Page 21 of Care: Part 1

"Yes, Avelina and I will attend.”

"Very well. See you both there. It is great to finally meet the woman in charge of his care," Valentino smiled.

She smiled at the man in return.

"Your suit pattern is tacky and makes you resemble a modern-day pimp," Adrik stated randomly to Valentino, who glanced down at his suit.

It was purple stripes that did look a bit too stylish. Avelina couldn't help but snicker at his words.

"I love your honesty, man," Valentino chuckled. "See you both at the wedding."

With that, Valentino walked off, leaving the two of them alone.

"I never thought you would have any friends. You seem like the lone wolf type, especially since you don't like to talk to people. That’s cool how close you are with him," Avelina said.

He looked at her and let out a small sigh. “You and backhanded compliments. . . We're more like allies. If someone comes after me, we defeat them together and vice versa.”

“Why would someone come after you?"

He seemed to pause for a moment as he looked into space. Then, his eyes returned to hers. "There are exactly three-hundred-twenty-four reasons why someone would come after me. The most popular of those reasonings are because I killed someone that they care about, they want to have what I have, and most importantly, they want to prove that they're worth something to the world.”

"You don't kill people, do you? I mean, that's insane. You're a billionaire who owns casinos. That describes the apex of anyone's dream life. Why would you ever want to kill someone?" She chuckled out, but she could see that he was serious.

"I needed money to start my first casino, so I made that money by learning from a man who took me under his wing. I was his brain, and when he died, I became him. I'm more than just a billionaire that owns casinos, Avelina. I'm also the don to the Russian-American Mafia."

“What?”

He let out a sigh before walking her towards a place quieter and away from prying ears. Her brain was still attempting to process everything he had said, but it managed to be exceedingly difficult.

"Avelina," Johnathan called out, appearing from absolute thin air.

Avelina did not pay any attention to Johnathan. Her narrowed eyes remained on the man in front of her.

"You're in a mafia, and you don't think that belongs in a job description?" She questioned, surprisingly relatively calm.

Adrik took a step closer towards her, but before he could get too close, Johnathan stepped in. "He was kidding. It’s Adrik's sick joke to scare new people. Don't overthink it.”

"No, Adrik told me that he doesn't lie, joke, or kid ever. I don't believe he was kidding. I believe he meant every word," Avelina said.

She was quick to cross her arms over her chest. Anger at herself was flowing through her; she should've never ignored all of the red flags or laughed it off as if it were some joke. The answer was clear as day, and she had never felt more idiotic than she did at the moment.

"Look, we can increase your pay. The contract stated that you could not leave under any circumstances at all-"

"I'm not leaving. I understand what I must fulfill.”

Johnathan seemed shocked as his eyebrows pulled together. Suddenly, realization dawned on his features as he looked at her. "You work with the government, don't you?"

Avelina rolled her eyes at his question and found herself growing the slightest bit irritated. "No, I do not. What do you want me to do? You want me to cry, pack my bags, and run?”

She watched as Johnathan slowly nodded his head in response.

"Well, I was taught not to give up when I begin something. I made a commitment when I signed the contract that under no circumstances will I leave and that I will follow through with one-hundred-percent confidentiality," Avelina explained.

Johnathan exhaled a loud breath as relief seemed to take over his features.

Avelina held up her finger, "But-"

"I knew this was coming.”