Romero turns his head away from Seven even when the shorter places himself directly in his line of sight. It's so obvious when the two are fighting. Actually, it's pretty obvious when anything is going on between the two. They can't stay away from each other for very long. Seven's soft exterior craves Romero's sturdy one.
"What did I do?" Seven begs for an answer for the third time.
Romero almost looks like he's going to give it to him. He makes eye contact with Seven's almond-shaped soul snatchers for a full minute before scoffing and looking away. A vein emerges on Romero's neck and up to his face as he clenches his jaw. I can already tell what this is about.
Von isn't back yet from his assignment. Without him here our routine starts to feel more like a chore. Training, sparing, and strategizing, all things I wouldn't have to worry about had I chosen to live any other way. Now I have to worry about getting along with more than just the five gang members. I have to look out for dozens more as we prepare for war. Diana promises our numbers are going to keep growing.
"You know what," Seven switches. "I didn't do anything. That's why you can't tell me."
"You keep flirting with them," Romero spits back but the way he stares into Seven's eyes is romantic. "Why do you have to be so friendly every time a new guy walks in? You know what they think of you?"
"Do you want our numbers to grow or not? I'm trying to be nice. They better think I'm fucking nice," Seven says and uses his hands for emphasis.
There's something that turns on and off in him. When he drops his act, when the prince puts down his crown. He starts acting with no remorse. It happens in battle and sometimes it happens in conversation.
"You're lying to me," Romero accuses.
Seven straightens his posture. He's wearing all black but there are pale skin breaks. His tight jeans are ripped and his shirt is so loose it's almost falling off his shoulder.
"I can talk to whoever I want." Seven says.
"There it is."
"You can't control me, you can't even control this little gang. Who are you to tell me who I can and can't talk to?" Seven cocks his head to the side. His single lidded eyes widen for the briefest second as they flash with rage.
"I just know everyone thinks you're such a little twink." Romero smiles when he says it. "I don't want you going out and embarrassing yourself when everyone already knows how you sleep at night. Inviting more people in when you've been ran through so many times. It won't be long before I won't even want you anymore."
"Don't say that... Are they really saying that?" Seven stares at the floor instead of Romero's face. His ears are bright red.
"They've always been saying that. Lucky Mia's here now to take some of the pressure off," Romero looks towards me and I immediately look away, suddenly feeling insecure myself.
"I don't care," Seven pouts, the color still on his cheeks.
"Aw, yes you do." Romero pulls his arm until he has him in an embrace. He holds him close and Seven keeps his head down as he lets him. "Just delete the guy's number. It'll make you feel better."
"It'll make you feel better," Seven mumbles but he's sliding his cell phone out of his back pocket.
Romero hovers over him. He eyes Seven's phone like a hawk. Seven quickly presses a few buttons and puts it away, now one contact lighter.
Von hasn't just gone through my phone he's thrown it, smashed it, shot it. I know he'd do the same to whoever I'd be texting. The thought of it is thrilling. I could never go past just thinking it though.
Seven is different. He looks up at Romero innocently through dark eyelashes. I wonder if he flirts with everyone like this.
"You just want me to be with you and Von."
"No, just me," Romero says.
Von is still not back yet. Next to enter the room is L. He plans to teach me how to drive. I already know the basics but I want to be a better getaway driver. I meet L from the opposite side of the room before we head out.
In his EV, I sit in the driver's seat and he takes the passenger. When we all go out together these seats are reserved for him and Von. It's my understanding that Von is working as an assassin. He has to stalk his victim's lifestyle long enough to successfully make it look like an accident. I don't like how long it's taking him this time.
"Damian was hired by a local politician, Jim De Franco. He has to be extremely careful," L says. "Go out this way."
"I didn't ask," I say even though I really wanted to.
"You're absent-minded. I can tell what you're thinking when you're blatantly not paying attention. You act like you're going to die without him," L jokes. "It's pathetic."
"That's what he wants," I scoff. Von wants me to learn how to breathe underwater, to choke if I ever try coming up for air.
"No," L counters. "He wants you to make it on your own. That's why you know how to shoot and how to fight five guys at once. Damian made it so that even if he's not around you have to survive... The way he gets with us about you," he trails off, running his hand over his facial hair.
My mind is going in circles and so are we as I drive the car through a roundabout. "What do you mean?"
"He acts like we're kids again, asking me for advice on you."
"And what do you tell him?" I ask.
I can imagine the two as children. Von relying on him due to their age gap, and never having experienced anything other than foster care. L the same voice of reason he is today.
"I tell him the truth," L stares at me, his gaze getting warmer by the second. But I can't take my eyes off of the road or he'll say something about it. "He's not capable of treating you properly. He needs some help. Otherwise, you'd never be satisfied."
L suddenly points forward with his right hand. "These roads are free of cameras. Accelerate here and you'll lose most people. You just have to watch out for these potholes."
The car dips as I slide through one. I'm praying there's no damage to the exterior. L is sighing beside me.
"I'm paying attention now," I say.
"You have to be able to do this under pressure, even if you're hurt," he reminds me.
I cruise along the narrow roads noticing the change of scenery. The city streets are getting more decrepit as I drive further away from the epicenter and into Brookbottom. There's more trash on these roads like the community can't be bothered to keep it up. Structural issues persist as the number of crater-sized potholes increases.
L navigates me through the backroads and I use them to find my way back to the hotel. Once it's in sight it's not hard to locate the tall building. I park on the side, slightly crooked but the valet will take care of it.
