Important to remember: Francesco is the leader of the mafia and is Jay's dad.
This chapter will first be in ELLAS POV then JAYS. Enjoy 💜
Ella's POV
Yaz and Vi pick me up for school the next dreaded day after my break up with Seth. As soon as I get into the car, I'm greeted by their sympathetic frowns.
"How are you doing?" Yaz asks me as she drives towards school.
"Honestly, pretty bummed out by the whole situation. I don't wanna lose him," I admit, fidgeting with his bracelet.
"Getting together with your best friend is always a sticky situation cause you don't know if you will end up together forever. And if you don't, it's scary because you can lose a relationship and friendship. However, I think Seth just needs some time," Vi explains.
"I really hope so," I breathe out.
I'm on the lookout for Seth as I go into the school but there's no trace of him. So, I follow behind Violet to English with cautious steps just in cast I run into him, which I'm not ready for this early in the morning.
We go into Mr. Martinez half filled class since we are early and I realize that Jay is also one of the early ones for the first time ever. He's furiously typing on his phone with a slight frown on his face. Nevertheless, he looks so handsome with his long dark eyelashes pointing down to the screen. In that instant, I wonder if the person he was texting was his dad or some other member of the mafia.
I'll have to ask him after class. Obviously.
"There's your lover boy," Violet grins as we walk closer to him.
I give her a scold while I take the seat next to him and she sits behind me.
He looks up at us and I see his troubled expression disappear almost as soon as his eyes meet mine.
"Morning, guys," he smiles.
"Morning, Jay," Vi chirps.
"Morning," I smile at him feeling fluttered.
Then, I realize there's one question he can answer without me going straight to the source. "How is he?" I ask.
Jay's smile suddenly washes away and his expression turns more concerned. "He's hurt and angry," he begins before coming closer to whisper to me while Violet is on her phone. "I think I should talk to him and be honest. It would be fucked up any other way," he finishes.
Before I have the chance to open my mouth, Violet suddenly interupts us, causing Jay and I to jump. "No, don't do that," she says. This girl has the ears of an owl.
I see Jay cock his head at me in confusion on how she could know what we are talking to about.
"Uhm, yes. I know about you two," she goes on with a bored tone.
"Yeah, best friends and all," I laugh nervously at him.
"Anyways, yes being honest is almost always good. But, it would come across really weird if you told him you were after his ex one day after the break up," she explains.
"He would think that Ella cheated on him with me," Jay concludes, nodding his head.
Violet points a pencil in his face. "Now you get it, my friend,"
"So, what do we do then?" I ask even if it's a dumb question.
"Wait it out," she answers. "Let it blow over before you start new drama,"
"I can't keep this all bottled up, I just want everything out in the open," I confide.
"Trust me, give it a few days and then tell him. It's only fair," she shrugs. "Oh shh, Mr. Martinez is coming in," she hushes, looking down at her work.
As soon as he walks in, the class shuts up because no one wanted to annoy him in one of his morning moods.
However, he walks into the class without going to his desk. Instead, he walks up between the free space in my aisle and stops in front of Jay.
"You're needed in the front office, Mr. Jones. If you finish soon, come back to class," he whispers as an act of confidentiality. Too "bad" I heard every word as did Violet.
I take a glance at him asking him with my eyes if he knew what was going on. His genuine surprised expression and shrug proved that he had no idea why he was asked there.
"I'll catch up with you guys later," he mutters, picking up his stuff.
Jay's POV
I've seen things. Cruel things. I've done things I'm not proud of. I'm a mafia man. These factors come with the job. I know how to kill a guy with my bare hands, I know how to deal, and I know how to plan a ransom.
What I don't know is, how to tell my best friend that I fell for his girl.
The mafia doesn't teach you that shit. They teach you to take what's yours even if it was never yours in the first place. You make it yours.
But, I don't want to live like that. I don't want to live like a mafia man in those ways if I don't have to.
Ella's not an object. She doesn't even deserve that kind of behavior and I would never try to give her anything less than the most genuine version of me I could give.
Even though, I knew I wasn't good at this real world stuff like high school relationships and drama, I had a weird unsettling feeling about Violet's advice.
I mean a period of time could go by and Seth could still think that she has cheated on him with me this entire time? What was the difference with waiting. We were taking our time telling the truth and I wasn't sure that was the best option.
If Seth knew us well enough and trusted us, he would know that we didn't do anything behind his back, well anything except fall for each other.
