Murder To Excellence

2.

Fyi Beverly is Rose’s cousin. Several people have been commenting saying they’re confused, but if you read the comments first before actually trying to come at me, you’ll see that I already answered that. I’ll edit this story when I’m done writing it, so don’t try and come at me SVP when there’s obviously been someone who already pointed it out and I COMMENTED on it. Beverly was supposed to be Rose’s niece indeed, but then I kept wondering how weird that would be since Beverly is older than Rose and that would make Rose’s brothers pretty old. In my mind I made this switch and obviously my fingers didn’t really, so calm the fuck down.

I really don’t mind if you correct me, but if you can tell someone else has already, don’t bother to be a parrot; I can read (:

She awoke at eight o’clock in the morning. She got her phone out of the charger and saw that she had gotten a million text messages from her friends. She opened them only to see pictures from the party yesterday night and how they had missed her there. She groaned and got out bed, rather annoyed because she wished she could’ve been there too. But then he came around and prohibited her for some reason. 

Her vanilla latte was already brewing, since the fancy coffee maker had some sort of timer and started itself. She sat at the island in the kitchen, resting her head on the counter since she was still half asleep, waiting for her coffee. 

When she almost drifted off again, her phone made a noise indicating that she had an email. She unlocked her phone again and her morning got a little bit brighter when she saw she had a job interview at a store nearby. 

After taking the time to drink her coffee and texting her friends to stop asking her about Raphael Ambrosios and why she couldn’t be at the party, she went to take a shower. The bathroom was absolutely breathtaking. It had darker colors than the rest of the apartment, but it’s exactly what she liked. She didn’t want a really bright bathroom. 

She wrapped a fluffy towel around her body and went to go check the time. It was a few minutes to ten and she knew she’d be late. She didn’t even have his number to let him know she was going to be late. He probably had hers but he wasn’t really specific as to where they were going and where he’d be waiting for her. 

Her parents on the other hand, more like Rose’s father, were a bit more worried. George had given his daughter the time to call him up to the noon to let him know where she was staying, but as every minute passed he had little faith in his princess calling him. 

“Let it rest, George.” April rolled her eyes. She knew her daughter was smart enough. “She probably forgot. She’ll call.”

“Let it rest?” He barked. “God…”

“What?” She spat back. “What are you afraid of? What are you stressing out for? It has been less than twelve hours since we’ve last seen her. She’s an adult, believe it or not, she can take care of herself.”

“I know, April. Unlike you, I do care about her.”

Now that hit a nerve. “How dare you tell me I don’t care about her? What is wrong with you? You’re the one who apparently got us into deep trouble with Ambrosios out of all people, trying to tell me that I don’t care about her. This affects her too, George.”

Her saying that made him think. He wasn’t hurt about anything his wife said, he really didn’t care. But her talking about Raphael Ambrosios, how he was at their daughter’s graduation, it all clicked. He must have done something to or with her. 

“What? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing…” he mumbled and sat down, burying his face in his hand leaving April absolutely clueless. 

Rose looked at herself one more time in the mirror. Her hair was up in a ponytail, how she wore it nine out of ten times, and she was dressed completely in black, except for her gray coat and her white Stan Smith’s. She gave herself one last look and then left her bedroom. 

It was kind of odd to her why he told her to be ready by ten and that he wasn’t even there yet while it was way past ten, she thought. 

He sat in the living room, waiting for her to finally be done with whatever she was doing that took her so long. Raphael was very much about punctuation and her not being anywhere near on time annoyed him a bit. But all was forgiven when she came into the living room and she froze when she saw him. He had his foot resting on his other leg, revealing the red bottom of his black suede loafers. 

The way this girl looked so damn sexy while in casual clothes was a big mystery to him. Her black jeans that accentuated her beautiful legs and the sleeveless crop top making his eyes linger a little while longer around her chest and stomach. This outfit reminded him a lot of the one she wore in his favorite picture. 

“How long have you been here for?” Rose asked. She was getting a bit uneasy because he was looking her up and down extremely slow. 

