After we arrived, Ryder ordered Leo to take me to the study in the back of this giant warehouse. "I'll be there soon," Ryder says. He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me forward. Ryder leaned in, "Stay in the room. Don't be nosy."
I glared at him and slapped his hands off me. "I won't. Unlike someone I know."
I turned away from him and walked off as Leo chuckled behind me. So now, I was sitting on his chair behind his desk as Leo laid down on the couch exhausted. I swayed the chair back and forth. "Is Ryder keeping track on me?" I asked.
Leo's chest stopped moving. Slowly turning to look at me, his eyes held hesitation. "Why?"
"I promise I won't get angry."
He licked his lips then sat up. Leo brushed his hair back and nodded. "Ryder asked one of our best tech guy to install a gps tracker into the necklace Ryder gave you before he left out of country. I mean, all the ladies without a brand has the same necklace but-"
"Brand?" I interrupted. "As in?"
"A tattoo specifically telling everyone who knows of us that you're one of us and if they mess with you, they mess with us."
I blinked at him, unbelieving the words I was hearing.
Leo stood up and lifted up his shirt to reveal his tattooed abs that consisted of the same image as my necklace. Just below it was written in beautiful handwriting, "Knight To The House Of Quantum."
I looked back up at him as he dropped his shirt and walked over to me. Leo took a deep breath and crouched down in front of me, holding my hands. "I know I shouldn't be the one telling you this but I know for a fact that Ryder isn't going to." He paused for what seemed like forever. "We're the Mafia."
"What?" I whispered shocked.
Leo's grip on my hands slightly tighten but stayed silent to let it sink in a bit.
I looked away from Leo. My mind raced to all the events that happened to me and how Ryder always showed up out of no where. The death glares and stares. "I guess that makes...kind of sense," I mumbled.
"Wait. You're okay?" Leo asked shocked.
I shrugged. "No. I mean...How-wait," I abruptly stopped talking. "Teddy!" I stood up. "Don't tell me-"
"Yes."
"I have to stop him," I quickly say and was about to go when Leo stopped me and pushed me back down on the chair. "You can't go. If you stop it now and Ryder ends up letting Teddy go, Teddy and his family will retaliate. His family is also part of the Mafia."
"But-"
Leo shook his head and held my hands. "Teddy was in the wrong and we have surveillance proof that he touched and harmed what was part of the Quantum house."
"But Ryder's going to kill him."
"Ryder has no choice. If he doesn't do this, Ryder will be known as a joke to everyone. No one will take him seriously and the reputation of the Quantum family will fall. Ryder worked hard to become what he's meant to be so if you go in there now and stop it all from happening, it's game over for Ryder."
I bit my lip and let it all sink in.
"He has to, Princess," Leo says softly. I slumped in my chair and crossed my arms. "Princess?"
I took a deep breath. "I want to know everything as much as possible."
Apparently, Ryder's family have been in the Mafia since forever. His first grandparents were once respectable and rich people until they were betrayed by their so called friends, stripping their grandparents of their title, money, and reputation. The grandparents ended up on the streets, scrapping up whatever food they could and when the grandfather had had enough, he got into the line of gangsters. Stealing from the rich and giving some back to the poor.
As the world evolved, so did the grandparents. Becoming even more ambitious and power hungry through the fury that was still living strong in him. When he finally rose to the top through owning drug businesses, clubs, getting away with anything he did, he went to find the people that betrayed him and killed every single one of them.
In cold blood.
The grandfather was eventually put away for life but his heirs and kins had already taken his place to keep the power and their reputation going.
That was the short and less detailed version.
"So grandfather Richard saw his family as royals and soon everyone followed suit. Kamier and Ang is our King and Queen as their four sons are the princes and their two daughters are the princesses."
"Wait...so who's the fourth brother?" I looked at him confused.
"Shawn. Although he had a different father...Kamier and the boys had accepted him at a time until Shawn's father decided to order the kill of one of the princes from the house of Hue."
"Is that why Shawn was telling me to stay away?" I mumbled to myself. I sighed and brushed my ponytail. "Was the prince, by chance...prince Vincent?"
