Chapter 22
I tried to catch-up with Juan, but he was out of the door, by the time I got there. All I saw were Diego’s jeep wheels speeding away, as I watched the back of his car.
Ferd, Ricardo’s other driver, was an ex-SEAL and in his mid-fifties. He was a loyal driver among other things, or so Ricardo told me. He was waiting for me outside and stood patiently as I watched Diego’s car, wondering whether to tell him to follow Diego or to go and meet Jen. I decided as much as I was caught up in this whole gangster life, I was kidding myself. I didn’t know how these things worked, aside from this whole loyalty thing all of them working together and acting like one big family. I was an outsider. They wouldn’t tell me what was really going on. In time they would; patience was a virtue and I had to exercise it.
It felt like forever since I had sat down with Jen and we chilled, and besides when you’re with one of the big men in town, getting a seat at Prime and Provisions was a lot easier than I ever imagined. It was one of the bonuses of living and being with a man like Ricardo. I didn’t even know if we were together. The thirty days was up over a couple of weeks ago and I was still in the house living with him. I could leave, though, which reminded me, I needed to check my bank account seeing as it was a long drive. I decided I would have a soda and sit back and enjoy the ride.
I took my phone out of my purse, and then used my thumb to get switch it on. It lit up, and then I went into my account, and it didn’t take long for me to see the figures.
“Mierda!” I screamed out. I’d been living with Ricardo for so long I had managed to pick up a lot of the cuss words. He said they were the most important words to learn in Spanish.
After seeing the number of zeros in my account, the temptation to catch a flight to Beverly Hills and go shopping hit my mind, but this would mean leaving Ricardo.
No, I was happy about the money, but it was nothing compared to being with the man himself.
My eyes darted between the view outside and my phone. I was richer than I’d ever been in my life and I should be over the moon, but without the man who made all of it happen, I was nothing. I couldn’t imagine myself without him and the reality of the situation hit me. I was in a cage, with the door open, and I’d closed it, myself. Refused to leave. Ricardo knew I was going out with Jen, he didn’t even bat an eyelash about letting me out. If anything, I hated the idea of leaving him in the library. I knew once I did, he’d pass out and fall asleep on the sofa after drinking too much. Lourdes told me he was doing it all the time before I came into the house and he hadn’t done it since I’d been there. But I knew after the fight with Diego and Juan, he would be doing it again. I wondered what they were arguing about?
What if it was about Gold?
But then again, with the way Juan avoided looking at me, I gathered I was the reason for the argument. I kept trying to figure out what they were arguing about the whole ride to the restaurant until we arrived and it dawned on me. The last four weeks, Ricardo hadn’t left the house, the only time he did leave was for us to both go out for a walk, dinner, or do something together. He never went to the office, and he never did any business. If anything, the argument must have been about me, and the fact I was steering him away from his life before me, which was a good thing. Beating and killing people wasn’t much of a life, but being with me, I had a feeling we were good together and we brought out the best in each other.
Ricardo needed a change. He needed to see his good side, and I was going to be the one to make him see his life could change for the better. I felt pretty pleased with myself as we approached Prime & Provisions. I had a good feeling about when I would go back home. The way I felt about the house, not only because it was where I was staying, but the man I loved, lived there too.
“I’ll park upfront, and then you can slide out,” Ferd said as we were nearly outside the door. He announced it on the loudspeaker, and I could tell all eyes were on me. Who was the mysterious woman in a limo outside Prime & Provisions? It was me. The door swung open, and I got out of the limo.
“What time should I pick you up?”
I shook my head. “I’ll see how the day goes. I have no plans, and I want to give Ricardo… I meant Mr. Ruiz his space.”
He winked. “You don’t need to tell me.”
It was then I found Jen, waiting outside for me.
“Shoot, I’m late, right?”
She nodded. “As always. But what an entrance. I like.”
I smiled at her. “You look great, you’ve got your hair cut. And even colored. Nice.”
She looked so relaxed in a turtleneck black dress and her open Camel coat. The weather was playing tricks on us lately, one minute cold and the next a bit mild.
“Me! What about you? You look as if you stepped out of Chanel no. 5 store and came here.”
