A/N: I know I'm a bit late, but Happy New Years everyone! Thank you so much for everything you all have done for me in 2015! Also i just realized I hit 5k followers, so thank you everyone!
[ edit, lmao ya'll got like 15 or 16 more chapters left but I didn't know it at the time ]
- - - -
"The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies." ~ Unknown
- - - -
I was fairly certain I had been thrown into a reality T.V. show the next morning. For fifteen, just fifteen minutes, everything was calm; there was no drama, no noise, no yelling or screaming, no nothing. But it all started when Liam and I descended down the steps, dressed and ready for the upcoming events of the day that our short fifteen minutes of calm, ended.
Personally, I would've never noticed the vast amount of men just lounging in one of the living rooms that morning. They were sprawled out everywhere; on the back of sofas, lying on the floor, sitting in seats. Cups and plates were scattered around the room as the men grouped themselves with their close knit friends, and chatted. A low murmur rattled around the room as Liam came to an abrupt halt in the doorway.
Like most days, Luciano had dressed himself formally. He wore a pair of navy blue dress pants and a white shirt. His navy blue tie, one that matched his pants perfectly, was slung around his neck, waiting to be tied. Liam's hair was still wet from his morning shower; but just like any of day, he looked fine – despite the amount of sleep we didn't get.
And before you assume that, no. Sleep was hard to come by, simply because Liam had twisted and turned the entire night, mumbling sentences under his breath that hardly made sense.
Nobody in the room turned to give their attention to Luciano; we stood in the doorway for a moment or two, before Liam raised a fist, knocking it on the wall beside him. "Hello?" His greeting came out in an irritated fashion, making me cringe. All the heads turned in our direction and the T.V. was muted. A few men coughed out a greeting with food in their mouth, while some waved like children.
Then some idiot in the back of the room shouted out, "It's me!"
"- I was wondering if after all these you'd like to meet – "
" – to go over ever –"
Liam taps the wall again, his eyebrows furrowing. "Cut the bullshit, Adele. Why the hell are all of you eating in here? I have dining rooms for a fucking reason."
I could personally feel the nervousness and anxiety in the room grow. Everyone seemed to cower under Liam's quick and hasty response. They all grew serious and the previous chuckling died down quickly. I kept my mouth shut; it was clear this morning that Liam hadn't been in a good mood – I wasn't sure whether it was his lack of sleep, or the near suicide attempt one of his best friends almost went through with late last night.
It took a while for someone to finally finish swallowing their breakfast to reply. Others simply shoved a biscuit in their mouth, hoping Luciano didn't call them out to answer. At one point, I was ready to grab his arm and tell him it wasn't important; but I decided against that.
"The dining room is full, Liam," a voice finally replied to Liam. It was soft and cautious, but echoed throughout the silent room clearly.
Liam's facial expression doesn't change. "I have a conference room that serves as an overflow. What I do know-" Liam leaves my side and marches into the room, where a thin man had placed two of his biscuits on the arm of Luciano's sofa. Liam brushes the food onto the floor, glaring at the man. "-Is that you don't leave food on my four-thousand dollar couch." As Liam stands up, turning from the man he had been addressing, the others in the room quickly scatter to grab any of their food that so happened to be on Luciano's furniture.
The thin man scoffs as Liam turns his back, "It's just a couch," then he whispers, "dumbass."
"A couch that's worth more than your existence," Liam shoots back.
"Liam, the conference room is taken too," Another person answers, cutting the fight between the thin man and Liam short. For the first time, Luciano doesn't look mad; but severely confused.
"The conference room is for meetings. Nobody holds meetings without me," Luciano states. Then, the awkwardness returns. Men glance at each other behind Liam's back, while others whisper quietly. Liam doesn't need anyone else to say anything, "Who the hell is holding a meeting without my consent?" He was already backing up, causing me to sidestep so he didn't run me over. I was pretty sure Liam already knew who it was, but he would've felt better if someone had confirmed his assumption.
Dominic Santiago had called a meeting without telling Liam Luciano.
I probably should've walked in the opposite direction of Liam, but quite frankly, I was curious now. I kept my distance, but still walked fast enough to keep up with Liam's long strides. Men threw themselves out the way as Luciano turned down halls, storming his way to this conference room. I smiled sheepishly at a few of them as they shot confused glances at Liam's back, before turning to the man beside them and whispering loudly.
Liam takes a sharp left and stops at two closed double doors. He presses both of his palms against the wood, before bowing his head, taking a deep breath, and pushing them open. The doors fly open, only to reveal a room full of men; I recognized Alex and Luis, who sat on either side of Dominic. Six men sat in cushioned chairs on both sides of the table, while Dom sat at the head, a serious expression on his face. The chatter stopped immediately as Liam stood in the doorway, fuming.
It all happened in slow motion. Everyone's attention turns to Liam, their eyes widening at the sighting of their upset boss. Everyone had turned towards the door; everyone, except Dominic. The curly haired man still had his head bowed, his good eye scanning the papers that are sprawled out in front of him. People cough, hoping to hint to Dom that Luciano had entered the room; but they fail miserably. In my mind, I felt as though Dom knew Liam had busted into their meeting, clearly uninvited, but he didn't seem to care.
"Santiago, why the fuck are you having a meeting without discussing it with me first?" Liam was already halfway into the room, rounding the long, rectangular table. As if they had rehearsed it, Dominic slides out his seat, just as Luciano stops walking.
