"How was your first night with him?" Lisa asked Lena over the phone, a naughty chuckle following her question.
Lena shook her head, not surprised at her best friend’s shenanigans.
"I haven't had my first night with him. Don't expect godchildren anytime soon."
"Why?" Lisa sounded disappointed. "Why haven't you two consummated your marriage?"
"I don't know Lisa, I don't think he's ready and I'm thankful he's not in a rush because I don't think I'm ready as well," Lena said to her friend.
She went on to tell Lisa how marriage had been for her in the past few weeks. She was still on call when Darian walked into the room.
Lena knew that conversation had to end immediately she sighted her husband.
She ended the call, directing her eyes to Darian. He had gotten home from work for a while now but had been in his study room since he freshened up and had dinner.
She watched as he gingerly opened the side drawer with the keys, and pulled it out.
He took out some pills and quickly swallowed before Lena could notice, but she caught a glimpse of him swallowing something —she'd noticed him for a while now, and that was the fourth time in that week. She wondered why he always took pills. She was tempted to ask him but she knew too much that he would snub her.
"Darian," she called him, and he raised his eyes to her side, she swallowed hard and turned away from his gaze. "There is something I would like to discuss with you and it's very important." She told him.
"What's that?" He dropped the cup on the vanity table, and pulled back the drawer.
Lena looked away. Clearing her throat, she tried to get the words right before speaking out. She hated that his countenance was not always known, he always had an expressionless look on his face, and she wished he would at least show some emotions for her to read his mood.
"What do you want to talk about?" His voice boomed, zoning her out of thoughts. "I have somewhere to be very early tomorrow morning." His brows furrowed.
"I want to work. I can't stay at home all day doing nothing.” She let out, "I need to get something done, I want to take the job, or better still look for something else. If you don't want me to work for someone, I could start up a business or something. I just want to work." She finalized, folding her arms on her chest.
"Is that it?" He asked her and she nodded her head positively. "I will give a response to you tomorrow. For now, I have to sleep." He pulled the blanket and rested on the bed.
Pulling the duvet over his body, he switched off the lights, closing his eyes afterwards.
Lena was angry. She hated that he didn't always listen to whatever she wanted.
"I need a response tonight," she jumped up from the bed and turned on the lights. "Tonight, Darian." She emphasised.
"I need to rest, Lena." His voice was so gentle and tired she almost blamed herself for wanting to start a brawl tonight. "I told you before that I would get you a job in the casino or my company. I haven't thought of the position that would be suitable for you as the boss's wife." He caressed his temples in worry.
A glint of happiness flashed through her eyes. So he thought of her, and regarded her as his wife. She was oddly excited about that.
"Now, can you turn off the lights and let me sleep in peace?" He gawked at her and blinked his eyes.
Lena noticed how weary his eyes were. He looked so stressed out, and she figured he had gone through stress during the day. It wasn't an easy one being a boss of a Mafia, and a CEO of a company.
Lena didn't yield to his request, she just wanted him to talk to her, she wanted to have a conversation with her husband, and she would do anything to get his attention.
She walked back to the bed and lay down.
"The switch is close to you, you can turn off the lights." She said, and turned to the other side.
She couldn't sleep, and she patiently waited for Darian to unleash his anger on her. But he didn't.
Minutes passed, an aching silence building up with each second that passed. He sighed and looked over to her side.
"Hey, are you mad at me?" He touched her gently, and his voice rang sweetly in her ears. Was that Darian? She asked herself. Turning to look at him, he was the one. She turned back, shaking her head. "I will give you a response tomorrow okay? I just want to sleep for now." He raised his head and kissed her neck. "Goodnight," he whispered before turning off the lights and drifting off to sleep.
Lena was confused, was that her husband? Same cold man, who always avoided a conversation with her? She placed her hand on the part he kissed, and rubbed it gently.
She smiled, watching as he slept soundly like he had no worries. She stared at his face and suddenly realized he was so handsome she could stare at his face all night long.
Lena was still staring at him when his phone started to ring. He jumped up from bed to pick the call.
"Now?" He asked the caller.
"Yes, about two of them broke into the casino again. We were able to capture them but there are more around. We don't know what might happen, a war is about to break out. Come with your weapons." Lena could pick from the words the caller was dropping. "We need you over here now."
He sat up and pulled out the drawer from the bedside. He ended the call and brought out a pistol. Lena jumped in fear, she had never seen a gun all her life.
He loaded the pistol with some bullets, hurrying towards his closet. Lena stared at the pistol as it sat innocently on the bed. With fear gripping her mind, she moved away from where she lay down.
"Are you going somewhere?" She asked, her eyes on the pistol on the bed. She wondered how many people her husband had killed in his lifetime.
"I have to go to the casino now. There are some enemies around and we have to capture them tonight." He wore a black shirt, and a pair of black sneakers. Black trousers to fit, and then walked towards the bedside. He picked up the pistol and inserted it into the pad of one of the pockets of his shirt. "You should stay safe, and let Jay keep his watch over you. Don't come out if there is an attack here in the house." He showed her to a door, "If there is an attack in the house, and the guards are outside, just go into the room, the door is locked with a code, I will give it to you now, and no one can come in, stay in there and wait for me to get back." He gave the code to Lena and looked at her.
"I don't understand what's going on." Lena said, fear evident in her expression. "Are they coming here too?" She was close to tears.
"We have enemies, too many enemies around us, and anything can pop up at any time. I want you to stay safe and make use of that door if something goes wrong." He looked into her eyes. "I will be back." He patted her shoulders and left her.
He walked towards the door, and Lena grabbed his arms, she was trembling as she stared at him. "Will you be fine out there?" She asked.
"Yes, I will be fine and don't forget to make sure of that door if they come here to look for you. I want you to stay safe, I will come back to you." He kissed her forehead, hurrying out of the room and shutting the door.
Lena tried to open the door, but it was locked.
She stayed beside the door, and screamed. She crouched down, weeping. She was so scared something bad would happen to Darian out there.
For the very first time in her life, she was so scared Darian would get hurt, and she didn't want that. She didn't want anything bad to happen to him.
She got up and sat on the bed, she tried to open the drawer but it didn't work, she thought of calling her father or Lisa, she was confused, she didn't know what to do.
She caressed her forehead, wishing he was safe wherever he was. She didn't understand why she cared about him or was she just worried about her safety?
She walked towards the door Darian had shown her, and it didn't open. She entered the code and it clicked open at once. She walked in and surveyed the room. She had no idea there was a secret room in that house.
The room was spacious and even bigger than their bedroom, it was a world on its own.
Lena walked through the room and thought of the kind of life Darian was living.
As the Don he had to always be the forefront soldier and would risk his life for the Mafia. It was much responsibility to handle and she went down, bursting into uncontrollable tears as she thought of him.
It was too much, and she just wished she could be a shoulder for him to lean on—he sure needed a safe place for comfort.