*Elio*
Before the first light of dawn could stretch across the sky, I was awakened by the vibration of my alarm on the nightstand. My eyes snapped open, still groggy from last night. Cat was stuck to like glue, her whole body squeezed up against as tight as she could, legs entangled with mine, and her arms wrapped firmly around my chest like I was a giant teddy bear to her.
I sighed, trying not to disturb her as I yawned, reaching over for my phone before it vibrated off the nightstand. I blinked blearily at my phone as I turned it on, wincing at the sudden bright light. The alarm was marked as ‘Breakfast with Franky’ for 6:00 am.
I grimaced, sighing as I’d only gotten a few hours of sleep. Damn Franky and his early bird hours.
It took an excruciatingly long ti to extract myself from the tight hold Cat had on without waking her, and I had to use pillows as a shield to keep her from rolling off the bed as I inched my way off.
Eventually, though, my feet were planted on the ground, standing over the bed and she was tucked happily under a fort of pillows, only the dark tresses of her hair could be seen.
Getting ready felt like a chore, and I could feel myself moving like molasses compared to another day, barely even looking at the clothes I grabbed from the closet. I even purposefully made the shower water a bit colder than normal, hoping to wake up but it only soured my bad mood into an even worse one.
I grumpily dressed, realizing I’d grabbed two pairs of pants instead of a shirt, and grudgingly headed back to the closet to pick out a random black button-up.
I could already feel that today was not going to be a good day for . I grumbled, cursing Franky under my breath as I got ready, checking on Emilia, who was still sleeping peacefully, and then double-checking Cat.
I didn’t intend to wake her up, but Cat seed to have other plans as I heard her soft grumbles and complaints under the mound of pillows.
“Are you awake?” I asked tiredly, a quirk to my lips as I saw her hand push out from under the blankets, waving around like she was searching for sothing. I rolled my eyes but grabbed her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm.
“No.” I heard her muffled groan.
I laughed, wishing I could jump back into bed with her, cuddling her into my arms, but work was calling. “Bla Franky for this,” I whispered to her. “Man doesn’t know how to sleep in.”
She mumbled sothing else, sothing that vaguely sounded like, “Where ya going?” but I couldn’t be a hundred percent sure.
“Breakfast with Franky, and then I’ve got a ribbon-cutting ceremony to attend at nine with Leo,” I told her softly. “I’ll update you throughout the day on what I can and call you if sothing big happens.”
Our fight was still fresh in my mind, her cutting words had nestled their way into my heart, bleeding out into my actions. I was overthinking everything I did now, and I realized just how brutally right she’d been last night.
I hated making her feel left out but she was right, I was still trying to protect her, to keep her locked away like a canary who only sang for . It was unfair to both of us because she was such an amazing person, and I never wanted to hold her back or clip her wings.
But I couldn’t change the past.
All I can do is try to make up for it in the future, starting with as much transparency as I could, considering that I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going and what I was doing. Hopefully, I could slowly earn back her trust and we would be all right.
I was just grateful for how much patience and forgiveness lay in her heart. I knew it didn’t co from her kindness, but from how much she loved . But I had to start changing this bad habit of mine or else all of that love would run out.
Out of everything, that was my most visceral fear.
Cat murmured sothing like “okay” and then tucked her arm back under the mountain of pillows, paying no more mind. I smiled, getting to my feet to leave. I made sure the monitor was turned on for Emilia and then left.
The sky was barely a deep purple instead of the dark blues of the night but it was an improvent considering how goddamn early this breakfast was. I didn’t even know what was open at six in the goddamn morning.
The drive wasn’t more than fifteen minutes and though I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting when Franky told about his favorite breakfast place, what was before wasn’t it.
A neat little corner shop right near Hollywood called And Waffles was a tucked-away little restaurant with plenty of custors already. It honestly looked like a coffee shop turned into a waffle store, but it was open at six am so I trudged inside.
It didn’t take long to find Franky who was already drinking an aricano at a table. I took the seat across from him, impressed with how he’d gotten us a pretty secluded table from all the other custors.
“You took too long so I already ordered for you,” Franky said calmly, unashad by his blunt statent and I rolled my eyes, not really caring at all.
