The food was absolutely amazing. It never occurred to me that Nova was able to cook— well at least that good. It made me wonder why I was cooking for the event.
The event.
Remembering what this whole thing was about made my heart drop. Especially since Nova was at the center of it all.
"Are you ready to go back to the estate or do you still need time?" Nova asked, looking at me.
"Time for what?" I asked, pretending to be clueless. I don't know why she was avoiding the topic.
"To process...?" She trailed off, narrowing her eyes.
"To process...?" I repeated, tilting my head.
"You know Mariah." Nova said flatly.
"And you do too, so why aren't we talking about it?" I asked with a hint of irritation in my voice.
"I didn't know you were ready."
I stared at her with a blank expression on my face.
"I'm not going to do this with you right now Nova-"
"I'll answer any question you have Mariah, I just... never done any of this before..." She said trailing off.
"Any of what?" I asked.
"Everything– the opening up about my family– about me. I'll tell you anything you want to know, but I'm really trying Mariah." Nova admitted, keeping her gaze on me and I suddenly felt bad.
"Im sorry, I don't mean to intrude but–"
"I know, it's apart of your job," Nova said mockingly with a smirk on her face.
"Alright, Casanova, you can explain on the way back then." I said, smirking at her while heading to my room.
I took a quick shower and changed my clothes before going back into the living room.
"Let's go," I said, opening the front door. She walked out after me and I shut the door behind her, before locking it and heading to the stairs.
"So you're going to officially be the leader at the little coronation thing?" I asked her walking down the steps.
"Not a coronation and yes, that's when it's going to be officialized and that's when other mafias will know, whether they're enemies or allies." She explained.
"Then what is it that you're doing now?" I asked her in curiosity.
"This is only a taste of what I'll be doing once I become the leader, my dad stepped down but not entirely, he is still giving orders and what not."
"Do you guys like... kill people?" I asked hesitantly, walking through the front lobby.
"Yes, Mariah." She deadpanned. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that they did. But those were definitely her intentions last night.
I just wondered why she didn't follow through with them.
"Why are you becoming the leader instead of your brother? Aren't you guys the same age?" I asked, realizing that if being the leader was something that was passed down, then I assumed it would have gone to her brother instead.
"It's a long story, mostly based on maturity at the time, my brother was fine not becoming the boss anyway, it's a big responsibility." She said pulling the lobby door open for me.
"Did you want to be the boss?" I asked and there was a pause following the question.
"Who else would have done it if it wasn't me." She said, but it didn't come out as a question, it was a statement.
We soon approached her parked car on the street and she reached for the passenger door.
"Actually, can you take me to this place down the street really quick? It wouldn't take long, we could walk there." I needed to get a sandwich from the Bodega again, who knows this might be my last opportunity.
Nova pulled her hand away from the door before replying, "Okay."
The walk to the bodega was silent. The only sounds filling the air were from the people walking down the street and the cars passing by.
"If you're gonna be the boss why don't you have body guards with you? Can't somebody kill you right now."
"I wish somebody would try, it wouldn't get them very far," She replied. "And even though
I'm associated, I'm not that big of a target because my position hasn't been announced to the world yet."
And I knew this next question might get me a bad reaction but I couldn't help but wonder.
"Why didn't you immediately try to kill that guy last night? you let him off a few times." I asked, remembering the fight that broke out.
I listened as Nova sucked in a deep breath before replying, "I-"
"Mariah, you're here again? What pleasure do I owe?" Ramona asked enthusiastically. "And who is this?" She turned her head to face Nova.
"Is she your girlfriend? She asked, stepping from behind the main cash register, "Look at all these tattoos, Mariah you fell in love with a gangster? This is not West Side Story baby."
My face instantly flushed a bright red and an intense heat coated my body. And I only managed to get hotter when the thoughts of being Nova's girlfriend traveled throughout all parts of my mind.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when Nova cleared her throat.
"She- she's not my girlfriend," I said nervously, trying to shake the embarrassment.
"Oh really? You guys look like a really beautiful couple-"
"Okay! That's enough, could I have my usual to go?" I asked with fake enthusiasm in my voice.
Ramona chuckled before walking to the deli counter. I glanced over at Nova who had a slight smirk on her face.
And a smile quickly grew on mine after seeing it.
NOVA'S POV
On the short ride in the elevator I couldn't get my mind off of Mariah.
We had just got back from the little adventure we were on and she had went up to her room.
I quickly tried to get my thoughts off of her as I heard the elevator ding, and I knew if I wasn't able to, then I was going to be in for a rude awakening.
It was only just a matter of when.
