My dear little broccolis 💚💚💚

💚 So remember that this pic is RATED M, and it is not only for the sexy times. Some dark moments will be approached in this story, and they can trigger some people. This is a fair warning to remind you that this story sets place in a dark world, which means it is bound to mountains dark themes.

Love, Mina 💚💚💚

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Chapter 53: This Particular Girl (1,8K)

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💚 FIRST OF ALL, my thoughts go to everyone across the world. This is a difficult time for us all, and I hope none of you or your closed ones is affected. I am not a doctor, nor a politician but don't fall into panic and just respect the security measures. Be as clean, if not cleaner than usual. Eat healthy. And look after yourself and your loved ones. Stay indoors as much as possible, until we can do something about this terrible disease that is striking us all. Those are the times to look for one another and not be selfish. I know this sounds corny, but after seeing people buying 15 packs of toilet rolls and fighting for yet another, I just feel that we're missing out on what really matters. This virus doesn't discriminate and doesn't tire. We should fight against it, not against our peers for an extra pack of toilet rolls …

💚 And, I know the chapter is short, but it is necessary, just as the one before. There is still a lot that has to take place, and ... well ... I can't drop things out of the blue.

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Ryan's PoV

With a final deep breath, Ryan looked one last time at the box in his hand, before closing it with a snap. He knew he had no reason to be nervous, he and Suzie talked about this day several times before, so she knew it was coming, and he knew what her answer would be. And still, he was anxious that she would refuse his proposal at the last second.

He had planned it all, going the extra mile just to be sure that she would remember his proposal for years. Suzie was a rather simple girl. She wasn't really into romantic tropes and even made fun of them when she saw them in movies or TV shows. But still. She had told Ryan again and again that she wanted him to give her a proposal worth remembering. She didn't care much for the wedding itself, she just wanted to remember the proposal.

So there he was, hoping that what he had planned for her would meet her expectations. And Christian, who was next to him, did not help calm his nerves in the slightest. It was as if he did not understand the pressure Ryan was on.

"You know she wants to marry you, stop fussing over nothing," The copper-haired man dismissed with a blasé tone as they neared the bar where Suzie was working.

"Maybe I should wait and get a better ring," Ryan suggested, though he was more talking to himself than to Christian. He saw from the corner of his eye that Christian rolled his eye, probably tired of hearing over and over about rings and proposal from him.

"Well, we'll see if you're that confident when that time will come for you. It's not as easy as it looks," Ryan snapped, though he was not expecting Christian to say answer anything to him.

He had grown accustomed to Christian keeping his private life, private and had resigned himself with the probability that he would never get to meet Christian's family in the future. Christian seemed dead-on on keeping his professional life separate from his private life, and Ryan had to admit that if his copper-haired friend had found a way to actually keep on living like that, it was only a reason more to admire the man.

But surprisingly, Christian smirked, and said, sure of himself, "When I'll propose, I won't be sweating over if the proposal is right, but rather if she's going to accept it."

Ryan blinked a few times, surprised of this sudden and unexpected share of information from Christian's part, but when he came out of his astonishment, it was too late, Christian had regained his usual unreadable face and was walking toward their usual spot.

Strangely, this new found knowledge about Christian gave Ryan a slight boost of confidence. Though Christian was younger than him, Ryan had always looked up to him, probably because he was a born leader, or maybe it was because Christian had a strong mindset and was always determined on achieving his goals. More than once, Christian had unknowingly been an example to Ryan. And now that he knew that the man he admired was also planning on proposing in the future to his own girlfriend, Ryan felt a bit more confident to do so.

He watched Suzie working on closing the bar whilst the last few customers were singing at the karaoke stand, drunk out of their mind, and with a heavy sigh, he decided that it was then, or never. Gathering all the courage he could, he walked to the stage, giving a nod to the manager to put on the music for Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You.

Suzie had already told Ryan several times that she liked the old songs, and that one of her favourite part of her job was to watch people sing their heart out in a song. And though he was a friendly lad (and a social one, compared to Christian), he knew that wouldn't it have been for Suzie, he never would have put himself like that in public. Despite not being in his nature to be at the centre of attention, there was also the fact that such a gesture could put him in a bad situation given his line of work. He was literally showing to the world what his weakness was. But he was also confident that he had Christian to protect him, and that would be reason enough to keep his enemies at bay.

As he sang his song, he kept his eyes on Suzie, even when he started improvising a little dance, and he saw with delight that she was all smiles to his eccentrics. So when he was nearing the end of the song, he got off the stage, knelt in front of her, and instead of finishing the song with the proper lyrics, he simply sang,

"Oh pretty baby, oh would you marry me?"