Another black car pulls up right beside us. I get out of the driver's seat and Von gets out of his car next before giving L some room. Von looks like he got a fresh change of clothes, possibly from his mom. Really he could've been with anyone. From over the vehicle, I can see his tattooed silhouette. Though he isn't acknowledging me. There's a bruise under his eye.
"What happened to your face?" I blurt out.
Parking is secluded enough for me to still feel close to him when I'm trailing a few feet behind. L walks in stride with us, his steps slightly out of sync due to his metal leg.
"How can you punish me for getting injured in battle when you come back like this?" I roll my eyes.
"Shut the fuck up," Von calls over his shoulder. His eyes are icy even when they're blacked.
After what I just heard from L and now Von getting hurt in his last fight, there's no way he should still be talking to me like this. Changes are happening within the gang and maybe Von's attitude can be one of those changes. I follow him closely as we head toward the elevator.
"I'm not the one who hit you," I scoff.
Von stops walking to pull me closer to him by my top. The weather has gotten warmer so I'm using the opportunity to wear less. His grip is so rough he could rip the cute material.
"Stop touching me," I squeeze his hand with both of my smaller ones.
His grip remains as the elevator dings open and he pulls me in, L trailing behind unfazed. I feel the cool metal against the back of my legs as Von presses me against the wall.
"When I get back, you spread your legs for me. You don't question me." Von plants in my subconscious. "Yeah?"
I shake my head and attempt to free myself from his hold. If I got more answers I would ask fewer questions. I stay silent as I try to figure out how to get free before the elevator opens again.
"I'm talking to you," Von says as he tilts my head toward him with two fingers on my chin. He's not letting up.
I slap his chest. It's a shame we always end up like this but it's because he can't keep his hands to himself. This has been an issue since I first met him. I can hold back on my words, sometimes. He can never resist the urge to touch me though. No matter how rough or gentle his touch may be.
My plan to get out as the elevator opens fails. I realize he's still keeping me close with one hand as he stares me down. What's worse, we're on the floor with the rest of the gang now.
"You wanna fight as soon as I get back then let's fight." Von shoves me onto the nearest loveseat. "Ask your stupid fucking questions now. Go ahead."
"Why are you talking to me like that? You don't have to be a jerk about it." Maybe he thinks I won't be as bold with a larger audience, but it has the opposite effect. I stand up and straighten my skirt.
Von's eyes are inconceivable dark. He circles me like a shark in water. There's no telling what he went through on his last assignment, if he made one kill or if he was forced to make multiple. He sits down in the white loveseat next putting himself at eye level with my body.
"Fine," he leans back, widens the space between his muscular thighs. "You can sit here yourself."
I take two steps back, now staring at my hands balled into my pink pleated skirt. I'm trying to figure out what I did to make him so mad. No, he was always this way. He just needed an excuse.
Von grabs me so that I fall right onto him. Unable to accept my fate I struggle, even when I know it's futile. Soon I'm exposed. My skirt was short but now it's pulled up completely. My right wrist is pinned down. I'm laying across his knee.
"Count," Von says.
"Von please, I didn't mean it."
"I said count." Von punctuates his sentence with a slap to my backside.
"One," I answer immediately. The pain doesn't have time to fade before his hand is on me again.
"She's so red," Seven says softly and right after the sound of the next impact.
"Three." It makes me gasp. I'm holding on to my cries.
Here and now, crying would make me look weaker than ever. I would be a wounded animal in a room full of hunters. It's already so sore when he hits it again. By the time he makes it to five, I'm winded.
I choke on my plea to him. "Please just tell me what you want and I'll give it to you. I'll be good Von, please."
His grip, strong enough to balance me on one knee with one hand, falters. It leaves behind fresh bruises. He lets go of me.
I struggle to stand but Von doesn't give me much time on my feet anyway. Soon I'm sitting where he just was and he's above me. He's immense and fully clothed.
I don't have to see his skin to know the tattoos trailing down his arm. I memorized the roses, the animal skull, and the way they hug against his toned limbs. "PAIN," is etched across his knuckles in all caps and in plain sight. I look down to read the words as he snatches my panties off.
"You've probably been fucking everyone in this room since I've been gone," Von says as he pulls down his zipper and takes his huge cock into his hand. "No need to prepare you."
I use my hand to cover myself at the realization. I slide two fingers over my sticky core, needing anything before I take him on fully. Can I get a finger at least or something else first? Fuck!
"Move your hand," Von demands.
No one is going to intervene. He's doing this here just to prove it. Before I can get my hand out of the way Von is invading me.
I place my fingertips on his stomach. He really doesn't like that. He snatches my hand away and holds it above my head. It's a tight squeeze and being fucked into this loveseat makes it even tighter.
I don't understand why he has to be so big. I'm wincing as he continues to grow in size, not even fully hard yet. Each stroke has him pressing up against the most sensitive spots inside of me. There can't possibly be more, yet there always is.
"Slow," I plead and I can hear the squelch from me sucking him in against my will. "It hurts still because you didn't–"
"Mia." Von wraps his strong grip around the back of my knee. "Shut up and take it."
Then he buries himself to the hilt, thrusting like he's trying to break me in half. Feeling him curve inside of me, filling me up entirely, I can't help the sounds I let out. It only eggs him on to go harder.
He stares down at me emotionlessly through blue eyes. He makes this large loveseat look like a little chair. He makes me look like a little weakling.
"Join me," Von says to the others in the room. "She needs to learn how to use her mouth again." His grip on me tightens to the point where it aches. "And her hands."