When the elevator stopped I stared blankly at the doors waiting for them to open. Ater they did, I stepped off and began walking to my kitchen. I tiredly opened the fridge door and grabbed a water bottle. I went to close the fridge door until I heard a voice.
"Why hello there, Casanova Casper,"
I rolled my eyes hearing the familiar voice that belonged to nobody other than Noah. I turned around to face him and furrowed my brows when I noticed my mom was on the couch across from him.
"It's a surprise seeing you here." He said. I watched as he was seated in the armchair, smirking maniacally while he was rubbing the pillow on his lap, like it was an animal.
"Not really since this is my floor," I said walking towards him and my mom. "Why are you up here anyway?"
He dramatically put his hand to his chest and gasped, "I can't visit my own sister now!?"
"You're never here." I pointed out, narrowing my eyes at him.
"What can I say, I'm a busy man," He said, tossing the pillow on his lap to the other couch.
"Speaking of never being here, you and Mariah are always gone 24/7" He added.
"No we're not." I replied.
We couldn't be gone that often— I just took her to-
"Breakfast, Arcade, The store, and weren't you just at her house?" he said, raising his eyebrow, and then he suddenly smiled. "I think Nova has a bit of a crushy crush." He teased, wiggling his eyebrows.
"I do not-"
And then my mom spoke. "I don't know Nova, it seems like it.
"Mom– You're seriously going to agree with him?" I asked, feeling irritated.
"Why wouldn't she? I'm always right, just admit you like her."
"I'm admitting, I don't."
"Yes you do, I saw the way you were stalking her at that party, I just didn't tell you." He admitted standing up from the chair.
"Yeah, cause being worried is stalking now." I said, rolling my eyes.
"That was not you being worried bro, you were a thousand percent jealous." He retorted, stepping closer to me.
"Jealous of what exactly?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"Jealous your girlfriend was at the club on somebody else." I said challenging me.
"Not my girlfriend, and how would you know?"
"Zane told me of course." He said with a smile on his face and I sighed knowing that Zane saw the whole thing go down.
Zane, Noah, and I have been friends for as long as I could remember. Zane was honestly my right hand man and helped me with a ton of stuff.
I haven't really seen him in a while though since the news that my dad was stepping down from being a mafia boss.
But since then I've been really busy with everything. Noah on the other hand...
"You just said you saw, did Zane tell you or did you see yourself?" I questioned finding a hole in his story.
"Zane and I share the same eyeballs, what he sees I see," He retorted, "And it doesn't matter how I found out, all that matters is the great Nova Casper is falling in lo-"
"Are we having a family meeting in here and nobody told me?" My dad said stepping off of the elevator.
And I was entirely grateful for the silence that fell over my brother.
"What's going on in here?" My dad asked, walking deeper into the level.
"We were discussing the matters of last night." I said making my tone neutral and standing up as straight as I possibly could.
This lie absolutely had to be believable, there couldn't be room for any slip up.
"Did you take care of that guy? You know what I trained you for Nova– if anyone puts their hands on you-"
"I know dad." I cut him off.
"Obviously you don't, if everyone at the party reported him walking out alive." My dad said furrowing his brows, taking a step closer to me.
"Care to explain why you let him live?" He asked, taking another step landing him directly in front of me.
I had to choose my next words wisely, and fast, before my facade slips up.
"Ms. Breaux was with me during the-"
"She was with you?" He asked completely expressionless, and when every bit of emotion left his face, and voice I knew I picked the wrong words.
"She was with you last night at the club?" He asked putting emphasis on "you" and "club".
"She was with you, at the club, where a party regarding the mafia was thrown." He asked, reiterating what he just said.
"I-"
"I invited her, sorry, I thought it would be good for her to take a break from work for a night, it was my fault." Noah confessed.
"Damon there's nothing wrong with having a little fun, they're all kids." My mom finally said.
She wasn't big on any mafia related stuff. She told me she tries to keep her distance away from it, only going to the events and meetings if needed. So when there was a heated discussion or argument, she never interfered.
"When I was their age I wasn't inviting people I hired out to the club because they needed to "
take a break, Nora, what they did was dangerous." He explained looking at her.
"And what about her being there with you Nova? You could have one of the hundreds of guards there escort her out, her being there doesn't explain why you didnt kill him." He asked bringing his gaze back to me and I saw something shift in his eyes, and I remember it all too well.
He knows.
"Nova you know what happened to your brother-"
"Yes I'm aware and nothing like that is going to happen." I furrowed my brows at the mention of my brother.
"That's why he isn't leader now, Nova, be smart." my dad said sitting next to my mom and opening up his computer.
And my heart started to race realizing what he was insinuating.
Because he wasn't talking about Noah.