Dom adjusts his suit jacket, clears his throat, before lifting his chin and looking Liam in the eye with his one good eye. The eye Rico had hit yesterday was still black, blue, and slightly closed. "Do you want the bullshitted answer, or the truth?" All eyes were glued in on the two men, who stood toe-to-toe, glaring harshly at each other. Liam doesn't hesitate.
"The truth."
"I didn't want you here," and Dom turns, sliding back into his seat, and bowing his head, leaving Liam standing there, blinking rapidly.
Luciano towers over Dom's chair, fists clenched, "You better check yourself," then he moves on, rounding the other side of the table. The shoulders of the men on the left side of the table grow rigid as Liam walks by them slowly, intimidatingly. He leans over their shoulders, eyeing small pieces of paper that are resting in front of everyone on the table. Luciano just chuckles, sending fear through the spines of every man – except a couple – around the table.
This time, Alex stands in the presence of his boss. With his tablet resting comfortably between his hand and shoulder, he clears his throat. "Liam, with all due respect, if you don't leave, I'm going to have to have security escort you out."
Liam blinks. "What the hell have you all been smoking?"
"Liam-"
"How the fuck do you have the nerve to threaten me, in my home, with my security?" Alex's stance doesn't waver as Liam marches up to him, pointing a finger in the head of securities face. Luciano whirls around the Dominic, who's staring at the two silently, a lip pulled into his mouth. "And you, I gave you the positions you are in because you're a trustworthy person but this, this," Liam turns toward the room, holding his arms out to everyone, "-is not trustworthy behavior." He lets out a sharp breath, before shaking his head. "For the first and last time; what is this meeting about?"
The room stays silent for a long minute. People shift in their seats, but none of them make eye contact with Liam; none but one – Dominic. His eyes follow Liam all around the room, his expression unreadable. He messes with his facial hair, then the hair on-top his head, his fingers drag down his neatly trimmed sideburns, but his lips stay pursed, quiet.
"If nobody answers my question, you all will walk out of this room homeless."
Alex and Luis shoot up out their seats. Someone bangs a body part on the desk and a few curse words ripple through the room. A chuckle rings out as Luis steps away from his seat. "Wait, Liam," He sighs, "We...this meeting...it isn't...I mean...it is... You've been acting weird," Luis finally spits out after a lengthy minute of stumbling.
"So this meeting is about my...behavior?"
"Kind of," Alex chimes in, "We, well Dom." He takes a deep breath, "Liam, I care about this family just as much as you do and I never want to see this family do poorly and we all," Alex points to everyone in the room, "We all feel as though, recently, you just haven't been... You haven't been helping this family, but more like, hurting us."
Luciano's eyebrow twitches. "Stop beating around the bush."
"You know I don't beat around the bush," Dominic's voice raises as he stands once again, tucking his tie neatly into his suit jacket. He presses his palms against the wood desk and leans on it, his attention solely on Luciano. "Alex, Luis, you may have a seat." The two shuffle to their seats, before dropping in them. "Liam," Dom addresses his boss, his voice deepening, "The 13 men in this room, which includes me, are here because we want to see this family succeed; we want what's best for our friends, our family members in this household. And as of well, today, we have all decided one thing."
"What's that?" Liam spits out a question quickly, making him sound nervous; an emotion I doubted he wanted the others to know about.
"We want you to temporarily stand down as the head, don, of this household."
A pained expression crosses Liam's face as he tears his gaze away from Dominic. His eyes linger on every single man that sits around the conference table. "Why? Because I made a mistake yesterday? One mistake?" He turns back to Dom, his voice only getting louder.
"Well, yeah-"
"They were dressed as cops, Dominic!" Liam slaps the table, his face red. "They drove up in a fucking cop car, they had the badges, they had the fucking uniform. It was a mistake! And don't you dare look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't have made the same one!"
"Liam," Dom's voice is still low, calmer than Liam's. He hid his ever-growing anger much better than Luciano and stayed composed for the most part. He steps away from the table, hands outstretched as he talks and uses hand motions. "Yes, yes they did have the car, they had the badges, they had it all. But the first mistake you did was signing that bastard's piece of paper-"
Luciano throws his hands up, "He said his wife was a fan!"
"Do you have any idea what the hell that paper could've said? You weren't even suspicious of them!" This time, Dom's voice rises – slowly, but surely. He takes a step closer to Liam, eyebrows connecting. "If it wasn't for me, would you have even realized it? Shit, you didn't even believe me," Dom presses the palm of his hand against his chest, "If there is anyone that wants what's best for you, it's me. And as for Rico," He then points to his eye, waving his finger around the badly bruised area, "If it wasn't for Rico, who knows if you and I would even be here discussing this right now?"
Liam drops his gaze, shuffling his feet in contemplation. Dominic just lets out a long breath, before pressing his hands against his forehead in frustration. He backpedals and turns to face the table; it was only then, that I noticed the bottle of pills and glass of water by his seat. It only takes a matter of seconds for him to pour a few pills in his hand, tilt the glass of water to his mouth, and swallow.
Impressive.
"Look," Dom finally breaks the silence of the room as he rests the pills down and turns back around. "With any one of your mistakes, you could've gotten yourself killed. You could've gotten me, Rico, even Faith- " He points at me, "-hurt."
