170 SETTLED LUKE’S POV I couldn’t believe my eyes. This little kid was threatening me with a gun. What was he even thinking? That I would get down on my knees and start begging him? Hell no “Are you bein you being serious right now?” I asked Todd, who still had his gun pointed at me. “Todd, drop the gun,” Tiffany told him. “Sis, this man don’t deserve you. Let’s just blow his brain off.” “You do know who you’re messing with, right?” I arched one of my eyebrows. “Who the fuck are you?” Todd barked, not taking his gun down. “I don’t have to speak much. Just know that you don’t want to be messing with one of the notable billionaires in New Haven.” “Just drop the gun for crying out loud!” Tiffany shrieked and snatched the gun from his hand. Well, that’s someone with senses. Tiffany fixed her eyes on me. “I’m sorry, I had no idea my brother was going to…. “It’s okay,” I told her. “But what do you expect when you got a gangster by your side?” “Bullshit!” Todd snarled, he glanced a his sister. “You’re apologizing to this man?” “Just be quiet, will you?” Tiffany gave him a cold stare. He angrily turned his face away. Tiffany looked at me. “I’m not forcing anything here, Luke. You just have to tell me, you need to be honest with me.” “Yes, and I am being honest here. I’m sorry for breaking your heart.” “It’s okay,” she said underneath her breath. “No it’s not,” I said immediately. “I was a fool, I did shit to you, caused pain, but I’m really sorry. I’ve been a terrible guy, no doubt about that. Ariel can testify, but lately, I’ve been changing. And now we can’t change the past. The deed has already been done, the pain has already filled our hearts, and we’ve been broken. We just have to look forward to the future, we got to focus on the present, and believe me when I say this, I got you. I got this baby, and I’ll take full responsibility. But I can’t marry you.” “Because you have a wife,” Tiffany told me, and as we looked into each other’s eyes, she sniffled. “I totally understand that, Luke. And I’m glad that you still care, I was afraid that you were going to abandon me, and this child I’m carrying. I know, iny parents are wealthy, but I still need support. A child needs to know the father, right?” She laughed, even in the pain. “I’m not going to keep on chasing you. You have a wife, you have a life, and I have my child. Just promise to always come around, love and treat this child very well.” She wiped the little tear from her eye. 170 SETTLED 213 I smiled at her. “I promise. Now don’t cry, okay?” “I’m not crying.” She laughed faintly, a fake one though. “You can take care of yourself. I’ll be leaving now. We’re still friends, right?” “Yeah, “I replied underneath my breath, and shook hands with her. “We’re still friends.” We hugged. No doubt Tiffany was hurt, broken. And it was all my fault. But I couldn’t marry her, wouldn’t be possible. A promise had already been made to my late grandfather. “Take care of yourself, okay?” Tiffany told me after we had both let go of each other. She tapped my shoulder. “You take care too,” I told her. My eyes went to Todd, he was glaring at me, boiling in anger just by watching what was happening at the moment. “Be careful with that gun,” I joked, and Tiffany laughed lightly. She left with Todd. I felt kind of bad for her. Being friends wouldn’t actually be a bad idea. But I knew I wasn’t going to take things further. I went back inside the house, walking straight to my room. I saw Ariel getting dressed, she looked really pretty in the dress she was wearing. At the moment, she was putting on some earrings. “You’re going to work, now?” I asked, moving closer to her. “No, I’m going to see my mom,” she replied, not turning around. I kind of had the feeling that something wasn’t right around here. “What about Andre and the others, won’t you be joining them at work?” I quizzed, but she refused to give me a response. She was looking at herself in the room, now applying some lipstick. “The man that came to visit you, what did he do?” “Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” she replied. “Are you sure about that?” “Why are you asking me this?” Ariel turned to look at me. “Because I feel like you’re angry.” She just shook her head, ignoring me, walking towards the door. “Hey, you’re just going to walk out like that?” “Oh, sorry, goodbye,” she told me and left. Like, what the hell was wrong with her? ARIEL’S POV After some minutes on the road, I pulled up to my mother’s new house. No doubt, It had been a while since I had seen her. I didn’t know why we had that relationship of you know, just abandoning ourselves. Crap you know! I took a deep breath and got out of my car, making my way to the front door. “Mom?” I called out, 170 SETTLED hoping she could hear me from the garden. “In the backyard, dear!” her voice echoed back. 3/3 I walked through the house, taking in some pictures and decorations that I had grown up with. As I made my way to the backyard, I could hear the sound of running water. My mother really loved gardening, and I could picture her now, tending to her plants. And there she was, just as I had imagined. My mother, with her delightful smile, was watering her flowers. She turn around as she heard my footsteps and her face lit up with surprise. “Ariel!” she exclaimed, dropping the watering can and running to embrace me. We stood there, in each other’s arms, for what felt like an eternity. Glad to be with her once more. “I don’t know, but I think I’ve missed you, mom. “I’ve missed you too, my darling,” she replie. We pulled apart and my mother looked at me, still smiling. “So, how have you been doing all this time?” “I’ve been great. How about you?” “I’ve been great as well, and kind of busy.” “Yeah, I can see that,” I said, looking around. “Well, I’ve got a lot of things to tell you. And I really need your advice. “Oh I see. I’m always ready to listen to anything my daughter has to say. Let’s go in the house to continue this discussion. “Sure,” I told her softly. She placed her hand on my shoulder as we both made our way to the house. We both settled down on the couch. “So Ariel, tell me what’s bothering you.” “Well….” I trailed off, and let out a deep sigh. “I’m just confused right now, and at the same time, I’m disappointed in myself.” “Why? What’s the problem?” I became silent for a minute before I finally spoke, “After all these years, I came back into Luke’s life. And these feelings toward him, it’s just…… something I never expected.” 171 LET LOVE LEAD