I wasn’t too picky anyway. “You said you have a plan to get our guys out?” I asked, dropping straight into business.
Franky took a sip of his coffee, sending a relaxed and calm look. “Yes,” Franky said. “The plan is to break them out and get them to a secure location before using our private plane to get them back to Italy. Alessandro has already approved the getaway but the breakout part, we are still trying to solidify the plan.”
“Which is?” I prompted impatiently.
Franky gave a cold look like he was talking to an idiot. “While your na may still be hidden according to our Fed, having you know the details could put the organization in jeopardy. You are the Don. If this goes south, at the very least the responsibility cannot fall upon your head. All you need to know is that the plan is in motion and I will let you know if it works soon enough.”
“Very helpful, Franky.” I crossed my arms unhappily.
I knew what he was saying was right, but I wasn’t in the mood to be playing these mind gas with him. It was frustrating that I, as the boss, didn’t know anything even though I knew that was what was keeping our family safe this ti.
Federal prisons were tricky and the less I knew, the less likely I or the rest of our n would get pulled into it in case it failed.
Luckily for Franky, I didn’t have ti to argue with him because our plates ca out soon enough. Franky, much to my surprise, had ordered himself an egg benedict with one little twist on it. There was no English muffin. Instead, it was replaced by a fresh and fluffy-looking Belgian waffle.
I had to admit, I was a bit intrigued, especially when the plate for myself turned out to be a plate with a massive waffle, four tiny condint cups, and a side plate full of eggs, bacon, and sausage.
The coffee they set down was even perfectly done to my tastes. I sent Franky an impressed look, curious though about the waffle. The two condint cups were filled with what looked like peanut butter and the other two with so kind of grape jam or jelly.
“Bacon waffle PB&J combo,” Franky said at my intrigued look. “I figured it might suit your tastes.”
“I don’t see any bacon on the waffle,” I said with a raised eyebrow, pouring it up with the fixings and then slicing into it. A puff of steam ca pouring from the hot waffle.
As I took my first bite of the waffle, my respect for Franky begrudgingly grew two sizes. Not only was the waffle delicious, but the bacon, as I found out, wasn’t a topping but baked straight into the waffle itself.
Mixed with the peanut butter and grape jelly with a little bit of maple syrup, it was heaven on my tastebuds. I made sure to text Cat a picture of the food, sending an order of it ho for her. I’d had just barely finished my food before Leo called to remind about the ribbon-cutting with Leo.
“You go,” Franky said indifferently as I got up to leave. “I will inform you if anything about the plan changes. Make sure to keep up appearances while there.”
I nodded, hating to leave with barely any answers but knowing that it was crucial for to perform our legitimate job. Not only did it provide cover for our illegal activities, but it also provided a steady inco for the family’s use.
Luckily, I was awake due to that coffee, so I made it to the ribbon-cutting in record ti.
I made sure to text Cat about what Franky said, trying to keep it short but include as many details as I could. She only texted , ‘Food is good,’ but I could feel her appreciation on the other end.
‘I’ll let you know anything else later tonight,’ I texted her, hoping she wouldn’t think I was keeping things from her again. I just didn’t have ti to write it all out at the mont. Luckily, she responded with a quick little, ‘Okay,’ and I knew I was off the hook.
To be honest, as I t Leo at the bright red rope, I didn’t even know what it was for. I just plastered on a friendly, approachable smile even as I felt like I was ready to collapse into bed and never wake up again.
It was all mind-numbingly boring, and my mind kept traveling back to Franky and the plan to get our guys out or what Cat and Emilia were doing at ho.
I smiled for the pictures, stood by Leo’s side as they flashed light in our faces, and then I headed upstairs for more of our normal legit work.
But my heart wasn’t in it.
I didn’t feel fulfilled or happy to be there, not like the way I felt when I was working as the Do. It was only when Leo ca in with a new massive pile of work for to sign that I realized I was tired of this job.
I didn’t care one bit about it in the slightest.
Oh, I realized slowly, I didn’t want to be a real estate mogul at all.
I just wanted to do my real job, the one I was truly passionate about.
I wanted to be a full-ti Don.
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