** a reminder!!
My wattpad is still glitchy and I cant view the chaps as a reader before publishing (😠) Anyways, I'm sorry for any weird spacings, misspellings, etc etc.
I hope you all still enjoy chapter 54!! 💕
LEONS POV.
Ivan, our family driver, pulled the car around to the front of our mansion.
Let me correct myself, our palace.
Giving him a simple head nod in thanks, I opened the door and exited the car, greeted by the light wind and fifty degree weather.
I shivered. It was warmer in New York.
Walking up the stone steps, I didn't even have to knock on the door before it was opened for me, two maids emerged from behind it.
While one walked past me and down to the car, the other gestured for me to follow her and turned around, navigating her way through the grand rooms and halls.
I glanced around the house as we walked, mentally preparing myself as we neared the door of my fathers home office.
Home.
This place was never my home. It was simply an elegant roof over my head.
I zoned back in when the maid stopped walking. In front of her were the two familiar gold rimmed doors that I haven't been through in two weeks.
Two weeks too short.
I could hear muffled voices and laughter from inside the room.
Great. They're all fucking here.
Departing with a short head nod, the maid turned on her heel and walked down the hall. Leaving me alone in front of the door.
Taking a sharp breath, I finally grabbed the knob and turned it, pushing the door forward as I walked in.
Here we go.
ATHENAS POV.
I hesitantly walked to the front door, pulling my house key from Bell's hoodie pocket.
Quietly opening the door, I stepped through and gently shut it behind me. Leaning my head back on the door, I took a breath before walking into the living room.
I was met with Dad, Adriano, and Eli, the rest were no where to be seen.
They hadn't noticed I was there yet, that left me time to think.
So how do I approach this situation...
Do I just go 'hey' orrr-
I had no time to dwell on it since Hades came soaring down the steps and running straight to me, gaining the three's attention.
At least now I don't have to say hi.
Keeping my gaze down on Hades, I kneeled down to his level and scratched behind his ear. His eyes shut in content before he opened them and licked my cheek.
I smiled, he made me feel better.
"I love you too H." I whispered before standing up, gaining the confidence to look up at them.
Dad looked at me with raised eyebrows meanwhile Eli looked amused by my little moment with Hades.
Adriano on the other hand, jumped over the couch and pulled my into a hug.
I felt him exhale as he tightened his hold on me.
I would hug him back but my arms are binded to my sides.
Pulling back, Adriano rested his hands on my face and looked over me. "Are you okay? How was your talk with Bellamy? Do you feel overwhelmed? Do you want some ice cream?" He shot questions in my direction, leaving no time to answer.
Ice cream actually doesn't sound bad..
Not the time.
Sadly.
Adri was pulled back by Dad who had gestured for him to sit down. He looked like he wanted to argue but Dad raised a brow and he sighed in defeat, walking back to the couch Adriano took a seat.
Dad then turned to me.
He didn't talk.. or move. He just stood there, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.
I blinked a few times as he stared into my soul. What the hell... what is he doing.
"I- Umm.." I can't even form a sentence, his stare is way too intense. I tilted my head in confusion.
What does he wan- ohhhh.
"I'm sorry for walking out." I wasn't apologizing for the hell of it, I genuinely felt sorry.
I probably made their stress levels through the roof..
Dad still didn't move.
"And I'm sorry that I only told Eli my location.."
He raised his brows.
I sighed and cracked my knuckles as I continued, "Running to Bellamy's was a dumb move.. especially with the situation we're in, but I hope you understand that I won't take anything involving Neptune and or Bellamy lightly."
I crossed my arms over my chest and returned his stare. That's all I had to say, so that's all he's gonna get.
He kept our little staring contest going for a few more seconds before nodding, pride flooded his features.
I could've sworn I saw a small smirk too but it either disappeared before I could look closely or was never there in the first place.
Eh whatever.
Dad walked back around the couches and took a seat, it wasn't until then that I realized the rest of my brothers were downstairs too.
I had no time to move before Demitri spoke up himself, "What did you get from Kai?"
I didn't like his tone.
but I suppose that now wasn't the time to express my dislikes.
Walking around the couches and taking a seat in between the twins, I leaned my forearms on my legs.
"Two 'caporegimes' and two 'soldiers' are spies like Kai. By the way he was speaking, I'd say there's a group of people plotting our 'downfall', Maddox included. Oh and there's a guy named Alexei who will gain 'all the power he deserves' or something, I'm going to safely assume he's the person in charge."