“It doesn’t matter. You’re late. Ten o’clock is not ten forty-five,” he retorted. She rolled her eyes and got her bag. 

“Why is everyone looking?” Rose half-whispered as they were walking through the lobby, towards the restaurant. 

Everyone’s eyes, especially employees’, were glued to the two. Mainly because he had his hand possessively around her, keeping them wondering who this mystery girl was. It was quite unusual for Raphael to walk with the same girl two days in a row and walk with her with such pride, everyone knew that. Of course rumor spread fast and they all knew he had given her an apartment upstairs to stay in too. 

Raphael smiled in response, not really caring about all those curious people and them whispering. 

Rose couldn’t help but feel extremely tingly inside because he was a real gentleman. It was hard for her to dislike the man who was basically blackmailing her, when he provided her a place to stay, took off her coat, held open doors and helped her sit. 

“Sir,” the waiter said in awe. It was just occasionally that his boss came to eat here. He eyed Rose a little too long for Raphael’s liking. “Can I get you something?”

“A cappuccino.”

“And you, Miss?” He smiled towards Rose. He could tell she was very different from all the other girls he had seen his boss with. 

“Like… juice? A smoothie or something?” She scanned the menu. There were over a dozen different juices she could choose from. 

“Get her the mango one.”

The waiter nodded in agreement towards Raphael. “I’ll be right back to take your order,” he said and walked away. 

“Well, thank you for ordering for me,” Rose said sarcastically. She hid the fact that mango was her favorite fruit. It was not like he actually knew what she liked so he might as well had gotten it wrong. 

“You’re welcome.” He smiled, knowing she was discontent about him ordering for her. 

When the waiter came back with their drinks, Rose could order for herself this time but Raphael decided to order all the side dishes too so Rose barely had any say. By the time the waiter had set all their food on the table, it was filled completely from fruit to eggs Benedict. It’s not like she minded because she was in fact starving and could eat for several in times like these. 

“Why?” She finally asked. 

Ever since Raphael found out that George had a daughter he had hoped she would be somewhat attractive so he could use her. Using one of the three sons wasn’t going to get him what he wanted. It was either George paying the money or Raphael kicking him out of his house. But Raphael wanted to have a little fun on the side too if that was possible. So when he opened the file and saw her pictures he was a one hundred percent sure that he wanted to do it, her being this attractive only making it way easier. 

Like right now. The way she calmly batted her eyelashes, arched her eyebrows when things irritated her, how she tucked her lips in between her teeth at times. It all turned him on to the max. He wanted her and he wasn’t going to let her go that easily.

But then there was this thing about her that made her different from all his other lovers. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but he wanted it.

“Why not?”

“How is me being with you going to solve the money problem? It’s not like I work for you.”

“Look at you,” he said and it left Rose speechless. “There are some rules though.” And Rose arched her eyebrow again, making it hard for him to not take her on the table. 

“And those rules are?”

“No male friends and you do as I say.”

Rose groaned in frustration and had the urge to just up and leave. “You’re serious?”

“Very. Look, if you don’t want to, the exit is right there. Just know that I own quite a lot of places around here so it’ll be hard for Daddy to get a new place to stay. Especially with the way his finances are set up,” he stated simply and leaned back in his chair. The way he spoke about it, as if it was nothing, made Rose make up her mind. She knew he was dead serious. He always spoke with such calm. It also helped him a lot in the business field. 

“Alright, I’ll follow your rules, Raphael.” She sighed. He growled lowly at the way she said his name. 

“Say my name again,” he ordered. Her head shot up from her plate only to meet his alluring green eyes. 

“Raphael?” She said hesitant. 

“Again.”

“Raphael.”

He imagined her moaning and screaming his name, all this only making his arousal in his pants grow. 

“Well then…” Rose mumbled as Raphael smiled at her. “I got to go.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have a job interview.”

“And how are you going? You don’t have a car.”

Rose did have her driver’s license and she was supposed to get her car when she was going to move out of her parents’ house. And as she was still supposed to be living there, she could be able to drive around their car. 

“I’ll take a cab,” she shrugged and got up to put on her coat again. 

