Reign
"Babe?" I question after hearing the bedroom door open. I'm currently soaking in a bath. After the funeral some of us went to go look for Dash. Luca was supposed to come with but he had to meet with Riley a.k.a me.
"Hey, amore." He says leaning against the sink.
"Hi, how are you feeling?" I motion for him to come towards me. "Join me." He undresses and gets in behind me pulling me close to him.
"Like shit, honestly."
"I'm sorry, Tae. That was dumb of me to ask."
Stupid.
"It's fine baby." He says while dragging the loofah across my back. "There's something I have to show you."
I lean back against his chest and he kisses the top of my head. "What is it?" I feel his heartbeat thump faster against my back. "Hey, what's wrong?" I turn to face him.
"Let's just finish and get dressed. I'll show you then."
~•~~~•~•~~~•~•~~~•~•~~~•~•~
I sit in the middle of the bed, patiently waiting for him to show me. He grabs something from the dresser and walks closer to me. It's something black.
Is that? No, it can't be he said the name on it was Milo.
"I'm sorry, mio amore." He says while handing over the collar.
Dash.
The white letters, covered in blood say.
But something's missing, his pet tag.
"His pet tag is missing. It supposed to clip on right here." I point to the gold hook before I start to panic. "What if they took him to my apartment when I left? I have to call my mom." I get up from the bed and throw on a pair of sweats and some slides. I grab my phone and call Dina. She answers on the third ring.
"Hello."
"Where are my keys?" I ask Luca but Dina responds.
"I have them, wassup?"
"You didn't drive." Luca says.
"Can you-"
"Of course." He says walking in his closet.
"Uh? Hello?"
"Mom, have you been to my apartment recently?"
"I go there everyday, what's wrong, Aubrei?"
"Luca found Dash's collar, but the pet tag was missing. So I was hoping someone stopped by."
"Not that I know of. Unless it was at night. But I can go check now."
"Here, put this on." He hands me one of his hoodies. "Ready?"
"Yeah." I say sliding the hoodie over my head.
"Okay i'm checking now, no one's here but you do have a package. I'll bring it in my house."
"No! Don't touch it!" I stop.
"Why?"
"What's going on, Brei?" Luca asks opening the passenger door.
"There's a package outside my apartment door but I didn't order anything." I get into the car.
"Shit, tell her whatever she does don't touch it." He closes my door and jogs to the other side.
"We'll be there in a second, just go back in the house."
"What about the box?"
"Just leave it, we're on the way."
~•~~~•~•~~~•~•~~~•~•~~~•~•~
"Did you stay out here the whole time?!" I ask Dina getting off the elevator.
"Yes, I didn't want anyone to steal the package."
"Anything could've happened to you."
"But nothing happened."
"So fucking hardheaded." I mumble walking past her to the box.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" She cups behind her ear.
"Nothing." I say.
"That's what I thought. Hi Luca." She pats his shoulder. He smiles back to her.
The closer I get the more revolting the smell is.
Please. God, no.
I'm about two footsteps away before Luca pulls me back. "Let go." I try to pry him off.
"Stop, Aubrei. It could be a bomb or something. Let me check."
"It's not a bomb. It's him." I sob against his chest. "It's Dash."
"No it isn't, don't say that." Dina says walking to the box but Luca grabs her arm as well.
"Please, you two. Take a few steps back just in case." Luca says and Dina grabs my arm and pulls me closer to her door.
"No, I don't want you to get hurt either." He ignores me and stands in front of the box. He grabs his pocket knife and slice down the middle of the box, which makes him cover his nose. Carefully opening the box, he looks inside and closes his eyes.
"Luca, tell me it isn't him." He shuts the box.
"I can't do that."
"No, no, no, no." Dina and I run over to the box.
"I'm not going to let either of you look." He steps in front of it. "He's mangled."
~•~~~•~•~~~•~•~~~•~•~~~•~•~
Luca
"Who did this?" Dina asks once I stepped foot inside the door.
"Why- why would they do that to him?" Brei chokes out.
"I don't know but i'll find out." I walk to the sofa and sit beside Aubrei and her cousin. "Nick's got him, he's gonna get him situated for a proper burial, okay?"
"I want them dead, Luca. Whoever it was, I want them gone." She says never taking her eyes off Dash's collar.
"They will be."
"No, I want them mangled, disfigured-"
"Enough, Aubrei." Her mother says.
"-deformed, butchered, torn apart-" She looks me dead in the eye.
"I said, enough!" Ms.Dina shouts.
"And they'll get that. I promise."
"Really, Luca?!" Ms.Dina shouts furiously, I reach into my pocket and pull out the folded piece of paper.
"This was tapped to the bottom of the box." I get up and unfold the note.
Tell your boyfriend i'm sorry about his grandmother, she was a lovely lady. But you're next.
"'But you're next', is written in his blood. So if I have to mangle, deform, and tear apart someone just to keep her safe. Then I will and won't think twice about it."
"You don't need to do that, we could leave, get out of the country." Dina says.
"You can't leave, whoever this person is knows our every move. They're not just after me now. They're after Aubrei too. I don't think it a good idea for you guys to even stay here tonight, the best option is to stay at the mansion."
She shakes her head. "It's fine Luca we have somewhere safe to stay."
"Ms.Dina I-"
"It's with, Roman." I turn to look at Aubrei. He mouth's agape and her eyes are wide.
"What are you talking about, why would you say that?" Her breathing increases rapidly.
"Calm down, it all happened so fast." Dina reaches Aubrei and sits beside her.
"What happened so fast?" Aubrei eye starts to twitch, Ms.Dina doesn't say anything. "Since when?!"
Dina takes a deep breath and speaks. "Since we came back." Aubrei scoffs and gets up.
"Why him?! Where you even going to tell me?!" She shouts at her mother. Making Raven jump.
I thought the kid was deaf but I see she's just mute.
"Aubrei please, you're frightening Raven." She looks at her cousin and her shoulders drop.
"Did you forgetting what he did to
us?"
"No, I didn't forget, Aubrei."
"So, how could you?"
"This is why I didn't want to tell you right now."
"Why him?"
"He's not as bad as you think, Aubrei."
"So just because you're fucking him, he's not as bad now?"
"Aubrei." I call, she looks at me and I see fury in her eyes. "You're being disrespectful. Chill."
Dina looks at Aubrei and shakes her head in disappointment. "You have never talked to me like this before, I didn't raise you to be disrespectful." She gets up and goes toward the door, "Cmon, Raven."
"Where are you going?" Dina ignores her and opens the door. "Mom!" Aubrei follows after her.
"To Romans! Once you learn how to talk to me with some respect, that's where i'll be. Waiting." Dina turns to face her before shutting the door in Aubrei's face.
"Au-"
She shakes her head. "I need to be alone right now." She walks past me towards her bedroom.
"You know i'm not going anywhere without you. I'll stay in here until you're ready to go." She stares at me, tears begin to fill her eyes. I walk to her and pull her into my arms.
"What is wrong with me?" She sobs. "I'm sorry."
"You're going through a rough batch right now that's all. But i'm not the one you should be apologizing to."
"I wasn't trying to be disrespectful. I'm so angry about Dash."
"I know, baby. Let's just wait a few days then we can go to Romans." I kiss the top of her head.
"Will they get there safely?" She ask wiping her eyes.
"Yes i've already got someone following them." She nods and sniffs "C'mon, let's go home."