Ariana's Pov
"Hey, I didn't mean to drop by unexpectedly like this," Cole said, as soon as I opened our door after it rang. I smiled, noticing how nervous he was. Which wasn't out of the usual because everyone knew Cole to be big on privacy and respect. "I figured Kai would be here."
"It's okay, you know you're always welcome," I replied, opening the door wider. "But she's with Lauren and Zayn, they went to the gym. She should be back soon though, you're welcome to stay and wait."
"Oh, thank you." He smiled, stepping in as I closed the door behind him. "So, how've you been?" He asked, just as we both walked into the kitchen and sat on the island.
"Pretty good actually, how are you holding up?"
"I'm fine, it's good to have everyone back on their feet again." Cole shrugged. "But I'm still hoping for the best with Willow and Matt, so I've been trying to stay in good spirits."
"Yeah, same with us. But I think things will get better soon, especially with the updates Kai and Victoria have been giving me from the hospital. She says she sees you on Tuesdays when she goes to visit them with Vic."
"Yep, every Tuesday and Sunday." Cole chuckled, playing with his water bottle. It was silent for a bit, and I noticed Cole had been struggling to talk about something weighing on his mind. Eventually, it kept playing on his mind, for about five minutes longer until he got it out.
"Ari, can I ask you something?"
"Uh, yeah," I shrugged, slightly growing nervous at his choice of words.
"The fire and the bomb... you don't really think that was all Frankie, do you?"
"I think it was all of them. Frankie just happened to take the fall for it. He was so blindsided, he wasn't able to get the help that he needed and ended up making the wrong choices."
"I just feel like there's more than just that. Like we haven't even talked about how Camila is literally legally married to Otto!"
"Yeah, I never really thought about that."
"For all we know, she could be working with them too."
"Kai seems to trust her."
"She trusts you and Victoria." Cole corrected.
"So why do you think she hasn't said anything about it, yet?"
"She's probably getting to the bottom of everything first, of course, she wouldn't want a false alarm or anything like that. Plus we know that Tommy's a beast when it comes to figuring out things, I bet it's already in the works."
"Maybe, but Lauren is the one I don't trust. It seems like she's been gunning for me since we were kids."
"Lauren's... complicated. She doesn't like me much and it's probably because of how close I am to Kai, but she seems fine with Zayn."
"Maybe because she doesn't see Zayn as a threat."
"Maybe so."
"But can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Kai said something about there being worst things and people than Otto, coming after her. What did she even mean by that and who is she even talking about?"
Cole shifted uncomfortably in his chair, running a hand through his hair. "It's better if she told you herself."
"Cole."
"It's just as simple as this Ari, over time, you make a lot of enemies, and even if they aren't breathing down your neck every day, everything you've done will eventually catch up to you. But she's right, there are things and people worst than Otto."
And before he could add anything else to what he said, the front door opened with my girlfriend plopping her gym stuff down in its collective spot.
I always loved that she never made a mess, especially when I cleaned.
"Hey, I just saw your text, sorry I'm late." She said, coming in to join us in the kitchen as she kissed my cheek and hugged Cole.
"No worries, I was killing time by talking to Ari." Cole shrugged, with a small smile.
"Oh yeah, what about?" Kai asked, looking between us curiously.
"Well for starters how you need a shower, you're so sweaty." I pointed out, causing a small laugh between the three of us.
"Right. I'll only be 20 minutes." Kai said, turning to him, before going upstairs.
Cole turned back to me with a small smile, "So, have you guys talked about marriage yet? I know it's a bit of an out-there question but considering how serious you both seem..."
"Yeah, we have," I shrugged. "Sometimes I feel like we're on the same page, but other times we're not. I do wanna get married and stuff, whether she stays in her family's business or not, but she thinks that if we get married, she won't be able to give me the things that I want, like a stable life and kids. Which, I never said she had to give up her career."
"I don't think it's the fact you never said it, but eventually you both will want a safe environment to raise kids and it'll probably result in her having to leave the business."
"I get that, but her parents were always able to make it work so why doesn't she see it like that with me?"
"Now that, I can't answer but I'm sure she'll come around Ari. She loves you."
"I know," I said, giving a half-smile.
"Wait, so what'll happen to the Grande business if Frankie's dead and you're estranged from it right now?"
"Well, my parents and Nonna are maintaining it but we've been talking about giving it over to Kai fully."
Cole laughed. "Your girl would probably pass out."
"I know."
"So what are you gonna spend your time doing then, if not business?"
"Well after high school, I gave up on music, so I'll probably just help Kai with whatever or Victoria around the hospital."
"Yeah, you were pretty good at that when Kai was still there. I remember Devyn saying you were adamant on being the one to clean her up and stuff."
"Yeah, otherwise someone like Lauren would've tried." I teased, causing laughter between the both of us.
"You know, the vibes with you two were completely different than the ones from her and Lauren."
"What do you mean?"
"They tried to keep a secret so bad when everyone knew they were messing with each other. She'd be over like four days a week. And when they weren't together, Kai was usually distant and Lauren was more possessive over her. It was unbelievable the number of people she threatened every day over Kai, you'd think she was obsessed."
"Huh, crazy how she hasn't tried anything with me then and we're public about our relationship."
"That's because Kai won't let anyone do anything to you. She's always told Lauren to back down when it came down to you." Cole explained, with a shrug. "I don't understand how she's like this possessive freak now but when Kai and Kehlani were dating, she was infatuated with Camila instead."
"I don't know either honestly, Lauren just seems off."
"Yeah, you're right."
"How long were they messing around for?"
"A few months to a year."
"A year what?" Kai asked, coming downstairs in a rushed fashion.
"That's how long it's been since I've been bowling!" Cole lied smoothly.
She looked at us weirdly, "Um, okay, I mean we could take you for your birthday."
"Yeah, we should," I added, with a small smile as Cole chuckled.
"Thanks."
"No problem." She laughed. "Right so, what's going on?"
"The Gomez's want a deal with you, Dalton says he's open to offering over 20% if we're willing to expand with him." Cole explained, going into more detail.
"I don't know." My girlfriend shrugged.
"Wait, what's wrong with the Gomez's? I thought you and Dalton made up back in high school." I asked.
"They did, but over the years, the Gomez's have started to play dirty. See, we fight our own battles literally, the Gomez's handle everything under the counter."
"Exactly," Kai continued, "Which is a problem because we've always been direct, so they're asking us to go back on that, and start doing things their way."
"So why not just say no?"
"Because, just like we have allies, so do the O'Briens and stuff. The Gomez's come with a lot of potential allies, like the Puth's, the Payne's, the Beer's, the Tomlinson's, and so on."
"Oh, allies aren't a problem," I said, rather relieved. "My family has some too. The Kordei's, the Styles, the Hansen's, the Chipolone's, the Gilles', and the Nicholson's."
"Ari, while that's great, they haven't done anything in years."
"Maybe we could get them to, who are we allied with?" Cole asked.
"The McCants's, the Grande's, the Jauregui's, the Malik's, the Horan's, the Cabello's, the Mendes's, I guess the Bieber's, the Brown's... Dua, Abel, and Melanie's families, and I think that's all."
"Dalton gets %5."