We didn't ask for it. Hell, life would be easier if I was alone in my mafia world with only me to be taken in account. And Ella would maybe still be with Seth and not mixed up in my mafia mess, a world where she didn't belong and shouldn't ever be in either.
However, it happened and just because it wasn't easy doesn't mean it wasn't good. It was more than good. I've been craving her and she makes me feel like I deserve more in life than what the cards gave me.
She protects me just as much as I protect her, only in her own ways.
As I walk into the front office and see the Italian man with the buzz cut and scar under his eye staring at me, my mind immediately abandons the current high school problem at state and goes into mafia mode.
"Vinny? What the hell are you doing here?" I ask him concerned while the young blonde secretary glances up at us intrigued.
He's dressed in a blue button up and jeans. He almost looks like a normal civilian to the eye except for his creepy scar under his eye. Nevertheless, he's a handsome man who gets more than enough women.
"Cousin, you forgot to update your new address. You didn't tell this nice secretary that you're not at the Roger's place anymore. You got that, Miss Rayes? 144 Creek Drive?" he winks at her while I roll my eyes at her blush.
"Y-yes I did," she stutters, as she curls her hair with her fingers.
"Perfect, have a nice day," he smiles as he walks towards me and the exit. "Walk with me Jay,"
"144 Creek Drive?" I ask him as walk around to the empty football field for privacy.
"Your new home where you'll be staying with your older cousin," he answers, hinting to himself.
"Why are you coming here?"
"Your old man doesn't want you staying with other people who aren't part of the Circle. Since you're back in and not a mafia runaway, it's time you moved out of there. Plus, I see that Ella broke up with Seth. Get out of there, man. You don't need to be staying with your girls ex," he jokes, lighting up a cigarette.
"You can't smoke here," I snap.
Vinny raises his eyebrows at me surprised. "I'll make it quick, Mr. Rule Follower,"
I ignore his comment and go back to what he said about Ella which makes me blood run cold. "Does Francesco know everything? Does he track fucking everything happening here?"
Vinny's facial expression softens while he answers, "Jay, you know your old man. He's got tabs on almost everything, especially after you fucked up in New York. He wants to have all the leverage he can over you so you learn your lesson,"
"Well, I'm doing my job, aren't I?" I grit through my teeth.
"Yeah, but you seem pretty distracted as well," Vinny admits as he lets a cloud of smoke out of his mouth.
The cigarette in his hand is tempting but I wasn't in the mood to get kicked out of the only place that made me feel like a normal person.
"I'm not giving up school or anything else for that matter. As long as I'm doing my job, Francesco should shut the hell up,"
Vinny nods slowly. "That's why I'm here. You need more backup from our side and I'm gonna help you lead both lives if that's what you want to do, cousin. It was either me or Matteo coming here. I figured you wanted me more than Matteo," he chuckles while puffing on the cigarette again.
Vinny was, beside me, the only mafia member I knew with a heart and sometimes a desire to get out of it himself. He was the one who secretly went against my father to help me get out of the mafia and start a new life which failed. Nevertheless, I was grateful to him for trying. I saw him being more of a brother than I did Matteo.
Him being here could make things a lot easier. My father trusts him more than he could ever trust me which I understand since I've tried countless number of times to go against him. With Vinny by my side, I would have more protection and more information.
He also wasn't wrong about living at Seth's. I've alway had more than enough money to move out and live in a mansion in Ohio on my own. However, I couldn't because it didn't fit the story I made up when I came here. The story that Seth knew and Ella did too at first.
The story about me leaving town because my mother was a drug addict with an abusive boyfriend constantly chasing me down. The story about me not having any family but my cousin Vinny who was in Italy and my senile grandparents in Florida.
But, now I had a new and better story. This story was that Vinny moved back to the States to take care of his younger cousin Jay and start working here.
"You're right, you're way better than Matteo," I admit, almost shuddering at the thought of him being here. "I'm sorry I had to drag your ass all the way to Ohio," I tell him while giving him a pat on the back.
"Are you kidding me? I'm so down for this new surburban lifestyle," he jokes. We both hear the ring of the bell as a sign that first period is over. Vinny drops his cigarette bud to the ground and steps down on it. "I'm going over to the gym. Meet me there after school," he says.
I give him a nod and jog back into the direction of school with a mental plan in my head to tell Seth about moving and Ella in my heart.
Hope you enjoyed loves!