Chapter forty two
•Morgan•
I lean my head back against Romeo's bare chest as we sit in a comfortable silence, the bath water surrounding us now cold.
It's been two days since I spoke to Parker's mom. I haven't heard from her since.
When we went back to the hospital, Megan was crying in her brother's arms while he was desperately trying to calm her down. We switched and I sat with her as she cried, and the boys went to get us some food. We then decided to go back to our house and watch a movie.
Then today, I dragged myself, and Romeo, out of bed and down to the hospital. We sat with Parker for a while before I decided to call Hayley and Ava. They both agreed on hanging out, and of course bought Hayden, Jake and Sam along with them. We went to eat lunch and I told them everything about what's been going on. I then got the gossip on Ava and Max's relationship—which seems to be going exceptionally well, in my opinion—and Hayley and Jake's relationship.
I'm pulled out of my thoughts by Romeo's fingers lightly running up my thigh. He leans his head down to press a kiss to my temple, his face pressed against the side of my cheek. "The water's freezing", he hums. "We should go to bed", I reach out for my phone on the side of the bath, wrapped in a towel, to check the time, 23:41pm.
"Wow, we've been in here for so long", I push myself up, grabbing a towel to wrap around myself as I step out of the tub, throwing one to Romeo on the way. I brush my teeth, keeping the towel wrapped around me before changing into the clothes I had brought in here, consisting of a hoodie and sweatpants. Well, Romeo's hoodie. "Do you think I should've straightened my hair?" I question as I let it fall out of the bun I put it in.
"I think it looks great either way", he pecks my cheek before putting his toothbrush in his mouth as he gets changed into a pair of sweatpants.
"I'm so tired", I whine, sitting on the counter beside the mirror as Romeo cleans his face and finishes brushing his teeth.
Once he finishes, he turns to me with his arms extended. "Come on", he chuckles. I slide forward, slightly, opening my arms like his. He scoops me in his arms, my legs wrapped around his waist as he carries me into the bedroom, laying me down before turning the lights off and crawling in beside me.
"How was your day?" I mumble, almost forgetting to ask.
"I really did not want to go back to work", he grumbles, tightening his grip around my waist. He had to go back to work today because he said, and I quote, 'Max can't run a fucking mafia, he's too soft. He should be a fucking kindergarten teacher'. "But on the bright side, the new recruits are getting better. I can't promise I won't kill one if they throw a knife at me again, though", I chuckle; I feel him smile into the crook of my neck before pressing a light kiss there. "I love you".
"I love you too", I play with his hair.
"Do you mind if I bring some friends from work over for drinks tomorrow? It's Xavier's birthday", he moves his face from my shoulder to my chest. "If not then I'll tell them to go somewhere else".
"Of course I don't mind. Did you think I'd say no?"
"No, but I was hoping", I chuckle, lightly. "I just wanted to stay with you", he mumbles before falling asleep.
I stay awake for a few minutes more, running my hand through his brunette locks. I feel at peace. I feel protected from the bustling streets and the dangerous world, which is rich coming from a fucking mafia leader.
And just like that, my thoughts wonder off to my mission, leaving me with yet another sleepless night.
✯✯✯✯
I'm awoken by Romeo crawling off of me, going over to answer his phone. "Hello?" His voice is raspy; husky with sleep. "What? No it's no—", he takes his phone away from his ear for a second, I'm assuming to check the time. "Fuck", he stands up, hurriedly. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on my way", he hangs up immediately.
"What's wrong?" I rub my eyes, sitting up.
"I'm so late. I forgot to put my alarm back on", he yanks off his sweatpants before pulling on a pair of suit pants. He then proceeds to pull on a shirt and slip into his shoes without finishing buttoning his shirt all the way. "I'll see you tonight", he pecks my lips. "It's not too late to change your mind, you know".
"I'm not going to, you should have some fun", I call out to him as he rushes down the stairs. I hear him groan, loudly, before yelling some incoherent words up to me. I then hear the door shut, indicating that he's left. Hastily, I pull out my phone, seeing that the time is 11:57am.