“I don’t think so.” Raphael held up his finger, motioning for her to wait. He got his phone out of his suit jacket and pressed on speed dial. After a phone call that didn’t even last a minute he was done. “The car will be here shortly so you can sit down.”

She reluctantly sat back down, still not really comprehending if he had called her a cab or if she was about to get driven around by his driver. Her answer came rather quickly. Less than five minutes afterwards, Raphael led her outside. Outside stood the driver next to the car — who she could tell wasn’t Patrick even though he was wearing sunglasses and a hat. 

“Jean–Pierre,” he introduced himself and shook Rose’s hand. He had the exact same outfit as Patrick, though Jean–Pierre was way more adorable than Patrick. He had a thick French accent and he was probably nearing his sixties while Patrick was around forty. 

“Rose.” 

Raphael took Jean–Pierre aside to warn him about not letting anything happen to her or he would get fired before he could say je regrette. He also wanted to know every single spot Jean–Pierre was driving her to and needed to be available too at all times. Jean–Pierre nodded quickly, his boss had never demanded him to drive around one of his women. 

“Whereto, Madame?” Jean–Pierre asked as she was all settled in the luxurious car. She gave him the address of the store and he drove off. 

“Sir, Mr. Cole is here. He said he wanted to talk about his daughter or something like that.” Raphael had been extremely busy at the office since business was ever so booming and he really couldn’t get Rose out of his mind. 

“Tell him I don’t want to talk to him unless it’s about the money,” he answered back to his receptionist who had called him because an angry George was trying to get to Raphael. 

“He’s still not leaving, sir.”

“Then you call security.” He turned around his chair and hung up the phone. He had to alter his plan a little since George had become a bit too suspicious for his liking. 

“You’re hired,” Chloe, Rose’s new boss, announced. The store was exactly what Rose wanted hers to be like, only better. She could show up to work in her regular clothes, making it all way more fun to her. “You start next week. I’ll have your schedule emailed to you.”

“Thank you so much!” Rose squealed in happiness. She loved working in retail. She could be social and around the things she loved. 

“See you Monday, girl.” Chloe waved her off. 

As Rose set foot out of the store her phone started ringing. She dug her hand in her bag trying to find it. When she finally found it, it was too late already. The call was ended. It was her dad who had called her and she mentally cursed herself for not calling him. He was probably furious and going to give her a ten hour lecture. Debating whether to let it rest for now since she didn’t want to hear him going on about why she hadn’t called or to just suck it up and call, she did option two. 

“Jesus Christ, Rose Jasmin,” George grumbled. He was happy she called him since that meant she probably was okay. “Why didn’t you call?”

“I’m sorry, daddy.” She pitched her voice a bit. Though she was twenty-two, it always seemed to work whenever he was mad. “I was busy. I got a new job.”

George immediately relaxed when he heard his daughter had done something innovative and responsible. “I’m so proud of you, princess.”

Rose smiled and tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder to check her bag to make sure her wallet was in there. She had purposely told Jean–Pierre that her interview would take ages so she could go stroll a bit. 

“Yeah, it’s right in the city.”

“Where are you staying?” He asked getting straight to the point. She knew this was coming, yet she wasn’t really prepared to tell him or how to tell him. 

“In an apartment.”

“Where are you staying?” He rephrased the question, not wanting to hear in what she was staying, but where. 

“In the city.”

“Rose,” he said calmly, trying not to get audibly irritated with her. “Where in the city?”

“East.” Was all she said. He knew immediately what she meant. The city and surroundings were divided into areas that had been named after the wind directions. Everyone knew what type of people lived in what area. Rose’s parents for example lived up North. It wasn’t anything really fancy, but it wasn’t some dog house either. The East on the other hand was very similar to Manhattan’s Upper East Side. 

“Isn’t that a bit expensive, princess?” He asked, it being more of a rhetorical question. 

She had to make up a quick lie since she had already made a big mess out of all of this. “Uh,” she mumbled, getting into the Starbucks not far from her new job. “It’s alright. Got a great deal.”

“How did you get a great deal on such short notice, Rose? One minute you’re supposed to be living with us, next you’re living in the East out of all places.”