"I didn't-"
"That isn't the point," Dominic emphasizes.
"And you think this family is better off if I step down?"
"Temporarily, yes," He confirms.
"What?" Liam laughs, "And you think you can do a better job than me?" Luciano takes a step towards Dom, "Answer me, do you?" He comes to a stop just in front of Dominic, eyeing him coldly.
"Yes," the consigliere doesn't stutter.
"Well newsflash, gentlemen," Liam takes a step back, addressing the rest of the room. "And Dominic," He adds harshly, "The day this," Liam waves a hand in Dom's direction, "-is better than me at running a family, will be the day his deceased wife resurrects herself and breathes again."
I could feel the chill whipping through the room as the words left Liam's lips. I could see the facial reactions the men around the table were giving; a few of them let their mouth hang open, while others raised their eyebrows in disbelief. A few took in a sharp inhalation of air through the teeth, while others just sat in dead silence.
"This meeting is adjourned," Liam commands, "And Dom, once you pick your jaw off the floor, I would like the speak with you in private." Luciano breaks away from the group of people, finally heading back in my direction. His nostrils still flare but the color in his face is slowly returning to its natural complexion. "Faith, wake Federico up for me; I need to speak with him," He brushes past me with one last instruction, before disappearing out the door. But oddly, his presence is still felt.
My heart was hurting for Dominic. Liam definitely went low by mentioning his wife that had passed away just a few months ago. I felt like everyone was staring at Dom at this point, who had yet to move from where had had been standing. His attention rested on the door Liam had just barged out of a few seconds before; but he didn't blink, nothing. The only movement I saw from him, was his tongue running along the corner of his mouth in a thoughtful manner.
I thought it was finally time I said something. Taking a cautious step forward, I speak up. "Um, Dominic?"
He doesn't respond verbally, but he does blink his way back into reality. I can see his gaze zone in on me, before he jerks his head to the right, where 12 men are staring at him in a worried fashion. He clears his throat before taking long strides in my direction, towards the door. He walks past me quickly, his cologne following him closely on the way out. And just like that, he's gone.
I don't stay behind to hear what the others have to say or do. As fast as Dominic had exited the room, I followed him. If it was even possible, his strides were longer than Liam's and catching up to him was a struggle, but I finally had. "Dominic? Dominic?" I called his name for half the journey down the hallway and it was clear he had heard me, but he wasn't responding.
Once I come within arms distance of him, I reach out, pulling on his dress shirt. He whirls on the balls of his feet smoothly, turning around and staring down at me. I take a step or two back, aware of the personal bubble of space that we had broken. I get right down to the point, "Dominic, I'm sure Liam didn't mean that, he-"
"He meant it."
"Okay," I say slowly, "Fine, whatever, but I wanted to apologize for him; even though, I'm sure he'll apologize to you when he can," I look down, "But, then, again maybe he won't. Well, whatever, it doesn't matter." When I look back up at him, he has an amused expression on his face. My mouth drops, "Oh god, was I rambling?"
The edges of his lips attempt to pull into a smile, but they simply twitch. "No." I watch him for a few seconds, not-so secretly analyzing him. His eyes were a rich chocolate brown, his eyelashes were to die for, and his eyebrows were perfect. After a second or two or silence, he just nods slightly and angles his body in the other direction, ready to leave. But again, I reach out, stopping him.
"What was she like?" I blurt out.
He stares at me for the longest moment, before shaking his head. His laugh held no humorous feel to it. "You're just asking this because you feel sorry for me. I've had this question asked to me a million times within the last three months, and nobody has actually cared about the answer. Nice try, Ms. Crawford."
"I do care," I tug on his sleeve once again, stopping him for the third time from leaving.
"Why?"
I shrug at that, "Maybe I get attached to people too easily, maybe I make friends too quickly; but I care about my friends, so I care about you. Besides, I'm kind of curious to know about the woman that actually got you whipped."
He presses a palm against my back, gently leading me through a door. It resembles almost a work lounge; it's a small room, but contains a mini refrigerator and a television, a computer, and a bookshelf. It was nothing spectacular, but if you needed privacy, this was a room you could get it in. Dom closes the door behind him and leans up against it as I walk in and turn around.
"Her name was Rose."
"Like Rosie without the I?"
"Yes like Rosie without the I," He deadpans, but I can't help but hear a hint of sarcasm piercing his words. He sighs. "She was sarcastic and goofy." I back up and sit down on the edge of the sofa, ready to hear about Dominic's late wife. He cracks a smile for the first time that day, "She made me insanely happy, she was just..." The smile fades as quickly as it arrived and I could've sworn to you, the room grew darker.
"She was just what?"
"She was perfection in my eyes, even if she didn't think she was herself. And when she got sick and her cancer got worse, she got really thin and pale and...um..." Dom bows his head and falls silent, but when he speaks again, his voice hardly wavers, "I just wish she could've seen herself through my eyes; because she would've seen an angel."
I was impressed with how he kept himself together. Many people would've started bawling their eyes out, choking on their tears – all of those, understandable – but Dominic kept his face neutral, his voice monotone.
"When I proposed to her," His smile was back, but his eyes were glossy. "I took her to a rose field and I told her we could walk this field for days, but never would we ever find a rose as beautiful as her."