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Ryan's PoV

"I heard that congratulations are in order," Raymond said as a waiter brought their food.

He and Ryan were having lunch in a small Italian parlour, which Ryan found odd, to begin with. It was well known that Andrea Mazarati owned this business, and Raymond always had made a point not to be seen in his foes' territories. But still, he did not question his boss's judgement and blindly followed the older man.

Christian was on a trip to Macau, settling a new manager from one of their casinos in Vegas, and though Ryan had noticed that there had been a tension between Raymond and his protégé, he could tell that whatever issue they had with one another, they had resolved it. still, it had been weird working around the two of them during that period, since never before Raymond and Christian had ever been in disagreement.

Ryan shrugged, not really eager to talk about his proposal to Suzie. This was something that he had noticed from the start. He always tried to keep his private life away from Raymond. Which he didn't really know why. Raymond had never done anything that could lead him to think he would harm Ryan or his loved one. But if he were to chose who he trusted most between the two men, Ryan would have automatically gone for the younger one.

Raymond nodded, taking Ryan's shrugging as answer enough, but before he could try to dig deeper into his personal life, a third person interrupted, with a very angry voice,

"You keep your dog away from my daughter! You hear me?"

It was Andrea, holding in his hands several of the pictures that Ryan himself snatched of the fake couple that Christian created out of him and Suzannah Mazarati. And though he kept his face unreadable, he couldn't help but feel inwardly satisfied that Christian got Andrea exactly where he had wanted him.

When Christian had asked Ryan to take the pictures, he had been really clear that his only goal was to give Andrea a taste of his own medicine, and given the expression on the Italian's face, Christian succeed. He had probably sent the photos just before leaving to Macau, just to let Andrea simmer in his own fears and apprehensions for his daughter. What Christian had probably not expected was for Raymond to have lunch at Andrea's restaurant.

Raymond looked at the picture as if he was looking at an interesting piece of art in a museum, and Ryan could swear that for a second, Raymond victoriously smirked. But that impression quickly faded away, and Raymond was harbouring his usual unreal face as he nonchalantly uttered,

"I have no control over my … 'dog'. He does what he wants, and whom he wants."

Ryan could almost see the steam coming out of Andrea's ears. The Italian man leaned closer to the table, trying to be imposing as he dangerously said,

"Mark my word, Raymond. You already took my son away from me, I will not let you —"

"Let me? But as you pointed out so eloquently, this isn't me on the pictures. If you have an issue, deal with the dog. meanwhile, remember that I don't respond well to threats, Andrea. Last time you tried that, you almost lost your life. Don't make me regret my sparing your life."

On those words, Raymond got up and Ryan and he left, Ryan putting his gun back in place. He had drawn his piece out as soon as Andrea had barged in, ready to respond in case of danger. As the two men from Idris excited the parlour, it accorded to Ryan that Raymond might have known more than he let on concerning Christian and Suzannah and that he had come on purpose to this place, just to daunt Andrea, which worked perfectly.

"I think you should keep an eye on him," Raymond said matter-of-factly as they climbed on the back of his car, waiting for the driver to take them away.

Ryan nodded, keeping for himself that Christian had already given him the exact same order ever since the terrible night Raymond received the pictures. In fact, Ryan was sure that if Christian had still not killed Andrea himself, it was simply by pure courtesy to Raymond. He knew that several times in the past Christian had told Raymond to get rid of Andrea in a definitive manner, and Raymond each time argued against it.

They were in the middle of Manhattan when Raymond said something that made Ryan snort, "I never pictured Christian as someone who could hold the grudge so much."

Raymond turned his head to Ryan, surprised by his answer, and so Ryan explained, "Christian is loyal to you, and would have killed the entire family if you didn't put a stop to him. Those pictures may be a threat to you, but to him, they were a hit in his pride. They proved that something wasn't right in his system."

Raymond looked at Ryan, assessing his words and making him feel suddenly stupid. It was as if what he just said was the most ridiculous thing in the world. then, the boss looked by the window as he muttered,

"Maybe. But I still think it was plain old grudge. Though you are right, he would kill that entire family if it wasn't for me."

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💚Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed💚

💚So ii know, it wasn't a Christian chapter, and we didn't get any love, but PROMISE, next chapter will have plenty.

~ Anyway, question time:

💚So there is a very obvious hint here ... Did you guys pick up on that?

💚 What do you think of Ryan in general?

💚 And what do you think of Raymond's reaction to that whole Suzannah thing? Did he know?

💚 What do you think will happen next?

💚What was your favourite part?

Anyway, E L James owns the names of the characters from the Fifty Shades franchise, everything else is mine.

Love, Mina💚💚💚