The next day, they were all back to usual, talking and eating and enjoying their time. We were all sitting around the table, and while all of them were having fun, Ace was focused on his whiskey glass, playing with it, making the ice inside hit the inside of the glass. I was sure he was focused on something but a part of me felt like he was doing everything to avoid my eye contact.
I was sure that whatever happened the day before were feelings forced by the fear we were both in. His looks for me, his touch, his hug, everything was based on not seeing me again. He didn't think that the next morning, we would be sitting at the same table, right next to each other, taking breakfast with the boys and not dealing with any damages created by that horrible night.
He suddenly got up, taking his glass with him. "When you are all done, come to my office."
As soon as he started to speak, the room dropped silent. They all nod and assure him. all the eyes in the room were directed to him, along with mine. But when his eyes turned to meet mine, for the first time since yesterday morning, my heart dropped.
"You too, Talia."
And with that he left the room, leaving me behind with all the eyes of the room burning the side of my face. I cleared my throat and got up, grabbing my plate with me.
"Talia," Joe called for me as I exited the dining room.
I looked behind, knowing exactly what he would say.
"Is everything okay?"
Okay, maybe that wasn't what I was expecting.
"Yeah," I smiled. But he didn't buy it.
"Are you sure?"
I hummed again, walking to the kitchen. I rinsed my plate and put it in the washing machine.
"After tomorrow, no one is expecting you to be okay, Talia. You know, we are all used to this but we all know that you're not."
I turned to face him, I placed my hands on the island behind me.
"It was hard, but I survived, right?" I chuckled. This couldn't get any more awkward.
"You can always talk to me," he gave me a soft smile, "I was so worried for you," before I say anything, his hand was caressing my cheek and his eyes were reaching for my soul.
Okay, maybe now it is more awkward.
"Thank you, Joe," I nodded. He dropped his hand from my cheek.
"Anytime, Tal,"
I smiled at the nickname he gave me, which reminded me of yesterday when Ace called me Lia.
"Let's go." He said before making our way to Ace's office.
I was unsure of why Ace wanted me to be there and so was everyone. Romeo's eyes were piercing me but I avoided his eyes. I never knew why this guy hated me that much.
"I am going to start by saying," Ace started, catching the spotlight in the room, "yesterday was horrible for all of us," as his eyes wandered from eye to eye in the room when they landed on mine, I felt like these words were directed to me. "We are not easy going and we are certainly not easy to break, of course, all thanks to everyone in this room." He took a deep breath and stood up from his chair and started walking around the room, "and that leads me to explain that since Talia was a part of the horrible event that happened yesterday, I brought her here to assure her that this isn't the usual," he looked at me. "That being said, I keep getting calls, overall, a lot of people know what happened to Fox."
"That's perfect!" Romeo blurted out.
"No. That is not perfect at all," Ace corrected him, "the big people Fox works with won't let that pass easily. They will do everything to bring us down because Fox's image reflects on their image. So we have to be more careful than usual. These people are capable of doing everything."
"How careful?"
"First, to enforce the front door again, not just fix it." He looked at the boys. Niko laughed and Ace nodded, "and we also need to get the guards to be more aware, this is Romeo's job," he pointed at Romeo and he nodded, "and second, we need to find Elio. No matter where he is, we need to find him."
I stayed behind after everyone left the room. Joe came next to me, "we're going to go outside and have a little fun time to forget about yesterday. Drinks and all. You wanna come?" He smiled.
"I will, in a bit."
He frowned, looked at Ace then back at me in confusion but nodded and walked away. Ace was pouring himself another glass of whiskey.
"Do you need anything, Talia?" He said, without looking at me.
"Yeah," I started, "I wanted to ask you a question."
"Go ahead," he still wasn't looking at me. He opened the tray of ice that was on his desk, opened it and took two with his hand and dropped them in the glass.
"I want to learn how to shoot." I finally said and that caught his attention. He stopped in motion and looked at me with confusion filling his eyes. I awkwardly smiled.
"Why?" He smirked. I wasn't sure if he was mocking me or proud of my question.
"Because next time I want to aim at someone, I want to get him," I giggled and he let out a hint of a laugh. His eyes locked on me, motionless, speechless. I raised my eyebrows, asking for an answer when the silence continued to take over. He finally nodded and placed his glass down on his desk. He walked closer to me.
"Let's go."
I was taken aback by what he said but he didn't hesitate.
"Now?"
He opened a small closet full of weapons and grabbed two.
"Yeah."
He handed me one.
"Here?"
"Follow me."
He disappeared behind the walls. I looked down at the gun in my hand. "You have a shooting range in here?" I wasn't mentally prepared for that. I shook my head and ran to catch up to him.
I shot but it was nowhere near the aim. I groaned. He shook his head and walked closer to me.
"You're doing it all wrong, Talia."
"Ugh, I can't even see anything because of the baby helmet you planted on my head," I blurted out my frustration.
"Calm down," he chuckled, "it's not a helmet, it's for the shooting noise,"
"Well you don't have one," I argued.
"I don't need one," he smirked.
"I don't need one too."
He paused for a few seconds then nodded.