I make a last minute decision to go visit my family today, so I take my phone a dial Gabe's number. "Yes?" He answers.
"Hello to you too, Gabriel", I reply.
"What do you want?" He asks, curtly.
"I was just calling to let you know I'm coming over today".
"Really?"
"Yep. I'll be over in an hour", I tell him.
"Sweet, I'll see you then", he hangs up, leaving me to get ready. I grab a crop top, another hoodie and a pair of jeans from the closet, changing after I take a shower.
Once I'm ready to go, I grab my keys and make my way down there. My house is all the way on the other side of town, which means it takes about 45 minutes to get to.
The whole journey's full of me singing to every song that comes on the radio until I arrive, pulling into my parents driveway. As soon as I knock on the door, it's opened and I'm pulled into the warm embrace of my brother. "Miss me?" I joke when he pulls away.
"Pfft, no", he waved me off, closing the front door before dragging me into the living room. "Look who's here", dad turns his head towards me, taking off his glasses.
"Morgan?" He stands to give me a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey, dad. I just decided to come over, just to get away. I need a break", I fall back on the couch.
"What's been going on?" Gabe asks, sitting to my right.
"Well, there's this kid, Parker—", and I proceed to tell them about Parker, and how he's in the hospital, leaving out the parts where I was kidnapped.
"And what have you planned on doing with him when your mission comes to an end?" Dad asks, not taking his eyes off of his newspaper.
"I didn't think of that yet", I mumble. "But it's okay, I'll figure it out", I add quickly, before he can say anything else, or give me a lecture on how my mission is so important, yet he won't even tell me why.
Dad gets up to make food a little while later, and Gabe scoots closer to me, lifting my arm up by the fabric of my hoodie. "What?" I look at him.
"Nothing", he lets go. "Nice hoodie", I look down at it, realising it's Romeo's.
"Shut up", I push him away as he chuckles at me. "Pass me the remote, please", he grabs it, turning the TV on. "Where's mom and Ellie?"
"Mom's at work, obviously. And Ellie went with her", I nod.
"Do you know—", I turn to him. "Do you know why I have to do this?"
"Do what?"
"This mission. Why I have to kill him", Gabe pauses the TV.
"You don't want to", it's not a question.
I shake my head. "Of course I don't", I rub my forehead. "He's literally the nicest person ever, I—", I sigh, cutting myself off.
"You what?"
"Nothing", I look down at my hands in my lap.
"You love him", I nod as a stray tear falls. Stupid feelings.
"I'm not supposed to. That was the one rule, to not catch feelings", the tears just keep falling. Gabe moves closer, pulling me in for a hug. "What am I going to do?"
"I don't know", he whispers, leaning his head on top of mine. "I'm sorry, I don't know, M".
"Lunch is ready!" Dad calls from the kitchen. I pull away from Gabe's embrace, chuckling slightly as I wipe my eyes.
"You'll figure it out. You're the strongest, smartest person I know. Since that time I saw you in the orphanage, I knew we'd be best friends. You were always there for me, so I'll be there for you, whatever you choose to do", he rubs his own eyes before standing up, putting an arm around my shoulders to steer me into the kitchen.
"Hey, where's Michael?" I ask, wondering where the workers are. I know that Kerry, the chef, and the other cleaners and drivers, etc. only work when needed, but Michael's here almost everyday. I haven't seen him in so long.
"He wasn't working today because I'm not working, and you've not been here so he has more days off", dad says.
"I called him after you called me. He said he'll try to come over later", Gabe adds.
"Who, me?" I hear a deep voice say after the front door opens. I rush over to the front door, wrapping my arms around him. "Look who decided to pay a visit", he jokes.
"I missed you", I release him, taking a step back. "Come on, dad just made lunch".
short chapter.
i swear, thinking of chapter names is so hard, idk why I decided to do it tbh
uan:
merry christmas everyone, and to those who don't celebrate christmas, i hope you have a good day :)