He walks over to me, his fingers playing with the ring that still sits on his hand. Dominic drops down beside me. He drops his head and doesn't say much, if anything at all. Slowly, his shoulders start to shake and he brings his hands up to his face, attempting to keep the tears from falling. He doesn't say anything else and feeling as though my presence was no longer wanted, I stood up and headed towards the door.
It wasn't until I had a hand on the door knob that Dom spoke to my back. "Find someone that makes you a better person. Find someone that doesn't drag you down, but lifts you up; find someone with the same goals and aspirations as you. Make sure they respect you, love you, and treat you the way they would treat their mother."
I stop and turn back to him, eyes squinted. "Sometimes, I think you're too sweet."
"I'm too nice?"
"Yes," I told my arms across my chest.
"You just haven't got me in bed yet."
Oh my god.
"Oh my God,"
"Yeah, that's what they usually say-"
Both of us end up bursting out in fits of laughter. He smiles once I stand up straight again and raises his hand, pointing to his wedding ring. "I'm just messing with you Faith. Besides, not only am I still in love with her," He points to the ring Rose gave him, "but Liam seems to like you."
I let out another laugh, "So, it would be okay to friend zone you?"
He lets out a deep chuckle, "Yes."
"Great, see you later, Buddy."
- - - -
It is very hard to forget about Federico, but somehow, I managed to. I scurried up the steps in the direction of Liam's wing after my quick chat with Dominic. I had passed through a bunch of rooms on my way towards the steps and I even gathered up the courage to stick my head in a door and ask if anyone had seen Liam.
Everyone said the same thing: no.
I pushed him into the back of my head as my feet sunk into the plush carpet. I headed straight for Rico's door, only stopping to knock and listen for any sounds of movement behind his door. The longer I stood there, knocking and tapping on his door, the more I grew worried; nobody had seen him since last night, since Liam had talked him down from putting a bullet in his temple.
I hadn't said anything last night and I stayed quiet because I didn't know what to say. I had never been sad enough to even think about killing myself, about ending my life; and so many people may think it would be easy to speak up in a situation like that, but personally, for me, it wasn't. So I stayed quiet and let Liam speak; but that didn't mean I wasn't concerned or worried for Rico. Not only was sleeping last night a struggle because of Liam, but my mind was racing to; I wasn't sure if leaving Federico all alone last night was the best idea – but I suppose now, we would find out.
"Rico?" I knock once more and upon receiving no type of answer, I gently twist the knob. To my surprise it was open, and just like that, I was standing in his room.
His room was clean.
Whatever pill he had been attempting to crush last night on one of his nightstands, was gone. His dresser drawers were closed with no clothes hanging out of them and his room was simply, spotless. But it wasn't until I trained my eyes on the bed that a chill rippled down my spine.
Federico lay on his side on top of the covers and sheets. His head was resting on his pillow but he was still wearing the same thing we had seen him in last night. I took a cautious step forward, noting that his eyes were open and his right arm was outstretched on the mattress, where a small, orange pill bottle rested loosely in his grasp.
My stomach dropped.
"Rico?" I took another step closer.
He didn't blink, his fingers didn't twitch, his shoulders didn't budge. He didn't move.
Then I was backpedaling. I was backpedaling out his room, Liam's name on the tip of my tongue, but his voice stopped me; the voice I didn't know I was holding my breath to hear, stopped me.
"She was hit by a car," Rico says in a dreary manner as I turn around, listening closely. "They didn't stop to see if she was okay, they didn't care. And Vincenzo, he's going to tell me nobody saw," Federico keeps his gaze towards the window as he speaks, "I used to run those streets," He squeezes the pill bottle roughly, "At night, at a time like that, people saw. People saw her get hit, people watched her scream in agony, people heard her dying words – but they're going to lie about it and say nobody saw?"
I swallow hard. "Maybe...maybe your father just doesn't know that."
Air escapes his nose, "He knows and people lied to him. I refuse to believe nobody, not one soul, saw Mrs. Martha get hit."
"What about the people that hit her?" I join Rico at the side of his bed and sit down hesitantly.
"I'm going to kill them. And by the time I'm done with them, they're going to wish they were never born."
I turn to him, "Two negatives don't make a positive."
"They made me."
That got a smile from me, but nothing more. But even after our short conversation, Rico still hadn't moved drastically. Now, he was rotating the bottle of pills in his hand, his gaze still fixated on an inanimate object somewhere in his guestroom. Even though I knew Rico was most definitely alive, I noticed his shoulders hardly budged while he breathed, his chest barely moving. It was impressive really; and if it really came down to it, I was certain Federico could pretend to be dead.
"Ms. Martha was the only mother figure in my life and I left her," was how Rico started off his quiet rant. "I hated that orphanage, it was hell," I bit back the questions that were already forming in my head and let Federico talk; but this time, I truly listened. "The kids hated me. This girl, Priscilla, she had it out for me every day of my life. And because I was small, they would take advantage of me; they would push me out of line when it was time to eat, the boys would make me take a shower last and use up all the hot water, and..." I drew my attention back to Rico, only to see his jaw locking.
"Keep going," I mutter, "I want to hear."
"We had story-time every evening at seven. We would all get dressed and shower and come down to the small living room and listen while Ms. Martha read a book. And the furniture was never great, but the floor was the worst; it was cold and hard and...and every story time I would sit on the ground. The other kids would always beat me to the furniture and they would squeeze in, leaving me on the floor."
