0.30

...i get so weak in the knees, i can hardly speak...

as the SWV song played in the background, gwendolyn hummed along; cleaning the kitchen with a broom bit by bit.

...i lose all control, and something takes over me...

"mreowww."

a small cat, body mostly white with its fluffy fur sticking out in every direction.

"hmm? i'm sorry, luca. you want my attention, don't you." at the sound of her voice, luca gently wrapped his tail around her leg, purring. "such a sweetheart."

gwendolyn picked up the cat, pecking the top of his head in between his soft pink ears.

luca mewled again, nuzzling her face towards gwendolyn's neck. "mrmhr..."

before she could pet luca's head again, she heard someone else's footsteps, chuckling as they entered. "morning, ma fleur."

karla wrapped her arms around gwen, pulling the girl against her toned chest. her hands going under gwendolyn's oversized shirt and touching her bare skin.

"look karla! look at the way he's letting me hold him!" her smile reaching both sides of her face.

the mafia boss nodded, a smirk tugging at her face. "such a small little thing, isn't he?"

gwendolyn pouted, looking down at the cat. "he's not a thing. his name is luca."

karla kissed gwen's cheek. "ah yes, luca."

luca lifted his head up from gwendolyn's arms, looked directly at karla, and hissed.

"mhm, right luca. deserved," gwen patted him soothingly. "she doesn't understand, does she?"

"meow," luca agreed.

karla gasped. "how dare he—"

before karla could say anything, gwendolyn felt her phone ringing in her sweatpants pocket. pulling out her phone, the name MADELINE popped up.

"hello, maddy?"

a quick moment of silence happened between the two girls, but then:

"GWEN! MY GIRL, I MISSED YOU!"

both of them squealed over the phone, each talking over another in a rush; like it'd been years since they'd last spoken to each other.

"gosh, how long has it been!" exclaimed gwendolyn.

"a couple of months," madeline sighed. "it has to be, ever since you moved after the party, right?"

"mhm, it snows up here and everything," she responded. "i love being here with karla and miles, but i still—"

luca rubbed his head against the arm gwendolyn held her phone in, loudly meowing.

"wait, a cat?" madeline laughed. "you've got a lot of stuff to caught me up on, don't you?"

"yeah, of course! gimme one quick second."

gwen pressed the mute button on her phone and turned to face karla, still in her embrace.

karla set her head onto gwen's shoulder. "would you like some time alone to talk with her?"

"oh, you don't really have to leave! it's fine, i don't mind it."

"i'll make us some food, how about that?"

  gwendolyn turned around, kissing karla right on her lips.

"that sounds lovely, thank you, sunshine."

▢▢▢

"so lemme get this right," madeline stated after hearing gwen talk about what had recently happened.

"you overheard scarlett and those twins talk bad about the mafia, and you haven't told karla? are you crazy?"

"yeah, i know. i'm a complete idiot. but—"

"unacceptable," madeline said, disappointed. "absolutely unacceptable. you tell her everything and left out the important part! i haven't called you in months, and you foolish stuff like that. i thought you knew better!"

gwendolyn sighed, knowing that every word madeline said was completely true. "yeah, you're right."

"so what are you gonna do right after this call, girl?"

"tell her everything."

even through the phone, gwen felt as if madeline was nodding her head. "damn right, you know better. besides, you never know what might happen."

defeated, gwendolyn agreed. "it won't happen again, maddy. i promise."

"but in someway, it's almost funny," madeline thought.

"huh?"

"remember at the ball and how cj was talking to me?"

"oh, yeah. what about him?"

"he still has been, it's been kinda... i'm not sure... interesting."

gwendolyn was silent.

"he texts me all the time, sends me all these nice gifts, and he's so quick to say he loves me all the time. everything's been perfect! i mean, we're not an official
thing yet, but titles don't really matter, right?"

"oh, that's nice." gwen blinked, biting her lip. "have you found anytime to hang out with him?"

why did i even say that? gwen pondered. i don't trust him at all.

"well, not really. he says he has a lot of work going on and he's on a business trip with his sister. but after he says he'll have enough time."

"but madeline, cj and his sister were both talking about going behind karla's back! i don't really think he's the most—"

madeline groaned. "come on, shouldn't you be happy for me? i've always wanted a relationship like you and karla have, and now it's finally my time."

"no, no, i am happy for you! but what i'm saying is maybe you should go in a little cautious considering the circumstances we're in right now.

"you weren't saying all that when you were getting with karla," madeline sneered. "if anything; me and cj getting together is a match made in heaven! then again, you haven't really been in a real relationship before karla, right?"

"what..." gwendolyn bit her lip. "what are you trying to say?"

"you see someone other than you in a happy relationship and you don't like it. it's because you want to be the only one happy, isn't it?"

"no, i-i didn't say that at all! i'm just saying maybe wait a little so that way you two can spend more time with each other other than just texting."

"you have no clue what your talking about, gwendolyn. i know what i'm doing, and i know what i want. sure, he might be betraying karla or whatever, but has anything come from that? it's just another speculation, you don't know what's truly going on."

"you really don't know anything about love, do you?"

click.

and just like that, madeline hung up.

"what... what just happened?" finally having a moment to herself, gwendolyn felt her heart quickly thumping against her chest, hands shaking.

did she just...

three quick knocks hit the bedroom door, followed by the creaking of the door.

"oh, luca! i was waiting for her too—" the cat ignored karla's words and slipped in through the crack of the door.

gwen weakly grinned. "oh, hey. come on in."

karla set the place of fresh, blueberry pancakes onto the bedside table, then settled next to gwendolyn. "i know these aren't your favorite, but that's all we got here."

"mhm, thank you karla." gwendolyn scooted closer to karla, resting her head on her closer. "i appreciate you."

"what's going on?" karla frowned. "you don't seem as happy as you did before you called madeline."

gwendolyn sighed, then spilled everything; from what she heard scarlett say all the way to the conversation she just had with madeline.

once she finished talking, not a single word was spoken by karla. luca, somehow feeling the tension, rubbed his face onto gwen's leg.

"hmm, i see." karla finally said, no expression on her face. "thank you for telling me."

"i-i'm sorry. i know i should've said something before but—"

"nuh uh," karla placed her index finger on top of gwen's lip, stopping her from talking. "i figured she did something like that anyways. i'm happy you told me, truly i am.

"and about madeline... she'll figure out her mistakes one way or another. there's only so much you can do to warn someone. if she didn't listen to you, then things will play out in their own way."

luca mewled in agreement.

"you can't blame yourself. alright, love?"

gwendolyn nodded. "mhmm."

"words, baby."

"i won't blame myself," gwen muttered.

"perfect, now let's eat. how does that sound?"

gwendolyn smiled a bit bigger this time, kissing karla. staying wrapped in her arms, right where she should stay.

right?

┈┈┈┈․°🌹°․┈┈┈┈

hello!! 👋🏾
first things first: i think there's gonna be a lil bit a smut next chapter!😊 (it's been a second since i've written some lol)

what do we think of luca? i think he's such a cutie and a great addition so 🤗

also: THANK YALL SO MUCH ON THE SUPPORT ON THIS BOOK, IT'S CRAZY!!!

literally 5k from 100k reads, and like it's so crazy to me how so many people have read this book😭😭

love y'all sm,

blushlily xox