Disguised Affection
Troy's eyes widened at the revelation from Gabriella. Realizing that they probably shouldn't have this conversation outside where anyone could hear, Troy broke eye contact and turned to walk towards the driver's seat.
"Get in," Troy told her as he opened his door.
They rode in silence for a few minutes before Troy decided he couldn't wait any longer to bring up the subject.
"So you're trying to provoke them? Trying to get yourself shot?"
Gabriella remained silent nervously playing with her fingers as Troy turned every few seconds to look at her.
"Well?"
"Tomas, just leave it!"
"Leave it? How am I supposed to do that knowing every time I am out on a drop with you, you are trying to get yourself shot?"
"Tomas, I said to leave it. I don't want to talk about it," Gabriella yelled as her face turned red in anger.
"Well we're gonna talk about it. Look you may not care whether or not you get shot, but when you say crap like that to those guys, they won't think twice before shooting you or anyone else with you. You're not just putting your own life on the line when you pull crap like that, you're putting other people's lives on the line too. We're a family here, and you need to remember that."
Gabriella looked slightly shocked at Troy's outburst. "You're right. We are a family, and I'm sorry for putting you at risk like that. But can we please just drop it?"
"Fine," Troy huffed as he continued to drive back to the estate, thousands of thoughts whirling through his head. Thoughts of anger, confusion, frustration, and a strange sense of fear not only for his own life, but also the life of the livid girl sitting next to him.
Troy got out of the car once they reached the estate. Grabbing the case of money out of the backseat, Troy shut the car door and walked inside, followed by a sulking Gabriella.
The two walked back to Gregorio's office without saying a word. Upon being told to enter, Troy pushed open the door, closing it gently after Gabriella walked through.
"Tomas, Gabriella. How did it go?" Gregorio asked looking up from some paperwork on his desk.
"Good. Here is the money." Troy took the briefcase and handed it over the desk to Gregorio. Gregorio opened the case, and peered inside.
"Any complications?" Gregorio questioned as his head remained hidden behind the briefcase.
Gabriella looked at Troy pleadingly. She didn't want her father to know what Troy had discovered.
"No sir. There were no ambush attempts, and all of the money is there."
Gregorio shut the case, satisfied with its contents.
"Well done you two."
"Thank you," they both said quietly before exiting the office.
--
Troy sat in the park with a small sketch pad. Instead of sketching the beautiful scenery around him, Troy was frantically writing a report of what had happened that day. He jotted down some basic information about the place where the exchange happened, and what he found out about Fernando and his men. Lastly Troy scribbled down that there was a development with Gabriella and he needed to schedule an emergency meeting for the next day.
Troy stood up from his place on the bench and stretched before ripping out the piece of paper he'd been writing on. He crumbled it up and walked away from the benches, leisurely tossing it into the trash can adjacent to the bench he was on before he continued back to the estate.
After showering and changing into a pair of dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt, Troy walked downstairs to the kitchen.
He couldn't help but grin at the sight in front of him as he entered the kitchen. There was steam coming from two different pots on the stove, both threatening to boil over. The oven was beeping, indicating the food was ready. Troy laughed as his eye caught Gabriella in the corner of the kitchen, frantically chopping some vegetables while kicking the refrigerator door shut.
"You do know you have hired help for a reason," Troy said making his presence known as Gabriella jumped becoming slightly startled, which caused her to knock a knife and a bowl of lettuce onto the ground.
"Crap. You scared me," Gabriella held her hand over her heart in attempts to regulate her breathing, before reaching down and gathering the dropped items.
"Who knew? A mighty Montez mafia member easily scares," Troy taunted as he walked over to the oven, turning it off and grabbing its contents.
Gabriella laughed sarcastically. "Very funny."
Troy grinned as he walked over and turned down the items on the stove.
"I take it you don't cook too often," Troy laughed as he scraped some burnt rice from the bottom of a pan.