I watched Federico while he spoke. His eyes glazed over with tears once again, but they never fell. He would blink them away, just like he would blink away any other sign of emotion. I could hear his voice rising, his muscles in his arms tensing as he replayed the scenario he was explaining to me, in his head. His voice only grew deeper and I found myself scooting away just slightly.
"And once," He let out another curt laugh, his white teeth showing as his lips pulled apart for a brief second. "Once I skipped dinner to shower first and I got downstairs and sat on the sofa at 6:55. I was so excited because for the first time I was going to be able to focus on the story and not the hard floor," Rico sighs, "At seven, all the other kids came running in and a few jumped on the sofa with me and that was fine but then Priscilla walked in and she stopped and looked at everyone, but I'm the one she grabs and pulls off the sofa."
"She sounds...horrible," when he doesn't say anything, I continue, "I'm sorry about your loss," I stand, sighing when, again, I don't get a reply. "You should tell me another story sometime, but Liam wants to talk with you. I'm not sure what about though..." I slide off the end of his bed and head towards the door. He hadn't commented on anything I had said in the last two minutes, but I was positive he had heard.
I was just about to slip out the door when he called me back. When I turned towards his bed this time, he had sat up. Rico sat up straight, his feet resting on the ground. His back was hunched as he tossed the bottle of pills he had been fumbling with on his nightstand. At this point, his hair was in an awkward stage of growing out. It resembled Liam's hair, just much shorter and a few longer strands covered just about an inch of his forehead.
"I see the way you look at me. Even now, even after I told you that you could trust me."
I fold my arms across my chest and shift my body weight to another foot. "How do I look at you?" I find myself taking a cautious step back as Federico stands up; and just like that, I'm no longer looking down at him. His clothes are wrinkled and his facial hair had grown in significantly. With facial hair, Rico could easily pull for a 25, maybe 26 year old. Without, he could easily look like a 19 year old with really broad shoulders.
He closes the gap of space between us quickly. I lean back as he takes his last step towards me, his expression growing serious. "You look scared."
"I," I clear my throat and attempt to stand up straight, angling my head backwards so that I can look up at Rico. "I'm not scared of you." He quirks an eyebrow, "I'm scared of what you can do." He takes a step back, allowing me to breathe normally once again. I straighten my shirt and smile forcefully. "Right now, in this very second, how many weapons do you have in this room?" I look around at the clean room; I eye dresser drawers, closest, I even glance at the area of space underneath his bed. "At this very second," I look to Rico, "You have probably analyzed three different ways to kill me and that scares me."
"Six," Rico slides his hands down his back, resting them comfortably in his back pockets. "I could kill you in six different ways."
I point at him, "Point made!" He laughs softly as I walk past him, heading towards his bed. I rip his pillow from the bed, finding exactly what I expected to find; a pistol, a silencer attached to it. I hold my hand down for Federico to see. "And this, stuff like this, scares me."
"Why? I'm not going to use it on you," He responds, confusion crossing his handsome features. "I can't sleep if my gun isn't with me, Faith," His eyes follow mine as I pull his pillow back and stand there, arms folded once again.
"And why not?"
He looks at me weird, like the question I asked made no sense whatsoever. Rico shakes his head, "You have no idea do you? You and I, we're in a completely different world, Faith." I swallow hard, heat rising to my cheeks as Federico continues, "Do you know how many people want me dead? Do you know how much a couple crime bosses would pay to have my body sent to their house with my head detached?" I shake my head, "I may be talented," He continues, "But I'm just as vulnerable as everyone else when I'm sleep."
I could envision that happening; a dark suited man carrying a bag through an expensive house – Rico's body inside. And the thought actually brought the tears to my eyes, but they didn't fall.
"And your mom," He points at me, "Your dad, they were right when they said nothing good happens at night; because it doesn't. Despite the money that my father had, despite some of the money that I make, there have been nights where I slept on the streets; where it was just me and the clothes on my back. This, all the guns that you're afraid of, all the things that you're afraid that I can do," Rico outstretches his arms to the room, "That's my way of survival. My instincts keep me alive, but I wouldn't be surprised if one day, they fail me."
I swallowed the tears that had formed.
Rico takes a small step towards me, his voice lowering. "Do you know what I'm afraid of? I'm afraid that I will die at the hands of the mafia. This world I live in, it's a kill or be killed world. And that is why I am who I am, among other things. But the most important thing is this," He takes another step towards me, "You don't want me as your enemy, you want me as your friend. I mean," He shrugs, a small smile growing on his lips, "If I have to reintroduce myself for a third time and start this whole relationship over, I'll do it."
I let out a laugh, a real smile crossing my face. "No, Rico, you don't have to introduce yourself as Olaf for a third time." My laugh only grows when Rico pouts, his plump bottom lip sticking out. By the time he reaches me, we're both smiling widely.
We stand there for the longest time, looking at each other. "So, are you still scared of me?"
"Yes."
"Faith," He groans, throwing his head back.
"I'm kidding!" I slap his stomach, making him laugh even harder. He chuckles.
"So, is this where people hug each other? Because I'm not familiar with that sort of thing."
"Yes," I smile. I wrap my arms around his torso, pressing my ear against his chest. My eyes close as he grows rigid, but only for a second. His arms move at his side and just like that, they're around my back, pulling me close. "For someone that doesn't seem to be hugged a lot, you aren't terrible at it...Bro."
