Chapter 270

“I’m sorry, is my smacking annoying you?” I asked, embarrassed as I dropped my fork. I had an urge to enjoy my food but now was not the time.

Marvin watching my every move made me nervous. He was someone who was not afraid of eye contact, not even when I caught him staring. “It’s okay. Just be yourself.”

“So tell me about yourself. What do you do?” Marvin asked. It was a question that I hated the most because I really wasn’t that much different from a loser. “Oh, uh,” I mumbled as I tried to give him an answer. “I live with my dad. I work at a cocktail bar. I like watching movies…that’s about it.”

“Where is your mom?”

Marvin surprised me with his bold question. He asked me about my mom without as much as a single stutter, but I had to admire him for that. I wished I had half the confidence he had. “Not here,”

I spoke awkwardly. “She left a long time ago.

Instead of giving me the same sympathetic look I had gotten way too often, Marvin controlled his expression and placed his warm hand on top of mine. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay.”

“And you said you wanted to become a lawyer?”

At this point, it seemed like Marvin was interrogating me, while I should’ve been the one questioning him, but I didn’t mind. I could tell that he had the right intentions, and that was all I had to know.

“Yes, I did- but it didn’t work out.”

“Why was that?”

“I’m just not that good at learning.

“I understand, me neither.” Marvin laughed. At least we had one thing in common. “If it weren’t for my dad, I would’ve dropped out of school.” He shrugged.

He looked into my eyes as if he was trying to see through them while I was close to running off. Did I have eye boogers? Lipstick on my teeth? Food on my forehead?

“So, what did you do these past years?” I asked to ease the tension. It only took me a split second to realize that I was talking to a man who had lived his life in prison. “Oh fuck, I mean…” I stammered. “What did you do before…you know.”

“Before?” Marvin frowned with a teasing smile on his lips. I shook my head and lowered my gaze.

“Nothing, never mind.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” Marvin chuckled. “My family has their own business. We sell liquor.”

“Really?” I gasped, surprised. I mean, it wasn’t that surprising because the guy on the bridge called him boss, but it was another passion we could share. “Gosh, we have so much in common!” I said.

“Except, 1 didn’t go to prison, and I don’t have tattoos on my face.”

Marvin cleared his throat while I could almost punch myself at my choice of words. “Shit, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s okay, Elena.” Marvin laughed. I had already offended him more than once, but he didn’t seem to mind. He seemed unbothered, which was probably because he must’ve heard it all before.

“I thought you liked my tattoos.”

“I do. I think they make you look sexy!” I blurted. A flush appeared on my cheeks, while Marvin seemed satisfied by the compliment. “Fuck, what am I saying,” I whispered nervously.

Marvin laughed and slightly squeezed my hand. “I don’t mind. I think you’re cute.” He spoke. There was definitely a difference in maturity, which was not unexpected. I was twenty-one years old, and we only had a four-year age gap, which wasn’t that much, but he had gone through a lot and probably had to grow up fast.

“Elena,” Marvin spoke. I did not know what he was going to ask me, but for the first time, I was able to experience a nervous look on his face. “Y-yes?” I answered.

He was just about to open his mouth before we got interrupted by the sound of my loud phone. Why now?

“You should get that first.”

“U-uh, s-sure.” I stuttered. Marvin was used to ordering around people, and I was unfortunately used to following orders. I let go of Marvin’s hand and grabbed my phone, only to see Victoria’s name.

Why would she even call me, despite knowing I was on a date?

I looked at the message notification and read the first few words of Victoria’s text. ‘Your Marvin is…

“Are you okay?” Marvin asked. I muted my phone and looked up before my hand made its way towards his. “Yes, I’m fine-it’s nothing.”

“So, where were we?”

“I was just about to ask you something.” Marvin smiled. I smiled back and waited for his question as I was already used to getting interrogated.

“Do you believe in love at first sight?”

All I could feel was the sound of my beating heart as he looked into my eyes and waited for an answer. I was not the smartest, but I knew what he meant by that.

