HIGH - Tom Holland

7

Alexina never went down for diner. She didn't like eating in front of strangers and that hadn't changed. So she decided to try the same plan as yesterday and maybe this time it would succeed - Tom wasn't home after all. Once it had been an hour since she last heard a noise in the house- which was of Tom, Harrison and Penelope coming back home- she silently stepped down the stairs. She was careful of the noisy steps and creaky wood and as she finally got to the last step she relaxed. Alexina sighed, pushing her hair out of her face before walking directly to the kitchen.

The woman gasped, stepping back a little before shaking her head at herself and standing upright again - facing the man sitting at the kitchen table. He had his arms crossed over his chest tightly and when he saw her a smirk flashed across his lips and he pointed to the plate in front of him. She bit her lip, mad at herself that she got caught and was so predictable to him. Alexina sat in front of him as she was told to do and waited for him to talk.

"Diner was served hours ago." He simply stated and she nodded, eyeing the recently heated up plate in front of her. The single sight of it made her stomach growl and she prayed to God Tom hadn't heard it. She was proven otherwise when the smirk grew larger on his face and it took everything inside her to keep from hiding her blushing cheeks with her hands. Instead, she let herself blush and acted like nothing happened. "Why didn't you come down then?"

"Wasn't hungry then." Alexina shrugged, acting like it was nothing but it was obvious to Tom that she was lying to his face. Alexie knew that he knew and it pissed her off. How could he read her so well? He barely knows her.

"Yeah, sure." He scoffed lightly, still smirking. Alexina thought to herself that maybe this was his resting expression. His face rarely showed any expression except for a smirk. Maybe he was doing it to piss her off too. They stayed in silence for a while, eventually Alexina started to dig in. She wondered wether she should ask him about her father or not. The woman didn't want to trust him, at least not yet, but she had a feeling he knew about her father - and she needed to know. Especially at this point.

"To-" She cut herself off quickly, eyes widened. She couldn't believe she almost called him by his real name. His facial expression fell and suddenly it was impossible for her to read him. She cowered on her seat, hurrying to change the subject so she could try to make him forget about her slip up, "H, can I ask you something? About my father?" Alexie finally squeaked out, her voice low and filled with nervousness.

"What about him?" Tom asked back, leaning forward and Alexina was extremely thankful that he let the name thing slip. She made a mental note to never let it happen again, but she didn't know how Tom actually felt about it. He had beaten up Josh for bringing it up but didn't say a word when she almost did? It was weird to her, especially when she compared the relationship he had with Josh - who she still hadn't heard from- and the one they had.

"How do you know him?" She asked shyly, stabbing her fork in the food repeatedly in a way to ease her nerves. He observed her for a few seconds, noting how she did everything to avoid looking at him.

"You remember Harrison telling you you're great leverage?" The woman nodded at him in response, the usual innocence in her eyes, "Well it's against him. See, he's the boss of another kind of mob - a weaker one- but he stole from us. He stole a lot and that's why we were after Ryan." He vaguely explained to her, leaving her with a thousand questions in mind - most of which she would never dare ask. Alexina knew it would piss him off if she bugged him too much and to be honest, he still scared her a little so she didn't want to overstep or be overconfident.

She was stunned. Her father owned a mob. It certainly explained all the odd and dark behavior, but still. Alexina just discovered, after 23 years of life, that she was the daughter of a mobster.

Then she picked up the pieces. Ryan had been introduced to her years prior by their parents. So her father was definitely in on forcing their relationship. He did it deliberately. He knew Ryan was no good for her yet he matched him with her anyway. As the woman's face paled, Tom suddenly felt regret. He just told her that her entire life was a lie and that she was mistreated in exchange for power and money.

Tom wasn't a fool. He knew the woman in front of him never had a princess kind of life. Hell, with John Sinclair as a father - she never stood a chance. He felt bad for her, probably the first pure human emotion he had felt in months - maybe even years. Tom had principles, one of them was to not hurt innocent people and that was exactly what he was doing with her, at least tried to. He was just letting her past happen all over again. He was using her to get power and money, just like her father and Ryan did for years. He rubbed his face with his hands harshly as she bit her lip, holding back from asking questions.

"Ryan was asked by John to get us our money back - however he could. If he didn't, he'd get fired from the mob. So he contacted us and I wasn't too happy about dealing with a nobody. I threatened John and Ryan, telling them that I'd come after you if he didn't pay back in time. Once we took you, Ryan said he'd pay me back so I offered a trade," The word felt wrong coming from his lips, she wasn't an object - she wasn't his to trade, "They didn't agree. Instead they asked for more drugs and guns as well as you in exchange for my money. I was going to send you back, without the rest obviously, before Josh went ahead and told you my name." He explained with much more details now, making Alexina understand that he was much more open to questions than she had originally thought. She also noted how he called him John instead of saying your father, which she wasn't sure if she wanted to call him that now.

"But they trashed the apartment anyway?" She asked, completely pushing away the thought that her own father didn't think she was worth a certain amount of money - which she knew wasn't small if Tom was after it.

"Yeah. They know I don't hurt innocent people and that was a warning." The man simply stated, looking directly at her. His eyes softened a little, surprising her a lot. She didn't let it show though, she hid it by furrowing her eyebrows.

"What for?"

"They were warning me that you were going to get hurt if you went back without what they asked for. Second reason why you're still here." Her heart skipped a beat at his explanation. Out of all the things he could have told her tonight, she never thought that would be it. Harrison didn't lie to her, they genuinely don't like innocent people getting hurt. They still used her as leverage, but they tried to keep her safe as well and that thought would be kept in the back of her mind.

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That was a long one, hope it wasn't too boring.

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