Then I turned to Eli, "Did I miss anything?"
He stared at me for a moment before nodding slightly. "Kason Bennett's a traitor."
I heard Dad let out a string of curse words before looking at Gianni.
Gianni himself had stared back at my Dad then nodded, getting up and grabbing us keys he made his way to the front door. "I'll see you in two days, I have to go locate and kill someone." Then he walked out, shutting the door behind him.
Right as the door closed, Demitri and Dad both rose from their seats and walked up stairs.
I- okay then?
I glanced over at Adriano who shrugged when he caught my look of question. Looking over me and the twin, he stood from his seat and clapped his hands. "I should get dinner started."
Then Adriano walked into the kitchen leaving the three of us in the living room.
"And then there were three.." I muttered as I leaned back into the sofa cushion.
We all exchanged a glance before Giovanni stood up and walked out the room. Bye I guess..
I sighed and looked at Eli, eventually waiting for him to leave too. Instead he stood up and grabbed my arm.
Whistling to Hades, he led the both of us up to his room. "Come on, we have homework to do anyway."
☆
I laid back on Eli's bed after throwing my notebook across the room, he turned around in his desk chair and gave me a look.
I raised my eyebrows as if to say 'what'.
He looked from me to the disregarded notebook and shook his head, turning himself back around in his seat.
Aimlessly staring up at his ceiling, I sighed. "Do you think- ...never mind."
I brought my arms behind me head and closed my eyes. We sat in a comfortable silence before I heard his chair roll across his dark wood floors.
"You were saying something?" He asked, leaning his forearms onto his mattress.
I peeked an eye open and looked at him.
"Do you think I did the right thing? Do you think I should've killed Kai? I don't regret it.. but I feel like maybe I shouldn't have done the whole 'stab him in the chest' kind of kill you know?" I ranted, opening both my eyes when I was done.
"Maybe I should've put a bullet in his head instead." I muttered while staring at his ceiling, just as I did a few seconds ago.
That's a less extreme method.. right?
Do you want me to tell you the truth or what you want to hear?
Oh shut up.
"You concern me sometimes." Eli spoke up, moving from his chair to the mattress and lying down next to me.
"-but you answer your question, I don't think anyone can really tell you if what you do is right or wrong. Everyone has their different interpretations of what is 'right' and 'wrong'. So I think asking someone if something you've done was right or wrong invalidates the question.. one should ask themselves if they think their actions were right or wrong because they are the only person who can truly come to that decision." At the end of explanation he looked over at me.
"Does that answer your question?"
I thought about it for a moment.. does that really answer my question?
Coming to a decision, I looked away from the ceiling and over to him. "Yeah, I think it does."
I had done the right thing.
I got rid of someone who threatened myself, my friends, and my family.
and I don't regret it in the slightest.
THE NEXT MORNING
Eli and I entered Elizabeth Prep 30 minutes early.
I had to talk to Neptune and he comes to school early in general.
It was a win-win situation.
Essentially, we would've brought Giovanni but he sleeps in later and he's been avoiding me like the plague since last night..
I have to talk to him later.
Splitting ways with Eli, I walked down the main hall, approaching my curly haired friend from behind.
Neptune had her headphones in while she rearranged her locker, quietly singing the music to herself. "What the hell were we? Tell me we weren't just friends. This doesn't make much sense no. But I'm not hurt, I'm tense. 'Cause I'll be fine without you, babe"
She was so into it she didn't even realize I was right next to her. In fact, she had jumped a good foot in the air when I had tapped her shoulder.
Placing a hand on her chest, Neptune tried to calm her racing heart meanwhile I was laughing at her frightened state.
She pulled her headphones out. "What the literal hell Thee!"
Sobering up, I had reached down and picked up the folders she had dropped and placed them into her locker. "I saw an opportunity and I took it."
She punched me in my arm with an eye roll. Throwing her book bag into her locker, Neptune had slammed it shut before turning back to me.
"So tell me."
What? "What?"
She gave me a look, "You're usually not at school this early and I have a feeling there's something you need to tell me."
"How did yo-" she cut me off.
"Mother's intuition, now come on." She linked our arms and pulled me back to a more secluded hallway.
