Broken Rules

CHAPTER 1

JOSIE’S POV

This is me and let's just say you'll get to see more of me. I am not some spoiled brat. Yeah I do have an attitude like my brother says but I don't see it that way. Some may say I am a b*tch but the truth is I am just standing up for myself.  Let's just say that life was a b*tch to me so I was a b*tch to her. Now...where was I?
Right now I’m waiting here for my twin brother. Here is a dark alley in the bad part of town. Why? Well, how do I say this? Me and my brother are part of a gang. We are actually the kids of the gang leader. We were born in this world, wegrew up in this lifestyle. I know a lot of people that think the world I live in is cruel and unusual, but for me it’s almost perfect. I say almost because there are a lot of risks. There is a lot of death and pain and sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t protect the people you care about.
Well, here comes Alec.
JOSIE: You are late.
ALEC: I am not late you just came     here earlier.
And suddenly he opens his arms and hugs me. The bear hugs from my brother…are the best kind of hugs.
ALEC: I missed you, little pain in the a*s.
JOSIE: I missed you too jacka*s.
*they both laugh*
JOSIE: So what do I need to do this time?
ALEC: I'll tell you at the warehouse. Did you finish the job dad gave you?

-FLASHBACK-

It’s 10 p.m. and I’m in a junkyard. The weird part of this is that I actually enjoy it. Agh..here comes the guy I wanted to see. Taking the money people owe my dad id fun but it can also be annoying.
JOSIE: You know the drill boy. It's either the money or your life. The choice is all yours.
GUY: *laugh* The Don sent a cute little doll like you to do his dirty job.
GUY: Well sorry to dissappoint but he's not gonna get the money.
I see him drawing out his gun but I am faster. The idiot actually thinks he can kill someone who was basically born with a gun in her hands. 
JOSIE: In that case…shotgun sound….goodbye.
JOSIE: So dumb. The nerve...calling me a little doll.
-END OF FLASHBACK-
JOSIE: Let's say the guy didn't have the money and used the wrong words to describe me.
ALEC: *cracks a laugh* He called you a doll, didn't he?
JOSIE: *screams in anger* HE DID! Why does everyone assume that I am weak? I swear it’s getting ridiculous.
JOSIE: JUST BECAUSE I AM A WOMAN THAT DOESN'T MEAN I AM WEAK!!!
Of course my brother had to laugh. He just can’t help himself.
ALEC: At least none of the boys from the warehouse call you a doll.
JOSIE: If they did they would be dead by now.
AT THE WAREHOUSE
JOSIE: Hi guys.
DANTE: Hi kiddo.
JOSIE: Stop calling me that…I'm not a kid anymore.
HENRY: *airquotes* Sure big girl.
JOSIE: I'm giving up!
JOSIE: Do you know where is dad?
DANTE: He is in his office.
HENRY: He is in a meeting.
JOSIE: *wink* Well it seems like the perfect moment to see him
DANTE: Jo-
ALEC: I'm going after her...
I go into my fathers office where I finds him with another man.
JOSIE:  Hi dad!
JAX: Hi sweety pie. How did the mission go?
JOSIE: It was easy.
JAX: So you got the money?
JOSIE: About that…the guy didn’t want to give me the money.
JAX: Then I guess we have a body.
JOSIE: You bet we do. He didn’t have the money AND he pissed me off.
JAX: Let me guess…he was another idiot that called you a doll?
JOSIE: Yeah. A DOLL!!
JOSIE: | While I talk with my dad I can feel a pair of eyes on me. When I look closely I see a man behind my father. He looks about his age. He feels somehow familiar but I can’t wrap my finger around it|
JAX: My bad. Josie, this is Robert Pierce. He is an old friend. He used to visit us when you and Alec were little. He and his son will join our mafia. His son also brought his best friend so we will have three more members in the gang.
JOSIE: | So that’s why he felt familiar|
JOSIE: That’s great. So..all the members are boys? (sarcastic)
JAX: Here we go again. Josie,sweetheart, we already have enough girls in the gang.
JOSIE: I’m going to stop because I really don’t want to fight with you right now. I will let you finish your talk right now. It was nice meeting you. I guess I will see you tonight.”
-Alec enters the room-
ALEC: I’m sorry she barged in here like that. Hi mister Pierce.
ROBERT: Alec we talked about that. You can call me Robert and your sister is a delight.
JOSIE: See Alec?! I’m a delight
-JAX sights-
ALEC: A pain in the ass that’s what you are.
JAX: Both of you stop. I’m going to talk to you later.
After rolling our eyes we both leave the room just that my brother with a frown and me with a smirk plastered on my face.
IN THE BOXING ROOM
As soon as we enter the room my eyes land on Connor. Why do all the guys I know need to walk around half naked? Connor is punching a big with so much force that I think the bag with so much force that I think the bag might fall from the chains.
JOSIE: Hey Connor! You up for a fight?
CONNOR: You know I’m always up for a fight.
JOSIE: Perfect!
ALEC: Josie stop. We need to go home and change before tonight
JOSIE: You’re right (shrug)
ALEC: I’m always right
-JOSIE rolls her eyes-
JOSIE: By the way, we have three new members.
CONNOR: Really?
ALEC: Yeah. Dad said two of them should be around our age.
JOSIE: Good! I hope one of them makes the mistake of challenging Connor to a fight. I’m in desperate need for some action
-CONNOR laughs-
ALEC: You are in a gang. How much more action could you want?
JOSIE: You know there’s no such thing as too much action. (chuckle )
LATER AT THE WAREHOUSE
JOSIE’S POV
Right now I am talking with Taylor, my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were born. Her father is my father’s right hand and she is two months older than me so we basically grew up together. We learned how to fight together, how to shot, how to cook which actually didn’t go that well. We did and we still do everything together. She and Alec know me better than I know myself. I know I can always count on them. He is my twin, my other half, but she is my best friend, it’s more than someone I can trust, she is the one person that will never judge me, no matter what happens.
While Taylor was telling me how was her day two new figures caught my eye. Two guys entered the room. They must be the new guys. The first guy I notice is a redhead. His hair reminds me of a burnt orange sunset. He eyes are green, the colour of the forest after it rains. His jawline is sharp. He was wearing a white shirt. You could see his toned body through it and I can say that it’s not bad. I notice a tattoo on his arm and my mind instantly drifts to what meaning could the ink on his hand hold. I like to believe that every tattoo tells a story wether we like to admit it or not. After I take a quick look at him I can say that he is not bad looking. He is actually one of the most gorgeous men I’ve ever seen but there is no way I am going to admit that.
