Hailey's POV
"Dad!"
I get down on my knee's and lift my blanket up, checking underneath my bed but it's not there either.
"DAD!" I shout a second time as I get back up to my feet, placing my hands on my hips.
Where the hell is it?!
"Come on Waffles," I pat my leg and start to walk out of my room. I shout for my dad one last time as I'm making my way down the stairs.
"What is it, Hail?" My dad finally shouts back from in the garage.
I walk over in that direction instead of continuing to yell through out the house. Apparently something was wrong with Caleb's car, they're both in there trying to be the mechanics that they're clearly not, or my dad is I should say.
Waffles excitedly runs into the garage before I can get there myself, the doors already opened. "Have you seen my laptop charger, dad?" I stand near the doorway.
My dad glances back at me for a quick second, then sticks his head back into Caleb's hood. "No I haven't, sweetheart," he answers then points over at something in the car, mumbling something to Caleb.
"Was it the one near the table by the phone?" My brother asked.
I nod, "I think so."
"Ooo," my brother makes this weird apologetic face. "I threw it out this afternoon," he says. "Your dog got a hold of it and chewed it in half."
"Are you serious?" I exclaim looking over at Waffles who's near my brother, chewing on a bone my dad bought him a few days ago.
"Yeah," he chuckles. "I saw it right before heading out for work."
"Think I can borrow yours?" I asked. "Madison wants me to proof read her essay that's due tomorrow."
My brother makes a soft hissing sound while tilting his head to the side, "Amber has it, sorry."
"Great," I mumble under my breath.
My dad then begins to chuckle softly while pulling his head out of Caleb's hood again. He grabs a white rag that's probably dirtier than most teenage girls now a days. "You can use mine, sweetheart," he offers while continuing to wipe his greasy hands. "We'll buy you a new charger on my next day off."
I nod, "are you sure, dad?"
He smiles and nods his head, tossing the dirty rag in a corner, "it's on my bed, I was paying some bills after dinner."
My dad never really liked Caleb and I to touch his computer, he used it strictly for work only. He didn't want us getting on any type of social media and slowing his computer down with any type of viruses, therefore we each got our own.
"Thanks, dad, I won't take long, I promise!"
I push myself off of the door frame and make my way back upstairs, quickly going into my dad's bedroom. Sure enough his laptop is sitting on top of his perfectly made bed, with some papers and envelopes around it; bills. I check the battery life on it and notice that it's on 72%, I decide to leave the charger behind and just take the laptop with me.
I walk out of my dad's bedroom and step into mine placing his laptop on top of my vanity, I remove mine with my other hand and lay it against the wall to the side of me. I sit down on my chair and slide my finger on the mouse pad, his home screen instantly asking for a password; I quickly type it in, unlocking the screen.
The lock screen vanishes and takes me to the last place my dad was on; Google Chrome, he was definitely paying bills. There's about four tabs open on his screen, I start to close them down one by one, logging him out of everything.
I'm on the last tab, which just so happens to be his email account, I'm about to log him out when his laptop makes a ping sound and I'm accidentally opening an incoming email that has just popped up.
I move the mouse to close it immediately, but stop when I get a glimpse of the email and it instantly gets my attention.
It's from an e-mail address that I don't recognize, but you can clearly tell that it's a fake. The subject on the email reads 'work', but those two things aren't what got my attention, it's the actual written content of the e-mail.
It reads, "Nice work, Summers, he's impressed, as always, you have yet to let him down. Keep up the fast work, we'll be in touch. As usual the money has already been wired to the account we have provided for you, call me if you need anything or have any issues."
My stomach instantly begins to churn, "What the hell is this?" I mumble out loud, scrolling through the rest of the emails that were exchanged between my father and this person, clearly intrigued.
I scroll to the bottom of the emails until I've hit the very first one, there's not many, but my heart does immediately drop the second I read the actual e-mail.
"Lawrence Beasley.
All intel is needed within the next 12 hrs. The Don is willing to triple your pay if you meet the deadline."
My heart starts to instantly slam in my chest as I continue to read the emails. "The Don?" I murmur to myself, confused. It can't possibly be the same Don that I'm thinking about.
