His Mafia Prince
Chapter 188: Everything’s Gonna Be Alright

Chapter 188: Everything’s Gonna Be Alright

(WESLEY)

I study Justin, weighing between hurting him vs needing him to cheer me up. But will I get attached if I hang around him too long? "I’m just worried that you will resent me if I don’t give you enough attention?" I say quietly. "I’m worried that I may hurt you."

"No." he frowns. "I’m not a child, Wesley. I’m glad that you were honest with me and now I know the score. Okay?"

I hesitate for a beat. "Are you sure that you want to waste your time with me?"

He snickers. "I don’t consider it a waste of my time. I think of it as enjoying my time." He gives me one of his jolly little smiles.

Once again, I can’t help but smile back. His cheerful nature is contagious.

"Come on." He wills me. "Just say yes."

I shrug. "Okay, I’ll have one drink with you, Justin."

"Really?" his eyes light up. "That’s great. When? Tonight? We can go as soon as you get off."

I laugh gruffly and take a step back. "Tonight?"

"Yeah," he looks optimistic. "Why not?"

"Well, I still have work for another hour." I glance around at the busy restaurant. "I don’t know...I might even have to stay over for a bit."

"That’s not a problem." He smiles. "I’ll have my dinner and wait for you to get off. Then, we can go and have that drink. I should eat heavy before I drink anyway. I’m kind of a lightweight when it comes to alcohol."

"In that case, how can I say no?" I notice from the corner of my eye that my boss is coming out of the office. I’ve stayed at Justin’s table for longer than I was supposed to. My boss will surely get annoyed if I keep doing that. "I’d better get you your dinner order. My boss is out of his office and I don’t want to get in trouble.

"Of course." He says then without looking at the menu, he says, "I’ll have a lettuce wrapped bacon cheeseburger and cottage cheese."

"How do you know that we have a bacon cheeseburger when you always just come in for coffee?" I smile.

"There are cheeseburgers everywhere." He smirks naughtily. "And people love bacon."

He is right.

"Alright. I’ll get that for you. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Iced tea, please." He is now beaming.

A pang of guilt nudges at me at how happy he looks. What if I don’t forget about Jericho and end up breaking Justin’s heart? Is it so ill of me to use Justin to try moving on from Jericho?

"Okay." I say quietly.

"I’m looking forward to spending more time with you, Wesley. But I expect nothing but friendship." He smirks. "For now."

"I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as candid as you, Justin." I laugh gruffly.

He shrugs. "What’s the point of playing games anyway? If you want something, you should just go after it."

"If only life were that easy."

"I think it can be. It’s just that we like making things hard for ourselves. You have to take risks, right?" there’s a sense of warmth and sincerity in his eyes. "Don’t overhang things, just go with the flow."

"I’ll try, Justin." I say as I tuck the order pad in my apron pocket. "I’ll go put the order in and get your iced tea."

"Thank you."

I leave Justin and as I head for the register, I stop in my tracks. Luca is standing near the register, paying his check. It’s been a while since I saw him. The last time I did was that fateful day he drove us from the park. But there is no way I may have mistaken him. My heart pounds out of my ribs as our gazes meet. At first, his eyes hold no recognition, but after a while, his blank expression slowly begins to change.

"Wes?" he calls, frowning at me.

"Hi, Luca." My throat is tight as I force myself to speak. Even though I’m panicked on seeing him and my first I stint is to run, I know that there is no actual danger. As far as I’m concerned, I know that no one in Miles’ household knows that I’m related to the Sawyer Clan. I escaped long before anyone could discover my true identity. But still, it is terribly awkward considering how I left.

Luca heads the money to the cashier then moves towards me. "Well, well, well... if it isn’t Casper the ghost."

Heat rushes to my face and I’m not sure how to respond.

He shakes his head. "You left the bosses in a mayhem, kid. Just disappearing like that? Why? Why the vanishing act?"

"W...well, I just need to move on." My voice cracks and it is then that I realize immediately that the excuse is incredibly lame. I hoped that moving to Woodstock, a small town a few hours away from the city, I wouldn’t run into anyone I knew. Turns out I miscalculated.

"Most people give notice." He gazes at me intently. "They just don’t sneak out in the night."

"I know. I... uh...I just needed to go."