I didn't question her mothers intuition anymore and went to summarize the last couple weeks to Neptune, sighing when I was finally finished.
"And yeah.. that's it."
She stared at me for a second before pulling me into a tight embrace. This would be nice if I could breathe.
Eventually pulling away, she smiled at me before flicking my forehead.
Bringing my hand to my forehead I looked at her like she was crazy.
"That's for telling Bellamy before me."
"You didn't answer the pho-"
She put a finger to my lips, "Shhh. We won't dwell on it besides we have to go to homeroom." I shook my head and rolled my eyes as she laughed.
Linking our arms again, Neptune dragged us both down the hall to Mrs. Smith's classroom.
☆
"Chocolate or Vanilla?" Javier asked, leaning his head onto his propped up hand.
Me, Neptune, and Javier were currently sitting in French. Our teacher, Ms. Thomas, had took a phone call 5 minutes ago and walked out the room.
Now all the students were just talking amongst themselves. All except Neptune who was sleeping per usual.
"I prefer chocolate soft serve, but other than that I like vanilla more."
"Walks or drives?" I asked.
"Depends on my mood." He answered, I nodded in agreement.
"Favorite type of weather?"
"Thunderstorms, the early morning of a summer day, and warm days that are warm enough to not have a hoodie but not sweat." I answered immediately. "How about you?"
"When it lightly snows, the first days of spring, and slightly windy days where a thin hoodie is enough to keep you warm."
"Very specific pretty boy." I mused, tapping the tips of my fingers on my desk.
Javier raised a brow. "And yours weren't?"
I thought about it for a moment, tilting my head in the process. "Touché."
"Anyways, sunsets or sunrises?"
"Sunrises." He responded.
I wanted to know more about his answer but before I could ask Ms.Thomas walked back into the room.
"Sorry I left you all in here for a bit- Back to what I was saying, exams are in a week but I have no doubt that you all will do amazing!" She took a seat at her desk before continuing,
"The bell should be ringing in a second so you all can pack up your belongings." Right as she finished her sentence, the bell had rung.
Everyone started making their way out the classroom and Ms. Thomas waved us all goodbye.
"Passez une bonne fin de semaine!" (Have a good weekend!)
Flooding into the hall of students, a sleepy Neptune somehow found Bellamy in the midst of it all and they made their way to the roof. On the other hand, Javier and I had walked in the opposite direction to the schools library.
We were partnered for a project in English and Mrs.Preston had run out of copies of the novel, leaving us to fetch two more copies for ourselves.
As we stepped through the doors of the library, my jaw dropped.
What in the Beauty and the Beast-
My thoughts were cut off by the sound of Javier's laugh from beside me, "I'm guessing you haven't been in here before."
I didn't think I could form words at the moment so I shook my head no. He laughed again before navigating through the aisles of bookshelves.
Trailing behind Jav, I let my eyes wander over the thousands of shelved books.
This is amazing..
After walking around for a bit, I had failed to notice that he had stopped walking and ended up crashing into him.
Almost knocking us both over, Javier's hands shot out and held my shoulders, steadying him and myself.
"I didn't know you were a klutz Athene." I looked up at his amused expression, finding our faces much closer than I anticipated.
Quickly stepping out of his hold, I coughed awkwardly. "I'm not a klutz, I was just distracted by all the books.. speaking of-" I turned around and faced the shelf next to us.
"- what book are we supposed to be picking up again? I'm pretty sure I was half-conscious as Mrs. Preston explained it."
I heard him sigh from next to me before making his way to the shelf across from me, "Hamlet should be around here somewhere.."
I nodded- more to myself than him- and at started scanning over the books.
Hamlet, Hamlet, Hamlet, Ham- Got it!
I reached up for the book but my fingertips merely skimmed the spine.
Oh come on.
Huffing, I attempted to grab it again by going on my tiptoes. I was still unsuccessful.
Damn it. A few inches to my height would be nice.
I mean look at the Biologicals, they're all freaking giants.
After failing to reach it once more, I turned around to call Javier but it's seems as if I didn't need to since he was already behind me. Reaching over my head and grabbing two copies of Hamlet, Javier brought them down and held one out to me.
I wasn't even acknowledging the book, I was to busy starring up at him as he looked down at me.
His dark, tousled hair was a clear giveaway that he had ran his hand through his hair one to many times -although, it's not like I'm complaining- and his dark brown eyes seemed a bit brighter today, especially with the sun peeking in through the windows.
