876 One Good Deed Deserves Another
This could be a bad idea and might come to bite her in the ass later, another part of her reasoned, but then, Natalie made up her mind. There was no going back now after putting that call to Ruth Nickerson.
It had taken her a while to lose the trail but she did it. While Eric had not said it out loud, Natalie knew deep down that he had people watching her. With the tension rising between them and the Luciano family, the defenses were up, but Natalie didn’t need company this time. What she was about to do, no one can find out or trace back to her.
She was doing this for the future and life of her daughter, Arianna. While Marcel was an honorable man, it was Daniel that she didn’t trust, and look what he caused already. She was about to do what none of them couldn’t do. For how long would they condone Daniel’s crimes? The man would only bring nothing but bad luck to the people around him. She couldn’t let him live.
Natalie arrived at the destination and packed her car. While others would choose a discreet and comfortable location to meet up, the woman selected a public pack as their meeting point. She was just about to call and track her location when a young man approached her and Natalie understood the woman sent him to her.
With a nod of acknowledgment, Natalie followed after the man while looking around her environment. While she trusted this was not a trap and Ruth would not cross her – unless she wanted a war with the Draven family – it still pays to be careful. It wasn’t uncommon news for an innocent person to become a casualty loss.
Even before Natalie arrived at the scene, she found Ruth seated alone on one of the benches while people went about their business. Even while it was night, some families were hanging out while the young ones jogged along. All in all, everyone minded their business.
“You’re here,” Ruth said, letting out a puff of smoke. Of course, the woman was smoking again.
With a mere nod, Natalie sat beside her and the man who brought her there vanished, leaving just the both of them alone. However, she knew Ruth’s people were around and keeping an eye on her.
She watched as Ruth pulled out a cigar from the pack and Natalie sighed.
.....
“Want one?” Ruth offered her even when she knew she wasn’t a smoker and she also rejected it the last time they met.
“I don’t….” Natalie was about to reject her again when it dawned on her that this wasn’t just about smoking, Ruth needed to know that she was on her side.
So she plucked it from between the woman’s fingers and put it in her mouth just as she -Ruth- lit it for her. Natalie took a drag and exhaled the smoke, coughing a bit at the end. She wasn’t exactly a newcomer to smoking.
After Daniel separated her from her daughter and practically ruined her life, she made pretty bad choices in that period. Drinking, smoking, drugs, partying, she did it all. She had no will to live and did whatever the hell she wanted. What was the point of living when she lost everything? But then, Eric and his family were there for her. They gave her a will to live, which was pretty much raising Elijah. She gave up ever since then, until now.
Both women smoked in silence until Ruth asked, “So what changed your mind?”
Natalie squinted against the smoke trailing from the cigarette butt, announcing, “There’s an ongoing war between the Luciano family and the Draven family.”
“So, I heard,” Ruth said.
Natalie turned to her with her brows raised and she shrugged, “News flies around here quickly. However….” She readjusted in her seat, facing Natalie, “Don’t you think it’s too late ending him now? I mean your husband would do you the honor, why come to me?”
Natalie threw her cigarette down and stamped it out and answered, “Because I’m confident my daughter would be able to convince him not to go to war with her beloved’ s family.”
“What a strong girl you have. Love conquers all, I guess.”
“She’s pregnant for him.”
“Oh. Congratulations.”
While it should sound sincere, Natalie could not help but sense Ruth was taunting. After all, it was confirmed now, she and Daniel were going to be in-laws. What a happy family they would be.
“Thank you.” She said nonetheless.
Natalie went on, “Daniel would be spared. I don’t know what kind of luck he has, but I dare to say he has the nine lives of a cat. While he deserves to die, he lives instead and I cannot let that happen. Daniel can’t be around Arianna and my grandchild, he would only bring them disaster and death. It follows him around like a wraith. ”
“What mother wouldn’t want to protect her child?” Ruth understood her reasons for going ahead with the plan even after she rejected it last time, “You made the right decision, Natalie.”
Natalie asked her, “How did you intend to eliminate him though? If both families managed to resolve their dispute, I don’t want to be the one to cause irrevocable damage.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, neither you nor the Draven family would be suspected of the attack, or have you forgotten that Daniel has a lot of enemies?” Ruth gave her a devious smile, the plan quite obvious.
“Oh…” It finally made sense to her.
“What’s the catch though?” Natalie asked her, “Why would you want to carry out such a risky mission without wanting anything from me? I’m not trying to be ungrateful but it sounds too good to be true.”
And to that question, Ruth smiled at her, “I don’t need anything from you, Natalie, you can think of it as my parting gift to Arianna. Your daughter served me well. One good deed deserves another, don’t you think so?”
_____-
Hi guys, I want to render an official apology. This book was suposed to end yesterday, however, I couldn’t make it due to severe pain in my hands when writing. However, to make it up to you guys, I would release ten chapters that would wrap up their perfect happily ever ending, also there’s ten percent discount on the 4th tier privilege and thirty percent discount on the last privilege. So sorry once again!
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on fre ew𝒆bnovel.com