“Daddy, I don’t know,” she whined. He sighed in response, letting it rest for now. He was sure as hell going to talk about this again. 

“We’ll talk about this during Beverly’s engagement party, alright?”

Rose couldn’t stand Beverly at all and was surprised when she had gotten an invitation to attend her engagement party. She had demanded Rose to bring a plus one, who had to be a guy, even though she knew Rose wasn’t dating anybody. 

“Do I really have to go, daddy?”

“Yes, princess. She’s your cousin.”

“Ugh, fine!” she growled. “I’ll talk to you later. Say hi to mom for me.” George said his goodbye too and hung up the phone. 

“Can I get a very berry hibiscus?” She asked the guy behind the bar. His name tag read Vince. She had a hard time not laughing since the name of the drink always cracked Hazel, Denise and Rose up.  

“Sure thing. Anything else?” Vince asked. 

“No, that’s all. Thank you.”

He went to get her cup in the size she had required. “What’s your name?”

“Rose.”

“A beautiful name for a beautiful girl,” Vince smiled. 

“Thank you,” Rose replied shyly, being taken back a bit by his remark. Vince wrote down her name — it taken a little longer than you’d expect someone to write a four lettered name — and slid the cup to his colleague that was supposed to make her drink. 

“I’ve never seen you here before. Are you new around here?”

“Fresh out of college. I just moved to this side of the city.”

“Ah, I see. It was nice meeting you and I hope to see you again, Rose.” Vince winked and hurried to help the other — annoyed by the fact Vince was taking so long — customers. 

“Ms. Rose.” She heard and went to get her drink. The lady behind the counter smiled at the cup and handed it to Rose. 

Apparently Vince had indeed written ‘’Ms. Rose‘’ on the cup, he had drawn several hearts and written his number on it too. Rose shook her head and smiled towards Vince who winked at her again. She ought it as cheesy but really cute at the same time. 

When she left Starbucks she put his number in her phone and immediately then Denise and Hazel called her. 

“You, my friend, have been M.I.A. for a pretty long time now. We have been texting you since yesterday,” Denise said which made Rose laugh. 

“Yeah, where were you? With Zeus’s son or what?” 

Rose doubted whether she should tell her friends about all of it. Though it wouldn’t be really convincing and telling other people about her basically being blackmailed so her parents could keep their house wouldn’t make it blackmail anymore. If Raphael would find out she had told other people, their deal would probably be over. 

“Kind of. It’s hard to explain.”

“You are something else. It’s either you were with him or not. There’s no in between.”

“Oh, shut up, Heather!” Rose joked. Hazel cringed at Rose calling her Heather. 

Heather’s her real name, but they all know another Heather too. All their friends are friends with both Heathers. Both Heathers looked quite the same; brown, wavy hair, same figure so there couldn’t be any names like big booty Heather, small Heather etc. The only difference between them is their eye color. Heather number one has dark brown eyes, while Heather number two has hazel eyes. Heather number one remained Heather, while Heather number two now goes through life as Hazel. 

“Ew, don’t call me that. But seriously what are you two? You didn’t know Mr. Enchanting up to yesterday. Your parents asked us if we knew where you were staying. Where are you staying? Is it with him?”

“It really is complicated. And no, I’m not staying with him. I’ll text you the address, okay?” Rose rushed, getting tired of her friends’ interrogation. 

“Will do. Text me now, I want to see it before I leave,” Hazel ordered. 

“Calm your fucking granny tits, I’ll do it now. Bye.” And with that Rose hung up. 

Jean–Pierre had picked her up almost immediately after she had texted him that she was ready. “How was the job interview, Madame?”

She told Jean–Pierre all about it and told him a bit about her too since he was asking her more and more questions. 

When they arrived at the apartment building, Jean–Pierre opened the car door for her and helped her out. “Au revoir, Rose.”

“Bye, Jean–Pierre.” She smiled. He was way nicer than Patrick. Way nicer. 

She opened her apartment door with her key card, still not comprehending why all the apartments didn’t have regular keys since this wasn’t a hotel. She plopped down on the couch after getting herself something to eat from the kitchen. She decided to call her mother. 

