Chapter 23: Chapter 23

My eyes went wide and my breath got caught in my throat.

"Rachel." I hear Richie say, he flickers the lights on and I knew there was no hiding now.

I swallowed any courage I had left and slowly stood to meet his intense look. "Richie," I say trying to crack and smile and make things better.

"What are you doing here, Rach?"

"I- Uhm…."

I look around the room as I mentally wrack my brain thinking of an excuse. "I was thirsty."

Oh God! I should have thought of something better. Why will a thirsty person come to the closet?

"Thirsty?" He says questionably. His eyes twitch as he takes a deliberate step forward.

"Yeah…I…was...Uhm thirsty... But then, I got here to…uhm get my phone….to message Rebecca."

"Message Rebecca?" He rise a questioning brow

"Yeah, I needed to remind her that she…uhm… has that fasting thing tomorrow," I say.

Oh God, what kind of excuse was that? Fast! Seriously!

"Uhm…, Okay."

"Yeah, it’s very important for her health."

"Okay…We should go back to sleep." He says

"Sure. I’ll just text Rebecca and meet you right there." I say

"Okay." The moment Richie left the room, I sent Rebecca all of the documents I clicked and wrote down a short message. I deleted the photos from my phone just in case things get shaky around here. I took in a deep breath before joining Richie in the bedroom.

I can’t wait for tomorrow morning. It’s high time I get my share of joy in this relationship.

***

The following morning….

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don’t fucking care just get them out of there before the situation gets worse." Richie rants on the phone. "Yes, Mathew needs to be released, immediately."

I groan turning around and putting a pillow against my ear. Richie has been pacing around for over an hour, the sounds of his movements are so annoying and he has been making calls that are so disturbing because it’s blabbering my ears out and it’s so fucking annoying.

"Hello, this is Richie Moranzino." I hear Richie talking on the phone. This is literally his sixth phone call this morning. Isn’t he tired? Well if he’s not then I am tired.

"I don’t like what I’m seeing as your news headlines. I want it removed immediately." He rants and ends the call. Immediately as he did, his phone rang and a groan escapes my mouth.

This is so frustrating.

"Richie Moranzino here. I don’t like what’s happening…."

Oh my God! Can’t I just have a good sleep around here without anyone blabbering my ears…….Wait a minute why will I want a good sleep when I’ve done something great? I need to see the outcome of this otherwise I will regret it my whole life.

I instantly sit up from bed to see Richie pacing around the room and ranting on the phone. The look on his face is priceless. Absolutely precious.

I take a glance at the news headlines and by just reading the first part an anticipated smile appears on my face.

“Youngest Mafia King Richie Moranzino’s bank manager is being investigated for allegedly stealing billions of dollars and making false statements about the bank’s finances.”

My anticipating smile drops the moment I finish reading it.

What the hell!

Why is Richie’s bank manager blamed? I mean why is he the one arrested and not Richie? The proof is there, Richie signed the God damn thing, he should be the one behind bars and not the manager.

This is so fucked up!

Richie shouldn’t be here, he should be there, behind the bars or with a lawyer discussing how not to be in jail.

I clasp the bedspread with my hand as I continue watching the news. My frustration begin to reduce when I read the drop-heading

“It states that the receiving illegal account might be of the billionaire Richie Moranzino.”

Might!! Of course, it will be might. Richie has all the powers in the world, he won’t be accused immediately.

Damn! This is so annoying.

This certainly isn’t what I want to happen but I guess it’s okay for a start. I just wish it was more of Richie’s work that got sabotaged and less of the Bank management. My plan isn’t exactly to ruin the bank but rather it’s to ruin Richie but it’s fine I guess, there are more things ahead for him.

"Ohh, Rach, I’m so sorry I woke you up," Richie says pulling me out of my thoughts. Walking to me, he sits on the bed next to me and palms my face. "I was making a hell of a lot of noise wasn’t I?"

You think? You disturbed my sleep, you blabbered my ears out but it’s okay since I got to see that disappointed look on your face.

"Not really," I say looking between him and the television. Now it’s time to act all caring "What’s wrong Richie, and what is that news about?"

"Oh, that." He looks at the television and frowns. "It’s nothing, just a little bit of mess in business." He takes the remote and turned it off "You don’t have to worry about it."

Oh, I’m not worried about it, at all.

"Are you sure there isn’t anything wrong? You look tensed." I say. I should be an actor because I’m very good at pretending.

"I’m fine. I’m just stressed out with work and stuff."

"Oh okay." I say.

"Why don’t you go take a shower and meet me at the breakfast table."

I nod

"If you need me, I will be down." He says and kisses my forehead.

This is great but it’s just the beginning, there will be more ahead.

~RICHIE’S POV

I sit at the breakfast table waiting for Rachel. I continuously tap my foot on the floor as my grip tightened around the coffee mug. Curiosity and anger build up in my head. Someone is definitely behind this…but who?

This is the first time something like this has happened, all my illegal work is covered with zero proof and the commissioner of police is my man, he must have been in a tight situation to have arrested my men.