"Why? What was the rush for?"

"I had my reasons, Luca." I shift uneasily. "Personal reasons."

He looks displeased about my response. That’s one thing that I find upsetting about the mafia men. They demand explanations for issues, some that don’t concern them at all. I don’t feel obligated to explain anything to Luca. His gaze darts around the restaurant then he asks me. "I thought that you were a manny, how come you are now waiting tables?"

"I just got tired of being a manny." I lie. "I needed a change."

"Just like that?" he narrows his gaze. "Why so suddenly?"

Heat rushes to my face. My cheeks burn. "Taking care of other people’s kids is a hard job."

"And waiting tables is a piece of cake?" he raises a dark brow.

I need to come up with a better excuse because I can tell that he isn’t buying what I’m selling. I clear my throat. "Look, if you must know, the shooting incident at the park scared me, okay. I don’t want to be around a family that is surrounded with violence."

He rubs his chin. "Okay, but aren’t there other families" he glances around and lowers his voice dramatically. "That aren’t connected to the mafia?"

He makes a valid point.

After what happened at the park, I was rattled. I thought that maybe I needed to try something new for a change." I do my best to keep calm when unreality, I’m freaking out inside. I know for a fact that if he gets home, he is sure going to tell Alto and Miles that he ran into me at the Magenta. I’m not sure that Jericho still lives with them, but odds are that the story will reach him.

Luca rolls back on his heels as he studies me intently. "You were rattled? You didn’t seem rattled that day. You handled the situation quite well, but Jericho, Jericho was rattled.

Just the mention of Jericho’s name makes my chest ache. I want to ask Luca about him so bad. I need to know that he I doing okay. I really want to know if it is true that the Sawyer and Sharks clan are really at war with the Triple Triad syndicates. But it is not in my place to ask. Plus, that will only rise Luca’s suspicion. Why would I want to know what’s going on with the mafia wars? What do I have to do with it? Luca would obviously not be too happy to fill me in on what is going on there.

"I know how to shoot." I grimace. "That doesn’t mean that like staying around violent people."

"Okay." He purses. "But still, that was a shitty way to quit."

"I’m sorry, Luca." I really am sorry, but at the moment, I only did what I felt was right. It would only be a matter of time for them to figure out who I really was had I chosen to stay. But then, I can’t explain any of that to Luca. If he learns that I may be related to the Sawyer clan, he might just take care of me on the spot. "How is everyone doing? Are they okay?"

"Sure." He laughs." Everyone’s okay, if not for the fact that we are at war with the Irish. But if it wasn’t for them, then I guess everyone would be fine."

"Probably." Luca just confirmed my suspicion. They are officially at war with the Irish. Hearing that justifies my reasons for running away. I probably made a good choice.

"Well," Luca sticks a toothpick between his lips. "Have any messages that you’d like to send anyone, Wesley?"

Something about his tone makes me think that he is implying Jericho. That day at the park. He gave us time to talk privately. Maybe he sensed the attraction between me and Jericho. I want to give him a little message to tell Jericho, but I have no idea what to say. My throat muscles work as I try to force out words, but I can’t seem to piece together the right words to say. Finally, I come up with something to say. "Can... Can you just tell them that I...I miss them, and that I’m sorry about how I left?"

Luca gives me a knowing look. "Sure, kid. I’ll let them know." He then turns to leave the café without glancing back.

I watch him as he strides away. I feel lightheaded and vaguely panicked. He is my only connection to Jericho, and I feel an old compulsion to follow him and ask him to take me back to the Caspars’. I want to see Jericho again. I’m so desperate to see him that my chest literally hurts. Seeing Luca brought back a rush of feelings that I doubt if I’ll be able to deal with. But Jericho is no longer going to be in my life, and I have to accept that. I have no choice but to accept my truth. Suddenly, my nausea returns and I brace myself to the nearest wall.

Sweat breaks out of my face and I will myself to calm down. "Everything is going to be alright." But I don’t feel fine. In fact, I feel far from fine. I feel so weak and hopeless and a roaring sound begins to work in my ears. My entire body feels like it is reaching out for Jericho.

I hear Justin’s voice in the distance. My legs begin to buckle. Someone grabs a hold of me as I begin to fall.

Everything goes black as I slowly fade into unconsciousness.