“Sweetie, how are you? Your dad told me you’re staying in the East. How about that?”

“I’m alright, mom. And yes, I am.”

“Know that I won’t force you to let me visit, unlike some people,” she emphasized mainly towards George. “I trust you.” She shot daggers at George. 

“Thanks, mom. You’re the best.”

April smiled to herself but knew she wasn’t really because she and George had been lying to her about the house. It wasn’t April’s fault so maybe also not her place to tell, she still felt bad keeping it from her daughter. 

Rose wasn’t really trying to push her parents into telling her by dropping any hints. It was their business and not necessarily hers. Though, she had expected that they would’ve told her by now since her parents weren’t really ones to lie.

“I love you, Rosy, I’ll see you Friday,” April said, referring to Beverly’s engagement party.

“Come in,” Rose mumbled sarcastically when Raphael decided to just barge in later that day while she was sprawled on the sofa. He sat on the love seat, watching her lay with her back towards him. Her shirt was slightly raised up and her lounge shorts in between her cheeks, not leaving a lot to imagine about. “What do you want?”

He was about to answer when something else caught his eye, apart from her ass. On the coffee table stood a cup and if he wasn’t mistaking, he could see hearts on them. He got the cup from the table and anger took over in a matter of a second. “What is this?” he asked as he read the little message ‘’Vince’’ had left behind for her on it.

“What is what?” she asked frustrated since he had disturbed her almost slumber. She turned around and saw that he was holding her Starbucks cup she had failed to dispose due to fatigueness. “Oh…” she mumbled. She had known Raphael for a day, but knew he was not pleased by the way he was looking. “It’s nothing.”

“Nothing?” he scoffed. “Who did this?”

“Oh, just someone at Starbucks.”

“Male or female?” he pushed.

“Male.”

“And why did he put this on the cup?” he growled, almost crushing the thing in his hand. It didn’t freak out Rose at all that he was mad; it was attractive to her. She liked a guy that was dominant to a certain extent – him not being a pussy or some possessive, aggressive one. “Answer me, Rose. Why did he draw fucking hearts on the cup for you? Why did he write his number on the damn cup?”

“Exactly, it was he who did it, so don’t ask me. I don’t know,” she snapped back.

He rubbed his temple in frustration. “Did you save the number?” he asked and got his own phone out of his pocket to save the number too. “Did you save the number?”

“Maybe.”

“What is maybe? Two rules, Rose. Two damn rules you had to follow and in less than twelve hours you already broke one. I told you no male friends, so no getting some boy’s number either.”

“I did not get his number!” she shouted, “He wrote it, I didn’t.”

The yelling was then replaced by silence and tension.

Rose had on shorts and some old oversized shirt, but she still felt extremely hot under his intense gaze. It was so hard for her to actually be mad at him when his green eyes turned slightly darker since his fantasy was taking a toll, making it hard for him to actually think straight.

Their stare-off got interrupted by Rose’s phone ringing. “What?” she growled into the phone. It was her oh so beloved cousin Beverly who had decided to call her.

“It is nice to speak to you too, Rosy. How have you been? Found a date already?” Beverly asked. It was like her main purpose in life to get under Rose’s skin and it most certainly worked. Also the other way around since Rose was pretty good at playing that exact same game. She just didn’t like to do it because she was better than that.

“Actually,” Rose grinned and looked towards Raphael. “I do have a date. Can’t wait for you to meet him.”

Beverly was left shocked. She had never expected her cousin finding a guy on such short notice that wouldn’t freak out about her bringing him to an engagement party. “Oh… well, that’s great!” Beverly faked excitement. “I can’t wait to meet him either.”

“See you Friday, Bevy.” Rose smiled and hung up the phone. She knew and could hear that she had left her cousin absolutely stunned, just the way she liked it.

Raphael knew she wanted him as her date to wherever she was going to. It was pretty clear by the way she was directly looking into his eyes when she was talking about how she indeed had gotten a date. Of course, he wasn’t going to turn this down.

“What are you doing this Friday?” she asked him.