I can feel my stomach continue to tighten as I continue to read, my dad replied about seven hours later, but there's no actual written content in the email. However there is two files attached to it; I click to open the first one, it's a mug shot of Lawrence Beasley. Surprisingly he's not Italian, he's actually caucasian, with some really nice gray/blue eyes. There's no smile, he's completely serious in his mug shot, just like everyone else always is. He wears a light scruff on his face, matching the same soft brown colored hair on his head.
I quickly get out of that file and open the second one right next to it, it's a police report. This Lawrence guy is definitely incarcerated, his release date is attached in some notes, which is actually two days from now. I continue to skim through the attached notes with some more of Lawrence's personal information, it's seems like my dad definitely got everything he could get on this guy. It has all his usual general information, up to what prison he's being released from and the time, along with the probation officers that were assign to him and other things.
I feel completely nauseated by the time I'm done reading the emails, there's now a sudden weight on my chest that's making it incredibly hard to breathe right now. Every type of emotion that you can think of slaps me right in the face as I slam my dad's laptop shut and slowly begin to panic.
I get up from my vanity and quickly make my way out of my room and down the stairs before I can really over react, I need to confront my father before I start assuming the worst.
I have to take a few deep breaths as I get closer and closer towards the garage. The door that leads into the garage is no longer opened, is actually shut now. I take the knob in my hand without realizing that my hands are actually shaking. I intake another deep breath, slowly beginning to turn the door knob and push the door open.
Both my brother and dad are still in here, both of them even dirtier than before. My dad and Caleb both look behind them at the sound of the door opening, I stay standing underneath the door frame like I had earlier.
"Oh hey, honey, I'm glad you're here," my dad waves the wrench that he has in his hand in my direction. "Can you go check if my car's locked please?"
I don't answer, I don't nod, I continue to stare at my father, still in disbelief from what I just found on his computer. I had no idea how I wanted to go about this, how to ask, what to even ask, I hadn't really thought it through on the way down and now that I'm face to face with him I have no idea what to say or do.
My dad frowns softly, laying his wrench down, "what's wrong, Hail? You okay?"
"Do you work for Carmelo?" I asked bluntly.
My brother snaps his attention in my direction, looking just as confused as I did a minute ago.
"What!?" My dad exclaims, followed by a loud clank as he accidentally knocks over the wrench he had just set down. "Shit," he hisses, bending down to pick it up.
Caleb shifts his attention back and fourth from my dad to myself, keeping it on my dad as he picks up the piece of tool.
"What is she's talking about, dad?" Caleb mumbles.
"I have no idea," my father replies, handing the wrench over to Caleb. He then averts his gaze back in my direction, "where is this coming from, Hail? Do you know how insane that sounds, honey?"
I scoff quietly, to myself, and mutter, "you left your email opened..."
My dad inhales a deep breath, exhaling it slowly. He knows that I have him, there's no possible way that he can get out of this. "You went through my shit?"
I shake my head as my eyes start to glister with tears, "something came in as I was signing you out. Your money's in the account he provided for you.." I say disgustingly.
Caleb scoffs, "she's joking right? You don't really work for The Matteo's, do you dad?"
My dad turns to look at my brothers, but he doesn't necessarily say anything, nor does he deny anything.
He turns back to me. "It's not what you think, babygirl."
I shake my head, folding my arms across my chest, basically trying to comfort myself. "I d-don't know what to think.."
"I can explain," he says taking a step forward.
I quickly take one back and my dad immediately sighs, "how long?" I ask.
"Hail-"
"How long, dad?!"
"Almost four years now.."
"Four years?!" I scoff. "You've been lying to us, to me, for four years now?" Tears slowly start to stream down my cheeks. "That's how you knew you him didn't you, that's why you were so against me dating him, right?"
"That is not true!" My dad takes another step forward. "I'd never met that kid in my life until you actually brought him over. I didn't want you to date him because you're so much better than that, babygirl, you deserved so much better than him, I didn't want you to get dragged into that kind of life!"
"Oh, you mean your kind of life?!" I bite back.
"I didn't have any other choice, kiddo!"
"There's always another choice!!" I exclaimed. "Anything's better than going to him, dad!!"
"What did you want me to do, Hail, we were fucking drowning in debt, I did what I had to do to save my family! Who knows where the fuck we would be if I hadn't made the choice I made! "
I let out a small sob, slowly shaking my head, "you were the one person I actually trusted, the one person who could never let me down, I don't even know who this person is," I point my hand in his direction and turn around, leaving the garage.
