35- Friends or not

Editing in Progress…

Chapter 35

He rubbed on his temple, feeling as though he was lecturing these men. "Listen, I have no qualms in going along with your plans or propositions, but do not force your ideas on me. I AM NOT ONE OF YOUR MEN! Understand?"

The table was quiet, Vinny, Cassius, and Carlos held their breath as they waited for Diesel's reaction.

Joaquin was unbothered by this, he had told his truth and if he could not see it from his point of view, then it couldn't be helped. It would just simply mean that they were never destined to ally.

It wasn't the end of the world and very frankly, he was buying his ticket to Mexico City if he felt they weren't welcomed here, regardless of what his father says.

Diesel gave a slight hum, he never thought of it like that, He genuinely thought he was being hospitable.

"I see, I apologize. I sincerely didn't think of it that way, and Cassius being your boss guard isn't anything to be suspicious about, as it was planned to be a joke and punishment for him. But I see the joke did not age well"

Quin gave him a bewildered look, "Wait, are you being for real right now?"

"Yes. I also thought it would be sensible for you to stay here since you were already coming to see me" Diesel placed his finger on his chin as he began processing the situation in his mind.

"You are so socially awkward, that is awkward"

"Huh?"

"It's nothing, forget about it"

Diesel's brow squinted in confusion whilst looking at Quin, "So you will take him?"

 "Sure there is no harm done, and besides—" Quin spoke, his eyes trailing over to Cassius. His eyes curved into a devious squint which sent shivers down his spine.

"I would be happy to take him as a bodyguard. That way, I could have Carlos enjoy his time as though it was a vacation. So thank you" Quin said cunningly.

It was very obvious to the men present that he had other intentions that were not favorable for Cass.

"Just don't kill him"

"Yes, of course"

"And don't hurt him"

"Yes, of course"

Even though he had agreed to all of Diesel's requests to keep Cass safe, Cass in turn didn't feel safe by that flimsy reassurance statement.

"Boss, are you going to believe what he is saying?" Cassius complained, not wanting to be left with Joaquin for the entirety of his stay.

Diesel shrugged at his question, "He said he wouldn't hurt you and—"

"AND YOU BELIEVE THAT?!"

 "Yes, I sort of do" His response resulted in Quin barking up a laugh. It was comical to him.

"Don't worry, I won't work up your bones" Quin teased with a devious smile attached to his face.

With a tight and forced smile, Cass replied to him, "I can't wait"

"Me neither"

The rest of the dinner went around without any hitch. They spoke casually like they were all good friends and catching up on old times. Well, with the occasional bickering between Quin and Cassius.

Quin pushed his plates in front of him, indicating that he was done with his meal.

He lazily stood up from his seat and went around, placing his hand over his left shoulder.

"I would retire for the night, I have some things I need to pay attention to," He said, looking at Diesel.

Diesel in turn nodded his head and asked "Well we were planning on going to a club we always went to, would you like to join us?"

Joaquin thought for a while, but since he wasn't the only one present, -Carlos- Turned to stare at him.

"Do you want to go? I have gotten enough sleep and don't feel like going to bed any time soon, so what do you think?"

Carlos thought for a while, before expressing his response, "Well you are going back to school on Monday, so a little fun, alcohol, and hot New York babes will loosen you up"

"And when I tell you they are hot, they are hot," Cassius said confidently, spinning his wine around before browning it in one go.

Cassius stood up, swinging his arm around Quinn's shoulder to continue to explain, "It is good now that I am your bodyguard, therefore as your bodyguard, I will take you places with hot and sexy babes" "I don't even know what to say as a response to that right now" He said giving him a weird look.

"What, I am serious! And besides it's not as if you have a babe you are being faithful to back in Mexico" He teased, letting go of him and as he made his way back to his seat.

Quin thought for a while at Cassius's statement.

"Girl at home, huh? Yes, there is" He replied.

"WHAT!!!!!" The three men shouted while Vinny's eyes widened to show his shock.

"Wait, are you serious?!" Diesel asked, both looking and sounding surprised.  He didn't seem to care to hide his shock.

"And besides why the hell are you surprised" Cassius turned to ask Carlos. He had seen, he also had a surprised look on his face.

"Well- erm- I- wait what??! Dude for real"

"You also didn't know?"

"That means she isn't real" Diesel who had finally composed himself stated,

"And you know that because?" Quin asked, looking very chilled and laid back while watching the frantic men before him.

But he soon waved them off as he made his way back to his room, "So what time is the cub outing?"

"By 11 or thereabout"

"Alright. Carlos, come over once you are done"

"Yes boss" His reply was slow as he was coming out from his initial shock.

Carlos, still reeling from the revelation that Quin had a supposed girlfriend, followed him out of the dining room with a mix of confusion and curiosity. As they walked down the corridor toward Quinn's room, Carlos couldn't help but blurt out his questions.

"Boss, how come I've never heard about this girlfriend of yours before?" Carlos asked, his voice laced with both surprise and skepticism.

Quin chuckled softly, leading Carlos into his spacious room.

"Don't tell me you are still hung up on that?" He asked, grabbing his phone off the table where it was previously placed.

"It was just a passing statement to combat Cassius tease and make him stunned" he replied leisurely.

"Hmm. I see. So what's up, why did you call me over."

"To ask few questions"

" Such as?"

"How is your room like, how were you being treated, how do you see them generally, Also do you see them being an added gain to the clan"

Carlos paused on his words as he thought back to his answers relating to his boss's question.

"If I'm, to put it mildly, I did say it was tangible"

"Tangible? In what way?"

"The room was decent actually, it also had a similar interior design to this room" he gestured his hands around Quinn's room.

"Also, It is very clear that he is also aiming at a similar goal to you"

At this moment Carlos had gotten Quinn's attention, "Similar goal?"

"Yes actually. Like you, he is trying to build a name for himself, besides his father's name. He is young like you, but unlike you, Godfather is waiting for you to mature properly and that would probably be till after high school. But him, he is already the DON"

"I can give three reasons for that scenario. First, is that his father is dead, Second, people are looking for him, so as not to endanger his men, he went into hiding" Carlos went silent for a while.

"And the third one?"

"This one is probably a very stupid reason, but, he possibly just wanted out"

Joaquin crocked his brows at him, but he only rolled his shoulders nonchalantly.

"And how did you notice this"

"Simple, I asked around the maids, gardeners, gatekeepers. I just didn't make it obvious"

"Hmm. I see"

"Also" he whispered, the sudden change in his voice grabs unto Quinn's attention again.

"You know that mute dude, Vincenzo?"

"Yeah?"

"I heard he wasn't born mute, it was the previous Don that made him mute"

"Previous don? His father?"

Carlos shook his head negatively, "I heard that Diesel had an elder brother, they told me he was a shitty Don, didn't care for his men, and would neither pay them fully nor pay them at all"

"He would always fight aimless fights, resulting in some of their men killed. He would also sell drugs and not document for it and would instead pocket it. He did a lot of crazy shit"

"Then what happened?"

"Vincenzo boldly spoke up about it but the guy, Kellan, that's his name, he drugged him with lidocaine, till he slowly began losing feelings in his tongue"

"Tell me he is dead?"

"Yes, Brutally murdered by Diesel, Vinny didn't want to leave since it was them that took him in, but he asked to not be part of the head"

"But seeing the loyalty from him, Diesel didn't accept but rather gave him the 3rd in command, at least he wasn't directly under the Don."

" I genuinely thought he was deaf and dumb, so he is only dumb?"

"Yep."

*EDITED*