"It's never too late to make things right."
"Take this to pay your rent and expenses." Ava chuckled, looking at the cash. It was not the reaction Lorenzo expected.
"Is this your way of apologizing?" Ava asked before continuing, "I don't need money from a man because of whom I lost my job. Thanks for your concern though." Ava gave a faint smile to Lorenzo, which made him more guilty. That's when Lorenzo noticed her eyes, which were red and shiny. They were no longer cheerful. Lorenzo was perplexed as well as guilty. He didn't know what to say. He looked at the disappearing figure and sighed.
Lorenzo decided to go to his mafia dorm to clear the uneasiness in his heart. Lorenzo stays in his dorm on weekdays and on weekends, he spends time with Sofia at home. He had many people in the gang but Alex, James, Selena and Roma were the most important ones. As Lorenzo was the leader, they all had to follow his orders. But that didn't affect their relationship. He was pretty close to four of them, almost enough to consider them siblings. They knew all the ups and downs of his life.
As Lorenzo entered the dorm, he spotted Alex and Selena chit-chatting. James was cleaning the weapons, and Roma was busy on her mobile. As he entered the hall, all the attention was on him.
"Wassup bro! Any news?" James called out. "
"Did you get into a fight with someone?" Roma asked, noticing the dried blood on his lower lip. Lorenzo glared at her. Everyone knew he was very powerful. There was no one in the mafia world who had the guts to fight with him. All his enemies could do was betray him.
"What's with the blood on your lips then?" Alex asked.
"Nothing serious." Lorenzo sat on the sofa, chugging the glass of water offered to him by his maid.
"Come on, bro... You know you can tell us what happened." James said. Lorenzo sighed and told them the whole incident.
Roma gasped as she asked, "Did she really slap you?" They knew Lorenzo wouldn't keep anyone alive even if they gave him a small scratch. They all had the same shocking expression except Selena. She rather seemed to be angry.
"Tsk, you literally tried to give her money? You are unbelievable, dude." Alex said annoyingly.
"Shut up! I didn't know what to do at that time." Lorenzo said angrily.
Everything went dead silent for a few moments before Selena decided to speak up.
"Do you really think she would accept your money after you made her lose her job?" Selena, the eldest member of the group, asked in a dead serious voice as she got up from the chair.
Lorenzo sighed and asked, "What would I do at that time? Invite her for a coffee?" Lorenzo laughed humourlessly. Roma, Alex and James could feel the thick tension between these two.
"You should have apologized." Selena said as her voice rose slightly.
Lorenzo rubbed his forehead, knowing it was difficult to win an argument with Selena. "I'm not doing that rubbish stuff." Lorenzo stated.
"You need to. And you will." Selena said sternly, knowing Lorenzo would not disobey her.Selena was the eldest of all. She was very particular about Lorenzo. She didn't want him to become a womanizer.
"I said I won't. I hate her presence around me." Lorenzo said as a final decision.
"You loved her presence before she slapped you, though. To such an extent that you forced her to tell her name." Selena taunted.
"I didn't force her." Lorenzo stated.
Selena scoffed. "Are you serious right now? You literally grabbed her arm and barked on her like some street dog and then expected her to be all right?? Is that what you think of women? Is that what I taught you, Lorenzo? You fired her from her job just because you couldn't accept her rejection, and then, like a spoilt brat, you offered her money. Wow! Everything doesn't revolve around you, Lorenzo. Get that sh*t inside your brain. To the outside world, you are not the mafia boss. Keep your damn ego aside and go and apologize." She scolded him terribly.
Lorenzo didn't know Selena would take it this seriously. Selena never scolded him that much. The argument turned heated, and Alex, Roma and James were silently listening to their older ones argue.
Lorenzo didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say; to say that it was his fault or that he did that because he was attracted towards her.
As if reading his mind, Selena explained it to him in a motherly way "I bet she had no idea you were a mafia leader, Lorenzo."She might be completely innocent. All you did was to scare her away. If you really wanted to know her name, you might have requested her. You cannot force her, and if a girl says 'no' then it's a 'no'. You cannot take that as a 'yes' or a 'maybe'."
"What should I do now?" Lorenzo asked, irritated. He didn't want to be on bad terms with Selena.
"Go and offer her a job tomorrow," Selena said seriously.
"Do you seriously think she'll listen?" Lorenzo asked.
"I don't know. It's your responsibility to convince her not to force her." Selena said, patted his back and went away. After a while, they had their dinner and headed to their rooms.