The Mafia And His Queen

Chapter 2

~ Roxie ~

The next morning, I wake up to someone poking my cheek. I slowly open my eyes and blink a couple of times to let them adjust to the bright light. Damn, I really need to get some curtains soon.

"Mama?" Lily calls out to me in a low voice.

"Yes, bubbles?" I question while yawning and stretching my arms above my head.

"I'm hungry, mama." She tells me while patting her tummy and looking up at me with her innocent eyes.

Before I left California with Lily, I made sure to take all of his money that was poorly hidden in the house. It would've been useless for us to leave while being broke. The money that I took from him was more than enough to get us by for a few months.

I gave her a small smile and sat up, "You want to grab some breakfast before we go shopping for the apartment?"

She nods eagerly and I wash up with her before changing our clothes and heading towards the car.

I walk into the mall, holding Lily's hand tightly after we ate breakfast. I decided to buy her some clothes and shoes first before we went to buy furniture.

After I got her everything she needed, we walked into a clothing store for me and I started going through the clothes.

As we were walking back to our car with our hands full of bags, a man suddenly walked in front of me which caused me to stop in my tracks. Lily moved to hide behind my right leg.

"Hey." He said while looking me up and down.

"I'm not interested." I told him as I tried walking around him.

He grabbed my arm with a tight grip and pulled me to his chest while he snaked his other arm around my waist.

"Let go of me." I said lowly through gritted teeth.

I didn't want to start anything with him in front of Lily. She's seen enough and I didn't want to put her through any more trauma.

He lowered his face towards mine, leaving only inches apart, "I don't think so hot stuff. Why are you making this hard? We could have some fun together."

"Mama, can we leave now?" Lily asked me in a gentle whisper while tugging at my shirt.

Before I could say anything, he turned his attention to Lily and questioned her, "Can you not see that I'm talking to your mom?"

I pulled my leg back and as hard as I could, I kneed him in his crotch, making him groan and remove his hands.

"Don't talk to my daughter that way, asshole!" I leaned in and told him angrily in his ear before pushing him away. I grab Lily's hand and walk fast back to my car.

I could hear him getting closer, chasing after us but then another voice came through, making me turn around, "Hey, Luigi. Where do you think you're going?"

A redhead with tattoos walked up behind him, grabbed his arm, and twisted it behind his back.

"Mother fucker!" He yelled out in pain.

I grabbed Lily and faced her away from the scene in front of us. The redhead whispered something in his ear and I saw his eyes go wide before she let him go and he went running the other way.

She watched him run away and when he was completely gone, she walked up to us and smiled.

Releasing a deep breath, I give her a light smile back, "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it. I can't stand men like him." She tells me while rolling her eyes in annoyance.

I looked at her confused for a moment and asked, "You don't know him?"

She laughed a little before saying, "Hell no. Never met one of the Mario brothers before today. I just wanted to get his attention long enough to scare him away from you."

"Oh." I pause, looking down at the ground before looking back up to her face, "By the way... what did you say to him that made him run away?"

"I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you." She says with a serious expression. I raise an eyebrow at her and she lets out a sigh. "I'm Vanessa."

I decided to just let it go and not ask questions. Maybe I'll find out later when we know more about each other. She seems like a nice lady.

"Roxie." I introduce myself and place my arm around Lily, "And this is my daughter, Lily."

She looks down at Lily, smiling warmly while holding her hand out to shake and says, "Hey, sweetie."

Lily didn't say anything at first as she looked at the ground but after about seven seconds, she slowly looked up at Vanessa, smiled shyly at her, and shook her hand.

Vanessa leaned down a bit to her height, "You have a beautiful name, Lily."

"Thank you." Lily responded in a whisper-like tone.

Vanessa looked back at me and said, "We should go out this weekend and get to know each other more."

Wow, I barely met her and she already wants to go out together. I've never had a friend before let alone went out for fun. Okay, I did have one but certain problems made me start to think that maybe it wasn't a real friendship.

"Umm, I can't." I give her a nervous smile and release a deep breath. "I can't leave Lily home alone."

She glanced at Lily, then back at me before saying, "Well, can't her dad watch her?"

I shifted from one foot to the other and swallowed down my nerves, "She doesn't have a father."

Vanessa's eyes went wide and she quickly apologized, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-"

I knew exactly what she was thinking.

I put a hand on her shoulder and spoke, stopping her mid-sentence, "No, it's okay. It's not like that. It's just... complicated."

She looked confused by my words but I just waved a dismissive hand and shook my head. I clear my throat and ask, "How about I give you my number and the three of us could do something together?"

Vanessa smiled, nodded, and pulled her phone out of her pocket before handing it to me. I put my name and number in and gave her back her phone. She sent me a quick smiley face and I saved her number on my phone.

"I can stop by later tonight. We could do a movie night together and order in." She suggested as excitement flashed over her face.

I hesitate for a moment before responding to her, "Actually, we'll be shopping for furniture after we leave. We just moved here yesterday."

She looks shocked as she glances between me and Lily, "Are you serious? Wow, I can't believe this is your second day here."

"Yeah, it was a sudden move. I didn't even know we were going to live here until we got here." I mumbled while rubbing Lily's head gently.

"You don't have any family here?" She asked curiously as her brows furrow together.

I don't have any family anywhere... at least not anymore.

"Uhh, no. It's just me and Lily." I say to her before giving her my best fake smile.

She looks to be in thought for a moment before nodding her head and saying, "Give me your address and I'll stop by later tonight to help you two settle in."

"It's fine-" I began saying but she stopped me.

"I wasn't asking. Us girls have to stick together." She told me with a wink, "Plus, you seem pretty cool and your daughter is just the most adorable little girl that I have ever seen."

I smiled and agreed, giving her my address before we went our separate ways. Later that night after Vanessa helped us settle in and we ate while watching a movie, I took Lily a bath and put her to bed in her room after singing her favorite bedtime song to her.

Vanessa and I stayed up for a while talking. We bonded right away. I filled her in a little about why we moved but I didn't tell her the deep details yet. She told me about working with her at her job but I told her that I wanted to spend time with Lily for a bit before I started working. I want to help her get used to our new living situation.

After a few more hours of talking and laughing, I felt closer to her than I ever did with anyone else before. She ended up staying the night and sleeping on the grey leather couch that I just bought while I took off to bed.

I can tell we're going to become very close. It already feels like I've known her since forever.

Laying on my bed and thinking about how good things have been so far in these two days, I fall asleep with a relieved smile on my face.