The guy that stands beside him is good looking too. The first thing that catches my eye at him is the ink that creeps its way out of his t-shirt along his hand. It’s identic to the one his friend has. It must be something meaningful to them. He has curly dark brown hair, the colour of the soil after rain when you can hardly tell if it’s brown or black. His eyes are a dark hazel, the color of milk chocolate edged with a deep forest-green. They were truly beautiful. As I look at his features I notice a scar on his cheek. I wonder how he got that. I am snapped out of my thoughts by Taylor’s voice.
TAYLOR: “ JOSIE! Did you hear what I said?”
JOSIE: “ Huh? What did you say?”
TAYLOR: “ What are you looking at?” I see her head turn and for a second I can’t see her face anymore. When she turns back I notice a huge grin on her face.
TAYLOR: “  Holy shit! They are SO hot. No wonder you didn’t pay attention to me.”
JOSIE: ” Meh, I’ve seen better.” I lie.
TAYLOR: “ When? And where  was I?” she basically screams. I could see that for a second everyone in the room was looking at us; the new guys too.
JOSIE: “ Wow! You really know how to be subtle.
As I say that I can see the two of them approaching us.
CHARLIE: “ Hi. I’m Charlie” says the guy with curly hair. So that’s his name. He seemed pretty easy going.
TAYLOR: “Hi. I’m Taylor and the girl in deep thoughts is my best friend, Josie.” I hear Taylor say.
JOSIE: “ Thanks for the amazing presentation.”(eyeroll)
CHARLIE: “ The guy next to me is my best friend Blake.” I hear Charlie say.
I guess Blake is not much of a talker, at least that’s what it looks like. When I take a good look at Blake’s face I first look at his eyes. I have a thing for people’s eyes. I believe that the eyes are a mirror to someone’s soul. Poetic much, I know. I usually read everyone easily but there was something about this guy, something really strange. Because the moment I looked into his eyes I couldn’t see anything. He hid his emotions really well, I can’t deny that. But sooner or later I am going to have him all figured out.
While I look in his eyes I can see he is looking in mine too. Could he try to read me just like I tried? Well that’s too bad because he isn’t the only one guarded.
BLAKE: “ You must really like my eyes because you’ve been starring at them since I entered the room.”
JOSIE: “ Call me a curious girl.”
BLAKE: “ Ok curious girl.”(chuckle)
JOSIE: “ So how comes you two decided to join our gang?”
CHARLIE: “ It was actually Blake’s father idea. But we were more than ok with it.”
JOSIE: “ It was Robert’s idea?”
BLAKE: “ You know my father?”
JOSIE: “ Yeah, I met him earlier today. He was talking with the boss.”
I see Taylor giving me a confused look as to why I said the boss and not my dad. It’s easy actually. I don’t want people to judge or treat me differently because of who my father is. Some gang members actually asked my why did my father force me into this world but it wasn’t like that. I had a choice and I chose this lifestyle. Actually my dad did everything to make me NOT choose this. But this is who I am. It’s in my blood. Contrary to other’s beliefs I earned my place and my respect here.
Just when Blake is about to open his mouth to say something my dad and Robert walk in the room. Everyone looks at them.
JAX: “ Good evening, everyone! As some of you know, we have three new members. This is Robert, an old friend of mine, an incredible strategist and one of the new members. The other two are Blake and Charlie.” I see my dad motioning them to go over to him. When they get there my father continues his speech.
JAX: “ The redhead over here is Blake. He is very good at fighting and and his shooting skills are a must for us. The curly guy is Charlie. He is one of the best hackers I’ve ever seen. These being said I am more than happy to tell them welcome in our gang.”
Everyone applause with excitement but I just stay still with my arms crossed. A good fighter, huh? We’ll see about that. Slowly Connor make his way to me.
CONNOR: “ Want to test how good he is at fighting?” he asks with a huge smirk on his face.
JOSIE: “ I would love to.” I say smiling.
CONNOR: “ Hey new guy! You say you’re good at fighting? How about you fight me?”
Everyone in the room gasps but Blake seems unfazed by what Connor said.
BLAKE: “ Sure. Why the hell not?”
In a split of second everyone formed a circle and in the middle were Connor and Blake. As the fight began, they kept their distance. I could see Connor being relaxed while Blake was a little bit tensed. Connor grew impatient because of the circling and threw his fist at Blake’s face but he dodged it just in time. After that Connor tried to attack with a left jab, which seemed fake to me because his eyes were glued to Blake’s legs. For someone who wasn’t properly trained or didn’t pay attention, that move would have been almost impposible to see, but not for me. I expected Blake to fall and continue the fight on the ground. I was shocked when he didn’t get hit. And no. Connor didn’t miss. It was almost perfect. But Blake figured out what his move was. You see, when you fight the most important thing is to look for the weakness of your opponent. That’s what my father always told me and Alec. Studying your opponent’s moves is something crucial. And something Connor didn’t do. I’m starting to think we both underestimated Blake. While Connor was still shocked Blake threw his first punch. A punch in the ribs followed by three more. At this point you could see the anger in Connor’s eyes. He fakes a punch and this time he succeeds in grabbing Blake’s legs and throws him to the ground. Then he hovers over Blake’s body and starts punching him in the face. Damn. That’s gonna leave some marks. I can see Connor catching his breath. Blake takes advantage of his moment of weakness and throws Connor off him. He then stands up and wraps him arm around  the collar of Connor’s shirt and throws him against the wall. This is more intense than I thought it will be. And I enjoy every second of it. With one last punch in the gut Blake lets go of the shirt and Connor falls to the ground. That’s a sight I never thought I will see. I mean, yeah, I can beat Connor and I’m the only one in the gang that can. Well at least I WAS the only one that could. Blake is good. He is really good. I’m actually kind of impressed and that’s something that doesn’t happen often. With that on my mind I leave the room.

