Delilah Lavigne
Smoke.
I smell smoke.
I stretch my arms out above my head with a groan. My head hurts like hell.
This ceiling looks different than our bedroom ceiling.
I sit up fully in the bed I'm in and take in my surroundings, there wasn't a window to the right of me like in our room, it's to my left.
I blink rapidly to rid of the blur and once I come to my senses, I realize there's someone sitting right next to me, scaring the shit out of me, "Jesus!" I clutch my hand to my chest and sigh heavily.
"You're finally awake." The woman sighs. She blows the smoke out from her cigarette and puts it out in the ashtray.
Wait.
"You fucking hit me you bitch!" I stand up from the bed and walk to the nearest corner, "Relax Delilah, I'm not going to hurt you." She stands and walks up to me, I hold my hand up warning her not to come any closer.
She narrows her eyes with crossed arms, "You don't remember me, do you?"
I scan her face more than before and my eyes widen, "Sawyer." I confirm my remembrance of her and look her up and down in disgust, "I can't believe I felt bad for you when we brought you to Luca. I revoke any sympathy I had for you."
She laughs, "No hard feelings. You actually did me a favor by doing that. So thanks."
"Where am I? Why am I here? Wait why are you here?" I point at her. I look around the room I'm in and it just looks like a normal bedroom.
She furrows her eyebrows, "Do you not remember anything?"
My lips purse, "Pretty sure your boney ass knocked me out so sorry if my memory is a little fuzzy."
Sawyer rolls her eyes with a sigh, "I am sorry for doing that, it was apart of my job."
"Can we maybe skip the chit chat and just fill me in on what the hell's going on?" I take a step towards her in impatience.
She holds her finger up at me with a smile, "I'll be back. Don't go anywhere." She says the last bit with sarcasm and walks out of the room.
I take this alone time to try to unlock the windows, but they don't budge. There's no sunlight coming in and I can't see out of them so there must be something guarding it to prevent someone from escaping out of them. I search the room for anything I can protect myself with from whoever is about to walk in. I end up finding a box cutter on the shelf in the closet, this will do.
The doorknob moves and I go back to my original spot near the furthest wall with the box cutter tucked into my jeans behind my back.
The door opens fully and in walks none other than Enzo.
"Enzo? What the hell is this?!"
He holds a hand up, "Relax, no one's going to hurt you."
"Yeah? Tell that to the bitch who knocked me over the head and kidnapped me."
His lips go flat, "She apologizes for that. There was no other way to go about it."
"Can you just explain what is going on?" I shout.
"Okay okay, just follow me and I'll explain everything." He waves a hand to the door and starts walking that way, I hesitantly follow but keep a safe distance. We walk down a narrowed hallway with Victorian paintings plastered on each side of the maroon walls. This looks like a mansion.
He walks into what looks like an interrogation room and leads me to sit in the chair in front of a metal table, there's a mirror to my right and if I've learned anything from crime movies, there's someone behind it watching us.
Yeah, this is definitely not just some normal house.
"This might be hard to hear but I'll just jump right into it," He sits down on the chair in front of me with his hands clasped on the table, "This was all a lie. Our deal and the plan to help you escape from Luca."
I narrow my eyes at him, "I-I'm sorry?" I don't think I heard that correctly.
"It was a set up to see if you truly fit who I was looking for and trust me, you do." He huffs a laugh.
I sit up fully in my chair, "So let me get this straight, you used me this whole time just to get me to work with you in the end? That was apart of the goddamn deal anyways, why would you do that?!"
He nods with frown, "Yeah pretty much. I mean, the deal was to set you all free from my father and that was just a lie to see if you would do what I wanted you to do which was sneak around Luca and get me what I asked for. And you did. What I didn't expect was for you to want me to help just you to run away." He grins at me.
My hands start shaking and I shake my head while looking down at the table, "This has to be a joke."
Enzo sighs, "You were a plant, so to say. You did exactly what we wanted you to do. And you did it without anyone finding out. Which is why I knew you were a perfect fit for this. I mean for christ sakes you were about to risk your life just to keep your loved ones safe. We have always seen the appeal in you."
