It was about 10:00 AM and I was standing outside the Ramirez residence right now, wondering about whether I should go in or not.

I wanted to ask Ricardo about what the butt-head, who very conveniently helped himself into my car, said last night.

"Tell Ricardo that we know."

His voice rung in my head. It didn't take a genius to put those two together. It could only mean one thing: Ricardo is the Don of the Mexican mafia. That had to be it.

But here I stand, in front of his house like the goon that I am.

I staggered across on the natural stone-like walkway and reached the door of the house. The guard who stood in front of the door gave me a small nod and slight smile.

I smiled as I thought of Antonio since that he had told the guard to allow me to enter whenever I came.

I rang the bell and not a minute later, the door opened and revealed Ricardo. He was wearing a plain white tee paired with gray sweatpants; his hair was a little messier than it usually is.

"Xia? What are you doing here?" He asked, surprised at my presence.

"I...um...want to speak to you." I hesitated.

"Oh, alright." He said, closing the door behind him. He led me to the living room and I followed, still mesmerized by the interior of the house.

I sat on one of the couches and Ricardo sat next to me, keeping a comfortable space between us.

"Last night, when I was coming back home...." I explained everything that had happened from the men in the bakery to the incident in the car.

"What happened after that?" Ric asked, almost on the edge of the couch.

"He said the sentence, 'Tell Ricardo that we know.'" I said, air quoting the man's words with my fingers.

When I said so, Ric bent forward and held his head in his hands and sighed in frustration.

"¡Maldita sea! " He huffed, his head still bending down.

"What did he mean, Ric?" I asked him, slightly craning my neck to see his face.

"I'll have to explain it to you. You probably already know but before I say anything further, I want to tell you that I am so sorry." He said ruefully. "I didn't want to involve you in any of this and-".

"Hey, hey." I whispered, making him stop talking. He looked up at me, meeting my eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong; don't apologize. It was my decision to come here on the day Nicolas was unwell, not yours."

He nodded and continued, "Well, you're looking at the Don of the Mexican mafia."

Wow, that was blunt.

I mean, yes, I knew it before he told me but I wasn't sure. Him saying it just hits differently.

"Well?" He asked.

"I knew that..."

"Aren't you going to run for the hills or something? Like, away from us?"

It's funny how he said, 'us'. He thinks that someone would run away from them, as in Nicolas and him, just because they are part of the mafia.

Yeah, I know how a mafia works...thanks to the unhealthy obsession that I have with something called Wattpad.

"No. I won't." I smiled. "I enjoy Nicolas' company."

His eyebrows furrowed, "What about my company?"

"Ehhh..." I teased, shrugging my shoulders.

Ricardo did nothing but crack a small smile. He narrowed his eyes at me and I smirked. I happened to glance at his hand and noticed that he didn't have a ring on. He isn't married?

Well, now that I think of it, I have never seen Nicolas' mother and neither have I seen anyone who looked like they could be his mother.

I really wanted to know but it wasn't my place to ask. If he really wanted me to know, he would tell me. Besides, I don't want to make him feel uncomfortable.

"I know what you're thinking about." Ricardo says, bringing me back from my thoughts.

"Whaahaat?" I dragged. "I'm not thinking of anything."

"Oh really?" He asked, clearly faking his surprised expression.

"So, you're not wondering why I don't have a wedding ring or where Nicolas' mother is? Nothing?" He asked.

"I mean..." My voice trailed off.

"You can ask me, you know. Just because I'm capable of using a gun it doesn't mean that I will kill you." He joked.

"I just wasn't sure if you would be uncomfortable." I said, biting my lips; something that I have found myself doing when I'm nervous.

He nodded, his gaze shifting reflectively to my lips and back to his lap.

"Nico's mother is-" He started but I interrupted him.

"Wait, is Nicolas home?" I asked.

"No, he's at preschool." He replied.

"Oh, okay." I nodded, and Ricardo continued to speak.

"Well, there was this one woman, Luciana." He started. "She was the first girlfriend that I had ever had. Being in the line of the mafia, as you know now, isn't easy.

I always had to lie when she asked where I worked and I felt so guilty about it. One day when I told her, she didn't take it as easily as you just did.

She tore our apartment apart and made my life a living hell by creating arguments about the smallest of things."

At this point, Ricardo looked like he was going to burst in any second. His body was shaking with anger and his fists were clenched so hard to a point where they looked white.

He continued, "A few weeks later, she came back to me and said that she was pregnant.

I didn't believe it at first but when we did a check up and the results confirmed her story, I'm not going to lie, I was happy...until she said that she wanted to abort the child."

I was on the verge of crying my eyes out listening to the last sentence he uttered. Nobody deserves to have their life taken away even before they're even born.

And yes, I know that it is her body so technically she can do whatever she wants, especially because she just found out that the father is a Don of a mafia but I still couldn't help the tears from forming.

I blinked the tears away and drew my attention back to him. The anger that was evident on his face a few minutes back, faltered. Now, he was teary too.

"Hey, you don't have to continue." I said, placing my hand on his.

"No, I want to. You must know." He pauses. "I put you in trouble just by being in your presence, you deserve to know."

I nodded and felt him tighten his hold on my hand.

"She was a model and didn't want to ruin her figure so one day she went to the hospital by herself and tried to abort the fetus.

When one of my guards saw her leave out apartment, he called me and I reached in time. Luciana and I spoke to each other and eventually, she agreed to give birth as long as she didn't have to take care of the child, to which I agreed." He sniffed.

Wait, he said 'was'. Did he mean...is she dead?

"After Nico was born, she left and said she was going to Italy." Ricardo sighed. "I haven't seen her since then so she could be six feet under the ground for all I care."

My heart broke for him. Broke for the fact that he lost his love and almost lost his son in a span of just a few weeks. He doesn't deserve a life like this, nobody does.

Without wasting another second, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a hug. He didn't react initially but after a while, he reciprocated my gesture.

I felt so warm and safe in his embrace; like nothing and nobody could ever hurt me right now. Especially that man.

Not a minute later, my stomach grumbled. He chuckled and we pulled away from each other.

"I'll get you something to eat." He said, and stood up from where he was sitting.

"Thanks." I quipped and waited for Ricardo to come back.

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