C o l e
Even though I was finally having some time to sleep in after so many days of waking up at the ghastly hour of six in the morning, I still found myself awake. It was close to seven and I just stared at the wall, debating on whether or not I should will myself to go back to sleep.
"Mm..." Eros shifted in his place behind me and his grip on my waist tightened a bit.
"Eros...?" I muttered, feeling the man's lips rest in one spot on my nape. I had thought he was just drowsy as he leaned slightly against me but I soon felt his hands wandering and slithering up my shirt.
My eyebrow twitched when he cupped my chest and began squeezing it.
"What are you doing?" I grumbled as Eros freely groped me.
"They're so firm...it feels nice" he muttered and I really began to wonder if he hit his head or something last night on the way to bed.
"Why do you feel the need to grope me at seven in the morning...?" I asked but Eros just continued to feel me up.
"They were calling to me. What am I supposed to do? Ignore it?" Eros voice was still dripping with sleep as he asked that.
"The only call you need is a wake up call" I muttered before sitting up.
"I'm up..." Eros muttered as he rose up.
"As much as it'd be nice to stay in, we have somewhere to be" Eros said and I watched as he got out of the bed.
"Somewhere to be?" I asked. It was the first I'd heard of it and Eros usually always informs us before hand whenever something was coming up.
"Yes, I have a rather nosy woman in my life who wishes to meet you so very badly" Eros explained and I gave a surprised look.
Someone he knew wanted to meet me? Why?
"I see...is there a reason you didn't tell me sooner?" I asked as I got myself ready.
"Well, I didn't even know she knew about you until yesterday. Mikhail apparently gossips about us during their over the phone tea parties" he said.
Wow, Mikhail. It didn't sound like him but then again, it totally did. He did tend to be privy with knowledge that others think are a secret. It's no wonder he's so good at what he does.
Once we got ready, we headed down to the car and while I was buckling myself in, Eros looked to me.
"You can sleep some more, if you'd like. The house is about an hour and a half drive from here" he said and I nodded.
I wasn't sure if I would take him up on the offer but I just settled for looking out the window as Eros drove for now.
I wonder who this person was. Was she a friend? Family?
"What's this person like?" I asked.
Eros was quiet for a few moments, probably trying to think of a suitable way to describe the woman he mentioned.
"She's pretty difficult to deal with if you aren't used to her personality. The best way I can sum her up though? If she likes you, it's a bad thing, same goes for if she doesn't. There's really no poison to pick there. She's also an overbearing worry wart who loves with an iron fist, and at times, that is not a metaphor" Eros started.
"In that house, there is one major rule that goes for anyone who lives there" Eros looked at me slightly before looking back to the road.
"The only way you can leave is if you prove that you can survive outside of the house. I had to fight tooth and nail to establish my own sort of independence and even now that woman still bugs me to death" he explained.
"To be fair though, I wasn't always like this, as a kid I was more delinquent like. I fought, smoked, and drunk as I pleased and hardly ever gave a shit about what anyone thought about it. I guess you could say it was how I coped with my shitty home life"
"But thanks to several, and I mean several, scoldings and lessons from her, I finally managed to turn myself around and be up to her standards. I found out that it felt better to not wake up drunk all the time in the middle of the day with a killer hangover" Eros let out a chuckle when he finished his retellings.
"So she's Oprah, got you" I muttered and Eros' laughter only continued.
After a while and some more idle chatter, we finally pulled up to a house. It seemed to be a mansion, the front filled with flower beddings and a big sculpture of a Greek woman was out front.
We got out of the car and as we walked up to the house, a tall man was waiting for us, his straight posture almost that of a ballet dancer's.
"Hey, Luci" Eros casually greeted and the man cracked a smile, taking some of the serious air he had around him away. I assumed Luci must have been short for something, most likely Lucifer but that was quite the name to give someone.
"Sir" he greeted back.
"Did she wait at the window?" Eros asked and Luci nodded.
"As always. She's in a good mood so your tardiness may be overlooked" he said and Eros frowned.
"Tardiness? What time did she expect us to be here?" He asked.
"She wanted you here yesterday" Eros and I both have taken back looks at Luci's response.
"That woman..." Eros muttered.
"Please follow me inside" Luci said and we followed him into the house.
Immediately, we ran into a woman. Her brown hair was pulled back into a neat braid and her blue eyes were practically sparkling as she looked over us.
"Eros, it's nice to-" before she could even finish, a figure came dashing past her.
"Move lady!" That same figure yelled and immediately attached itself to Eros who managed to catch it just in time.
"Eros! I can't believe you're here!" The figure was actually just a young boy, no older than thirteen or fourteen and he was obviously very excited to see Eros.
"Hello to you too, Carter" Eros said as he patted the boy's back.
"Carter! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't feed you to the dogs right now!" The woman yelled and Carter gave her a challenging look.
"What dogs? You mean those chihuahuas? They aren't doing shit to me" he said and the woman's brow twitched.
"Get out of here you punk" she gritted but the boy just ignored her. His eyes all of a sudden landed on me and I was surprised when he started glaring at me.
What did I do to him...?
"Eros, how about you take Carter and go catch up with Ray and Alec? I'd like to have a chat with Cole" the woman said as she turned to Eros.
"What could you possibly have to say to Cole that you can't say in front of me?" Eros asked.
"Can't I get to know our new friend here in private?" The woman said as she pointed at me.
Eros looked between us for a moment before letting out a sigh.
"Fine. You better not ask him any rude questions" Eros said.
"I would never. Now get out and take that pest with you" the woman said as she shooed them away with her hands.
"What'd you call me?" Carter glared.