God! This is so frustrating.

I have my man working on this, I have to know who is behind this as soon as possible. The FBI is investigating this illegal activity but I’m calm about this because I’m very sure that everything will come out to be in my favor. I have people in that department but with how the media took it……Wait a minute…. Why the hell did I not think about this sooner? How did the media know about the illegal account?

Holy shit!

I’ve been so worried about getting my men out of jail that I totally forgot about the media.

Someone must have sniped on me and got all those information out…... but who is behind this? It’s so hard to figure out who’s behind this because I have lots of people barking at me. I have enemies but It’s really surprising that they got me in a spot.

I would have been interrogated or worse arrested if it wasn’t for my status and power. I take a sip of coffee and dial Michael’s number, he’s the one person I need for this job.

"Hello." He answers the call

"Michael, I have two jobs for you. First, I need you to search and find out when and how the media got the information from." I say

"Okay. What’s the second job?"

I tell him about the second job and then ended the call. I already pity the person behind this. It’s gonna be hell for them.

I stand up from my chair and walk to the window with a cup of coffee, I look out and take in the scene before me. The deep blue ocean waves are the most beautiful thing I’ve seen today. It calms me in a way that makes me feel better about this place. I would have left Hawaii if it wasn’t for Alice and John, they wanted to spend one last night here and Brad, my bodyguard had me thinking it was a bad idea. I want to leave here because I feel like I’m being watched. Someone’s out there and is monitoring my steps. I don’t know why but think the person is closer than I think.

I take a deep breath as the morning sun shines on my face. A ring sounds, snapping me out of my thoughts. Setting my coffee mug on the table, I pick up my phone. The caller ID reads Papa with a crown emoji beside it.

Oh my god! What am I gonna tell him, I’m damn sure he’s calling because of the news.

"Ciao, papà [Hello, Papa]," I say, answering the phone.

"Cosa vedo al telegiornale? [What am I seeing on the news?]" He immediately rants at me

"Uhm... me ne sto occupando [Uhm… I’m handling it]"

"Gestirlo con cosa? Rivelare che hai rubato un miliardo di dollari dalla banca? [Handling it with what? Revealing that you stole a billion dollars from the bank?]"

Oh no, he sounds very angry.

"Mi dispiace papà, sistemerò tutto [I’m sorry papa, I will fix everything]" I say

"Faresti meglio a sistemarlo altrimenti non ti piacerà [You better fix it otherwise you won't like it.]"

The last thing I want is to anger Papa or worse disappointment him.

"I am so-" Because I could complete the apology, he ends the call.

Holy shit!!

Now papa is disappointed in me. I never want him to get disappointed. I have to fix this, I need to do something, I need to fix everything.

A heel click sounds, pulling me out of my thoughts, I lift my head to see Rachel walking into the room.

Just when I thought the ocean waves is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever today, Rachel showed me I’m wrong.

She takes a sit at the table and no sooner did the waiter approach us with our breakfast. I had it ordered already.

"So, where are Alice and John?" She asks shoveling a bite of egg into her mouth

"On the beach." I respond "Listen…Uhm, I was thinking we go back home tomorrow."

"Why? What happened to spending a week here?"

"I have some important things to take care and Alice is quite worried about Jake, she has never spent days without him. I guess she misses him." I say

"Okay. Well since we’re leaving tomorrow, I guess I’ll make the most of today. I was thinking maybe swim in the ocean today."

"That’s great. We should totally do that."

"We?"

I smirk taking another bit of egg "Yeah, we."

She rolls her eyes.

Rachel is so beautiful….. I sometimes wonder why I act so differently around her. I should be frustrated with the news and maybe not even smile with anyone but here I am smiling.

~UNKNOWN POV

"я прихожу с миром и ухожу с миром [I come in peace and I leave in peace]" I say with my gaze down.

"Поговори со мной [Speak to me]" He says. His chair is facing the wall

"Partono domani [They are leaving tomorrow]"

"Perché? [Why?]" He asks

"Non sono del tutto sicuro del perché, ma penso che sia a causa delle notizie. Richie Moranzino non ne è molto contento [I’m not quite sure why but I think it’s because of the news. Richie Moranzino isn’t very happy about it]"

"Accendi la televisione [Turn on the television]" He instructed

I did as he said and there was silence in the room for a while. He burst into laughter

"Scopri chi ha fatto questo? [Find out who did this?]" He says and swivels the chair around "Se Richie Moranzino ha un nemico allora mi piacerebbe scoprire chi è [If Richie Moranzino has an enemy then I will like to find out who it is]" He continues

I am suspecting someone but I can’t tell boss about it, I need to confirm my suspicions first.

"Ok capo [Okay boss.]" I turn to leave but before I could leave, he called out my name; making me turn to look at him expectantly.

"È ora di colpirli tutti [It’s time to strike them all.]"

I nod and head out. Today is gonna be a great day for me but the end for Richie Moranzino’s family.