—-
Avery
—-
I'm walking the streets of the city.
Dalton in front of me, holding my hand.
I've been asking him for ages, where are we going?
But he continues to ignore me and drags me around with him.
"Dalton, why are we in Manhattan?" I ask him, while he pushes past a crowd of people. "Dont worry about it, work business okay. I need you to distract a couple men".
"Your joking right! I cant distract anyone." i tell him.
"Unfortunately, we're here. So you kinda don't have a choice, unless you want us killed" he says. I look up at him, he smiles then turns to point to group of men.
The smoke, the smell, the cigarettes.
I nudge past Dalton, making my way toward the group. I decide to pretend to fall and hurt my foot.
"Oh ouch!" I say, no answer.
"Um... ouch" i say, again no answer.
Dalton waits and watches from the corner.
I sigh, then stand up and pretend to hurt my foot again.
"OH NO MY FOOT, OUCH MY FOOT" i shout.
The red head from the other night, he looks over at me and heads in my direction.
"Pretty lady, did you hurt yourself?" He teases.
No shit!
"Can you possibly help me?" I ask him, trying to get the others attention.
"You were with Dalton" he says, i look up at him and shake my head. "Don't lie, I recognise you. I'm not stupid. Nathan and Ulloa are in jail because of you two" he says.
I trace my finger around my ear, putting my hair behind it and look down. Then look back up at him, then turn to face the corner then back at the red head.
"Whos over there?" He asks.
"Hmm, no one" i shrug my shoulders.
"Yeah right" he walks past me and I follow him.
The others, well now I have their attention.
"Stop it" i shout at him, then i take out the gun from inside my pocket. Dalton put it there. "Or I'll shoot" i say.
Red head turns to face me, then he laughs.
"Your gonna shoot me" he says.
"I wouldn't push it Dean" says another man behind me.
"She does know Dalton after all" he continues.
"Yeah and it's obvious isn't it. If she's here, then so is he, he is around here somewhere. He wouldn't let her roam around on her own Xander." Dean shouts.
Xander takes a step back, and watches the other men stay put.
"Whatever you say boss" he says.
I assume, since Nathan and Ulloa are gone for now... he is the new boss.
But Dean isn't phased by the gun.
He walks toward the corner again. I keep warning him but I'm too much of a wuss to pull the trigger.
Before he turns the corner, I put the gun down.
Dean grabs a knife from his pocket and then leaps into the corner.
Dalton grabs his hands, then smiles at Dean.
"Hi" he says as he smiles.
Dalton pushes Dean and he stumbles back and falls, the knife drops to the floor.
"I only come for this thanks" he stands over Dean, leans down and takes something out of his pocket.
"Enjoy your day" he smiles again, before taking my arm and dragging me along with him.
—-
While walking the streets of Manhattan.
I come upon a familiar book store.
"My mother used to bring me here" i tell Dalton.
He stops and looks at the book store.
"Want to go in?" He questions me, i nod my head and walk into the shop as he follows after me.
While in the shop, I roam around the books and all the memories come flooding back. My mother reading to me in the corner, me coming here every weekend to change my book. That's how much of a bookworm I was.
I walk toward another isle, before spotting a familiar woman in front of me. I pause and just watch her.
It's my mother.
Dalton is too far away from me, he stands beside the door waiting for me.
I stumble and catch my mother's attention, before turning around and fleeing. However I do hear her, she calls out my name while I walk away from her. It pings my heart, but I grab Daltons arm and leave the store.
He looks at me confused, while walking behind me because now I'm in the lead. "What happened?" He says.
"Nothing" i tell him.
"Tell me Avery" he directs me, so I stop us and look up at him. Tears well in my eyes, "I saw my mum" i said.
He smiles, "thats good, why didn't you say something" he says. "No, no this isn't good. They cant see me with you, they cant see me like this."
He shakes his head then spots Dean and his crew in the corner of his eye.
"We need to go" he says.
I nod my head, then wipe my eyes before taking his hand and following him through an alleyway.
There are so many alleyways.
Dalton expects them to be around the corner, as he informs me to take out the gun. So now here I am, walking toward a corner with a gun in my hand.
I quickly leap around the corner to have the gun pointing straight to my father.
He stares at me.
I stare at him.
I drop the gun.
Dalton stands behind me.
My mother stands beside my father.
She looks at Dalton.
"Avery" she says, "I knew I saw you" she tells me.
"We thought you were gone, that you were missing" she says.
