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Ason
A yawn escaped my mouth as I sat in the white chair, smoking yet another cigarette.
Scarlette lay sprawled out in her bed, her hair in disarray as she lightly snored. I knew when I threw her into my backseat, that I was making a terrible decision.
In fact, Talon and Micah had been calling me all night reminding what a shitty thing I was doing. Scarlette wasn’t my problem. I had no business taking her anywhere, but still, I couldn’t help but feel a protective urge come over me when I felt like she was in danger. A girl like Scarlette didn’t deserve to be hit on my assholes like Troy. The Elites had made a deal with Troy our freshman year. He wanted to throw outrageous and wild parties, but no one really liked Troy. He was cocky, arrogant, and entitled. I guess those adjectives could describe me, too, but I had the mafia behind my name and that was enough to put me into an entirely different universe from the Troy’s of the world. Anyway, he had come to me and asked for a business proposition. It was honestly one of the first times in my life that I had felt right making a deal like this. He would pay me to show up at his parties. It started out small. I would show up, take a few selfies with Troy or girls and then people would begin flocking to his house just to get a glimpse of me. Then, when Talon, Micah, and Gabby got into high school, they would come, too, earning themselves a cut of the profit. All we did was show up and get paid. That and only that was why I was at Troy’s party in the first place.
I couldn’t stand the people I went to school with and I sure as hell wouldn’t voluntarily hang out with them without getting paid. That sort of thinking was ingrained in me. It made me part of the mafia through-and-through.
Still, as I sat in the chair, watching Scarlette, I couldn’t help but grow angry at the thought that no one had come to her rescue besides me. Macy was drunk herself and I hadn’t heard any parents come home at all. Was Scarlette always alone? Did she have someone to protect her?
I knew it wasn’t right for me worry about Scarlette. I knew that inviting her into my world would only put her in danger, but I couldn’t help myself from thinking about her. Wanting to be the protector she needed.
When Scarlette finally woke up, her reaction to me being in her bedroom, hadn’t been what I had expected. At first, I thought she would thank me. I had sat by her side to make sure she didn’t get sick in the middle of the night and choke and die. I had watched her breathing, ensuring she was safe and sound all night. Instead, she was frazzled and almost angered by my presence. From what I had observed of Scarlette over the years, I had only witnessed the timid, shy, and tragically beautiful girl being quiet and reserved. However, I had seen a different side of her that made my dick twinge awake. She had been wild and reckless with her words. She didn’t fear or idolize me like every other girl and that made me want her even more.
Even walking out of her room had been one of the hardest things I had ever done. What I had really wanted to do was shut her up with a long kiss that would make her rethink everything she ever thought she knew about the world. I wanted to pull her against my body and let her know that someone—even a dangerous guy like me- cared for her.
I didn’t do any of those things though. No, I walked right out the damn door and went straight home. I hadn’t made it very far when I remembered the Tylenol I had found in her medicine cabinet. I had gone searching through her house while she was snoring and in a heavy, drunken sleep. Her house felt more like a museum than it did a home. The all-white interior was clean and void of any personal touches. But her room was another story. It felt like her. Smelled like her. After I had come back in her room, I had spotted her phone and added my number, then adding her contact to mine. It was a bold move, but I needed to know that she would be ok.
On Monday, I almost dreaded going to school.
I had baseball practice and my coach was still pissed at me for my crappy grades. And, I had a tutoring session with Scarlette. I had called my counselor to see if she could reschedule me with someone else, but of course, no one would take me on.
Scarlette had avoided me all day and I was grateful for it. I wasn’t sure how I would have reacted if we had come face-to-face. Even in the class we had shared, she had shown up late and sat in the front of the room. When the dismissal bell rang, she bolted out of the room before I could even blink.
“Hey, what was wrong with you yesterday?” Talon asked, as he found me in the halls.
Every Sunday, the Antoni Mafia Family gets together for a family dinner. Typically, it’s filled with amazing food, lots of laughter, and at times, fighting. The made men discuss money and their dealings while the rest of us hang out. However, yesterday, I wasn’t in the mood to hang out with everyone. I didn’t talk to anyone during dinner, and then locked myself in my bedroom the rest of the night.
“Nothing, I just didn’t feel like hanging out with you, assholes,” I said, watching as Talon glared at me.
“Whatever, man. Gabby said you’ve been acting weird in class, too,” he stated, eyeing me suspiciously. “Then, you left the party early and no one knew where you went.”
I knew that he was searching for answers, but I wasn’t about to give him any information. Even though we were family, I had to protect the last bit of privacy that I had left. In the mafia, your business is everyone else's. While I still had my own life, I wanted to protect that.
“So what? I had other plans,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.
As we walked down the hall, I kept an eye out for Scarlette. She had ghosted me, but later today, she would have to face me when we had our tutoring session.
“Since when do you have plans that don’t involve us?”
Talon seemed genuinely insulted that I would have a life outside of my family.
“Why are you asking so many questions?” I asked, stopping by my last class of the day.
“I just think you are hiding something,” he responded, a cocky smirk growing.
Talon eyed me carefully. He knew I was full of shit right now, but he also knew that as the oldest of our group, I wasn’t the one to mess with.
Stepping closer to Talon, I clenched my fists to my side and kept my eyes locked on him. Talon flinched but never backed down. He may be physically bigger than me, but I am the one to watch out for. Lowering my voice, I made sure that he heard me very clearly.
“Listen to me very carefully. What I do on my own time is my fucking business. If I want to hide something, I’ll do it. Watch how you talk to me. I may just be the head of the Antoni Mafia family one day. You wouldn’t want to mess with the capo now, would you?” I asked, a sinister smile growing on my face.
Talon’s eyes grew wide and I saw a flash of fear strike him briefly. I had never had to step up to one of my family before, but I was tired of the questions and accusations. I was sick of living in a world where I was always on display. I wanted to hide among the shadows. Be invisible. Fuck, I wanted to be like Scarlette.
Shaking his head, Talon finally took a step away from me. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but we are family. If you want to ruin your life, then you need to just go ahead and do it,” he snarled, before turning and storming away.
A few people had stopped to watch our heated exchange, but mostly, everyone went on with their days, pretending as though they weren’t trying to listen to every single one of our words. Troy started to walk toward us, but after seeing me, he turned and began running the other way. Good, I hope the fucker stays away from me.