The door doesn't completely shut behind me and I hear my brothers voice from inside the garage as I quickly begin to put on my shoes, "just let her go, dad, give her a few minutes to breathe."
I quickly wipe the tears from my face using the sleeve to my sweater and grab my bag from the couch, I slam the front door as I make my way out and quickly climb into my car, starting my engine and buckling up. I pull my phone out of my back pocket and place it in the middle compartment, and start to slowly back out of my drive way.
My dad and Caleb run out into the front yard as I drive off and away from the house. I pray to baby Jesus that my dad doesn't get in his own car and try to follow me because I literally have no idea where I'm going, I just needed some air, I was beginning to suffocate in there. I didn't go up into my bedroom, my dad would've just came knocking, and I couldn't stand the thought of him right now.
I drive around for about a minute, crying, not really knowing where to go, or what to do, when I'm instantly jumping at the sound of my phone ringing in the cup holder beside me. I wipe my face with my sleeve on more time and grab my phone with my right hand, my heart is instantly racing even faster than it was before when I see Isaac's name and picture on my screen.
I immediately start crying even harder at the sight of his caller ID picture, my emotions are all over the place, afar from my dad, Isaac's the last person I want to talk to right now, and he's usually the one I run to, regardless I slide my thumb across the screen.
"You knew didn't you?!" I immediately exclaim after answering the phone, still angry, still upset.
I actually haven't really had the chance to talk Isaac since I left his house earlier today. I tried calling him earlier after I left the grocery store, after I found out about his guys, but he ignored my call and texted me right away that he was still at the hospital with Vinny, he would call me the second he got home, which I assume it's what he's doing.
"Knew what?" Isaac's soft voice soon fills my car up, my phone was connected to my Bluetooth. "What are you talking about, baby? You okay? It's sounds like you're crying."
"How could you keep something like this from me, Isaac!? How could you not tell me!"
"Keep what from you, baby? What are you talking about, the guards?" He puzzles. "I knew you would've got upset if you knew about them, I told them to keep their distance, I made it clear that they give you your space."
"I'm not talking about the fuckin' guards, Issac! How long have you known that my dad's working for your dad!?"
"Wait, what!?" He scoffs. "You're really not making any fuckin' sense, baby. What the fuck do you mean your dad's working for my dad?"
"Please," I scoff in return. "Don't start acting like you don't know all of a sudden!"
"Hailey, I swear on our relationship, baby, I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about, just calm down and talk to me. What's going on?"
"Don't tell me to calm down! You promised me, Isaac! You said no more secrets, no more lies!!" I cry.
"I didn't lie to you, Hailey! There's gotta be some misunderstanding here. I'm not hiding anything from you, I swear I don't know what the fuck is going on!"
I pull over to the side of the road as my tears start to blur my vision when Isaac's deep voice is booming through my car again.
"Baby talk to me please, I swear I didn't do whatever it is you think I did."
"Why do you keep lying to me," I sob. "I actually thought things were gonna be okay this time, but like always you managed to fuck it up!" I cry.
I know that what I said has probably hurt Isaac, he stays quiet for a couple seconds. "Where are you?" He growls dangerously low. "I'll come to you, we can talk in person, figure this shit out."
I look into my review mirror to see a pair of lights lingering in the distance. "Like you don't know already," I spat, wiping the tears off my face.
He doesn't say anything, he stays quiet and I put my car back in drive, slowly starting to drive off and sure enough the lights begin to follow me. "Tell them to stop following me."
"Haile-" I hang up before he can finish, and he's instantly calling me back but I decline his call.
I glance at my review mirror every other second to see if his dogs are still following me and they are. Isaac calls me about three more times and I decline each call when I notice the lights behind me starting to get further and further away, until they're making a right turn and are no longer following me.
My phone pings about five seconds later with a message from Isaac and I open it when I come to a red light.
"There. Now call me."
I let out another tiny sob and instantly go into his settings and click on 'Block this caller'. The car behind me honks and I look up to see that the light is now green and begin to drive, only to pull over again and instantly begin to crumble in my car.