“Moi?” I asked giving her a little twirl of my red pants suit and fake fur grey jacket.
She laughed. “Come on, let’s get inside.”
There was a line, which soon disappeared as we were ushered to the top of the queue.
“Your table is ready, Adrianna Smith and company.” The waitress smiled, Jen winked at me, and we followed the waitress. I’d been to a couple of restaurants with Ricardo to know he was treated like this every place he went, and I wouldn’t deny I loved it.
The extreme lighting of the lampshades and the sparkling lights made us feel all eyes were on us. I hoped we were in the big leather chair, the one I sat with Ricardo the last time I was here. I did hint to him about it, and as we walked on the black and white tiles, I knew we were headed in a direction as soon as the crystal chandelier hung above it, gleamed. It was by far the most comfortable, with cozy leather seats and located in the most secluded part of the restaurant.
“May I take your coats?”
I nodded and handed her mine, and Jen did the same.
“Thanks.”
As soon as we sat down, she asked if we would like anything from the wine list. I told the waitress to wait, we’d call her in a minute. She smiled and left us to it.
“I could so get used to this. I mean Ben’s family is a lot wealthier than mine, so we’ve been to nice places, but this, this is a whole new level.”
“Tell me about it, I still can’t get used to it. I’m not used to this world at all.”
“This is why the thirty days are up, and you still haven’t moved out. I nearly told Ben maybe you’ve moved in with him for good. Do you want to send for your things, Ms. Smith?”
She said the last part with a fake British accent. I laughed, but then I bit my lip at the last suggestion. She didn’t need to know what happened to Gold or the fact Ricardo had something to do with it.
“He told me I could leave at any time.”
She said, “Yeah, I bet he did. Did he say this between the sheets?”
I shook my head. “No, he didn’t. Look, I have something to show you.”
I took out my phone, tapped into my bank account and then showed her my existing balance.
She screamed once her eyes focused and she realized exactly what I was showing her.
“Oh, shut up.”
I nodded. “Yep, it’s for real. I mean, this means I can leave at any time.”
She edged closer towards me. “But I don’t think it’s money or even this type of service keeping you there. I mean you’ve been a bit quiet lately, and there I was thinking he had locked you up in a dungeon or something?”
She laughed, but I didn’t join her. She went quiet as she put her hand on mine and said, “He didn’t, did he?”
I shook my head, as I lied. “Of course not. I love being with him too much and all I ever used to do was work. Now I don’t even think about working anymore, all I do is think about being with him. Sounds crazy, right, me being shacked up with a big-time gangster.”
Jen said, “No, not if he makes you happy and vice-versa. Look at Ben and me. We’re happy and it has nothing to do with his money as much as his family claims it has everything to do with his money. It’s about the man. Also, we have so much in common. Do you and Ricardo?”
“We love the same music, love arts and books. I can’t remember the last time I sat down and read a book, but we both do, and as for in the bedroom.”
Our heads got closer together. “No man has ever touched me or made me come the way he does, it’s like he knows how to press every button and he does while setting me on fire.”
She laughed. “My friend’s in love.”
I shook my head, then I hung it down and said, “I am, aren’t I?”
She smiled. “I’m so happy for you.”
She was because she didn’t know everything. What kind of friend was I, to start lying to my best friend? It was as if I was painting a better picture of him, hiding the truth from her about him locking me up, about Gold and everything, and I hated it. I needed to confide in someone, and Jen had been the only someone until Ricardo.
“Now, let’s eat.”
“Yeah, I’m starving. Oh, I keep forgetting to ask you. Did you hear about Gold?”
I shook my head. “No, why?”
She started to talk, and I pretended to hear the news for the first time. About him being injured, about his wife divorcing him and it hit me like a ton of bricks. My life was completely changing, and I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about it, all I knew was Ricardo was changing not only my life, but my friendship with Jen, too. I knew if I even pretended I knew something, she would probably tell Ben and it would all come back to me, one way or another. I’d probably watched one too many episodes of Sopranos and this was the reason I was thinking or even acting this way. It felt like the only way to keep everyone safe was to play dumb. I was acting as if I was Ricardo’s girl and officially, he hadn’t told me I was. I wanted to protect the man I loved the only way I knew how with my silence.