𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐀

XX

D

I'll be your girlfriend

The words played like a broken record in my mind. Hearing it didn't feel real but it was and I was still reeling from the shock of it. I didn't expect Mina to agree, having said I'd give her some time but she was moving at her own pace.

Her reluctance to jump into a relationship with me was justified. It wasn't going to be easy dealing with the lifestyle I was accustomed to living, especially for her. As a normal person who didn't have to worry about a criminal life such as mine, I knew it would take some time for her to adapt. However, I'd be there for her every step of the way and I had no intention of going anywhere.

Mina was everything and so much more to me now. A part of me now felt complete at the prospect of finding my other half, something I believed I never would've found considering what I do.

Love was hard to find when people were constantly out to kill you.

I always believed that an arranged marriage would be an unfortunate card I'd be forced to deal with but it seemed fate believed otherwise and I was grateful.

I could finally say she was my woman.

I knew from the second I laid eyes on her that she was the one. It just felt right—like it was meant to be.

Flashback

I sat back, relaxed in my posture with a cigarette dangling between my lips as I listened to Roberto talk with the others. They conversed in a lighthearted manner, the topic shifting from the new recruits we got in over the spring to a game of cards that they'd played last night.

"I still think you cheated." Sergio spoke up, turning his attention to Roberto who had just finished speaking. "No, I know you cheated so I'll be getting my money back."

"I won fair and square." Roberto stated, confident that he won without cheating but it was Roberto we were talking about. We all knew he cheated somehow.

Ricardo snorted and Leo let out a whistle making Roberto raise an eyebrow. "Unless you boys have something to say?" My brother challenged them, tapping the cigarette he had in between his fingers while my attention drifted elsewhere.

My eyes fell to the sight of Loretta emerging from the back, a sight I was all too familiar with but there was someone else trailing behind her. She was someone I was not familiar with.

A newcomer?

I sat up more in my seat, my attention solely on her as I watched her come into view. Words couldn't describe her beauty, there simply was no way to say how she looked as nothing was up to par with her otherworldly standards.

I didn't know why I was so enamoured by her—so transfixed to the point the playful bickering between my brother and Sergio became nothing but background noise.

Her skin had been kissed by God, a dark brown with warm hues, her bronzed undertones complimenting her perfectly. A slim physique with subtle curves to match was balanced out by her height. She was tall, no taller than 5'9-5'10 I would say, her legs long as they seemed to go on for days from what I could see. She towered over Loretta's shorter figure, the older woman standing beside her like a motherly mentor, showing her around.

She was new. A new waitress wasn't uncommon but a waitress like her..

One in a million.

Her face held my attention now since she had turned at an angle where I could see it more clearly. Maybe it was the way her full two-toned lips were set in a natural pout that sent my mind to depths unknown. How her almond shaped doe eyes narrowed in question as she learned the ropes of Loretta's craft, interested to know how to better herself in this work space; it had me dazed. Then she would smile—not a toothy one, a shy one that made the corners of those same gorgeous dark eyes crinkle.