I couldn't decide what hurt more, knowing that everything I knew about my dad was a complete lie, knowing that the one guy I never expected to lie to me had been lying to me for almost four years now. Or the fact that Isaac actually had the audacity to keep something like this from me, it was just lie after lie with him, it was never gonna stop.
My body begins to tremble the more and harder I began to cry, to the point where I was actually giving myself a headache. Everything just hurt so much, I felt so betrayed by the main people that I loved. My anxiety eventually got the best of me and mind started thinking some very unpleasant things.
What if this was his plan the whole time? What if Isaac only gave me a chance because he knew I was my dads daughter, or worse he was only giving me the time of day to ensure that my dad would do all his dads dirty deeds. So many 'what if's' we're flying around in my head right now that it was starting to overwhelm me, making it harder for me to actually catch my breath.
I grab my phone from the passenger seat where I had threw it at, with shaky hands I dial my best friends number. I need to talk to someone before I really start to suffocate with all these emotions, luckily she picks up immediately on the second dial tone.
"Hey! I was just about to text you dude!" She answers joyfully.
"Carmen.." I cry, tears still spilling out of my eyes.
"Hailey?" The joyfulness in her voice is now gone and replaced with worry. "What's wrong, mami? You okay?"
"My dad.." I say breathlessly.
"Your dad?" She says back softly, a bit confused. "What's wrong? What happened?" But I don't answer her, I can't, I continue to cry quietly into the phone. "Hailey, you're starting to scare me. What's going on? Talk to me please."
"He- he works for him," I stammer.
"Works for who, Hail? What are you talking about? You're not making any sense."
"Isaac's dad!" I shout into the phone. "My dad works for Mr. Matteo!!
"W-what? What do you mean he works for him? How?"
"He's a cor-" I stop as the tears continue to stream down my face. I can't bring myself to say it out loud. "He's.. a dirty cop, one of his dirty cops!"
"That's insane, Hail bear. You're dad would nev-"
"Then why is Carmelo wiring my dad money, Car!!"
"You're lying.." she murmurs. "H-how did you-"
I cut her off before she can ask what I know she's planning on asking. "I borrowed his laptop and a email came in when I was going to log him out, I accidentally opened it," I explain.
I can tell that she's stumped, she hasn't said anything in the last twenty seconds, she's speechless.
"D-did you ask him about it? What about Isaac? Did he know? Was he in on it?"
"I don't know, Carmen, I don't know anything right now!" I sob. "I don't know how to feel, what to believe, or where to even go."
"Where are you right now?"
"A few minutes from downtown, I'm pulled over to the side on Ashlyn."
"Okay breathe, mami, this is what you're gonna do." I cry quietly while nodding my head. "Get it all out right now, I don't want you driving like that okay?"
I nod again, "okay."
"You're gonna take deep breaths," she says and I instinctively take in a deep breath. "Good," there's a hint of a smile in her voice. "I go to my dads next weekend, come stay the week with me and we'll drive back on Friday."
"I can't, we have school," I cry softly.
"That's okay," she replies. "I'll talk to my mom, I'll have her talk to your dad, you need some time away from him. I doubt he'll argue right now."
"Isaac.. his friends, they all know where you live," i remind her. "He'll come looking for me, if not him someone else will."
"You see, this is exactly why you don't date guys who are affiliated with the mafia!" She jokes and I snort softly. "But no biggie, Hail Bear, we'll go to my cousin Alonzo's house, we'll be safe there."
I nod again before I can change my mind, "okay."
"Good. Are you okay to drive?"
I nod for a fourth time knowing damn well she can't see me and speak up softly, "I think so."
"I'll call your brother when we hang up and talk to him, this way they won't worry."
"Okay, I just have to gas up first; I'm running low."
"Alright text me when you're about to get on the road."
"I will."
Carmen doesn't hang up immediately though, she tells me to drive safe about a good twenty more times, and then hangs up the phone, asking me to buy her some sour worms from the gas station I stop at.
My phone instantly connects to my music as I end my call but I don't play any just yet, I continue to stay in the quiet, I'll put something up beat when I actually get on the road.
A wave of anxious hits me, I've never actually driven out that far, I've only ever stayed in town, anytime that I did go into the city someone else was driving.
I shake it off quickly pulling my little mirror department down in front of me and the little light immediately turns on shinning me in the eyes. My eyes are so swollen already from having cried so much and are blood shot red.
