Mafia Runner

Chapter Thirteen

Instead, with my general classes, I really enjoyed the labs.

I found myself actually entertaining the possibility of entering the medical field. It was a sore subject, especially when my parents pushed me so hard to become a doctor. But the more I thought about it, and the less I heard it being repeated like a mantra, the more I liked the idea of helping people.

Another thing I had confronted about myself was my past immaturity.

The situation with my parents was a prime example. They'd been on me constantly. Instead of talking to them, I had complained. Never once had I sat down with my mother and told her how much her distance hurt. Never once had I told my father he was unfair with his demands. Never once had I gone to Nick and expressed myself.

All these realizations were hard to accept. I loved my family. I loved New Jersey despite feeling as if I didn't fit in.

I missed them all.

I really missed Lucian...

As I squinted up at the sunny sky, I still struggled identifying what I thought of Lucian.

Even after five months away, I hadn't come to a conclusion about him. Despite thinking about Lucian so much, I found myself angrily turning my thoughts in another direction. The times I found myself looking for him on campus were the days I spent in a depressed gloom.

I hadn't met another gay man on campus. There were surely many of them, yet it was—it was difficult searching for and identifying.

Did we advertise some way? Did I miss the memo?

I'd tried experimenting with girls again. The girls here were easy to get along with. Many of them were still my friends. But when I went on dates with them, I'd found myself disappointed. Not because they were unattractive or uninteresting but because they—

They weren't Lucian.

I sighed angrily.

As I stared at the puffy clouds, I wondered when I would go back to New Jersey. I had a commitment here. I had to run. I told my mother I wouldn't be home for winter break because I was busy. Little did she know that I just didn't want to go back home because I knew it would be hard to return here—to California.

Suddenly, a branch snapped near me.

Quickly sitting up, I caught sight of a dark figure as it tried to hide itself further into the trees. The man was wearing a dark suit. But he was too broad in the chest and shoulders to be Lucian.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

Through narrowed eyes, I slowly climbed off the bench. A man eventually stepped out into the open with a guilty look on his face. His curly brown hair clashed with his pale skin and chocolate eyes. He wouldn't have looked very threatening, if it wasn't for his body stature and the handgun peeking underneath his suit.

The kicker?

I immediately noticed the small, green pin on his tie. I could distinguish that green gem from anywhere...

The Romano Family.

"Fuck," I swore. "He has you watching me?"

He couldn't have been that much older than me. His eyes were boyishly round as he gradually raised his hands, a gesture meant to hail surrender. "I'm sorry," he spoke lightly, "you should have never seen me."

I took and advancing step forward, my face twisting irritably. "He hasn't contacted me in nearly six months, yet he thinks it's fair to send his men after me?"