Ricardo's POV:

I looked at the person that I'm interrogating. Both of his hands and legs are cuffed to a metal chair that is screwed down into the floor. His face is covered in bruises from the repetitive punches that he had received.

Our rival mafia, the Italians, raided our warehouse last night and killed twenty of my men while leaving ten of them injured. I still don't know what they broke in for.

The leader of the Italian mafia is none other than Lorenzo Bianchi. Our families have rivals for as far as I can remember and I'm still not sure why.

Years ago, my father tried making amendments to break off the rivalry but his father, Matteo Bianchi, disagreed.

They didn't steal any ammunition but they did destroy my whole office. And by destroy, I mean they literally annihilated my office.

During the attack, I suppose that this dude here, got injured when my men fired at them.

And now, I am in the basement of my base, a warehouse. Antonio took my son, Nicolas, for a day out today. Speaking of that, they should be back in a while.

Antonio is my under-boss....and my little brother. By little, I mean that he is twenty three; two years younger to me. Ever since Dad gave me the title of the Don of the Mexican mafia, he's been working with me.

My Dad isn't dead if that's what you're thinking, and neither is my Mom. They're both alive and well, living in a house not far from mine.

Normally, the heir, me, gets control of the mafia only when the previous Don, in this case, my father passes away.

But my father said that he wanted to give it to me before so that I could learn better and also because he wanted to retire.

My mother wanted me to take control of the mafia because she wants me to find my Donna. A Donna is someone who is the Don's significant other and the female leader of the mafia.

I don't believe in love anymore so I don't think that I'll ever find someone. And even if I do, I know that I'll be loved only for my money; not for who I am. The one thing that I'm sure of is that my family will always be there by my side.

I can't afford to be selfish, I have to be strong for my family and forget about my past; at least the part with her.

"Why did you all attack the warehouse ?" I asked the man, my patience wearing thinner by the second.

All he did was look at me with his attempted menacing look. Annoyed at him, I decided to leave him where he was and go back to my penthouse. He knows that I can't kill him yet because I still need information.

When I drove back home, I immediately had a shower and changed my clothes. I couldn't let my son see the splotches of blood on my shirt.

Just as I did, a voice echoed through the halls. "Dadda, I'm home !"

I smiled at the voice of my four-year-old son, Nicolas. "Hey Buddy !" I said, picking him up in my arms.

"Did you two have fun ?" I asked Antonio, who was standing near the lift.

"Yeah, we did." He nodded.

Since I was always busy, I never got to spend much time with Nicolas and I hated myself for it. Initially, I thought that maybe I would find someone who accepts us for who we are and treats Nicolas like her own; a mother that he deserves but I gave up on that a year back.

I spend the weekends with him at the park but that is all that I get. On a few lucky days, we cook dinner together.

"First, he took me to an arcade. I won in all of the games." He chimed. "Then we went to the mall and finally, we went to the bakery and I met Xia." Nicolas explained excitedly.

My ears perked up at the name he said, "Who ?" I asked. Being the leader of a mafia meant that I had to take precaution when Nicolas went out.

I have many rivals and nobody knows that I have a son so when Nicolas meets new people, he is told to ask permission before interacting with them. It's for his safety.

"Xia is the bakery owner of Bake n' Take. She makes his favorite cookies." Antonio butted in and soon enough, I wasn't worried about his safety.

I didn't realize how it felt when I heard that name which made me feel weird; the good kind. It sounded so beautiful and I couldn't help but feel so intrigued by it.

"Xia." I tested the name on my lips and the sudden urge to meet her came over me. Dismissing it, I spoke, "Oh, okay."

"Go pick out your pajamas, I'll be there in a minute to give you a bath." I told Nicolas, who looked too excited to go to bed right now.

"But I don't want toooo...." He whined.

"What if I make you a deal ?" I asked, hoping that he would listen to me. "The next time that we go to the park, I will let you play for an hour more."

His face lit up. "Okay."

I placed him onto the floor and saw him run towards his room. "Do you want me to pick your pajamas ? Or are you sure that you can do it yourself ?" I asked.

"I wanna do it. I'm a big boy now." He replied.

"Okay, but wait for me. Don't go into the bathtub, alright." I warned and he nodded in response, leaving the room for us to talk.

"Did the guy talk ?" Antonio asked me, referring to the guy in the basement at the warehouse.

"No. All he does is stare at my face and laugh when I punch him." I said, running my hand through my hair in frustration.

"Psicópata.". Antonio muttered.

"I'm not going to go easy on him tomorrow. I need answers." I

"Oooo....Ric's hulk mode is on. That guy better talk soon." Antonio said.

"You're lucky that you're my brother otherwise my fist would have broken your nose by now." I playfully threatened him.

"I'm too precious. You would never hurt me." He teased.

"Yeah ? We'll see about that." I said, going closer to him.

"No, no. No, no." Antonio said, backing away. "I'm gonna go now. Bye."

"Bye, goodnight." I laughed, and turned around to go to Nicolas' room. As I went closer, I saw the door left ajar and entered only to be met with the sight of my son doing a handstand on his bed.

"Come on, let's give you a bath." I mumbled, more to myself than him. After I was finished with that, I put on the mismatched pajamas that he chose for himself and he jumped onto the bed.

"Are you ready to sleep ?" I asked, dimming the lights.

"Yup." He replied, laying down on the bed. I walked to his bed and tucked him under his quilt.

"Goodnight, Nico." I said, kissing his forehead. "I love you."

"Goodnight, Dadda. I love you too." Nicholas said, his eyes slowly closing.

I left the room with a smile on my face and closed the door behind me. I'll do whatever it takes to protect the little boy in that room.

He means the world to me and can only hope that one day he will get someone to love him like how a mother would, just like he deserves.

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