LATER
JOSIE’S POV
Right now I am in the gym. I’ve been training for the past two hours and I think I might destroy the punching bag. As I keep punching I hear the door opening. I don’t turn my head though. Instead I keep on puching. I hear someone move behind me.
BLAKE: “ What did the poor punching bad do to deserve that?” I hear someone say with a little bit of humor in their voice. I immediately know who said that. Blake. His deep voice sent shivers down my spine. I turn my head and say:
JOSIE: “ Are you following me, Rosso?” I ask a little bit annoyed.
BLAKE: “ Rosso, huh? Is that my new nickname? I didn’t think we were there yet.” He says with amusement in his voice.
JOSIE: “ Call it however you want.” After I say that I turn around and start punching the bag again.
BLAKE: “ So, did you see me fight?”
JOSIE: “ Ugh! Do you really have nothing better to do than try to  make small talk with me?” I ask really annoyed.
BLAKE: : “ Actually I do. But I kind of like annoying you. I think I will put it on my to-do list.” He says while winking at me.
JOSIE: Really, Rosso! FUCK OFF!” I say and you could see the anger radiating from my body. But he just stands there and looks at me. Then I suddenly throw a punch at the bag followed by the word “FUCK”, then another punch comes followed by the end of the phrase “OFF”. I scream that from the top of my lungs. He seems taken back by my out burst. He doesn’t say anything and just leaves the room. I’m not like this all the time. But I have my moments. I call them moments of weakness. They are the moments in which my walls are down and my emotions take over. They are very rare. I am not mad at him or something. I am mad at myself for snapping like that. I am mad at myself for letting my feelings control me like that. Usually when I feel like I am about to snap I come here and blow off some steam and it calms me down. But today it didn’t. The others know not to talk to me when I am like that but he is new and I’m pretty sure no one told him that. It’s not his fault but right now the last thing I want to do is talk to him.
AT THE WAREHOUSE’S BAR
BLAKE’S POV
Taylor and Charlie stand near the bar. They are talking and from time to time you can see a genuine smile appearing on Taylor’s face. It seems like Charlie has already found someone he gets along with. I can’t say the same. I just don’t get her. I was just teasing her and she snapped like that. To me it looks like she is quite the bitch. Great! Another person I can’t stand. That’s a bummer actually because she looked pretty interesting to me. But if that’s her attitude every day then I don’t want to get to know her. The only good thing that happened today is that I beat the shit out of that Connor guy. It looks like beating him is a big deal here. I have to admit that the guy put up quite the fight. He is good, but I am better. I make my way towards Charlie and Taylor.
BLAKE: Hi guys. What are you talking about?
CHARLIE: Hi man. We were just getting to know each other. Turns out that Taylor grew up around most of these people.
BLAKE: Really?
TAYLOR: Yeah. You know, most of the time it’s cool but there are times when knowing everyone here sucks really bad. But are you ok? I mean we’ve known each other for half an hour but I can tell that something happened.
CHARLIE: Yeah, Blake. Who pissed you off?
BLAKE: Josie pissed me off. She’s a bitch-
TAYLOR: Whoa! I know she can be a lot to handle at times but she’s not a bitch. What did she say? Or what did you say to make her angry?
BLAKE: She was punching a bag like her life depended on it so I made a joke about that and she started being sarcastic and at a point she literally scream at me to get out of the gym.
TAYLOR: Damn it! She snapped.
BLAKE: She what?
TAYLOR: Josie didn’t have exactly the easiest life so she’s very well guarded. At times she snaps but that’s very rare. She is not usually like that. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
BLAKE: Well I don’t want to talk to her again so I really don’t care about your explanation.
CHARLIE: Blake…
BLAKE: Look. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to be mean to you but I really couldn’t care less about your friend
TAYLOR: She really isn’t like that. I should go check on her. Talk to you later.
And with that Taylor leaves the room.

