Beautiful even when sad

____

Omertà was broken.

Rafael felt something was off ever since he returned from Russia. He had a lot of enemies in this business, which was no worries since no one knew his face. He could walk amongst society and no one would look at him twice, or doubt that he was part of the Mafia.

One of his men informed him of a data breach, hence why he'd been so busy these past few days. The firewalls were broken down and hacked and decoded within the span of a mere hour, despite the best hackers in the country and abroad sitting in Rafael's underground house, making sure something like this never happened.

It was then Rafael promised, the day he'd find out whom it was, that would be the person's last day to live. He would make sure of it!

"Any idea on who it could be?" Exclaimed Lorenzo, eyeing Rafael's back. He rubbed his unshaven face in thought, no suggestion coming to mind on who it could be. He'd just arrived, making himself comfortable by opening a few buttons of his police uniform and throwing the gun on the table with little regards to the leader stood before him. He could easily grab that gun and shoot him for simply pissing him off.

Just then Jimena ran into the room, giggling and screeching in joy. She hid behind her father's legs, using them as some sort of a shield. Rafael looked down at her, destroying the cigarette bud between his hands and discarding it into the ash tray.

He reached down to pick her up, as she jumped up and down eagerly. Simultaneously, he hid the gun which Lorenzo so casually threw across his damn table, skillfully tucking it in his suit pant. Meanwhile the sorry excuse of a man had the audacity to look sheepish under his lethal glare. Jimena's widened eyes rested over her father's shoulder, anticipating the arrival of someone special. No one came and her giddy mood faltered the slightest.

Just then, Laila entered the room a heaving mess, the small sprint too much for her. The little one was fast, she had to give her that. For such a small stature, Jimena made it up in speed. Something Laila needed to do more of.

Rafael gazed at his wife, as if seeing her for the first time. He'd noticed everything on her which he hadn't before, like the small beauty spot above her lip, or her naturally curl lashes, or her smile lines which she was conscious about. Little things he would have otherwise not bothered to notice on anyone else.

"Wait till I get-" Her words died down on her tongue, her reprimanding finger in the air slowly descending in embarrassment. This caused the little girl to squeal, wanting her father to move away from mama. Rafael steadied her in his arms, and Laila couldn't help but notice the way his muscles bulged against the fabric of the blazer.

She had to physically rotate her head towards a different direction, rather than just looking away, already feeling her face flush. Gosh was this embarrassing, she thought the moment her gaze aligned on a familiar face. He surely must have seen her peeking with the way his lips twitched into a concealed smirk. If it was possible she would have surely given herself a hard face palm.

Rafael watched the entire exchange holding back a smirk himself. His wife was merely affected by his presence, only god knows what she would be like if he, god forbid, did anything else. Something to commence that fire in her heart, she wore too innocently in her eyes.

"Laila" announced the cool and collected voice of Rafael, his gaze wholly on his beloved wife. His attention momentarily shifted to his daughter, squealing and moving about in his arms, wanting to be hidden from her mama.

"How are you?" His question seemed to have pulled on Laila's heart, as if she moved about like strings attached to her limbs, her eyes downcast and her mind heavily aware of his trenchant gaze.

"Good" came her feeble reply, her gaze extending to the all too familiar presence In the room before returning to meet her husband's smothering one.

"Come meet Lorenzo. Lorenzo this is my wife, Laila Cenzo Ray" he introduced, his eyes fixated on Laila, whom squirmed about under his gaze. She really was a Cenzo Ray. A part of the family, now. His.

"Hello. Nice to meet you" she smiled, nodding her head as a sign of acknowledgement. Lorenzo grinned, looking at Rafael with smug eyes before extending his hands towards the newly wed, Mrs Ray.

She looked down at his hand uncomfortably, and for some reason, she eyed Rafael from beneath her eyelashes, witnessing the way his fists tightened by his side, paying no attention to his daughter waving her hand infront of him.

"Lorenzo, move your..." he paused, placing Jimena's ear against his shoulder and covering the other with his hand "fucking hand away from my wife, before I shoot you in your frontal lobe " He all but seethed, causing an eruption of butterflies within the girl.