"Did we ever raise you to hold a gun" my dad asks me, I shake my head unable to speak. Dalton watches. "Is this where you've been this whole time, with him, apart of what he is" my dad asks me.
"I-" i pause.
"She didn't have a choice" Dalton says behind me.
"I, i forced her to" he says. My parents both look up at him.
"Well then, if you excuse us. We will be taking back our daughter now" my dad says.
"No" I shout.
Dalton stays put.
My dad crosses his arms.
My mother shakes her head.
"Listen okay, he didn't force me. It just happened okay. I thought that I'd never see you again" i tell them.
"It's him or us Avery, we don't want to hear this" my mother shouts.
I sigh.
"You cant do that!" Dalton says, "you don't have a say in this" my mother says. Dalton stops and just puts his hand to his head.
"Avery" my dad says, he stares into my soul.
I've missed them, I really have. But what I have with Dalton, it's come from hatred. However there is definitely something there. My parents would never let me go anywhere near him if I'm to choose them, if I'm to be with them, go with them, stay with them.
"I'm sorry" i tell them, before linking my hand with Daltons.
"Your more then welcome to hate me" i tell them.
My dad just shakes his head, my mother though. She takes her hand, her warm soft hand turned cold, it turned cold and it hit across his face.
Dalton does nothing.
He just allowed her to slap him.
"You did this" she shouts, "you've poisoned her" she says.
"You don't deserve her, you never will" she tells him.
Dalton just sighs, then he removes his hand from mine and walks away.
I hesitate before following him.
"Avery" I hear my mother, so I turn back to face her.
"What" i shout, I'm to stunned with what I just sore.
"Guess what?" She questions me.
"What" i say again.
My mother pauses, but my dad stands beside her and finished her sentence for her.
"This won't end well" he tells me.
"I'll take my chances" i tell them, before turning on my heel and chasing after Dalton, while he just stands on his own by some traffic lights.
"I'm sorry" he says, "you should of went with them," he says.
"Dont, don't be silly" i tell him.
"Why the fuck did you choose me?" He asks, his face red from my mother's hand.
"Because, it's fun" i say. "Its a new prospective of life, I'm so used to being this good girl, with the books, the certain alcoholic intake, the friendship barriers and the relationship barriers" i tell him.
"But now, now all of that is gone and I get to be what I want to be, who I choose to be, and I choose to live outside of my comfort zone. Because truthfully, it isn't my comfort zone no more" i tell him.
He kisses my forehead, then takes my hand again.
"Lets go home" i say.
He smiles down at me.
—-
Dalton
—-
We're in a cafe. Now back in Boston, i twirl the spoon around the hot mug and look down at the chocolate flavoured coffee. They run out of cinnamon.
"Why ain't you drinking it?" She questions me, while finishing off her tea. Putting the empty mug to the table.
I'm overthinking, to caught up in my own thought. Too stunned about what just happened.
"She's right you know, your mother" i tell her, she looks up at me and rises her eyebrow, "your too good for me, way to good for me and I don't deserve you" i tell her.
She takes my hands, and presses hers on top of them. All i do is stare at her, "well then maybe that means that I don't deserve you" she says.
I smile. "My parents, they will come around. That or they'll stay out of it. It does upset me but, at the end of the day, I've made my decision. That's final."
I lean back on the chair I'm in, and I remove the memory drive from my pocket. "Whats on it?" She asks.
I sigh, before putting it back into my pocket and taking my drink. "I dont know, but it has to be important for Lukas to want me to have it" i tell her.
I end up downing my drink, and by the time I've payed for the time spent there, were back home with the company of Olivia and Lukas.
—-
"Open it" Lukas tells me, as we all sit on the floor by the table in the living room, us all watching the laptop.
I click the button, and the drive plays from the tiny box and onto the laptop screen.
"Wow" Liv says.
Avery just quirks her eyebrow, "what exactly is all this?"
"This is everything that Harris and his tribe have been planning" i say, pointing to a bunch of heists.
"I dont get it, what are they? If they ain't apart of your mafia, but they do heists and stuff" Avery questions me.
"There a mob" Lukas says, "it's up to us folk, Paradise City, to take down each and every mob there is involved with NewYork city" he says.
"So then I keep the infamous 'it's my city' crown" i say.
Liv laughs and Avery just smiles at me.
Lukas continues to look through all the documents until he comes across one that isn't the best of heists.
"Dalton, you might want to see this" he says, while looking at me.
I flip the laptop closer to me, before reading her name on the document.
"What the fuck!" I say.