"Was it real or was it all in my head?" - Tori Kelly
••••••••••••••••
"So... How do you feel?"
I look up at the unfamiliar guy sitting beside the redhair girl, Jay, I remember Ford calling her that. She has been avoiding my eyes ever since we sat down.
He's smiling at me tauntingly as if noticing the tension in the air due to my presence or maybe there's something else on his mind that he must find amusing to be looking at me like that.
"Like shit." I say taking a sip of the drink in my cup, trying not to look at him.
I hear a deep chuckle resonating from the other side of the room. I look up to see a grin on his face and his eyes shining with amusement. The redhair looks at him in a silent warning and the smile that was on his face disappears as if it wasn't there.
We soon go back to the awkward silence we were in and the only sound in the room is the sound of spoons clicking on the plates.
"So you knew Thomas?"
At the mention of his name everyone suddenly averts their eyes to me, even redhair. I shift uncomfortably in my seat at the attention.
"Yes.. He worked with Rob."
This guy is starting to get on my nerves with his many questions.
"Your uncle?"
"Yes...." I reply my voice whispering.
I don't appreciate him asking a lot of questions it's annoying and I don't like the attention but I get the feeling that he's doing it on purpose.
"Must be nice growing up getting everything you want."
I bit my bottom lip until it feels like it's bleeding, trying not to say something I'll regret. He thinks he knows what happened in that house, he thinks I had a perfect life like those snobbish bitches of Beverly Hills.
"You know Thomas was like a father figure to me. Took me in when I was a kid living in the streets of New York." He says casually his voice sounding distant.
"Until he killed him." He says his voice full of finality.
"And you stood there wa-"
As soon as he says that something in me snaps. I suddenly stand banging my hands on the table and narrow my eyes at him.
"Do you have something you'd like to say?"
Ford laughs at this and lays his back on the chair waiting to see what's going to happen.
"Taylor sit down." He says calmly sounding amused.
The guy stands up too making his chair fall behind him.
"Matter of fact I do. How could you bring them here Ford, this bitch is a Mckenzie!" He says harshly his facial features hardening.
"Kye sit down."
"Not until this bitch here pays for what she did." He says looking at me.
"Fucking call me a bitch one more time!" I say fisting my hands trying to calm down.
He looks at me smugly and smirks.
"Bitch."
As soon as I make a move towards him Luca suddenly stands in my way and grips my arm tightly.
The guy suddenly takes out a gun from his pocket and points it at me and as he does this Luca takes out his silent silver gun and points it at the redhair sitting beside him.
"Shoot and she's dead." Luca says in his usual stone cold voice.
Everything stops and becomes quiet. It's like time has stopped. Kye narrows his eyes at me and I can see his grip on the gun tightening. His jaw is clenched and his eyes are sharp with focus. It's as if something in him lights up and he suddenly flips the gun with his fingers and puts it in his jacket. He stands there seeming flustered or maybe confused and walks away.
●●●●●
"I don't need your help in getting rid of Rob."
"Don't flatter yourself Mckenzie, I'm only doing this to get something in return."
I release a breath and close my eyes accepting the comfort of the dark and the smell of the car.
"How did you get the numbers on your bicep?"
He remains quiet ignoring my question.
"Robert has probably noticed your sudden disappearance, we're gonna have to stay low for a while."
He says lowly in a smooth tone.
"Why is he after you?" He asks his voice sounding curious.
He wants my soul, he fucking owns it.
"I have something he wants." I reply more seriously.
I found out that the contract I found in his office with my name on it was the reason for everything. He needed me. That motherfucker needed me and without me all of his assets were frozen and would no longer be his but mine immediately when I hit the age of 25. As soon as I hit twenty five everything Robert McKenzie owned would be mine and that contract was to make sure that all that didn't happen.
It turns out that the whole business actually belongs to my father Harris McKenzie who allegedly died in a car accident when I was still a kid. He made a Will and gave me all his assets and all his property but I would only be allowed to take it when I hit the age of 25. That guy in the picture was my father, Harris McKenzie and I know for a fact that Robert McKenzie had something to do with his death.
After my reply Luca remains quiet but I open my eyes to see him looking at me with his dark narrow eyes. He turns his head and faces the road again tightening his grip on the car. His eyes look distant and his body is tense, you can never tell what's going on in that head of his with that stone cold face.
With each and every day that passes I can feel myself becoming weaker and unfit. Even though I felt like choking her sometimes Karah is very good at her job, her intense workouts paid out at the end but one thing I miss the most is my bike. The only thing that seemed to make life better is now gone. The one thing I actually worked hard to get and is worth living for is now gone.
Just like your mother...
The car suddenly comes to a stop and I look out the car to see that we're at an old motel. The place is quiet and empty except for the few people who are roaming the dark streets in the middle of the night.