"Did I stutter?" the woman asked, narrowing her eyes on the boy and he huffed, giving me one last glare before following Eros.
Okay then, I clearly didn't make a good first impression on him.
"Come, come" the woman said before ushering me to sit at a table that was in the living room.
"Welcome to my humble abode, my name is Leila. That rude boy you saw was my son, Carter. Don't mind the glares, he's just upset because you've been occupying his favorite cousin's time" Leila said as she sat across from me.
"Favorite...?" I muttered and she nodded.
"Yes, he admires Eros very much. He strives to be like him but if you ask me, it's going to take a long time before he can even scratch the surface" Leila said and my eyes widened a bit at the blunt words.
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"His manners are horrible, he has the mouth of a starving sailor, and he never dresses properly. It's almost as if he isn't even my son..." She said, sighing as she put a hand to her cheek.
Wait a minute...
"Did you raise Eros?" I asked and Leila smiled.
"Why, yes, I did. I raise all of my children to be respectable, mostly truthful, and upstanding folks that walk this planet" She said.
"You're Eros'...mother?" I asked slowly but honestly, it was a wild guess since it didn't make sense with what Eros had told me. Thankfully, Leila's smile dropped and she looked unimpressed with my answer.
"That is an insult. Try again" she said.
"Sister?" I tried and she began to laugh.
"Do I seem that young? Wow, the skincare must be working" Leila said.
"Or the delusion is setting in" Carter's voice echoed and our heads turned to the top of the staircase where he was eavesdropping.
"I thought I told you to go with Eros" Leila said, eyes narrowed. Carter rolled his eyes before walking away but something told me he only went far enough to be out of eyesight.
Sighing a bit, Leila turned back to me with a refined smile.
"I'm Eros' aunt" Leila said.
Now that makes a lot more sense. She must take care of herself properly because she doesn't look a day over thirty.
"Oh, I see. You just look very young for your age" I said and for whatever reason, Leila blushed from my words.
"You flatter me" she said while waving her hand.
"What? Can't you tell that lady is a grandma? You can tell how old she is by counting the wrinkles on her face" Carter was once again at the stairs with a look of disgust on his face.
"Such a rude little boy...I do hope you don't kiss your mother with that mouth" Leila said with a frown.
"You are my mother" Carter said and Leila simply turned her head up.
"I don't raise ill mannered children, clean up your act and then we can talk" She said and that seemed to be all she was tolerating as she ushered Luci over.
"Luci, please do me a favor and escort that boy out to Eros and his brothers" She said and Luci nodded.
"As you wish madam" he said before heading in Carter's direction.
Luci had swiftly marched up the stairs and managed to snatch Carter up before he could run away.
"Hey, let go!" Carter's protests slowly faded as he was finally dragged away.
"So...what is it that you wanted to talk about?" I asked after a few seconds.
"I just wanted to get to know you a bit. How old are you?" Leila asked.
"23" I replied and she nodded.
"Not bad, not bad. How about your birthday?" She asked as she picked up the cup of tea that had already been set in front of us.
I had to pause at that question. I've never been asked when my birthday was so I sat there, blanking as I tried to come up with an answer.
"I don't know..." I said finally and that seemed to leave Leila in shock.
"You don't know your own birthday?" She asked, setting her cup down on it's plate.
"I usually just count New Years as a way to keep track of my age" I admitted and Leila shook her head.
"That is unacceptable! Have your parents no shame for not even celebrating their child's birthday?" She asked and it made me want to give a bitter chuckle.
I never celebrated anything with them, not that I wanted to. To be honest, I don't think they even celebrated Noel's birthday...but I wouldn't really know that since I never did either.
"Well, up until I met Eros, I didn't even have an ID" those words made Leila look like she was about to pass out.
"That is no way to live, matter of fact, that's not even living. I'm sorry to hear you had to deal with something so horrible" Leila said and even though she was sympathetic, there wasn't a drip of pity in her voice.
"That also however leads to my next question, how did you end up joining Eros' group?" she asked.
I tried my best to give a short rundown on how it happened and Leila listened throughout the whole thing without interrupting which surprised me since I figured it was something she'd do.
"That is quite the story...I'm glad to hear that Eros didn't manage to off you. He's too hasty when it comes to getting rid of people that inconvenience him" Leila said with a short sigh.
Well, she's definitely not wrong about that.
"Now, I do have one last question" she said and this time, her face no longer had the pleasant look to it. It was more serious so I prepared myself for whatever she was going to ask.
"How do you fare in a fight?" She asked.
"Just fine" I replied and Leila smirked.
"Care to put it to the test?" She said and I faltered, not really expecting that. She wanted me to fight her...?
"Uh..." I trailed off.
"Oh, not with me. With Luci. You see, Luci has taught all of my children everything they know. From basic combat to even weapon handling, he's quite the expert. If you can beat Luci, I'll consider you as someone worthy of being with Eros despite having no sort of real background" Leila explained.
"And if I don't win?" I asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Eros doesn't need some damsel in distress, these people always go for the one someone cares about the most. I don't want Eros losing his life over, no offense but, a nobody" She said and it didn't take a genius to get what she was hinting at.
She wasn't wrong though, if Eros were to die for me it'd be anticlimactic. I'm not someone who's done a great deal in my life or even someone of a notable background, she was in the right to be this way.
"I understand..." I said and Leila beamed.
"Great. I'll have Luci set up the training room" she said before standing up.
"And Cole, believe me when I say this" Leila said, looking me in the eye with a smile on her face.
"I'm rooting for you" she said and I couldn't help but just think about one thing.
Eros is not going to like this.