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•Unveiled Secrets•

Pov: Nick

We were all sitting at the dinner table, the air thick with a tense silence. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, wondering if anyone was going to break the barrier of silence. For a moment, it looked like Jasper was finally going to speak up, and my heart plummeted. I was going to ignore him but then, to my surprise, he directed his question towards ME!

Fuck my life.

"Nickólas, did you get those clothes from Lucas?" Jasper asked.

I mean, where else would I get clothes from? They kind of forced us to leave the mall before we even got what we came there for."umm yeah, h-he gave them to me," I stammered out nervously. Why did I stutter like that?

The room fell silent again, but I could feel Lucas's eyes piercing into me from time to time. I knew he was silently urging me to tell the truth, but I couldn't risk it. If more people found out about the things I overheard earlier, who knows what would happen? Then, suddenly, he nudged me and leaned in close, his lips almost touching my ear.

"We need to talk," he whispered. "Meet me in my room after dinner."

My heart sank to my feet. What could he possibly want to talk about? Does he know? I finished eating as quickly as I could, keenly aware of how Jasper and the others were watching me the whole time.

It was kinda creepy feeling their eyes on me. They need to stop glaring at me.

Finally, Lucas and I were excused by Jasper, and we headed up to his room, hurriedly getting up the stairs.

We walked into his room and he locked the door behind us, and we sat down on his bed. "Why did you stutter?" he asked, his voice oddly subdued.

-Was that all he wanted to know?

"oh that, that was nothing," I said, trying to sound confident.

"I know you're lying, just tell me." pft, why would I?

"I can't tell you," I replied, my heart pounding in my chest. If he finds out, I will be killed

"Why not?"

"I just can't," I insisted, breaking eye contact.

"I asked why Nick." he sounded a bit more intimidating now.

*I sighed

"They'll get mad." Accidentally slipped from my mouth.

"Who will?"

I refused to say anything but I knew that I would have to tell him eventually.

"Nick, tell me."

"Jasper, Michael, and Matteo."

"Why would they get mad?"

The room once more filled with silence

"Nick."

"If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone." I relentlessly gave in. If Jasper, Michael, and Matteo find out about this, I'm throwing Lucas under the bus IMMEDIATELY.

"I promise," he said.

I hesitated for a moment before finally blurting it out. "Jasper, Michael, and Matteo are in the Mafia."

Lucas stared at me, his eyes wide. "How do you know?" he asked.

"I overheard them talking when we got back from the mall. They said something about me being kidnapped." The words spilled out of me in a rush, and I felt a sudden sense of relief at having finally shared my secret.

We stayed in an uncomfortable silence for a while, until I decided to say something.

"It's fine if you don't believe me-"

"I believe you," Lucas said after a moment of stunned silence.

"What do we do now?" I asked, my voice trembling.

He shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea."
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Pov:Jasper

I sat at the lunch table with the others, but the atmosphere was tense and uncomfortable. No one wanted to say anything, and it seemed like the silence was a heavy weight upon them all. I started searching for something to break the tension, to say something that would make the situation less awkward.

As I scanned the lunchroom, my gaze landed on Nickólas, who was wearing Lucas's old hoodie. The sight of it made my eyebrows furrow slightly in confusion. But I then realized that he didn't have any clothes of his own because we left the mall before he got the chance to buy anything.

But why didn't he ask me? I am his legal guardian after all.

"Nickólas, did you get those clothes from Lucas?" I finally asked, breaking the uneasy silence.

Nickólas's eyes darted around the table, and he stammered out a response. "Umm yeah, h-he gave them to me."

I knew that Nickolas was hiding something, but I didn't want to press him in front of everyone. But I did make a mental note to bring it up with Nickólas later after lunch.

I saw how Lucas was glaring at Nickólas and then saw how he whispered something in his ear. But I was sitting too far away to hear what he said.

After a few more minutes of tense silence, both Nickólas and Lucas finished their food and left the lunchroom after being excused by me. The rest of us were left behind, each feeling a little uneasy about what they had just witnessed.

"Don't you guys think they acted a little weird?" Matteo asked, breaking the silence.

"No shit," Austin replied, rolling his eyes.

"Austin, not that language towards your brother!" Michael chided Austin.

Austin mumbled an almost inaudible apology, and I couldn't help but feel that this entire situation was just getting more bizarre by the minute.

"To answer your question, Matteo, yes, they did in fact act weird," Alex finally spoke up, breaking the tension.

"Yeah," I agreed, my mind still racing with questions. Why did he stutter when asked about the clothes? Is he scared of me? If that's the case, then why?

I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the story than any of us knew. He would have to investigate further, try to figure out what was going on. Regardless of what I found, one thing was certain, Nickolas seemed to know something he shouldn't.

And I'm going to find out what.
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Hello everyone!

My trip was cut short, so I'm already back. I had already prepared a chapter before my trip so here you go!

And we're almost at 100k! Isn't that amazing? I think we will have reached that milestone by tomorrow so I will publish another chapter then.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been here from the start but I also want to say thank you to all the never readers♥️