Inhale a deep while staring at myself in the small mirror, "you can do this," I try and give myself a small pep talk. "It's just like driving here in town. You've driven on the highway before, you'll be okay."
I wipe away any lingering tears on my face and close the small mirror department back up and place my hands on my steering wheel, taking another deep breath.
I quickly turn my head to the right as my phone starts to ring in the middle compartment, it's Angela. I scoff out loud and let it ring, she probably knew too, they probably all knew, I'm such an idiot. After the call stops ringing I place my phone on silent and take my car out of park and begin to drive out of the area I had pulled into.
I drive for about a good five minutes and pull into a small empty gas station near the entrance of the highway. I grab my cell phone and instantly groan at all the missed calls I have. I have four more from my dad, three from Caleb, two from Angela, and one from a number that I don't recognize.
I ignore every single one of them and go into my text messages. I pull up my best friends thread and start texting my message out.
"Pumping gas then heading out."
I press send and the typing bubble immediately pops out as Carmen replies. She sends two messages. The first is a thumbs up emoji, followed by, "Drive safe mami."
I don't reply, I lock my phone back up and place it back into the middle compartment where it's been at this whole time. I grab my bag and reach for my wallet, taking out my bank card I step out of my car.
I had cash on me, Isaac's money, but I really didn't want to go inside, and I really didn't want to use Isaac's money anymore. Now that I actually think about it, it was probably money that he earned by slanging some type of drug or evening killing someone, who knew.
I throw my head back and groan out loud when I see the, "ATM out of order" sign.
Guess I'm going inside the store after all. I groan for a second time and start to walk towards the small brightly lit gas station. The cashier clerk instantly greets me as I step inside and walk up to the counter.
"How can I help you, darling?" Her warm smile instantly makes me want to smile. She's definitely older than I am, she an older brunette woman, maybe in her late thirties.
I smile and glance at the name tag. Kate. I show her my card, "can I get thirty on three please."
"Sure can," she continues to smile cheerfully. "Is that all for you tonight?"
I nod my head yes, immediately changing my mind, "do you have sour worms?"
She chuckles softly, pointing behind me, "they're actually on sale right now, two for three dollars."
"Oh, it's okay," I smile and walk over to the worms, grabbing one single bag and a snickers bar. I place the items on the counter, "I only need one."
Kate tilts her head slightly, "are you sure?"
I smile and nod my head, "I don't really care for them too much, they're for my best friend."
Kate doesn't say anything else after that, she smiles and reaches for my two items and scans them. "Credit or Debit, babe?"
"Debit."
She pushes some buttons and her machine, "go ahead and insert your card," she says.
I stick the chip side up into the machine and a couple seconds later it's asking me to input my pin and I do, it's my mother birthday. 0318.
The machine then beeps with the words approved on the screen and I pull out my card, placing it in my back pocket of my jeans.
"Do you need a bag?" Kate asked.
"No," I smile reaching for my treats. "Thank you, have a goodnight."
I begin to walk away, but still manage to hear her say you too before I make it back outside. I walk back to my car and open the driver door, pulling the little gas tank lever on the side of the car, and place the candy in the passenger seat. I close the door back up and untwist my little gas cap off, laying it on top on my trunk. I grab the gas hose pump thing and press the regular button, sticking the hose into my car I begin pumping the gas and place the little lever thing so I don't have to keep holding it.
I get a little nervous every time I see a car pass by on the streets and immediately turn to look at them. I don't know why I felt so anxious, but I literally felt like someone was following me, or I should say I still felt like Isaac's guys were following me. I never noticed them before tonight and now I had that constant thought at the back of my head that they were lingering around somewhere.
The gas pump clicks indicating that it's done and I pull it out, placing it back where it belongs. I grab the lid off of my trunk and start to twist it on when a motorcycle pulls into the gas station, parking in the pump that's directly in front of me. I walk back towards the driver door, my hand lingering on the handle as I keep my eyes on the bike in front of me.
I watch as the driver gets of the black bike and I swear that I've seen it somewhere before, when a little light bulb lights up in my head. It's the same bike that pulled up next to Isaac's car when we were leaving Fonzy's funeral, it's the same driver too, they have the same gun holster attached to their thigh like last time.