JOSIE’S POV:
TAYLOR: COME HERE RIGHT NOW!
JOSIE: I don't want to.
TAYLOR: JOSETTE SALVATORE!
JOSIE: WHOA! YOU'RE USING THE MIDDLE NAME?
She seems pretty mad….
TAYLOR: Yeah I am! NOW COME HERE!       
JOSIE: What happened?
TAYLOR: I don't know. Why don't you tell me. Apparently Blake thinks you're a b*tch.
TAYLOR: Do you mind telling me why?
JOSIE: Look. I didn't want to be like that.
JOSIE: You know I can't control myself when I am like that.       
TAYLOR: *sight* Yeah, I know.
TAYLOR: But Blake doesn't. Because he met you three hours ago while I know you since you were born. You need to apologise.
JOSIE: I know. And I will. But after I calm down.
TAYLOR: Ok. For how long have you been training?
JOSIE: For the past two hours.
TAYLOR: Jo...
JOSIE: I don't know why I didn't calm down until now. Usually I calm down in thirty minutes, an hour tops.
TAYLOR: Listen to me. You are going to change, go home and sleep. Tomorrow is our free day so we will go look for an apartment and maybe go shopping. And I want you to be ok. I'm worried about you lately.
JOSIE: You're right. Maybe some sleep will help me.       
TAYLOR: You want me to take you home?       
JOSIE: No. I can go there alone.
Taylor wraps her arms around me and in that moment I felt like everything was going to be alright.  I knew it wasn’t going to be like that, but just for a moment I wanted it to be.
TAYLOR: Ok. See you tomorrow.
JOSIE: See you.