After what occurred with Kye we left immediately without being detected. We took off in a black car that was parked in front of the house but I'm sure that won't be the last time we see them, especially Ford who wants me dead. I know he's planning something and it somehow involves me. Not only do I have him on my case but those mysterious men who were after me, I'm sure they're working for Rob. He knows I'm working with the Italians and probably tracked me down.
"We're here."
He turns off the car's engine and gets off and I soon follow behind him. Even though he did help me when I was bleeding to death I still don't trust him and anyways the only reason he helped me out is because I have something he wants and with the way he's going on with how he wants the code I doubt he's even doing it for Giovanni anymore. I wonder if he's related to him, maybe he's his father, he did say his father is Italian and that would explain why his close with him.
An annoying sound rings throughout the place as Luca pushes the door open walking inside. The smell of the old motel hits me as soon as I'm inside making me scrunch my nose in disguist. Luca walks towards the girl standing behind the counter. I notice she's Chinese and looks like a teenager. She has black nail polish on and a piercing on her eyebrow and bottom lip. Her purple bangs are covering most of her forhead making it hard for you to see her eyes. By what she's wearing she looks like an emo or goth. I turn around to look at my surroundings and their voices starts melting with the crappy music playing in the background.
There are two green couches at the end of the room that both look about a decade old. The yellow flowers that are on the small table in between the couches are dead and there are flies flying above it. The rusty wooden floors look like they haven't been swept for a long time. Luca must of exaggerated on the whole "stay low" idea.
The outside of this place looks like an old abandoned house.
I hear the sound of a phone beeping and look up to see the counter girl holding up her phone talking to someone.
Great..
This is the perfect opportunity to call Marco and ask how far he is on shutting this chip on my neck.
"Follow me." The girl says walking towards the hallway.
Luca looks at me indicating I should follow behind him. I carefully follow behind him as he follows the girl.
"He just arrived from Dubai." She says opening a door, revealing a dark narrow attic with a set of stairs going down. At the end of the stairs there's a dark intimidating door just waiting to be opened.
"This is as far as I go." She says stepping aside for us.
"And her?" The girl asks her gaze meeting my confused one.
"She's with me."
Luca starts walking down the stairs and I follow behind him. As soon as we're in the girl closes the door with a hard bang locking it. He walks down the stairs as if he's familiar with it, like his been here before. The stairs go deeper and deeper sucking us in complete darkness. I soon here the sound of a door being unlocked and I'm suddenly greeted by a dim lit hallway. Luca closes the door behind him as I look around. The walls are a creme brown and the carpet white. It's a vast difference between the place upstairs. I follow behind Luca as he walks going towards the end of the hallway. As we get closer and closer the sound of smooth jazz playing in the background can be heard.
We're soon met by a big lounge that has a fire place lit in the middle of it. The place is very big and spacious with a chandelier hanging above it. The couches are a dark brown colour complimenting the white carpet. The glass table in the middle of the room has white flowers on it. I look up to see a big painting on the wall that looks like it cost a fortune. Whoever lives here must be rich. The beautiful painting of Bach is hung above the large piano sitting at the corner of the room. It's no picture I've ever seen before. The way the artist put so much detail on his face and the different colours they mixed to make the background unique. You can see how the person poured their soul in the painting and the amount of passion they have.
I notice Luca has left venturing to wherever he went leaving me alone. This place obviously has many rooms. I look down to the piano in front of me with a distant look. Before my mom got involved with drugs she was a part time pianist in concerts or plays. She used to practice at home every night preparing for the concerts. She taught me how to play. The piano was something we bonded over, that's one of the reasons I hate it so much, it reminds me of her.
I walk away from it and walk towards the shelf full of old record music. I pull out one from the many and look at it.
"Black Sabbath..." I mutter quietly to myself reading what's written on the cover.
I place it back on the shelf in a random place. Music has always been a missing piece in my life, throughout all the things that have been occurring in my life I never did find time to sit back and just relax letting the smooth beats mend my body, how could I even find time to relax when all my life I've been trying to stay alive, always sleeping with one eye open.
"Am I disturbing something?"
I quickly look up to see a guy standing in the middle of the room without a shirt on looking at me with confusion.
He has light brown hair that look like he has been running his hands through them and enticing blue eyes. He's only wearing a pair of black jeans and has no shoes on. I stand there awkwardly and confused.
"Uhh.. Who are you?" I ask him warily.
"How'd you get in here?" He asks narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"The Chinese girl let us in.." I say cautiously trying to assess him.
He creases his eyebrows in confusion. I look around the room trying to find some sort of weapon to protect myself with. Wait-
He just arrived from Dubai.
He must be the guy she was talking about. He must own this place and that expensive painting.
"It's okay she's with me." I turn around to see Luca walking towards us.
"Niccolò."
The guy suddenly turns and looks at him with a hint of familiarity.
"We need to talk." Luca says going straight to the point.