I pull on my handle, opening my door a bit, getting ready to step inside, when Mr. Biker dude removes his dark helmet from his head and my heart is instantly dropping into my stomach.
"Hailey Summers, isn't this quite the surprise," Axel grins, placing his helmet down on his bike, starting to remove the black gloves from his hand.
My hand instantly grips my door handle even tighter. Everything inside of my head is screaming at me to get into the car, but I can't move, I'm frozen in my spot.
"Verdino.."
He chuckles while taking a few steps forward, "now where did you go and hear a name like that?" He grins.
I don't say anything, I stay quiet, rooted to my spot. This would be my fourth encounter with Axel now, and it's nothing like the other three. I've never felt so uncomfortable around someone, I am legitimately afraid of someone I once thought was a decent human being for rescuing me from some drunk asshole.
He's demeanor is completely different from the other three times we've ran into each other, it now mirrors the same attitude when he spoke to Angela that night at the party. The sweet, funny, friendly, flirty guy from before is long gone, it's now replaced with the guy Isaac and Angela tried to warned me about. I had now seen hands on what Axel was actually capable of, who he actually was.
"What are you doing here, Axel?"
He smiles, "the same thing you are, I'm gasin' up," he points towards the pump.
"I mean on this side of town," the words soon leave my mouth before I can stop them.
Ax chuckles deeply as he continues to inch closer, "look atchu', knowing your boundary lines and shit."
I don't say anything in return, I continue to watch him get closer and closer with every second that passes by, and I find myself taking a few steps back, stupid, I know.
Axel is now standing next to the hood of my car, he tilts his head to the side, pointing a finger at me. "Somethings different about you," he points out. "You're more anxious than usual," he smiles.
"Yeah, well, you're not really the guy that I thought you were," I mumble. "I think I have the right to be a little anxious on account of everything that's happened."
He laughs, "but have I hurt you though? Have my guys ever laid their hands on you?"
No, not really.
"You hurt the people I care about.. You're exactly who they said you were."
Axel scoffs, "please, Isaac and I aren't really that different you know. There's still so much more you don't know about your little boyfriend. He's not as perfect as you paint him out to be."
"I never said he was perfect."
Ax walks up to me, standing a couple feet away, a few more steps and he'll be at arms length. "Were you aware that your boyfriend took an innocent life last week? All because she happened to be related to one of my guys."
"Because you haven't took an innocent life," I grit in response.
"Who, Alfonzo?" He scoffs again. "He was far from innocent, princess. You don't know the Fonzy that I knew, the things he had to do to get to the position he was in. It's actually kind of cute how naive you are still, but tell me something, Summers, where are your body guards at?" He looks around us.
Crap.
"They're around," I lied, trying to make my voice as nonchalant as I could. "They keep their distance not to make it obvious."
"Riiight. Know what I think," he smirks, moving forward until he's standing directly in front of me. My hearts starts to race incredibly fast when Axel lifts his hand, it comes up to touch a strand of my hair, he places it in between his index and middle finger.
I quickly swat his hand away and he chuckles. "I think you're lying," he says. "I know Matteo, his guys would've been all over you the second they seen my face. I think you're all alone out here, helpless in fact."
A screeching of tires causes me to turn back, an all black SUV pulls into the small gas station and I'm instantly relieved, but that tiny bit of hope flies out the window when I see who climbs out of the truck.
It's not Eduardo, or his partner Benny, their not Isaac's guys, their Axels.
Calum steps out of the passenger side, a wicked grin on his face, along with another guy that I don't recognize.
I quickly turn back to Ax to find him waving a hand at his men, telling them to stay where they're at and my heart starts to slam in my chest. I need to get out of here, but Ax is literally in my way, blocking the driver door so I can't get into my car.
I turn my head towards the small store, it's a long shot but I need to make it inside, i can call my dad, I can call for help, I just need to make it there, but I don't of course.
I start to slowly back away from Ax and turn around to run towards the store, but I don't make it far. Everything actually kind of happens fast after that.
One second Axel is quickly grabbing onto my hair, pulling me back towards him as I yelp out in pain. And the next he's slamming my face into my back window, but I don't feel anything, I don't feel any pain. I hear the loud crack before passing out, and I honestly can't decide whether the sound was my window breaking or my skull being cracked open, all I know is that my world goes black after that.