I squint my eyes and look up at him, "We?"
He smiles at my question and looks to his left at the mirror. I glance over at it as well and look into the mirror that holds someone on the other side, "Who's on the other side Enzo?" My voice goes quiet.
As soon as I asked the dreaded question, the door opens.
I look at the figure standing in the doorway and my stomach drops. My face goes pale and my mouth goes desert dry.
"Hi sweetheart." Luca smiles at me sinisterly.
"No, no please tell me this isn't happening." I say under my breath as my chest moves rapidly in fear. My ears start ringing, drowning out any noise in this room.
"It's nice to see you." The bastard speaks. I stand up from my chair and grip the box cutter behind my back to the point my hand goes numb. "Don't you fucking come any closer." I hold my left hand out in front of me.
He stops in his tracks and puts his hands up in a surrender, "Sit down Delilah, let's talk." He nods to the chair I was just seated in but I refuse to move.
"Alright stay standing then. But you need to listen very carefully. Can you do that for me?" He talks to me with a soft voice like I'm a child. I avert my eyes to Enzo and he arches his eyebrows. I nod at Luca to his question and he eases his stance.
"I know you are very confused right now and trust me we will answer all the questions you have, but first let me just explain why you are here," He pulls up a chair in the corner and drags it in between mine and Enzo's chair and sits down, "You never officially worked for me. All the documents I had you sign were signed over to my son, Enzo."
"N-No that's not true, I read them." I swallow harshly. He shakes his head, "You read what I told you to read."
My eyes narrow, "None of this is making sense. You hate him, why is he here?" I direct to Enzo, "That might have been a little white lie." He pinches his fingers together.
"You had me spy for you to get something from him that belonged to you. Why would I do that if this whole time you guys were goddamn buddy buddy with each other."
"That was a test, a test that you passed. I asked you to spy and sneak around to see if you would actually do it and retrieve it. Which you did, my father knew that whole time. It proved to us that you truly were valuable and good at what you do. That's why he was gone when you went there, we planned it all."
Luca cuts in, "My son and I have always valued our work. My father was in this business a very long time ago, and I took over for him once he passed. I taught Enzo everything I knew when my father tragically died and Enzo kept it with him, planning to take over for me one day. But that all changed," He glances at Enzo with a smile and Enzo returns it,
"My father is a very smart man. He knows this business better than anyone else, and he knows how to manipulate. He wanted the person that took his spot to do that, and I made sure I could. Years of training got me here in this very spot I'm in and many more to come for me to move up. I do plan on taking over for him one day, but that will be a long time from now. So, I decided to start my own group."
I sigh, "We have already been over this. It's not a mafia it's more of a gang." I'm getting impatient and my head hurts from how slow this is moving. I just want to be with Harry.
Enzo laughs, "Yes, but it's more than that. What I told you that day I took you and your friend was true but I left some bits out. My group is a training service to ready people for the mafia, and once they are ready I send them over to my father. That way he recruits people who already know what they're doing."
My feet hurt so I scoot the chair further away from Luca and sit down, "So where do I come in? Because I sure as hell am not trained and never was even from the start."
"We made sure you weren't." Luca says simply.
"We wanted someone who was natural at what they did. We wanted it to come easily to them just by observing and not having to be taught everything." Enzo adds.
Luca crosses one leg over the other, "You are that someone Delilah. You have been from the beginning, the first time I heard about you, I knew. You know how to manipulate, you know how to get in and out of places just by observance and to protect the ones around you. It's inspiring, you should give yourself some credit."
"So you purposely had me join with no experience just to watch what I do and how I do it? Why?" I'm trying to follow along but all of it is just mumble in my ears. I don't understand any of it.
"We had our eyes set on someone else, Sawyer. When you and Harry captured her and took her to me I tried to use her instead of you, which is what Harry asked for, but she didn't last long. She never had what it took, which is why she's just an associate for us now. You however, are like a miracle. When Harry told me about you, I just knew you were the one we were looking for." Luca mentioning Harry got my full attention.
