"A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire."
~Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Ken handed Shawn his two phones, scowling deeply at the smirking lad because the boy just vexed him beyond compare.
How dare he call him small? Sure he wasn't nearly as built as Shawn was, but he wasn't small either.
"Stop looking at me like that, Grace'll get jealous." The stupid smirk was still on his face, it made Ken's cheeks burn a little more.
The nerve!
"If you weren't Grace's boyfriend I swear I would rip your guts out and feed them to you." Ken growled, fisting his hands tightly beside him.
"The two of you are starting to get on my nerves. Can we just call your brother and get this over with?" Grace grumbled, her eyebrows furrowed to show just how agitated she was.
"Yeah, hold up for a moment." Shawn walked over to the bed, sitting on it and typing away on his phone.
Ken and Grace watched him, as though he was about to say or do something important.
The phone rang for a while, then it got answered.
Instead of putting the call on speaker like he normally did, Shawn lifted the phone to his ear, surprising Grace.
He hated answering calls like that, she was aware of that, which only meant that he still didn't trust Ken.
"Darius, shut up and listen. She's fine. Dude, shut up. Agh!" Shawn groaned then pulled the phone from his ear, putting it on speaker.
"Grace! Are you alive?" Darius asked frantically, sounding as though he would kill if there was no response.
"Uh, yeah?" Grace gave Shawn a weird look, one that asked what was wrong with his older brother.
Shawn shrugged and looked down at his phone, glaring as though the phone were his brother.
"Look, Darius. We need to plan the safest way to get Grace out of here while avoiding the crossfire." The line went silent for a while.
"That won't be a problem. We already have the blueprint of the house and have set up the safest route out. It's crazy but our dads are really working together." Andre piped in, making Grace grin widely.
Oh how she loved hearing her brother's voice, it made her want to be a kid again and go back to the days when it was them against the world.
"Bug breath!" She squealed, bouncing happily in her spot.
"Sit tight Little MisTake, Darius and I are leading the rescue. We'll see you in a bit." The call was ended there, smiles on Grace and Shawn's faces.
"Our brothers are the coolest." Grace commented, earning an eye roll from Ken who stood behind her.
"I still hate them." Shawn shrugged, looking to the floor then back at her. "Yeah, they are."
Ken wanted to barf, the two were just soaking in mushy feelings.
"I'll be off now, probably to kill a few cops and thugs then go to jail." Ken announced, heading over to the door yet leaving the key on the couch.
"Wait, Ken, I want you to come with. I never leave a friend behind." Grace turned, catching Ken's elbow before he could leave.
"Really?" Ken and Shawn asked in unison, Ken sounding more surprised while Shawn sounded really irritated.
"My word is true." She chirped, nodding her head once.
"Right Shawn?" She turned her head slightly, giving Shawn a dangerous look.
How had he ended up with a woman like this?
She was a hand full, but he couldn't deny that he would buy the world for her.
"Yeah, sure. He can come." He answered begrudgingly, folding his arms and glaring at the ground.
Shawn really hated Ken, but he had stronger regards for Grace. Grace beamed at his words, turning back to Ken who looked at her with a smile on his face.
"Fine then. I'll be back." Ken left the room, grabbing Riley's arm as he passed by her.
"We need to talk." He answered her unspoken question, leading her into his room and closing the door behind her.
"Look, the FBI and Mafia are about to storm in here." He told her, heading to his closet to fetch a new top.
"Shouldn't we be telling Rai-sama?" Riley asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
"It's not that simple. If I tell father, he would definitely do something bad to Grace. If I don't, he'll get arrested, yes, but he'll find a way out. He has people in high places, he'll get out fine. Grace won't be able to escape his wrath, I won't be responsible for her death." Ken slipped into a plain white tank top.
"So you want me to tell Rai-sama?" Riley arched her eyebrow.
"Are you mental? No, of course not." He stepped out of his closet, shaking his head at his delusional cousin.
"Then why are you telling me this?" Riley groaned and plopped down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"Leave. If you stay, they'll probably arrest you too. Take mother with, say you want to go shopping or something. Take her and get out of here." He instructed her as he strapped his gun by his side, taking another gun and a number of daggers as well.
"And you? What will you be doing?" She sat up, looking at her cousin with wary eyes.
"Protecting Grace, what else?" He headed for the door, making sure he had all he needed.
"From who? Our cousins or our enemies?" She didn't like the idea- not at all.
If Ken was on their side, that meant that he was against them.
Family comes first, yet Ken was willing to slay his cousins for a girl that didn't even return his feelings.
"I'll be protecting her, not killing anyone." He rolled his eyes and left the room.
Riley sighed and got off his bed, leaving the room as well.
She would do as Ken told her, not because she agreed but because she had a bigger goal in mind.
Everything was perfect, it was all just going her way.
If both Ken and Rai-sama were to die in this unfortunate event, she would become the new head of the Yakuza.
It was perfect, she could have all she wanted without having to get her hands dirty.