"Well Alma couldn't make it tonight, so she asked me to fill in. She said it'd be simple, and she even pre-made the main course. So all I had to do was make the salad and some rice and veggies. But, I suck at multitasking. As you can see," Gabriella laughed at herself as Troy joined in.
"Well here. I managed to save some of the rice, and the rest of this looks okay," Troy noted glancing in the other pots on the stove.
"Yeah, but thanks to you, half of the salad is on the floor," Gabriella pointed out matter-of-factly.
"Eh, who needs salad anyway?" Troy asked rhetorically earning a grin from Gabriella. Troy walked over to the cupboard pulling out some cups and plates, before placing them on the kitchen table.
"Tomas?"
Troy turned around looking at Gabriella.
"Thanks for not saying anything to my dad today."
Troy nodded, understanding she didn't want to talk about it. "No problem." He knew at this point she was closed off to sharing more about why she kept purposely putting herself in precarious situations.
"Hey idiots!" Gabriella stuck her head into the living room yelling at Michael, Joe, Matteo, and Raul. "Dinner's ready. Get in here."
Troy laughed as he took his seat.
"Did I hear my oh so sweet sister call me for dinner?" Joe asked sarcastically as he pulled out his chair.
Gabriella smirked as she poured some soda into her glass.
"Yeah, we're missing the Jets' game right now, so this dinner better be worth it," Matteo chimed in as he scooped some food onto his plate.
"Matteo, when are Gabriella's meals ever good?" Michael laughed as he dodged a slap from Gabriella.
"Screw you Michael. You don't like it….then you can cook yourself."
"Why are you guys eating? Papa isn't here yet," Gabriella pointed out.
"His loss," Raul shrugged as he took a bite of rice choking before spitting it out in his napkin. "What the hell is in the rice?"
Troy laughed as Gabriella shot him a look which successfully shut him up.
"You guys don't wait for us anymore?" Gregorio asked as he and Juan sat down at the table.
"Sorry Papa," the boys chorused.
As the family began to converse about everyday life, Troy was paying little attention to what they were saying. He couldn't stop thinking about his meeting with Chad the next day, and what he'd say about Gabriella.
--
Troy grabbed his coat out of the front closet before opening the front door.
"Skipping out on the family dinner?" Raul questioned causing Troy to stop abruptly.
"I have to take care of something important back home."
"What's so important at home?" Raul taunted trying to get under his skin.
"That's none of your business."
"I thought since you are a part of this family, that we wouldn't have any secrets."
"Look," Troy raised his voice as his piercing blue eyes became darker. "I don't like to talk about my past with anyone. I like to keep my past in my past. So back off," Troy yelled before slamming the door, the conversation not going unnoticed by Gabriella who was listening from around the corner.
--
"Can I help you sir?" The young host asked after Troy entered the small Italian restaurant an hour outside of the city.
Troy took a deep breath preparing himself for the inevitable embarrassment. "Reservation under Ben Dover."
The brown-haired host stifled a laugh as Troy rolled his eyes. "Right this way sir."
"Thank you." Troy spotted Chad as they entered one wing of the restaurant. "I see him. Thank you," Troy said as he walked up to the table.
Chad looked up and smirked as he saw Troy approaching. "Nice to see you Mr. Dover."
"Real mature man."
"What? We still have to be extra careful." Chad said innocently.
Troy shook his head in disbelief, before taking a sip of water. The waiter came over and quickly took their orders momentarily interrupting their conversation.
"So thanks for meeting up with me tonight. Sorry about the short notice," Troy said once they were left alone.
"It's cool man. We got your report. We're looking into Fernando Alonzo's operation, and plan on doing a raid in the next few weeks. He's got a base of operations just outside of New York City. So what is the development with the girl?"
Erin & Corri A/N: Hey guys! I'm not even gonna lie...I forgot to post things have gotten CRAZY, so im just trying to go one day at a time. hope you all enjoy...my fav chapter is coming up soon sooo keep reading!
