Gael's Naughty Angel: A Mafia Prince Romance

Gael drove them in a black escalade towards a basketball court a few blocks away from Nonna Flavia's house. They rode separately from the others. He told Angela that the escalade was his car in New York and that he had one of his men bring it over from a garage where he stored it whenever he wasn't here. The vehicle was large and luxurious and it fitted a tall man with a large frame like him so much more than the sedan he drove in Esmea. She asked him about it, and he only told her that he didn't want to draw attention to himself—thus the smaller car.

And she understood. It made perfect sense. She still didn't entirely understand and know about the agreement his family had with the Parks who ruled over the state of Esmea, but she did know that they couldn't stay there for long. 

New York was their home. And this luxurious car, along with the house and the family, spoke so much about him. Gael was different here in his territory. He didn't seem to keep looking behind his shoulders as much as he did in Mayne. He looked so much at home here and it caused a slight ache in her heart for keeping him away from where he was supposed to be.

Reaching the venue, Gael parked right outside the open court, a large white tent covered the space where she assumed the feeding would be held since there were some of his family going in and out of it, as well as homeless people going inside.

Angela was slightly awed as she stared at the sight that she didn't realize Gael had already gotten off the car until he opened her door. She placed her hand in his and alighted, her gaze still directed at the tent. A warm cloth touched her neck, and she looked down to see him fixing a grey scarf around her, looping it a couple of times before doing a simple knot to secure it in place. 

"What about you?" She looked up, and he was already fixing his own scarf around his neck. "Oh."

"Ready?" He held out his hand for her, and they walked inside.

The inside of the tent was crowded. She didn't dare to count but Gael said that there could possibly be around a hundred if not more—and that it's not even 1% of the total number of homeless people in the city. The food table was set up on the left while the chairs and tables were on the right, and several heaters were placed around the tent to keep everyone warm.

"We're handling the food table today." Gael brought her behind the long table where trays of food were covered.

Alice, Nonna, and the rest of the family were busy doing what they needed to do before opening. Angela was busy taking in the whole place as it was her first time to be in something like this, and it was quite exciting and overwhelming at the same time.

"Here." Gael pulled her to the side and put on a white apron on her and swiftly tied the strings behind her. She instantly pulled her hair up into a ponytail to keep them away from her face. After wearing his own apron—in which he looked cute, by the way—he handed her a pair of disposable gloves.

Alice put Angela on soup duty while Gael was on the butter chicken next to her. Nonna was on bread while Alice was on vegetables and salad. Three other cousins stood behind the trays of sliced fruits and drinks. 

Angela eyed the soup in the tall pot and swirled the ladle around—even she wanted to eat all the food they were serving. "Everything looks delicious," she muttered.

Gael looked at her, realization dawning in his eyes as he cursed under his breath. "Shît. I forgot you haven't eaten anything since we left this morning. I'm so sorry. Are you hungry? I can ask someone else to serve the soup while you eat something first."

Angela shook her head and smiled at him reassuringly. "It's okay, Nonna made me PB & J just before we left. She's very sweet."

He nodded, his shoulders relaxing upon knowing she had eaten something. "She's like that... Always taking care of everyone."

"You haven't eaten too, have you? We left pretty early...you left your house earlier. You want soup?" She smiled, lifting the ladle towards a bowl in her hand.

He chuckled, shaking his head and then nodding towards the people in line. "It's for them. I'm okay. We'll eat lunch at Nonna's after this."

Soon, Gael signaled everyone from the table to start serving. The people in line excitedly moved forward, and the food team began putting food on their plates. 

Giovanni came inside the tent, guiding a group of people who just came in to follow the line. Apparently, he was out with the others to transport some homeless people who couldn't walk far and brought them over to the court to eat. A string of people of varying ages sloped around the interior of the tent, anticipation filling their eyes as they looked at the table of food that's waiting for them.

It hadn't even been fifteen minutes since they started, and there were already people singing in the line. It was indeed quite a party, and Angela found herself smiling the whole time. Some people were even dancing. The place was like a Christmas party in the middle of the day. The tall pot of soup and the trays of food were quickly emptied, and the men from the De Luca family systematically replaced them with a full one that's ready to be served to the rest of the people in line.

Angela had so much fun and seeing the people eat at the table with so much gusto warmed her heart. The satisfied looks on their faces made her want to cry. It made her think that if Gael's family hadn't done this, these people might have been starving outside in the cold. Seeing this made her realize how blessed she was growing up. While she lived in a mansion, these people lived in the streets. While she didn't care about the next meal prepared by their house chef, these people's daily problems were what they could eat when they would go hungry in a few hours.

Angela blinked away the tears and smiled instead. It wasn't because she felt lucky; rather, she didn't want to show that she pitied them. She knew these people didn't want to be pitied. Apart from that, the simple joy of putting food in their stomachs was very heartwarming.

Gael noticed her, and he leaned in to whisper with worry in his eyes, "You okay?"

She nodded, tiptoeing to press a kiss to his cheek. "I'm just happy. Thank you for bringing me here."

He stared at her eyes as if to check if she was telling the truth before curling his lips into a smile. He didn't say anything, but he removed the glove on his left hand and placed his hand on the small of her back—his way of saying, 'I'm glad you're here.' And because she needed his warmth, she leaned into his touch as they continued to serve food to the people.