"Here's a gun, take it, just in case things get messy." Ken handed a gun over to Shawn who intently studied the weapon.
"At least trust the fact that I wont let anything happen to Grace." Ken rolled his eyes, sensing the distrust that Shawn let off.
"I trust that." Shawn nodded, taking the gun from Ken to study it even further.
"I don't think I like the sight of the two of you holding guns." Grace scrunched her face into a disgusted look.
"It's our life, guns are a very essential part of what we do. I should actually start teaching Obadiah how to use a gun." Shawn mumbled the last part thoughtfully, as a note to self.
"Please don't corrupt my baby." Grace frowned, which made Shawn laugh.
"I'll try, but no promises." He chuckled whole heartedly, standing up and maneuvering the gun in his hand.
"How do we know when they get here?" Grace asked, ignoring the mischievous glint in Shawn's beautiful brown eyes.
"These walls aren't exactly sound proof. We'll hear them." Ken sat on the couch, folding his arms and staring off at nothing.
And, as he said, when the time came they could hear the rapid fire of bullets.
Grace unconsciously shifted closer to Shawn, who was her sense of safety and security for obvious reasons.
He held her hand in squeezed it tight in his, reassuring her of his ever potent presence beside her.
Ken scowled and kept his eyes roaming all over the place just to avoid looking at them, his jealousy burnt violently within him.
To say he would ever get used to them would be a lie worthy of hell, but to say that he would have feelings for her forever would be just as hell worthy.
He knew it would take time- to heal or to break- it would all take time.
Footsteps gravitated towards them, drawing louder and louder as they got closer.
Hushed whispering voices could be heard, hesitation and vigilance displayed by their steady movements.
About damn time. Shawn thought to himself as he rolled his eyes internally.
The door burst open violently, crashing and breaking beneath the feat of a black clad Darius who held a gun in each hand.
He didn't hesitate to point both guns at Ken- Armon, Tiffany, Andre and Kristen all pointing their guns at Ken as well.
Grace shot off the bed and came between Ken and her entourage, glaring at all of them.
"Hurt him and I'll make sure Shawn kills you." She warned dangerously, remaining firm on her slightly absurd words.
"He wouldn't. Would you?" Kristen looked over at Shawn who gave a weak shrug. "If she wants me to."
As he said that they all put their guns away, knowing very well what Shawn was capable of.
"He's whipped. He'd probably buy her a whole country if she wanted." Armon rolled his eyes, stepping away from Ken and closer to Shawn.
"Could you?" Grace asked, arching her eyebrow questioningly.
"Depends. Do you want one?" He tilted his head slightly, his face as serious as it could be.
"Can we talk about this later? We need to get you both out of here." Andre cut in, stepping out of the room and leading the way.
"Ken is coming too!" She shouted after him, following as they all slipped out of the room.
Andre, Darius and Kristen took the front with Grace, Shawn and Ken in the middle while Tiff and Armon took the rear.
The gun shots got louder, making everyone stand on edge and watch their surroundings.
"If anything happens to Grace, I swear I'll make you all wish you were dead!" Shawn roared with passion as they finally got into a clearing, one that had the Yakuza exchanging fire with the Mafia and FBI.
It was chaotic, and the chances of getting hit by a stray bullet rose beyond a hundred percent.
"We believe you. Now shut up." His older brother barked back, not really taking Shawn's threat to heart.
He intended on getting both Shawn and Grace out safely, failure wasn't in his vocabulary.
Ken's cousin's advanced their way, firing shots at them that either missed or hit home.
Armon groaned as a bullet lodged itself into the back of his shoulder, he turned around swiftly to shoot whoever shot at him.
Darius, Kristen and Andre shot and reloaded as they led the way out of the Rai compound.
Armon and Tiffany made sure that no one got the drop on them from behind.
Ken stayed on Grace's left while Shawn was on her right, the both having their guns out and ready to protect Grace.
How had she become someone so important and worthy of absolute protection?
From the FBI and from the Mafia, she had protection from both and was treated like a princess by both.
The daughter of an FBI and the bestfriend of a Mafia Prince, she had become so important in the span of less than a year.
They finally got out, Grace, Shawn, Tiffany, Kristen, Andre and Ken were left untouched while Armon and Darius both had one bullet in them.
Darius had the bullet in his thigh and Armon had it in his back, apart from the bleeding, they were fine.
"I'm not saving you next time." Darius sighed as he limped over to the ambulance on standby, Armon also left to get aid.
"The next time you even think of imprisoning Grace again I won't waste a second putting a bullet through your head." Shawn held Grace beside him, pointing the tip of his gun at Ken's head.
"Wouldn't even think about it." Ken grabbed the gun and took it from Shawn, heading in the opposite direction.
"When I say don't visit Ken, I mean it." Shawn turned his head to Grace, a serious look gracing his sharp features.
"Whatever. About buying me a country..." Shawn rolled his eyes and began walking to his brother's car, Grace following closely behind him.