Rico's hands quickly find my shoulder, prying me off of him. He tilts his head, frowning. "Did you just...sibling-zone me?"
"Possibly."
He looks horrified; like, accidently walking in on your grandparents fucking, horrified.
His mouth drops and for a few seconds, he tries to find words. Finally, his lips close and he re-opens his mouth, saying, "Jesus, you have to warn someone."
"Warn you?!" I let out a laugh as he stares at me.
"Yes!"
"How do I warn you?!"
"Oh, I don't know," He says sarcastically, "Heads up, Rico," His voice goes a few octaves higher as he winces to imitate how I speak, "I'm about to call you my brother."
I put my hands on my waist, "I do not speak like that."
He puts his hands on his waist, shaking his hips. "I do not speak like that," He imitates me once again. I groaned, just before raising my hand and making contact with his temple.
Rico just laughs as he reaches up to grab his head; his smile was wide and beautiful and in that moment, he looked happy; really happy. He didn't look like a guy that could put a gun up to his head and contemplate life; he didn't look like the hurt guy I laid my eyes on last night – and the thought never hit me harder than now. I never realized just how much of a front a person can put on to pretend that they're okay, when they aren't.
"Faith, Faith, Faith!" The male voice calling my name was only getting closer by the second. Their voice echoed out in the halls outside. Rico and I both turn towards the door as William bursts through, looking frazzled and frayed. He had a laptop pressed against his chest and his hair was in disarray. Will scurries into the room, passes a confused looking Rico, grabs my arm and hauls me towards the door. I don't put up much a fight as he yells, "I need your help!"
"What can I say?" I throw Rico a look over my shoulder, smiling smugly, "I'm a lucky girl." Federico's lips pull into a smile as he raises his hand; his four fingers bend as he waves – and then he's gone, out of my sight, as the door is slammed behind me.
I pull away from Will quickly as we step outside. I dust my sweaty palms against my jeans and look to him. "Okay, slow down. You've either had too many energy drinks or you're running on two hours of sleep." William turns to me and takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly through his mouth.
"We need to talk and I need your help."
He walks away from me, leaving me to scurry behind him. We walk down a few steps, past a few doors, and up another set of stairs. This was the first time I wasn't in Liam's wing and I could honestly say, I was feeling a bit vulnerable. Men stand near the railing, smoking and overlooking the downstairs of the large home. A few talk in secluded corners, waving guns in the air and laughing deeply. I manage to stick close to Will, considering he was the only one I actually knew. But over the weeks, we had grown distant – especially considering he had almost planned to murder me.
I wasn't quite over that yet.
The room I follow William in is nearly the same size as Rico's. However, Will didn't keep his room nearly as clean as the others I had stepped in to. I stepped over piles of clothes as Will headed towards a desk in the corner, resting the laptop in his hand down. I couldn't help but notice the clothes that hung out of dresser drawers or the piles of clothing that was just tossed in layers on William's bed.
He whirls around to me, finally appearing as though he had calmed down. "I got accepted into MIT." I blink, "The Massachusetts Institute of Technology?" He says, "A private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts? Jeez, are you really that sheltered?" He rambles. I blink again.
"I know what M.I.T. is you dumbass," I roll my eyes, "But congratulations. What does this have to do with me?"
Will sighs and for the first time since I laid eyes on him, he looks very nervous. "Well, they accept like seven percent of applicants, so I was just really scared and I was already kind of late on applying, so I sort of just threw my application in and crossed my fingers," I nod, "But," He continues, "I kind of have a major problem."
"You got accepted into the school of your dreams, correct?"
He nods.
"Then I don't see a problem."
"Yeah, well I do."
"And what's that?"
"I'm broke." He plops down on his bed and sighs as the mattress moans under his weight. "That's why I almost, kind of, might've gone with Michael to..." He uses a hand motion to fill in his words, "Because I didn't have the money. Luciano hardly gives me enough; at least, what I feel like I deserve."
"Does Liam even have to give you anything?"
"Well, no," Will continues as I sit down beside him. "He just does it because he's generous, I suppose. I just...I wanted to ask him if he could...maybe...help pay for some of my college. Till I get a job of some sort."
I understood where William was coming from about asking Liam, but I couldn't see Luciano handing over a boatload of cash for Will who is, in turn, leaving Liam.
"How much is the tuition?"
Will's shoulders sag at my question. "Well, it's 44 grand plus some a year; and if I want to go for four years, which I do, that's 178 grand-" When I look at him weird, he adds, "I did the math this morning."
There was no way in my mind that Liam would just hand out 178 grand to a man that partially backstabbed him. "You should just ask him," I finally tell Will, smiling softly. I nudge his shoulders gently, "Just make sure he's in a good mood and you might get lucky."
"Thanks," was his reply, "And, y'know, sorry for trying to kill you and everything."
I didn't exactly have an answer for that, so I just awkwardly laughed.
"Miss Crawford."
Both Will and I glance up at the masculine voice that calls my name. The man that had attempted to hit on me a few days ago was standing there; Jeremiah, I believe. He hooks a thumb behind him as he smiles wickedly. "Boss man wants you." He wiggles his eyebrows as I stand up, growing increasingly uncomfortable with Jeremiah's presence. William, however, didn't notice.
Boys.
"Uh," I laugh softly, pointing at him, "And he sent you to uh...escort me?"