“I-I-1,” I stuttered. He had just confessed his feelings to me, and all I had to do was to answer his feelings in return, but something was stopping me. Marvin’s straightforward personality was something I had never experienced before.

“T”

“Is there anything else you need, boss?”

My eyes immediately shifted to the man who had suddenly appeared behind Marvin. Instead of looking at Marvin, he looked at me, which meant he probably came here with different intentions.

I recognized the voice as the same voice I had heard on the bridge. Marvin rolled his eyes and looked back at his supposed friend. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see her.” The man spoke. “It’s nice to meet you, Elena.”

My name rolled off his tongue as if we had been friends all along. He had a familiar face and a cheerful presence, but I could see through that act. While I had a safe and comfortable feeling around Marvin, this man made me feel anxious.

The look in his eyes was dark and evil. In contrast to Marvin’s dark brown curls, this man had long black hair styled into a high bun. The amount of confidence which he carried with him was beyond explanation.

I had seen him before.

I didn’t know where, but I had seen him before.

“I-its nice to meet you too.” I gave him a slight nod. The man wrapped his arm around Marvin, who was clearly annoyed and laughed at the situation. “I like this one. She seems nice.” He spoke.

Marvin said something in return while I looked around the restaurant to hide my nerves. I was a very talkative person, and I loved meeting new people, but something about this situation gave me a bad vibe.

It almost seemed like Marvin had forgotten all about me as he was arguing with his friend, so I grabbed my phone and went to my messages to read Victoria’s text.

‘Marvin is the son of a cartel boss from the Castillo family and framed one of our clients for a murder he committed!! He is NOT innocent. Safe yourself and run away and call me ASAP!!!”

This couldn’t be real.

I read the message repeatedly, just wishing that it would disappear, but that was not the case. No wonder Victoria blew up my phone.

This couldn’t be real.

I slowly raised my head while my hands were trembling and looked from Marvin to his friend. They were so busy with each other that they hadn’t noticed my shocked reaction.

Flashbacks of his friend’s face slowly made their way back into my mind, and it was only a matter of seconds before my brain realized what was going on.

I recognized his friend’s face because it was the person my dad had shown me in the case files of the murder of his partner and best friend, agent Maddens.

The face right in front of me was one of the most important people in the Castillo cartel and he called Marvin his boss. It was the face of Panther. The same Panther whose name I had been mocking.

My dad and Alex’s conversations came back to me, and I felt stupid for not putting two and two together. Marvin, my Marvin, was part of the exact family they had been hunting and everything suddenly made sense.

Marvin’s sentence, my dad’s breakdown, Panther calling Marvin his boss, and so much more.

Was this all part of Marvin’s plan because he knew of my identity, or was this pure coincidence?

“Excuse me!” I managed to call out. Marvin and Panther stopped arguing and turned around to face me while I was too frightened to look into their eyes.

“I-I have to go to the restroom.”

“It’s right down the hall. Do you want me to go with you?” Marvin asked. My blood was near boiling as I felt betrayed and angry. His voice sounded so sweet, but that voice belonged to a monster, a murderer and a criminal. He told me he was innocent and he lied.

“I think I can manage, thanks.” I forced a smile on my face.

What if this was all some crazy plan to kidnap me so he could force my dad to stop his investigation? I tried to play along the part and shot Marvin and Panther a seductive smile as I got up from my chair.

“I’ll be back later.” I winked at him. Panther gave me a polite nod while Marvin looked at me with a smile on his face.

I kept the calm look on my face until I was out of sight and rushed out of the restaurant. What was happening? Why was this happening to me?

How was it even possible that the man of my dreams turned out to be the son of one of the most dangerous man in the city?

I rested my hands against the wall and leaned forward so I could control my breathing. I was close to fainting, and I did not know what was happening to me.

How could it be?

At the moment, there was only one thing on my mind, and that was to go home as soon as possible so I could take a proper look at those files.