Beyond Uncertainty

The Princess

The first thing Liam did the following morning was to call his father. It was already past 7 when he woke up.

“Dad, Francesca is here at my pad. Could you please enlighten me on why she’s here?” He massaged his temples as he paced his bedroom, willing himself to relax as he waited for his father’s response. A long pause and a few seconds passed before Lance answered, as if choosing his right words.

[“Your Uncle Marco and I agreed to send her over to you for guidance and to teach her how to handle a business. How to behave in a corporate world so she could handle some of their businesses.”]

“She can learn from Alejandro. He’s doing well for himself isn’t he?”

He stopped in front of his closet and took out his blue suit and pants and light yellow long sleeved shirt that he planned to wear for the day. He chose a striped black and white tie to complete his look. Liam placed them all on his bed.

[“Yes. He is in fact doing so well that your Uncle wanted to give him more companies to run. But Francesca doesn’t listen to anyone. She’s been on her worst streak last week.”] He and his father sighed at the same time.

“Why? What did she do this time?” Liam pulled one of the drawers and picked up his favorite silver watch but after reconsidering, he put it back and chose a black Rolex instead.

[“Denaris had to extract her from the Diaz’s youngest son’s home. She was hiding there for a week before they traced her.”] He almost dropped the Rolex when he heard the name.

“Pablo Diaz? The bastard who—“ His father cut him off before he could continue. Liam closed the drawer more forcefully than he intended to. The name had that effect on him.

[“Exactly. That’s why we had to ship her there for a month so you—“

“What?! A month?! Dad, that’s too long! You know I am busy and have to fly to Australia to finalize this deal with the investors—“ Liam sat on his bed and leaned on his pillow. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calm himself.

[“I know, son. That’s why we want you to take her with you wherever you go. You can handle her. Besides, you’re the only one your Uncle trusts when it comes to his princess.” Liam rolled his eyes at the last statement. He wondered how and when did that happen. Marco Garcia does not trust anyone to be with his daughter.

“Dad, she’s a Mafia princess. She knows martial arts like the back of her hand, she can shoot guns, throw daggers, she can even leap from the top of a moving train for crying out loud! She can protect herself even without us hanging over her shoulders! Why would she need me?” He shook his head as he realized that what he said was true. Francesca Garcia is a dangerous woman.

[“To protect her from herself. She’s 26 and her parents as well as your mother and I are worried that her lifestyle will soon get her in deep trouble that even us can’t bail her out. You know it would break our hearts if something like that would happen. Plus, do you want your Aunt Alex and your mom to bite our heads off if we don’t do this?”] Liam groaned out loud. They knew how to make him agree.

“Fine! I’ll take care of her, but you and Uncle Marco and especially Denaris can’t interfere with my methods. Let me do this how I want to.” Denaris, Marco Garcia’s right hand man and best friend aside from Liam’s father have that inclination to be overacting when it comes to Francesca. He treats her like his own daughter after he lost his own on a tragic accident years ago.

[“Thank you, son. We knew we could count on you to help. She’s like your younger sister, after all.”] Liam snorted at the last remark. There was something on his father’s voice when he mentioned the word sister that annoyed him. The thought annoyed him. As if on cue, someone knocked on the door and Liam was sure who that person is.

“I doubt that, Dad. I have to go. Your mafia princess is knocking at my door right now. Say hi to Mom for me.”

[“Say hi to Frankie for us too.”]

Liam, wearing only his boxers walked towards the door where an impatient woman was relentlessly knocking.

“What?” She was about to knock again when he opened the door and instead of the hard wood, her knuckles touched his hard chest. She gasped as Liam took her hand and not so gently pushed her out of his room with him then closed his door.

“Breakfast is ready.” He frowned as he stared at her flushed face. His closeness and the way his body lightly pressed on hers might have been the reason. He gently let go of her and nodded his head.

“Come on, let’s see what you prepared.” He didn’t even looked back when he walked towards the kitchen where he smelled something burnt. He could sense her distress as she followed him to the kitchen. She even tried to pull his arm and lead him to the Dining area instead.

“I tried but I’m not used to your appliances, so I ordered breakfast from the cafe across the street.” This made him turn and look at her. He noticed that she was still wearing her sleepwear and this made him groan.

“You went out wearing only that?” She frowned then smiled.

“Yes. You should have seen the faces of the people who saw me.” Liam saw the sly smirk on her face and he knew she was just trying to piss him off.

“Whatever. Come on, have breakfast. We’ll be leaving at thirty minutes past eight.” It was his turn to smirk.

“What?! I only have an hour to prepare? Where are we going anyways?” She sat on the chair which Liam absentmindedly pulled for her before they started eating the bagels, croissant and assorted cheese Francesca bought from the coffee shop. Liam watched her as he sipped the brewed coffee. He smiled when he realized that she brewed the coffee herself and added just the right amount of sugar just the way he preferred.

“You’ll be going with me to the office. You are now hired as my trusted assistant.” She rolled her eyes and sipped her orange juice.

“I’m done here. See you in an hour.” She walked towards one of the guestrooms and Liam could just stare at her retreating form, scolding himself not to stare at her backside and exposed legs. He wondered how he was going to do what his father and godfather wanted him to do.

How could he take care of her if what he really wanted to do was stay as far away from her as possible?