"Yep," He even pops the P, causing me to cringe. I glance behind me, eyeing Will; but he's too busy hovering over the laptop to notice my hesitation. So I go.
The second I step out into the hallway, I knew it was a mistake. "So, your name is Faith?" He starts our very much one sided conversation first; I just nod in response. "Pretty name," he says, after glancing behind his own shoulder to get a look at me.
"Where's Liam?"
We march down the steps, retracing the steps Will and I had taken about fifteen minutes before. He heads up the steps, in the direction of Liam's wing, while answering, "His bedroom."
I slow my walk, "He asked you to escort me to his bedroom?" We hit the top floor and he turns around, smiling gently at me. His smile caused my stomach to do flips; but it wasn't the same flips Liam's smile caused. I watch Jeremiah close Rico's door, as it was open by just a crack. Then he heads for Luciano's room, twisting the knob and pushing the door open.
"Ladies first," He smiles, his hand motioning for me to enter Luciano's bedroom.
I don't move.
Jeremiah backs up slowly, but it was nothing that made any alarms in my head go off. He backs up just enough that he can glance behind him at the stairwell, listening closely as someone walks up them. I heard Dominic before I see Dominic. His voice had a distinct accent; it was clearly Italian, but was mixed with another that I couldn't quite put my finger on.
"What the hell are you doing up h-"
I don't know why Jeremiah responded the way he did. He jumped, looking slightly frightened as Dom hit the second floors landing. He looked puzzled and confused, but only for a second; then he looked surprised. Jeremiah swings his arm back, knocking Dom off balance and sending him down the flight of marble steps.
There was a lot of shouting and commotion coming from downstairs as Jeremiah looked at me. We locked eyes for just a second. He shakes his head, then descends down the steps and I can already hear him shouting, "I didn't mean it! I'm sorry! Shit, Dominic, wake up, man; wake up."
I frown, my heart skipping beats as I head into Liam's room; unsure if I could take the sight that was at happening at the bottom of the steps. But I couldn't have felt any sicker than I did when I saw Liam's room.
Luciano wasn't even in there.
- - - -
"You look distracted, what's wrong?"
Liam had been watching me since we sat down in the five star Italian restaurant. We were sitting in a two seater table in the back of the room, just as Luciano had requested. The window was to my right, where rain droplets ran down large, open window. Even from here, despite the glare the lights of the restaurant was causing, I could see Liam's white Lamborghini sitting in the parking lot.
I had asked Liam a hundred times why he took me out to dinner tonight, but he never gave me a clear answer. We had left the house in total chaos, even after it had simmered down just a bit. Everyone had been snapping at Jeremiah when I managed to walk down the steps, all eyes turning to me. I could still see Dominic lying on the ground, face first.
"Is Dominic going to be okay?"
Our waiter, who introduced himself as Pedro, rests two ice cold glasses of water in front both of us. Liam thanks him politely and takes a sip. He runs his tongue along his upper lip and rests the glass down. Next, he dabs his fingers on his cloth – which was used as a napkin – and looks up at me. "Yes, Dominic is going to be fine."
I turn away and look back out the window. I can see Liam's reflection in the glass, eyeing me with concern. "Jeremiah is an idiot."
"He said Dom scared him," Liam explains while he shrugs, "I forgive him." Luciano takes another sip of his water and looks away from the back of my head, out towards the rest of the packed restaurant. "Hey, hey, there he is." Liam tugs on my arms and nods subtly to an older gentleman sitting all the way across the restaurant.
The man isn't alone. Five other men sit beside him, all of them speaking – their lips moving rapidly.
"Abram Volkov, the dumbass that killed Mary," Liam shakes his head and turns back to me, taking a sip of his drink, "That feels like such a long time ago," He states. I nod. "Three of those men with him are his security, the other two are people he's meeting with. We didn't get to come to this restaurant when he was here about a week ago, but I had Rico track him and well, shit, we got lucky."
I lower my voice, "How is Rico even going to...terminate him?"
"That doesn't matter," Liam smiles, "Leave it up to him, but right now; it's just you and I."
Pedro comes back a few minutes after. He hands Liam three plates; one with salad, one with bread, and one with a lot of cheese shells covered with marinara sauce. He then turns to me and smiles, resting down my tossed salad.
Luciano frowns, "Wait, that's all you ordered?"
"I wasn't hungry," I smile softly as I bring a forkful of lettuce to my mouth, chewing thoughtfully. We eat in peace, talking every so often and laughing softly between ourselves. Liam knows how to hold a conversation when he really wants to and talking with him was very easy. I even managed to squeeze in William's name in the conversation, hinting at the fact that he had been accepted into M.I.T.
But Liam's, "Oh, that's great then," answer didn't exactly give me the hope I was expecting.
"Yeah," I laugh, "He's really excited."
Liam's mouth fell open in a bored attempt to answer, when someone's coughing fit cuts his off. All the heads in the restaurant turn as the fit of coughing doesn't stop, and we all find ourselves staring at Abram Volkov, who's clutching his chest and coughing, face red. One of the suited men wave down a waiter and ask him a question. Liam and I watch Volkov stand up and insist to his body guard that he didn't need to be followed; he then walks down a hall, where Liam tells me the bathrooms reside. He slips inside the men's room and out of sight.
