The Mafia's Delight

Hidden in the brushes was a mass of curly blonde hair covered by a black beanie, pale skin, and sea-green eyes. Juliana patiently waited for Mr. Mendes' massive SUV to park in front of the iron-wrought gates. For years now she had been using his massive car as a shield from the security cameras installed at the gates of her father's mansion.

Getting out undetected was easy, she just had to climb the wall where the camera didn't see her. But getting back in was difficult since her father had installed cameras at every corner outside the mansion. As far as she knew, he didn't for security purposes.

Thankfully, Mr Mendes frequently visited her father - she assumed it was business related. They were always in his office, talking in hushed voices. Even her, younger half-brother, Edward, who was known to be nosy could hardly hear their conversations.

He would try to listen in but end up making a fool of himself by falling through the door.

Juliana recalled seeing Mr Mendes a handful of times, mostly from a distance. To say he was merely a tall man was an understatement, he was massive with widespread shoulders, and arms thick as a tree trunk and he was unfairly attractive too. He ticked all the boxes of a rough and rugged man.

Short dark hair and dark hooded eyes underneath thick straight brows. He had a tall nose, a chiseled jawline kissed by a light stubble, and wide pink lips. And, tan skin that said he spent a lot of time in the sun or was due to his Colombian heritage. Juliana assumed he was Colombian, Mexican, or Puerto Rican - she had heard her father conversing with him in Spanish.

Hearing the sound of a car approaching, she crawled onto her knees and waited for the car to slow to a halt. Thereafter, she darted out of the brushes as the big G Wagon blocked her from the view of the camera. Juliana kneels beside the front wheels, watching the gates swing open.

She kept up with the speed of the car and once she was outside the range of the camera, she darted across the lawn, circling the house to the back door she purposely left open.

Jamie watched her tiny retreating figure with a content smirk. Nothing had changed about the girl who had charmed him with her antics.

He had first laid eyes on Patrick's secret daughter or rather illegitimate child a few years back. She was probably no older than 16 years old at the time. She had jumped out from nowhere scaring the life out of his driver as she stayed close to the car, probably trying to sneak back home without her father releasing she was gone.

It had amused him. She did this every time she knew he was coming, she had been using him as a shield.

The irony, he had thought. Jamie was the type to use people to his advantage, to simply get ahead - nobody used him.

Because nobody dared to.

Until the naive little girl did.

Back then he was going to give her father a warning for not being able to control his daughter until he saw her for the first. The long blonde curls and those green eyes dotting with blue flecks. Her oval-shaped face, perfect plum lips, and rosy cheeks. She was gorgeous, it was clear as day.

And, for the first time, his heart began beating - he was finally alive.

That's when it all started for him, his obsession with Patrick Campbell's daughter. During his absence from America, he had his men keep a close eye on her since her father wasn't. He did this to keep her safe and to ensure no one touched her because she was his. His to claim, his touch, and his to keep.

Thankfully, he didn't have to dispose of any bodies during the two years he had waited for her. No boyfriends nor flings, nothing.

After his 35th birthday, he realized he couldn't no longer wait for her. Then, the opportunity to take her from Patrick's grasp came like a blessing. Jamie had discovered a variance in his shipments.

His goods were going missing and he had a hunch that Patrick may have something to do with it. He was a broker and Jamie wouldn't be surprised if he had taken his goods and started selling them himself. Lately, he noticed millions had been deposited into Patrick's account.

His line of work was sophisticated hence why he kept a close eye on those he did business with. He monitored their lives and noted down who they met daily and what went in and out of their bank accounts. It was all to ensure nobody backstabbed him.

Just because he wasn't in the country, he didn't mean he didn't have ears or eyes. His men were everywhere in all the deepest and darkest corners of the world. No one could hide from him and no secrets could be kept from him.

Patrick greeted him on the porch of his mansion. Unlike his daughter with her thick hair, the man was balding and turning grey. He stood at an average height but beside Jamie, he looked like a dwarf. Juliana didn't get her beautiful features from him.

