Page 5 of Ma Belle Marguerite
The rest of the evening passes without any more angry outbursts. We decide to get pizza and Chinese food since it will be our last meal in this house.
We camp out in the living room and have a big slumber party like we used to when they were younger. Couch cushion and blanket forts with a movie and snacks is one of our favorite things to do. Tomorrow, our new life begins. I’m unsure where this life will take us and if it is the right move. Only time will tell.
Chapter 2
Alexander
It’s still early enough in the evening, but I can’t seem to keep my eyes open as I sit on the couch scrolling through my phone's camera roll. Putting my phone down on the table in front of me, I decide to make a pot of coffee to keep me awake while I think through my next steps.
My father is pushing me to find a wife again. He wants me to get married before I take over the organization he has built.But the thing is, I didn’t want to take over in the first place. I dreamed of a different life, and my father took that from me.
I wanted to leave this town all those years ago with my Bella. Live an everyday life without having to worry about getting shot. But of course, my father always had some important thing that he couldn’t possibly trust anyone else to do. If I didn't follow his orders, he threatened to find Bella himself and get rid of her for good.
All my hopes and dreams slowly dwindled into just trying to survive each day with every passing breath until hopefully one day I could make my way back to Bella. I was forced to stay back then and made to learn my father's ways. Forced to learn the ways of my family. Now, I don’t have my Bella anymore;Ma Belle Marguerite.
Father has always told me that I needed to move on from Isabella, settle down, and work on producing an heir. According to my father, love isn’t required. He said to find someone I could stand, or he already has someone in mind. I don’t want a marriage just to strengthen the mafia.
I knew what Bella and I had was true. It was real. That’s why I made the decision for her. She deserved to live a normal life. She wouldn’t have had that with me. My father made that very clear. After she left, he said that she wasn’t strong enough to be my wife when I take over. I haven’t been able to even look at another woman as anything more than a friend since she left. Everyone thinks I’m just an asshole; they assume I just sleep around.
What they don’t realize is that nobody compares to her. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Her personality brought light to my darkness. She was stubborn and always had to do things her way, which made her who she was. Bella challenged me in ways no one else has or ever dared to.
She didn’t care what our fathers wanted. She only cared about what made me happy. What made our lives better. She pushedme to be my own person and not the mindless soldier my father was trying to mold me into.
The beep of my coffee machine reminds me of what I was doing. I pour out the bitter liquid into my favorite mug. Adding a couple dashes of sugar, I toss my spoon into the sink and head back to the couch, allowing my thoughts to overtake me once again.
My father considers our family’s organization his legacy. Not only is there a lot of pressure to take over, but it is also a dangerous organization that comes with many problems.
I will be the nextCaïd, which is what we call the leader of the organization. My dad is persistent, saying it must be me, not my brother, Cole. I don’t know why he won’t just let him take my place. He won’t tell me his reason, which infuriates me.
Growing up, our father trained my brother and me the same way; everything was a competition. We have never gotten along, and Cole has always tried to one-up me. Cole still sees everything that way. He doesn’t seem to understand that I would hand it all over to him if I could.
I’ve lost count of the amount of attempts on my father's life now. Being the head of our family's organization means there is always a risk to your life as someone wants what you have.
With Bella here, I had a reason to live, and now I wonder if there is anything worth living for. Even though I let her go, I haven’t given up on Bella completely. It has been thirteen years since I last saw her. Before she left, all she talked about was going to Queen Victoria College. When I went there to find her, they said they had no record of her. After that all my calls went straight to voicemail. She had also promised to send me letters, but only one ever came, right after I went to look for her.
In the letter, which I still have stuffed under my mattress, she told me she didn’t want me to follow her. She wanted to try life on her own and see what was out there. I don’t fully believethat. There had to have been more she wasn’t telling me, and with the added pressure from my father, letting her go seemed like the right choice. I don’t know why she ran from me, but I intend to find out, even if she doesn’t want me anymore. I need to understand why.
I’m going to ask Josh, my tech guy, to find her. I need to know where she is and why she left me. I could say it’s for closure, but honestly, she will be coming home with me no matter what she wants. I have gone long enough without her. Joshua’s Corvette pulls up out front as if on cue. He always seems to know when I’m spiraling. I almost forgot we’re supposed to celebrate Darryl’s birthday tonight at my father's bar. He built this business when I was just a kid. Even though he has most of the local cops on his payroll, it helps in making things look more legitimate for our side business.
Josh is going to freak when he sees I’m not ready. Darryl and Josh have been my best friends since I finished high school, and they're my right-hand men in the family business. They moved into town not long after I graduated.
When we met at my father's bar, it was like we had known each other our whole lives. They quickly became my most trusted people. Since my father wants me to take over one day, I need to make sure I’m ready, whether I want to or not. Always be prepared for all possible outcomes.
Knowing that Josh will let himself in, I rush to the bedroom to get cleaned up quickly. If he thinks I was just taking a long shower, maybe he’ll be a bit more tolerable. Plus, I could use one after my workout earlier. The guys tease me that I work out to keep myself toned for the ladies, when really it is just a great outlet for all my frustrations.
I rush through my shower as I hear Josh calling my name somewhere in the house. As I reach to shut the water off, I hear my bedroom door open.
“Rex, why are you still in the damn shower?” Josh yells loudly from the other side of the bathroom door. “I told you I would be here at nine to pick you up! Let’s go. The ladies will be snatched up before we get there. Tonight is my one night off. My boss is a hard ass,” he laughs.
I roll my eyes as if he can see me. “Settle the hell down! You know you’ll find some random girl and take her home or out behind the bar,” I shout back as I shut off the water. I hear him huff outassholeunder his breath as he stomps away. I grab my towel and wrap it around me while laughing.
He would never take advantage of a drunk girl, but we haven’t stopped teasing him since an incident a few years ago. Josh had a crazy chick after him. She waited for him to get drunk and tried to trick him into going home with her.
I think her name was Amanda or Ariella. No, maybe Amara? She was some weird, reclusive girl in high school. She was always watching everyone from the shadows. She got tired of trying to get my attention after high school and instead turned her crazy eyes in Josh’s direction.
Leave it to the playboy Josh to get caught up in a mess like that. Some may say it’s cruel and insensitive to make jokes about it, but when you live in our world, you need to have tough skin.
“Boss man, are you ready yet? What is taking so long!” Josh is already exasperated with me.