I trailed my eyes down his jawline to his pouty, pinkish lips, watching as he tugged on his bottom lip with his teeth.
God really took his time on him didn't he?
I met Javier's stare again when I heard the soft sigh that passed through his lips. It was clear that he was in some kind of internal conflict -god, I want to know what's going on in your mind Jav- but it eventually passed over when he had blinked himself out of if, dipping his head down to my level.
Holy shit- our faces are reeaalllyyy close right now.
For a second I felt like I had stopped breathing, trying to hear his next words clearly over the face-paced heartbeat that rang through my head.
"Athene, I lik-"
The fucking loudspeaker cut on.
Javier's jaw clenched as he looked up at the ceiling, listening for the announcement.
"Silas Santiago please report to Principal Nguyen's office, immediately! I repeat, Silas Santiago to Principal Nguyen's immediately!"
What did he do?
Cursing under his breath, Javier pulled his phone out of his pocket and read something on his Lock Screen. "Damn it Santi."
He brought his hand up and dragged it down his face, "Silas started a fire in the Chem Lab."
My jaw dropped, "He did what?"
Jav turned his phone around and I read the message on his screen.
Santi
Javier I may have started a fire in the Chem Lab.
BUT ITS NOT MY FAULT I SWEAR!!
Do you mind coming to my rescue.. please?
Oh my god he actually started a fire.
Not sure in what else to do, I grabbed the two novels from Javier's hand and rested my free hand on his shoulder, "How about I check these out for us while you go save Silas from expulsion."
He stared at me for a second. I could see as he ran his tongue across the inside of his cheek, putting his phone back in his pocket.
Bringing his stare to the ground, he muttered. "Yeah.. I guess I should go." before turning around and walking down the aisle.
I watched as he had made his way out the library and turned down the hall.
Sighing, I looked at the two copies in my hand. What was he about to say?
☆
Neptune, Bellamy and I had walked out the entrance doors and through the parking lot. Usually we would be with Javier and Silas but they never came back from principals office.
Arriving at Bells car, I slide into the passenger seat while Neptune sat in the back, grabbing the aux cord once she buckled her seat belt.
While she scrolled through her playlist, Bellamy had pulled out of the school parking lot and started the way to my house.
We took a shortcut down a series of backroads, and I kept my eyes outside the window. Resting my head on the car door, I noticed as a fully tinted Range Rover turned onto the road behind us.
That's not weird at all...
Maybe I'm over thinking things-
I kept my gaze through the rear view mirror and tensed as I saw another five Range Rovers turn onto the road behind the first one.- well isn't that unsettling.
I turned to Bellamy, him and Neptune were bickering over something but I quickly shut it down. "Bell, step on it."
Without question, he put pressure to the gas pedal and started speeding up.
They speed up with us.
Neptune had turned to peek out the back window while I called my Dad and raised the phone to my ear.
He picked up after the first ring, "Is something wrong Bambina?"
I glanced out of the rearview mirror as I talked, "Neptune, Bellamy, and I are being followed on the backroads. There's about six heavily tinted Range Rovers on our ass and they're catching up quick."
I heard shuffling on the other line before he spoke again, "Demitri and I are coming with back up now, stay on the phone."
"Okay" I kept the phone to my ear, switching my eyes from the road in front of us to the rear view mirror.
"Swing a right, then a left after two roads." Neptune spoke from the backseat, now looking straight through the front window.
Bellamy followed her instructions, speeding up to around 70 mph and drifting on his turns. We were still on the back roads, the main road is about 4 blocks over.
"Now head straight for the next three roads then make another left."
"Athena what's happening?"
"Bellamy's speeding down the back roads, we'll be on the main road in about 30 seconds." I looked into the back seat from the drivers mirror.
"Neptune what's the main car's license plate number?"
She looked through the back mirror again."9DT1381."
"Did you get that Dad?"
"We got it-" he answered. "Once your on the main road we'll be right behind y-"
I couldn't focus on what else he was saying because another Range Rover had swerved out in front of us. Bell had slammed on the break and turned the car, it had skidded until we slammed into the line of trees on the side of the road.
The last thing I heard before my vision went black was Dad scream through the phone.
"ATHENA!"
-
thank you for reading ♡
don't hate me y'all.. pls😳
see you next chapter,
-Aajaené