Lorenzo retracted a couple steps back, simultaneously retracting his arms and raising them before himself. "She's all yours man, I was just saying hello politely" retorted the man in a quivering voice. Laila couldn't help but think how over the top Rafael could be. He was so dramatic, and for no reason.

Okay, there was a reason.

"It's alright" Laila spoke up, eyeing both the men apprehensively. "I was just surprised" she lied between her teeth, not wanting Lorenzo to feel more terrible about the situation. Rafael was not happy with Laila taking someone else's side. As much as he wanted to spend time with her, he first needed to identify whom broke omertà.

Whom in his organisation would have enough balls to cross paths with him. He'd been too lenient recently and he knew that. It was time for some action.

"Lorenzo, will you excuse us" he stated rather than asked, not waiting for a reply. The man was smart enough to know when a joke wasn't welcome.

"It was nice meeting you, Mrs Ray" he smiled, nodding his head and giving Rafael a serious nod before shutting the door behind him. Now there was three. Laila watched on as Rafael took out his phone and typed something. A couple minutes later, the chorus for my little pony played about in the silence causing an eruption of glee from Jimena.

He placed her on his chair, and handed her the phone, which she so joyously took. For one second, she looked up with her doe brown eyes and smiled "gracias papa". Laila couldn't help but swoon over the entire exchange. Rafael pecked her cheeks, earning a shove from his daughter before bringing his attention to his wife.

"My love, take a seat" he exclaimed breezily, loosening his tie and opening the blazer button. He walked behind her in thought, not knowing from where to start.

"Laila, remember when I asked you to return all my letters" he paused, giving time for her to remember and reply. She nodded in affirmation. "You must also remember how they contained a micro chip in them, which I refused to tell you what they entailed. It's only fair now that your my wife, I tell you what was hidden"

"They contained dirty secrets of the Spanish government. When you arrived in Spain, there was a lot of security surrounding Madrid, due to an upcoming political election . Fernando Vasquez had been using this time to gain voters and popularity among the citizens, yet behind closed doors, he was a different man.

As someone in the mafia, it's known that whatever we do is to spite the government, and since it's all a ton of bullshit we created our own. We have men on the lookout, eyes and ears everywhere. We know the ins' and outs of every fine detail in the country, as a bare minumum. That's why the government's scared of us, because behind closed doors, we are the deal, we know too much. They know we are after them and despite how much they tried to pin us as the "bad guy" we only got stronger, internally. Itzel had been ordered by the government to play a part in the hospital, by acting like a crazed mafia personel out on the loose. They wanted to divert the attention from those guys, the three white men, also known as Los Tres Angeles. To the public, they are quite literally the three angels doing fake shit for the public eye. Nobody knows their real story. How they control underground human trafficking rings in Spain. How they are responsible for countless murders of human lives, how they provide allied countries with dangerous machinery, the list could go on" he looked Laila dead in the eyes whilst saying such, occasionally glancing about the room in deep thought.

Laila was too stunned to speak. All this information was overwhelming to her to the point where her mouth opened and closed with no words coming out. She could tell by his expression, he'd had enough with this cat and mouse game. His visage was complete pokerface, each flex of his jaw, each word out of his mouth was well thought for. He gave nothing away.

This scared Laila even now up til this point in their relationship. There was still so much she needed to uncover of this man, yet she feared there was simply no time.

"The police is also working with them to hide their tracks, because they know we're onto them. Fernando Vasquez will do anything to brighten his name and in doing so, wouldn't mind killing countless people along the way. Those chips contain all the dirty secrets of his. It's just a matter of time before his entire life comes crumbling down before his eyes. All his assailants and their mothers working under him will be caught. The government will be hated by the public.

Putting this aside, let's go back to when you arrived in Spain. You and your cousin went out around tourist destinations. You must've seen the Statue of Charles" Laila instantly remembered what he was talking about. That horse statue she couldn't help but become so fascinated by. That and the history behind it.

Rafael didn't wait for her reply as he continued explaining "It was heavily guarded, alongside the rest of the vicinity. The government announced that this place was heavily targeted by the mafia, but that was anything but the truth. Los Tres Angeles hid any evidence of their dirty work in that statue, making any arising suspicions die down before they even began, because whom would be stupid enough, or in this case smart enough to hide their own downfall in public. It's kind of the same as working in a hospital, where no one would be doubtful of your activities. The best of my men were able to gather the proof and make chips out of them. I sent them to you, because, no one would suspect you have them, and thankfully I got lucky when you secured them unknowingly" he smirked, the corners of his mouth piquing up knowingly. Laila blushed under his stare.

