has a pretty face, nice bodyââ
âStop it.â I closed my eyes, irritated. âIf you didnât force me to marry you-you wouldnât have to spend your days wondering why 1, or anyone else, do not want to be with you.â
Even though those words left my mouth, my heart shattered after seeing the broken look in her eyes.
Monster or not, this wasnât the way a husband was supposed to treat his wife-I was well aware.
In the past, I used to side-eye the old Christian for treating Serena the same-but was I really that much different?
âIâm sorry, it wasnât supposed to come out like that.â I reached out my hand for comfort, but this time it was Aria who had taken a step back.
âIn case you were wondering.â She rolled her watery eyes. âYes, Iâm a terrible wife-but you make a terrible husband.â