Welcome Home
Mr. Romano sat on a Mahogany chair as he began sorting out the files laid on his desk. He was a handsome man with pointed nose, blond hair, dark hooded Amber eyes, his tannish skin tone was a warm complexion. He was a powerful looking man in his late forties and his lips always in a constant frown.
The telephone on his desk rang out, he picked the call and said
"Yes"
"Someone is at the reception waiting to see you" the receptionist informed "Should I send him in?"
"Tell him he shouldn't keep this old man waiting" Mr. Romano heard a voice say.
He recognized the voice immediately making his face turn moody
"Let him in" he sighed and leaned back on his chair wondering what the old man's sudden visit was for.
His office door burst open revealing a man close to his 70's with the hard bronzed body of a man half his age, all his own teeth a craggy, lined face, topped by a mass of thick steel-gray hair.
He stepped into the office with a walking stick on his right hand constantly hitting the tiled marble floor with two guards behind him.
"Step out" he ordered as he looked back at the guards. They bowed down and closed the door behind them.
"Hello Mr Romano" he said walking towards him
"What can I help you with Mr Mancini?" Mr Romano asked curtly
"I see I'm not welcome here for you not to offer me a seat at least" he looked around the office surveying the environment in the likeness of it.
"Have a seat then"
Mr Mancini sat down on the chair opposite to him
"So why have you come?" Mr Romano asked again
"Ha ha ha... don't tell me you don't know why I've come" he laughed gaily "You and I both know you owe me"
"I don't owe you Pedro" Mr Romano stated going away from all formalities "That debt was cleared years ago"
"Yes it was" Pedro agreed "But Aldo my friend, all but one debt was cleared" he paused then continued "You betrayed me, don't say you've forgotten"
"I thought we've already agreed on this" Aldo whispered leaning forward.
"Yes we did agree, but I did tell you I may change my mind at anytime"
"What do you want?" Aldo demanded
"Half of your drug cartel" Pedro replied immediately. Aldo had a drug cartel all thanks to Pedro.
Pedro was a well known drug baron in his early years and he had many connections round the world even with the police. His workers always performed a perfect job leaving no traces behind and even if they did, the police were to cover up for it.
He and Aldo met many years ago and Aldo decided to work under him to make quick money, and he eventually made it and established his own Drug Cartel. Not even one single person in his family knew about it.
"I can't give you that" he disagreed
"Your family is on the line Aldo. No matter how much you protect them, I'll always have my way just by the snap of my fingers" Pedro said and snapped his fingers
"Don't touch them" Aldo warned
"Then give me what I want" he said "Yes you did clear every single debt apart from one"
"And which is..."
"Ah, I'll let you figure it out yourself" Pedro laughed "A little puzzle won't hurt. Would it?"
When Pedro saw that Aldo wasn't going to respond, he got to his feet
"I think it's a goodbye for now" he walked to the door but stopped once he was arms reach
"Your daughter is beautiful. Don't make her hate you once she finds out who you really are"
"Don't touch her" he warned again before Pedro pulled the door open and stepped out.
Aldo sighed and ruffled his hair in frustration. What had he gotten himself into. If only he had been contented without going to meet that greedy bastard years ago he wouldn't be where he was today, trapped in a cage.
True, he owed everything to him, his company, his money and cartel and yes he betrayed him by stealing half of his cartel money when he was still working under him. But he paid off his debt and they had ironed things out with each other.
' All but one debt was cleared' his words replayed in his head.
What did he mean by that?. Pedro just wants him back working under him to enlarge his coast and that wasn't happening. He had already cleared his debt so he didn't have any right to bother him and his family anymore.
******
Leonardo arched his back forward trying to get a grasp of what the teacher was saying. Ever since he entered into the class, he's been hearing whispers about how good he looked and it was getting tiring. Maybe today wasn't going to be a fun day after all.
"That'll be all for today. Have a nice day" the teacher said as the bell went off.
Leonardo rushed out immediately, probably to go meet Isabella but they bumped into each other
"Ha, thank God I found you" Leo said
"What's up with you?" Isabella asked removing the strands of hair on her face.
"Today was not so great" he replied "How 'bout you?"
"Same here" she sighed
"Oh My God are they brothers and sisters" they heard a girl whisper to her friend as they passed by
"Let's go home" Bella groaned and grabbed Leo by his hand.
Once they were out of the school, they saw two guards standing beside a car waiting for them, of course that was expected. They got in not without getting a glance from the students who passed by.
"What's up with them?"
"Chill, we're just new here so of course we'll get admirers" Leo smiled proudly
Isabella closed her eyes and leaned her head on the Head rest, she was really going to talk to her father tonight even if it meant staying awake.
****
Mr Romano drove into his house premises at around 1:50am, he got in and headed for the stairs when the lights flicked on
"Welcome Home".
"Bella" he called getting a glimpse of her face "Your still up?"
"Yes father" she replied descending from the stairs making him to see her fully.
He nodded and dropped his suitcase down, then undid his tie before he began heading upstairs
"You didn't even ask me what's wrong?". He stopped in his tracks and looked at her wanting to say something but she beat him to it
"You know, sometimes I wonder what kind of father you are" tears were brewing in her eyes as she said those words
"You're going to school tomorrow, go get some rest" he said strictly turning his back on her. He wasn't ready for any conversation especially with what happened today.
"I'm not done yet!" she raised her voice making him to stop again.
Once she saw that she had gotten his attention she began
"Why did you make mom do what she did?"
"It's for your own good. Now go back to your room" he ordered and went away not giving her listening ears anymore.
She gasped and help the wall for support, the same old words. She slid down to the ground slowly and began to sob, quiet sobs with her head bowed down.
'He didn't care' she told herself.
******
Leonardo squeezed his face as he felt cold droplets of water hit him, he winced and opened his eyes only to find his sister hovering over him with a bowl of water in her hand.
"Ehi!" he screeched and pushed her away making the whole water to spill on the bed, she was already dressed in her uniform and he wondered what time it was looking around the room.
Isabella kicked him off the bed then went down and slapped him on his shoulder.
"Look at the time" she showed him her phone which displayed the time "And you were snoring on that bed of yours. Do you want me to be late for classes" she slapped him again.
"Ah, ah" he held his shoulder in pain
"If your not serious with school, well I am" she said and got up "Besides mom says you should come down for breakfast"
"Yes, yes please I've heard" he got up and rubbed his shoulder.
"Just take this as payback for barging into my room yesterday. Didn't know revenge was this sweet" she grinned at herself
"Go away already!" he groaned and pushed her to the door opening it for her to step out.
"Um, that girl in your class, er..er.." Bella racked her brain trying to remember the name "Luna! yes Luna. She says she's interested in you and she also sent me a dm asking for your number" Bella winked at him and went out of the room.
"So frustrating" he mouthed and jammed the door.