Liam then turns to a younger gentleman in a booth on another side of the restaurant. Luciano smiles and lifts a hand, waving respectively to the young man that had accompanied us on our journey over. A few of the men that work closely with Liam had suggested he bring along security; He hadn't been thrilled about it, but figured one man couldn't hurt anybody. The gentlemen, that everyone referred to as Bobby, even drove separately; so truthfully, he hadn't bothered us in the least. I smiled and waved to the man also before turning back and enjoying the rest of our meal.
Our food is finished shortly after that incident, but we don't leave. "You know, you have about a month and a half, if that, left with me." He says. I frown, smiling softly as I take a gulp of water.
"You seem to like to mention that I have to get back home soon. Are you excited that I'm leaving?"
Luciano just smiles, "No. I suppose I just say it because I can't believe it myself. I'm trying to come to terms with it, I guess."
That made sense. "You better fly Rosalie out every so often so I can see her," I tease him, causing the smile to grow on his face.
"Shit, she may miss you more than me."
We both break out into a soft laughter before Liam hails over Pedro and hands him his credit card, watching as the waiter takes it to the back to swipe. While we wait, Liam gets up and pulls my chair out, helping me stand to my feet. We both push the chairs back in as the waiter comes back with a receipt and credit card, smiling widely. "Thank you both and please, come again."
Liam replies a phrase in Italian before we dip out through the door, into the crisp, night air. It wasn't till then that I realized I hadn't brought up the topic that was really bothering me.
With Luciano's palm on my back, we stride through the parking lot to his car. I glance over my shoulder, where Bobby follows suit closely, making sure we make it there safely and without incident. I lower my voice, not wanting the bodyguard to hear me.
"Earlier today, Jeremiah said you wanted to speak with me-"
"Yeah," We reach the side of Liam's car and stop. He unlocks the doors and pulls the passenger side open, waiting for me to be seated. "I told him to go get you cause I needed to speak with you about going out to dinner. Why?"
"Well, he took me to your bedroom. You weren't even in your bedroom."
Liam just shrugs it off, "Maybe he made a mistake. Just because we're in the mafia doesn't mean we aren't perfect," He winks as I slide in the car, still unconvinced even with his answers. Luciano rounds the car and gives a nod to Bobby, who begins to turn to walk away. Liam joins me inside the car and inserts the key; but his hand pauses and he doesn't ignite the engine. "I really have to pee," He laughs, "I'll be right back."
As he hops out the car, Bobby turns around. The two talk for a moment and Liam points back towards the restaurant. Bobby nods as Liam hands him the key and points towards the car; they pat each other on the back and just like that, Bobby is now sitting beside me.
I smile warily as he inserts the key and leans back. "Did you have a nice time, Ms. Crawford?"
"I did," I shoot back the same, polite smile as I pull out my phone. My heart drops when I see the seven missed calls from my mother notifications. "Shoot," Bobby turns and eyes me with worry, "Sorry, I have to go call my mother."
"No problem, Ms. Crawford. You may step out; I'll just warm up the car," He says sweetly. I nod and step out.
But as soon as I step out and walk back towards the restaurant, my phone begins to ring once again.
Rico is calling.
I hit the ignore button quickly.
Liam had made me add Federico as a contact a few days ago, but back then, I hadn't been very keen on Rico knowing my number or vice-versa. I figured, back then, that if he got arrested for something serious, the cops would then come looking for me. But Luciano assured me that just because I was in Rico's contact list, didn't mean I was an accomplice for any one of his vast amount of murders.
Normally, I wouldn't have ignored his call; but the seven missed calls from my mother was more pressing at the moment. So I ignored them and quickly dialed my mother's number by heart.
"Faith?!" She breathes, "Goodness gracious, child; I have been calling you all evening! Where have you been?!"
"Faith!" My attention jerks up from the water covered concrete, where Liam is pushing his way through the doors, running to me as quickly as he can, "Faith! Get down!"
And the rest happened in the blink of an eye; the second Liam reaches me, he wraps his arms around me and we wall to the pavement as the ground shakes. I could hear the explosion, I just couldn't see it; but when Liam pushed himself away from me and scrambled away, still on the ground; I saw it.
Or what was left of it, anyways.
Fire just erupted into the clear, night sky and the only thing I could see, was the outline of what was left of Luciano's Lamborghini. We didn't have much to say at that point as pedestrians from inside the restaurant scrambled out to see what had caused the noise; but they all skidded to a stop, not daring to inch any closer to the fire ball that just sat in the parking lot.
Pieces of car were falling from the sky and that was the only reason Liam and I crawled to our feet, in hopes of seeking shelter.
"Faith?! What the hell was that?!"
I had completely forgotten I had my mother on the line. With a shaking hand, I brought the phone up to my ear. "Fireworks mom, I'll call you back." And I hung up without an answer.
Firetrucks pulled up about 60 seconds later and they put out the rest of the fire; but that didn't stop me from realizing one very important thing.
Liam and I both could've died tonight.
And we both looked at each other at the same time, realizing it; Liam was the first to make a comment about the incident.
"Shit."
- - - -
A/N: Boom.
You do realize just how close Liam and Faith came to dying right? Tee-Hee. As an author, it's like dangling your favorite character over a cliff and pretending to drop them, but catching them right before they fall. Hahaha. Oh and sorry for probably giving you a mini heart attack over Federico – you know I had to.
ANYWAYS...
Who rigged their car?
Comments on Jeremiah?
Should Liam give William the money for his school?!
Would you ignore Rico if he called you?