His Ruthless Pursuit

I walked down the hallway before I entered Mila's room. I found her inside talking to a woman with short light brown hair and curly bangs. 

She smiled when she saw me and I frowned lightly. "And who might you be?" I blankly asked her. 

"I'm Mila's babysitter. Mateo appointed me. My name is Cara." She told me and I frowned at her.

"Mateo?" I asked her and she nodded at me. "Shouldn't you address him as the don? I'm the only person who's allowed to call him by his name." I told her and she nodded at me. 

"Of course, my apologies." She said with a smile on her face and I blankly looked at her. 

"You don't have to come in anymore. I'll talk to Mateo but I don't think your services will be required anymore. I'll do just fine raising my daughter on my own." I told her before I picked Mila up into my arms. 

"Mommy but I like her," Mila whined. 

"Mila we'll talk about this later. Okay?" I told her and she sadly nodded at me. "You may go," I told Cara and she nodded at me before she came over to Mila. 

She smells like jasmine, a smell I'm not very fond of because my dad used to be allergic to jasmine. 

"Goodbye, Mila. I'll see you tonight." She told Mila in a friendly tone. I suspiciously glared at her as she pinched Mila's cheek. 

"Doña," she said in a greeting manner before she entered the room, and I silently watched her as she walked out the door. 

"Mommy you have to let Cara be my new babysitter. Please, Mommy, please." Mila whined while she looked at me.

"Mila, enough. You don't even know that woman. She's a stranger, I will decide when and if you need a babysitter. In the meantime, Mommy will take care of you, alright?" I asked her and she sighed lightly. 

"But I don't have any friends, Mommy. I can't go to school either. We just moved." Mila told me in an over-exasperated tone, and I sighed lightly.

"So let's find you a friend your age then. I know just the little girl for the job." I told Mila and her face instantly lit up.

If I'm not mistaken Umberto and Javi adopted a baby right before I left. She must be around Mila's age. 

"Okay, Mommy. But if I don't like her can we please have Cara as my new babysitter?" She asked me and I nodded at her. 

"Okay. But only if you don't like the girl I want to introduce you to." I told Mila and she nodded at me.

"Deal." Mila pointedly said. 

"Alright, but first, tell me why you like Cara so much," I told Mila before I placed her on the ground, and together we entered her bathroom. 

I ran a bath for her, and she added some bubble bath and a bath bomb into her bath. She undressed before she excitedly climbed into the bathtub and I sat down at the edge of the tub. 

"Come on, out with it. Why do you like her so much?" I asked Mila and she shrugged lightly. 

"Because she's nice, mommy. And Mateo likes her too." Mila stated and I frowned lightly. 

"Does he?" I asked her and she pressed her lips together. 

"Yes, she said that Mateo trusts her very much," Mila told me and I smiled to myself in disbelief. 

"What else did she tell you?" I asked Mila and she frowned lightly. 

"She said that she was here to stay. And that she'd never leave me alone." Mila said and I clenched my jaw. 

"I don't like her," I told Mila and she laughed at me. 

"I know, Mommy." Mila cutely uttered before she started bathing herself.

"I'll go get your clothes ready," I told her before I left the bathroom and I listened to her singing softly while I grabbed her dress from her closet. 

It's Christmas tomorrow which means that there's another dinner that we'll have to attend. Mainly because it is tradition to hold the Christmas dinner at Mateo's house. 

I went back to Mila and scrubbed her back with a soft yellow sponge. Once I was done I helped her finish up before I wrapped her in a towel. We went back into her room and I applied some lotion to her skin before I helped her put her dress on. 

Mila was wearing a light blue tulle dress. An Umberto original and her shoes were designer white pumps.

I stood behind her before I took her hair into my hands. I decided to do two small butterfly clips on two front parts while the rest of her curls hung loose behind her back, and I let two curly strands of her hair dangle over her forehead.

Mila looked at herself in the mirror once we were done and she smiled broadly. 

"You look so pretty, princess," I told her before I placed a kiss on her cheek and she cutely smiled at me. 

"Now it's your turn to get ready, mommy." She told me and I nodded at her. Mila grabbed her iPad before we left her room together. 

I looked at the time before I entered my bathroom and Mila followed behind me before she sat on top of the toilet. She started playing video games while I got undressed. I stepped under the shower and allowed the warm water to fall on my skin. 

Once I was done in the shower I stepped outside before wrapping a towel around my body. I went back into my room and Mila silently followed behind me while her eyes remained glued to her iPad screen. 

I grabbed the dress that Umberto had made for me before I laid it down on my bed. I applied some lotion to my skin before I slipped into the dress. It fits me like a glove, and it looks absolutely breathtaking. Almost too beautiful to wear.

It was a strapless black dress and it lightly shoots out from my waist. The dress had a sweetheart neckline which showed off just enough cleavage. 

I slid my feet into a pair of white open-toed strap-up heels before I did glamorous makeup on myself. I let my hair down before I grabbed my curling iron and I decided to go with retro wavy curls. I applied some red lipstick to my lips and Mila gasped when she saw me. 

"How do I look?" I asked her and she smiled at me.

"You look so pretty, Mommy, ask Mateo," Mila told me and I turned around only to find Mateo already watching me. 

"Mila's right. You do look beautiful." Mateo said before I could even ask and I looked at myself in the mirror. 

"Thank you." I softly told him as memories of our kiss from earlier came flooding through my mind. 

"You're welcome." He uttered with a blank expression on his face. "We should get going." He added while his eyes stayed fixated on me. He turned around and walked ahead of us and Mila held onto my hand as we made our way downstairs. 

We were greeted by everyone that we passed in the house until we got outside. Mateo led us over to his car and he opened our doors for us before he climbed in on his side of the car. 

We drove down to the location of the party which changes every year to prevent us from getting raided by the police. We stopped in front of the venue. A beautiful and isolated Spanish farm covered in snow. There was a beautiful mansion in the center of it all, covered in Christmas lights and decorations. I sucked in a deep breath as we stepped out of the car.

***

Mateo, who was wearing a black suit with a white button-down shirt that he paired with a black tie, slowly came walking over to me once he was done socializing with his friends.

He's only twenty-seven years old, and he has to carry the heavy burden of being the savior of the mafia. I used to think it was unfair to him. Come to think of it now, the role suits him pretty well. 

I looked over at Mila who was playing with Umberto's daughter and a little blonde boy under the Christmas tree. She seems happy, content, and accepting of our current situation. 

I placed my focus back on Mateo who stopped once he was in front of me. He leaned into my ear, and I curiously listened to what he had to say.

"You went into hiding for six years, on my order. That's the story you'll tell them." Mateo told me as we walked down the red carpet together and I looked up at him as cameras were wildly flashing at us. 

"Okay." I softly whispered, and once we got inside the dining hall, everyone bowed their heads at us out of respect. We finally reached our table, centered in the room.

Mateo sat at the head of the table and I sat down on his left. His right-hand man, Rafe, was sitting on his right while glaring at me in anger. 

I made eye contact with Mateo's mom and she didn't seem too happy to see me. Cara was sitting next to her with a broad smile on her face. I swear she's everywhere.

Mateo stood up and the room dawned in silence. It's time for him to make a speech. My heart suddenly started beating faster in my chest. This speech will determine how his family will treat me. If they see that he's not angry with me, they'll stop being angry with me. They're good people.

But the mafia doesn't forgive easily. 

Which is why it all depends on what Mateo will tell them in his speech.