"Fine," he placed his gun on the side and approached me again. He came closer, took it off and placed it next to the other gun. "You can't hold the gun like that." He watched me, "it's so loose in your hands, if you're pointing it at someone, they will easily take it from you."
I sighed and tried to understand how to hold it tightly but have it comfortable in my hands to be able to aim. Before I could realize what he was doing, he snatched my weapon with one hand and with the other he held my hand, spun me so that my back was against his chest and the gun was pointed at my head. He leaned closer to my ear and whispered "now you're dead." The air flowing out of his mouth sent chills down my whole spine. I closed my eyes to collect my thoughts and focus. I nodded, showing him that I understood but he didn't move, for a couple of seconds.
"I guess I am," I barely found words to say. I bit my bottom lip when he slowly let go. I turned around and he handed me back the gun.
"Try again?"
I nodded. I took a deep breath and tried to hold the gun as he told me but he clicked his tongue.
"You're holding it wrong, again." He placed himself behind me, way too close that I could feel his chest against my back again, but this time, gently. "Relax, you're so tense." How can I relax when all I can focus on is the warmth of his body against my back?
"I'm not." My breath hitched when his hand extended on either side of my body.
"You are, Talia." His voice was gentle or maybe he was simply trying to calm me down. He placed his hands on my hands, "relax your muscles."
I nodded and took a deep breath, trying to ease myself up a bit.
"Now, your index can't be on the trigger if you're still placing yourself. Once you put it on the trigger, you're shooting." He placed both of his hands on mine, showing me how to hold the gun. "then, these three fingers down there, holding the gun tight." He placed my finger. "You have to make it feel like it belongs between your hands. It can't be in loose hands. So with your other hand, you have to put it here. Not in front of the trigger but below it, to keep it in place." He placed my other hand and squeezed them around the metal. "Now when you shoot, the gun won't be loose into your hand which will make your bullet go where you aimed because it won't shake around in your hand." He explained, his hands still around mine. "Now, the shooting part," he pushed my hands forward to the maximum which made him lean forward against me. His head was right next to mine, making his whole body embrace mine. I gulped and tried to put my attention on the gun and not on the effect this closeness was doing on me. I nodded and breathed deeply. "Now, you're going to push forward with your shooting hand and pull backwards with the other."
"What?"
"Patience," he scoffed, "with this hand," he squeezed my right hand, "you're going to push forward, and with this hand," he squeezed my left hand, "backwards. This will be helpful when you shoot to be in control of the gun, of course, while squeezing,"
I could perfectly hear him breathing in and out. "Now, I want you to squeeze with only your left hand so you could give the power to your right hand to be able to shoot," his hands loosened on my own to give me space to do what he told me to do. "Put your index on the trigger."
He loosened his hands even more as I did so. "Ready?" He whispered and I nodded, not trusting my voice. "Shoot."
I shot right next to the aim.
I could feel his breath against my neck while his eyes were on me. "You did it, Lia," he whispered in my ear. I smiled as my heart pumped into my chest. The adrenaline of shooting mixed with the tension of our bodies being close was driving me crazy. I didn't know if I wanted to jump from happiness or smack my lips against his. I simply gulped and nodded, not wanting to look at him simply because I didn't trust my guts. But he didn't move. He stayed in this position, looking at me, breathing against my skin, his chest on my back and his hands hugging mine.
"Ace!" Luca yelled from afar.
Ace slowly broke the position we were in by looking behind us,
"There is a phone for you, in your office."
"I have to get this," he gave me a small smile before taking both guns and emptying them. I nodded, waited for him to finish and followed him back into the house.
The next morning, I spent it in bed, reading a book I found in my dad's desk. It was full of action but the romance in it got me interested. However, my peace and quiet were interrupted by Ace's yelling from downstairs.
"That is not a good enough answer, Joe."
"Ace, it is not like there is something I can do that I didn't, you know that."
I put the book on my bed and hurried downstairs but stayed on the stairs, not wanting them to realize I was standing there.
"Joe, I want Elio and I want him alive, sooner than later."
"I have people working everywhere. All I know for now is that he is still in the country. I am trying!" Joe yelled.
"Not hard enough!" Ace yelled louder and walked away.
Joe threw his hands in the air and scoffed. His eyes found mine and got even more disappointed. He bit his upper lip as he looked at me. I expected him to tell me something but he said nothing, looked down and walked outside of the house.
I sighed and followed him out.
"Joe," I called out.
He turned to face me. He was breathing loud and deep, unable to keep his eyes focused on one thing.
"Joe, I..." I wasn't sure what to say, "Ace is only like this because of the attack and he wants Elio because he betrayed him."
He looked at me like I had grown another head and shook his head.
"Frank never yelled at any of us because of something out of our control. He was able to understand, he was able to be there when we needed help. But Ace doesn't care, he sits back and orders us to do things."
"Joe, you're just mad right now. You know Ace cares for all of us,"
"Us?" he scoffed, "that wasn't your words a few weeks ago but I guess Ace has his magic on girls."
My heart ached at the meaning behind the words that flew out of Joe's mouth. I scoffed as he walked away from me.