"Now that I've explained all this, I didn't want my dear wife to be held in the dark. You deserve to know every fine detail of my organisation"

His entire speech left behind a transfixed, gob-smacked wife.

"Wow" she exclaimed, deluged with all that she'd been informed. She was unsure of what to say. How to say it if she even had anything to say. This entire situation ran much deeper than she anticipated.

"I-i don't know what to say" she was at a loss for words.

"You don't need to worry about any of this, my love, it's your right to know" he smiled, leaning his hands on the chair Laila occupied. She gulped once, the closeness affecting her much more than she wanted.

"I'll see you tonight for dinner. Until then, wait for me, my love" stated the Mafia leader, looking down at his wife with such affection, it made Laila look away. She was shocked when he reached down and gathered the small of her waist in his capable hands, before kissing her forehead, as if this was the last time they'd be together. As if scared of her slipping through his fingers.

Laila's eyes fluttered shut at the sweet intrusion. Her mind and stomach was on a rampage. Suddenly Jimena's giggles broke out as she clapped her hands childishly. She was looking at her parents all giddy, my little pony long forgotten.

"Estoy tan feliz!"

Rafael pulled away, getting a good luck at his wife one last time before averting his attention to his daughter. She jumped off of the chair and ran straight to her mother, wanting to be picked up. Laila placed her on her lap, eyeing her with happiness.

"What's the matter, Jimena"

"Nada, mama" she hugged Laila, pushing her face against her chest. "Estoy muy feliz ahora"

"Jimena, ya me voy a ir a despedir a papa" letting go of her mama, she turned towards her dad, who picked her up in the air, causing an eruption of laughter and squeals from his daughter. Laila couldn't help, yet once again, fawn over their relationship.

"Adios papa" came her muffled farewell as Rafael peppered her chubby face with kisses. "Basta papa!" The girl couldn't help but get away, her face scrunched in both annoyance and laughter.

"Bien Bien"

"I'll see you later then mi hija, until then, don't annoy mama okay? Be on your best behaviour for me, Bien?"

"Si, si entiendo"

A couple of hours passed away and Laila was tired. She did not understand how mother's had the energy to raise a child. Jimena, on the other hand, was full of energy, unlike her mother, whom wanted a lie in as soon as possible. Finally, Laila had managed to put Jimena to sleep after hours of playing around and doing her most to tire her out.

She was picking up on these mama skills pretty fast. She thought to herself.

A couple of hours passed, and it was ready three in the morning. Laila made sure to inform the chef's and maids to have an early rest. No doubt they'd been working on their toes, serving the mafia lord. They couldn't help but refuse, all of them repeating the same stuff like- it's our duty, we are happy to serve you anytime-.

"No" she announced in finality, not wanting to hear anything else. "Please take rest. You are free to do whatever you like since you'd been working so hard these past couple of days" she couldn't help but soften her tone at their expressions. She did not like to say no to people otherwise her mind would overthink every possible outcome which most likely would never occur.

"But Mister Ray-" the maid brought up only to be quickly shut down with Laila's response. "Mister Ray will be dealt with. I will handle him, so don't worry okay?"

The maids and chefs nodded hesitantly, not fully convinced, but if his wife herself said she'd deal with him, they were positive they could allow themselves this time off. They could see how much their Lord adored the young girl, another reason why they were positive they would be let off this once.

"Thank you, young girl for your kindness. I can see why Mister Ray chose you to be his wife. We were surprised at first, simply due to the intimidating nature of him, but nonetheless, we are ever so happy with you by his side. You two truly deserve each other, Mrs Ray" smiled the maid with tears in her eyes.

Laila expressed one of her own version, a sad one. Tears brimmed her eyes as she hugged the maid, her heart and mind in pieces. It was only a matters of days, and everything would return back to normal, but her heart had been moved the slightest. Her feelings softened the slightest. Her walls lowered the slightest. But it was all too late...

There was no point in such a change, for it lead nowhere but misery.

___