Leo's eyes grew. "How'd-"
"Ryder was talking about it when he came picking me up," I said in a low voice. I took a deep breath as if it was the hardest thing to do in the world. "I need some air."
I started to fan myself when everything that had happened to me replayed in my head. "That guy," I breathed. "The one who bumped into me. What did Ryder do to him?"
Leo looked at me pained then shook his head.
"Oh Jesus fucking Christ! Ryder killed him?!" I whispered angrily.
"Princ-"
"No!" I slapped his hands away and moved away from him as far as possible. "Stop calling me that! How can he just kill someone?! That's outrageous! So what if I got bumped into. Everyone gets bumped into on the streets often. That man is no different!"
"Scarlett, calm down," Leo tried to reconcile me but I just held myself and shook my head.
"No. This is all wrong," I said as I started to pace back and forth. I buried my face in my hands. "Oh god. Shawn was right."
The door to the office opened. "Right about what?"
I halted in my steps and stared at Ryder as he now had different clothes on. When he approached me, I stumbled back. Moving away from both of them. "Don't! Stop," I said as I put a hand up. Ryder stopped and looked at me confused. "Just...just stay away."
His eyes narrowed and became dark. I was having a hard time breathing as everything replayed in my head once more. "Stay away from me from now on," I said as I quickly made my way to the door when Ryder roughly grabbed my wrist.
"And where are you going?" He growled.
"Let me go!" I cried out, trying to pry his fingers off. "Let me go!"
Leo came over and pried his hand off me as I backed away from both of them. Holding onto my badly bruised wrist, I left the room and tried to find my exit without looking and touching anybody.
"Move," Ryder's voice echoed loudly in the halls.
My heart raced as tears wanted to spill. Ryder is a killer. Kamier is a killer. Shawn is a killer. Leo...Louie. I finally found an exit and ran for it once the door flew open. I hailed a taxi once I got to the main roads and got in.
I didn't know where I was going but I needed to go somewhere where they couldn't find me. "Stop here," I said. I paid the fair and got out. I looked down to the necklace Ryder gave me and snapped it off, throwing it into the darkness. "Where am I suppose to go now?" I asked myself as I begin walking down the still busy streets.
I dug for my clutch. I took out my phone and turned it off, throwing it in the garbage.
I thought about Samantha but she was reckless and I didn't need to her to be knowing what was going on. I thought about Jethro but he was part of the Quantum family. Then I thought about everyone that I knew and right then and there, I just wanted to cry. "They're all the same," I whispered. I kept walking until I approached my bank, thanking them that they didn't close yet.
I took out half of my money and went to a different side of the city to check in to a hotel, paying cash up front. I went up to my room and the first thing I did was slide down against the bed and held myself. "What am I suppose to do now?"
I couldn't go back to work. I couldn't go back to my old apartment. I cannot use my debit card. All my belongings were at their house. I buried my face in my arms and cried. I was going to have to start all over. From the bottom up.
A new name.
A new address.
New environment.
New people.
"When will this ever end?" I thought to myself.
A knock at my door, broke me out of my revere. I wiped away my tears and went to the bathroom quick to check myself over. My eyes were red and it obviously looked like I was crying. The knock came again making me have no choice but to go and see who it was.
I looked through the peephole and right outside my door stood Ryder. I covered my mouth and backed away from the door. This time, he pounded. "Open the fucking door, Scarlett!" He boomed.
I quickly looked around and when I saw the window, I went over to it and opened it up. He pounded even harder, the hinges of the door shaking. I got out onto the death ledge and closed the window. I hid myself away from it and just as I did, a loud crash was heard. I tightly closed my eyes so I wouldn't look down and pressed myself harder against the stone wall.
Crash after crash was heard. Then came Ryder's warcry roar.
I shot my eyes opened as my chest caved in.
I peeked to the window to see the room messed up and Ryder's heaving shoulders. His hands were clenched at his side and his head slightly hung.
After a good few minutes, Ryder unclenched his fists. His shoulders going slack. He combed his hands through his hair and slightly pulled it. Finally, he recomposed himself and exited the room.
I carefully brought myself back into the room and looked at the mess he made. It was heartbreaking to see.
But what was I suppose to do?
He's a killer.