"What do you mean 'what Harry asked for?'"
"He tried to get you out of this whole ordeal, I mean really it was pathetic how desperate he was. Nonetheless, I did try for him. Unfortunately, Sawyer did fail and you were back in."
So Harry knew what I was here for this whole time? He knew it was fake all along?
"What exactly were you looking for though? What am I really here for?"
"You are going to join my son. You will work with him to recruit people, train them and send them to me. You will also have tasks to complete in the beginning with my son and more assignments down the road, harder assignments."
"Such as?" I stick my head out awaiting, "Ever heard of the term extortion?" Enzo questions.
I furrow my eyebrows, "Yeah I've heard of it but am not exactly sure what it means."
"It means to obtain something through force or threatening. Usually money."
"So I have to use extortion with people to get what you ask for?"
Luca nods, "Whether it be blackmail, threats, force or even death. As long as you get it."
"Death?" My eyes widen and they nod as if it's a normal thing, "No. I won't do it. Find someone else."
Luca sighs, "It's not that easy sweetheart. You can't get out of this. You already signed." He shrugs.
Unwillingly might I add.
"And if I don't?" I hesitantly ask, looking at both of them to read their expressions.
"Holden." Luca calls out a name, a man walks in holding a laptop with the screen on someone.
All of the guys and Jade are on the screen, sitting in a booth at Reign. It then cuts to two men outside the door of the club holding guns, "If you refuse, those men will bust down that door and shoot every single person in that room."
My jaw clenches, "You wouldn't do that. You need them. And that's too much blood on your hands."
He shrugs, "I make one call and they are all dead." He pulls out his phone and starts typing.
"Stop." I stand up, knocking my chair over. I take deep breaths, going over everything in my head. "If I agree to this, I have to let Harry know. He needs to know I'm okay."
Luca crosses his arms, "Oh he knows. He's known this whole time. Why else do you think they aren't looking for you?"
My heart drops. I look back to the screen and see them drinking and smoking a joint as they laugh at something Niall said. They aren't looking for me, they don't even look worried. They are hanging out like it's just a normal group of friends.
"I don't believe you. He wouldn't do that."
I know he mentioned Harry trying to switch me with Sawyer but he would look for me, I know he would because he's done it before.
"Oh but he did. The first time you met Zayn and Louis was at your tattoo shop correct?"
"Yeah?"
"I sent them there. I had been watching you for quite some time actually. When you went to work some of my people were spying on you, even sometimes your customers. When you went home, someone was following. When you went to Reign, someone was watching. We're always watching."
I feel sick.
"So you spied on me and invaded my privacy just for this? You're a fucking monster." I spit out and he sighs, "Delilah you have five minutes to decide. Either you join us, or your friends and ever so loving boyfriend dies." He calmly states.
I keep my eyes on the laptop watching them have such a good time together without me. They all laugh yet again, without me. They clink their shot glasses together and throw them back, without me.
If they didn't know about this, they would be looking for me. Harry would be looking for me.
"Before you decide, just know you will go through months of training to better your skills and to obtain more. You can do this, you're a perfect asset to our team. Leave them behind, they did nothing but lie to you this whole time. You need us and we need you." Enzo explains to me but my eyes stay frozen on the laptop in front of me.
He's right. They have been lying to me this whole time.
Harry's been lying to me.
Did he just make up that whole story about his past? Does he actually love me? Because if what they are saying is true, then Harry and I were fake that whole time. He used me just like Quinn used him.
But I can't trust Enzo or Luca either. Enzo lied to me the whole time, as did Luca but it's expected from him, he's a terrible person. This whole thing is so unfair and a waste of time. I should've been able to leave on my terms, not theirs. I should've been able to say goodbye to Harry and my friends in my own way, not theirs.
Time's running out.
"Make a choice Delilah."
I peel my eyes away from the laptop as a tear falls down my cheek.
"When do I start?"
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
lol...