Queen of the Underworld

58

"Wake up! Wake up! Come on, Tasia! Wake up!"

I jolted awake, terrified. My heart was racing, my head pounding. I reached for the drawer with my gun inside, bracing myself to attack.

It was becoming second nature to me. Lorenzo said it was a good thing. I found it scary. I was becoming more accustomed to war and danger.

"Wait! Relax! We're not under attack!" I recognized my mothers voice and instantly calmed down.

"Mom, what the hell?" I sighed, still pumped with adrenaline and fear of what could have been.

She sat on the edge of my bed and smiled. "You called me mom."

Suddenly I felt scrutinized. I felt a nervous laugh bubbling at my throat. "I've called you that before, haven't I?"

She shrugged, "yeah, but I love it every time. Anyway, get up. We have work to do."

Glad do the change of topic, I got off the bed. "What's today?"

She frowned, "Nicolas and Veronica's birthday. How could you forget?"

I gasped, "oh shit! It's already June twelve? I forgot with everything that's been going on. Crap!"

She laughed, "relax. I have a plan. Nicolas is in the warehouse training with the boys and Veronica is still sleeping. We should go."

I went into the closet and put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. "Where to?"

I noticed she was already dressed. She was wearing jeans, a blue blouse and sneakers. It was a shocking change from her usual heels and dress. "The farmers market with Kiara. She wanted to make them a cake. She wants to add strawberries and a whole bunch of other things. Let's go, she's waiting."

I slipped on my sneakers and tied my hair up quickly as I walked down the stairs. Kiara was already waiting, a big smile on her face. She was always so happy, I don't know how she manged it.

"Ready to go?" Aurora asked her.

Kiara sighed, "we have to wait for Elijah and Armando. Don Lorenzo only trusts them to take care of the both of you. They should be here any second now. They were just leaving to get a glass of water."

As if on cue, both guards came walking towards the door, guns on their waistbands and dressed in all black.

"You guys are going to burn alive in those clothes. You do know that black absorbs light, right? The sun will fry you both like chicken." I couldn't help the smug smile off my lips.

Armando flicked my ear, "keep babbling and I might just turn you in to the enemy."

I rolled my eyes, "oh please. You couldn't live a day without me. Let's go."

We walked out to the car and got in. Elijah and Armando took the driver's and passenger seat, while Kiara, Aurora and I were in the back. It was about twenty minutes to the farmers market. It was packed with people buying fruits and vegetables everywhere.

We got off, and in true Armando and Elijah guard fashion, they made sure to walk one in front and one in back. I rolled my eyes once again and went next to Elijah. "Careful, I'm sure Mussolini is just waiting for us take the last berries."

He smiled, "I'm counting on it."

Kiara then appeared and grabbed me by the arm. She pulled me to the strawberry stand and told me to pick a lot. I nodded and began taking strawberries here and there and placing them in the bamboo basket we were given.

"Pick the hard ones, not the soft ones. The soft ones taste bad with the cake." She told me as we both picked out the best ones.

The weather was intense and I could feel the sweat already dripping on my back and forehead.