Eres Mía

~ 11 ~

"You ruined my drug operations, you killed a kingpin. Gesù Cristo Lucía." Enzo droned on about many operations I had ruined.
[translation: Jesus Christ]

The trouble I had caused him didn't matter to me. I was an assassin with jobs to fulfill.

"Lucía?! Are you even listening to me?" he asked, sighing in frustration.

"I zoned out, sorry. Besides I can't control who I kill even if they disrupt your business. I'm a trained assassin and I'm not gonna stop."
I replied as I scratched the back of my neck.

"When I figured it out your secret, I told your dad. I had no choice." Enzo confessed.

I didn't even care anymore. On the plane I finally realised why they let my mom's ex kidnap me. They were trying to protect me from the mafia life.

Guess that didn't work, did it?

Although, truth is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.

"You do know that he's gonna look for you, right?" Enzo murmured, leaning  his leg to touch mine.

"Then I'll run and I'll keep running." I admitted, knowing the situation wouldn't play out the way I wanted.

"How long are you gonna run for? How long is it gonna be till you stop and realise that staying is better?"

"As long as it takes for my family to realise I don't want in." I snapped. Whatever this "in" was, I didn't want any part of it.

"You would make their mafia complete. They already are the strongest mafia in Italy. Imagine what they could do with the best assassin on their side."  Enzo explained.

I stood up, anger coursing through my veins.

"That's exactly what I don't want. I don't want to be El Fénix, asset to the Cortez Mafia. No," I shook my head, "I am El Fénix and El Fénix is me."

Enzo sighed, then stood up. He grabbed his crew neck off of the sofa.

"You could be so much more than El Fénix. With the Mafia to back you, you wouldn't need to take these hitman jobs. You could live the best life yet you choose to stay in these simple New-Yorker ways," he looked at me and gave me a small smile, " Goodbye El Fénix."

"Arriverdeci Don Enzo. Till next time." I replied, knowing that it wouldn't be the last time our paths crossed.

And with that, Enzo walked out of my apartment.

I glanced at the clock that was prominently hung over the front door. 7:07. Good morning New York.
___________________________

After getting ready, I took the subway to work.

"A New Yorker who doesn't take the subway is not a New Yorker you can trust."
- Theodore Winters

When I walked into the office, my colleague Grace was perched on my desk.

"Lucía!! It's so good to see you, where have you been 'cause girl I know you ain't been sick all this time." she demanded.

"Family issues, you know how it is." I laughed, leaving Grace to proceed with her problem.

"I wonder who those flowers are for," she said pointing at the red roses that sat at reception, "shall we go see?"

Leaving no room for discussion, Grace led me to the bouquet and swiped the card before I could protest.

"Oh gosh, they're for you!" she exclaimed, bouncing up with happiness.

what?

I grabbed the card from her and read the message to myself.

"La famiglia è la patria del cuore, Lucía. Papa." I whispered.
[translation: the family is the homeland of the heart]

damn.

"What does that mean?" Grace asked, her curiosity masking her professional ways.

"It means home is where our heart is." I replied, rubbing my eyes of the tears that threatened to fall.

"How cute. Shit look, boss is here." Grace said as we both hurried to our desks to start our work.

"Lucía can I see you in my office in ten?" Andrew, my boss, asked.

I nodded, knowing it was more a command than a question.

Ten minutes later, I knocked on Andrew's door and heard a small "enter" before I went in.

Andrew sat at his desk, a smile on his face and his coffee on his desk. He was always fond of having coffee before starting the work day.

"So we need to address your absence for the past three days. How are you feeling now?"

"Fine thanks. It was a small thing but i'm better now." I replied, praying that whoever called me in sick didn't elaborate too much.

"Good so now that I know you are fully okay, I have a new article for you. Someone has recently spotted a businessman, Romeo Cortez, here in NYC. Further research of this man has shown that he has a long lost daughter and rumour has it that he is looking for her. Would you like to take this article?" Andrew asked, making me mentally pinch myself.

He was a good boss and I needed to maintain my cover. Annoyed but calmly, I spoke.

"Sure, I'll take it. Can I do extra work at home?" I questioned, hoping that he would say yes.

"As long as you don't leak any important information, you may take some resources home."

Standing up, I put my hand forward and Andrew did the same. We shook hands, I thanked him, then left the office.

___________________________

a/n:
Ooo i wonder when Enzo will return 👀

And the article? What's Lucía gonna do??

Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.
- Winston Churchill

q&a:

If u could go anywhere in the world
rn (screw corona an stuff) where
u going?

me: probs Italy or Mexico 🥰

have a good week y'all, mwah <3

- Corsin