A round face and a rounder belly.

He grimaced at the way the man had let himself go. He had known him for years and this was how he ended up aging.

"Hola!" He said with a smile, "How long has it been Jamie?"

"A while." He answered nonchalantly, "I'm here on business."

Nodding, Patrick invites him in leading him up the familiar twin staircases. As he is led down the corridor, in the corner of his eyes Jamie spots Juliana, dressed in her usual all-black clothing, darting into her bedroom, bringing a small smile to his face.

They take their usual spots by the arched windows that overlook the back garden. His men, security that he had brought along, waited patiently outside the office.

A maid quietly walks into the room, her eyes lowered as she serves them drinks.

Patrick was a man of many talents, particularly in languages thus their meetings often took place in Spanish. He was fluent in several tongues, particularly Arabic and Swahili was often the most useful since his wealthiest buyers were from those regions. He played the part Jamie had hired him to do well.

"What business do you have?"

"Let's start with the fact that some of my shipments have gone missing." He said, eyeing the man with ferocious intensity.

He was visibly sweating, tugging at his collar as if he was going to her some air. The point-blank claim had unsettled him, catching him off guard.

"Not only that, you have been receiving millions from private accounts." Jamie continued, "Do you see where I am going with this?"

"It's not what you think it is." He hastily denied. "I'm loyal to you."

Pushing back the satisfied smirk, he clenched his jaw instead, feigning irritation to scare him a little. Patrick was caught like a deer in headlights, he was willing to do anything now not to be buried six feet under. Men like him were afraid of pain, of death, and of losing what they valued the most - their life and their money.

Right now, Jamie was controlling the gears and he could force whatever he wanted from Patrick. Good for him, he had something valuable to him. Something he wanted.

His daughter.

"Prove it to me." He ordered, daringly. "Show me how loyal you are."

He gulped, tearing his eyes away from Jamie's intensity, "What is it that you want?"

"I want your daughter." He stated not a moment too later.

A surprised gasped escapes him. Patrick had been keeping her a secret since she had moved in with him four years ago. Her mother had gone mentally insane and was hospitalised and unfortunately for him, he was Juliana's next of kin.

He hadn't known about her since he was forced to go and pick her up at a temporary home. Ever since then, he had kept her in the mansion for the sake of his wife and his reputation.

Juliana was homeschooled, had no friends, and had no hobbies - she was isolated from the world. So, how did he know of her?

"I don't have a daughter." He stuttered, blinking away the sweat that had dropped into his eyes. His last effort to defend his reputation was futile.

Patrick wasn't a dumb man. He didn't ignore rumors that were circulating in their upper society. He heard them and was ashamed, embarrassed of himself. His wife wasn't happy especially since she had to care for a daughter that wasn't hers.

He had let her stay on the condition that she took care of her own needs, completed her school work in silence, and did not disturb the rest of them.

"So, who's the girl that has been sneaking back into your home using my car as a shield from the camera?" He raised an eyebrow, not wanting to believe this man was so dense he hadn't noticed his daughter going missing.

He pursed his lips unable to come up with an excuse. He shouldn't have a problem giving up his daughter to his man, she was nothing but an embarrassment. If that was all he wanted, then fine he could have her.

"Is that all you want?" He questioned, curiously. "Why do you even want her?"

"I've been looking for a wife," Jamie admitted, as her father, believed Patrick had the right to know what he intended to do with his daughter. "I'm going to marry her." He looked him dead in the eye, "Hopefully this will tie us and strengthen our alliances. So, don't you dare try to double-cross me again?"

He visibly shakes in fear at the warning, nodding in absolute compliance. Patrick, knowing his place now, won't dare to cross a man like Jamie ever. Man like him had a talent for causing several disappearances and horrible deaths. Decapitation, being buried alive, and drowning - all the terrible and frightening ways to die. He didn't want to think what would happen if he didn't have a daughter at the moment in time. Would he be dead now? His entire family slaughtered due to his greed.

Juliana, his only daughter, was useful after all.