by K. J. Thomas
That’s all he says. No, ‘how have you been.’ He’s not giving me a chance to argue. Mac starts to walk away, then I remember the reason I came in here, and it sure as hell wasn’t to stuff my face.
I hold up my hand like I was in school. “Wa-wait,” I say, trying to talk around my food.
Mac stops and turns around but not moving closer. I know he’s having trouble containing that smirk that’s trying to break free. I would be, too. I can only imagine what I look like trying to talk with a mouth full of red sauce and noodles.
Mac is really not a bad looking guy, for being my dad’s age. “Mac, are you married?”
He raises his eyebrows and looks like he’s trying to determine if this is a trick question.
The next thing he does shocks me. He gives me a small sincere smile and then walks over and sits down next to me at the island.
“Twenty years and counting.” He smiles like he’s reminiscing. “Probably been something like twenty-three or twenty-four. As we started getting older, we decided every year is going to be our twentieth anniversary. I have three children, my youngest is right around your age.”
“Wow,” is the only thing I’m able to spit out at that time. I was not expecting that. I figured Mac was living the single life. “That’s awesome. I’m really happy for you.” I am.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that at any minute Mac could snap my neck or do some devious, horrible things to me that could end my life within a second.
I take another hearty bite, then remember I still need to talk to him. Thankfully, Mac is still sitting next to me. “Do you think I could go to school tomorrow and have my phone back, or at least call my grandpa and ask?”
Mac presses his lips together and is silent for what seems like twenty minutes after I finish eating. Dinner was the best spaghetti I’ve ever had. I wonder what else this damn man can cook.
He stands up and walks over to his briefcase and pulls out my cell phone, handing it to me. I smile and reach for it, but he snags it back fast.
“You will be dropped off and picked up by guards. Several of them will be on the school grounds with you throughout the day. Mr. Romano feels that this is the safest place for you to be.”
I know it is as Mac lets me take my phone and leaves the room. Less than ten seconds later it sounds like a stampede is running into the kitchen. Mac must’ve told everybody that the food’s ready.
I’m done eating and I just finished putting my plate in the sink when I watch everybody run in and get theirs. I glance around the kitchen and realize, holy crap, Mac made a shit ton of food. Well, enough to feed over thirty people.
Maybe because I’m just lonely and I don’t have anything to worry about at the given moment, or maybe because I have my phone back and I get to go to school tomorrow, but I decide just to hang out with everybody for the rest of the night. I’m glad I did, those guys are freaking hilarious. They all do a one-eighty when they’re not working, and it’s cool to see them for who they really are.
THE NEXT MORNING, I felt like I was floating as I got ready. I don’t have that much to be happy about, a lot of shit has happened. There’s one thing more than anything else in the world that I hate, and that’s the feeling of being stuck. Yesterday I felt like I was stuck, I was confined, and I wanted to scream until the walls caved in. Throw a chair through the window and jump out and run for my freedom.
I laugh as I practically skip downstairs. A somber feeling comes over me when I notice how freaking empty the house is.
I start to frantically look around, there were over thirty people in here last night. What the hell is going on?
I dart over to the front door and look out the window. I breathe a sigh of relief as I still notice that there are a couple of black SUVs out front.
A couple of the guys come in through the garage area, and they both give me a nod as they walk out the back door.
I take in a breath of relief knowing that people are still here and not dead and Luca is on his way to get me next.
My next order of business is to find something for breakfast. Life is fairly easy at the school; all I need is for my stomach to stop growling loudly. If I don’t eat now, I’ll have to listen to it all day.
The front door slams open as several guards run through the house and out into the garage. One man breaks away and runs to the backyard.
What the hell is going on? And where is Mac?
I make sure I have everything together. I just have a strange feeling and I really want to be able to go to school. I know he said that I must have a car take me, but none of them seem to be available right now. “Fuck.”
I’ll just see what happens. Maybe somebody’s waiting for me already. I only have ten minutes to get to the school before I’m counted as late.
I grab all my shit and make my way through the front door.
I stop dead in my tracks. Yeah, they lined up a ride for me, but I didn’t expect it to be a fancy damn stretch limo in front of the house. The thing is too big to even park in the driveway, so it takes up the whole front of the house.
Over half the school shows up in this shit. The driver spots me coming down as he quickly jumps out of the driver seat and moves around to the back to open the door for me.
I give him my brightest smile, which takes no effort. I’m just in a good mood today.
I slide into the soft leather and then look up. “Oh my God.” I really want to believe that I said oh my God, but I honestly think that I screamed holy fucking shit.
I throw myself into my grandfather’s arms, he’s sitting next to me, and he kisses me on the head. There’s a sadness in his eyes which makes me feel that today is not gonna be as happy as I want it to be.
I awkwardly make my way over to the other side of the limo and give Arya and Garrett a huge hug. My smile returns for just a second until I notice they wear the same expression as my grandfather.
“We need to talk, Avery,” my grandpa says as he grabs my hand and squeezes. This can’t be good.
“OK,” I say softly as I try to exit the vehicle.
“No. We will talk in here. The guards are still canvassing the area to make sure that it’s safe for us to go inside.”
I sink back into the soft leather and inhale deeply. This car smells like it’s brand new. The inside is fucking fantastic. I’ve never seen such a fancy limo. Leather is everywhere, even the carpet on the floor is beautiful. Garrett opened a hidden compartment to access the fridge to grab a bottle of water. On the other side there’s another hidden compartment just for the ice cubes. There’s a 32-inch TV on the side. This would be awesome for kids on a road trip.
“Avery, we need to talk,” my grandfather repeats softly, trying to regain my attention.
Arya looks away, she looks like she’s about to burst into tears. These three people sitting here with me are my whole world right now. I don’t know what could be upsetting her so much.
“Luca was at the meeting. There was nothing I could do because it’s mandated at the family meetings. They’re not the top one of the five families but they are right after, they’re second-tier,” my grandfather says looking out the window, the same one all three of them are looking out.
I honestly believe that was the most he’s ever talked to me. I know that I’m still trying to distract myself, but I can feel the tears starting to come. I don’t know what it means but every time somebody says Luca, I just want to cry and hide.
“Wasn’t your meeting in New York?” He nods. “But we’re in California.”
My grandfather’s sigh echoes loudly through the limo. Garrett never takes his eyes off me. They’re kind, letting me know that he’s with me the whole time.
“He handed me a piece of paper during the meeting that no one else saw.” Vito hands me the crumpled-up piece of paper. I imagine my grandfather did this himself. Luca is a neat freak.
I know they’re all waiting for my reaction and I just wanna get this over with.
The first par
t of it has my address which he made sure to include and on the next line:
Avery, I’m coming for you baby. It’s time we finish what we started.
That was the exact moment I believe I shut down, nothing else mattered to me anymore. I could physically hear and see what people were doing, but my brain didn’t want to communicate or even acknowledge.
The guards eventually came back and gave the all clear. We all made our way in the house. Garrett and my grandfather walked ahead, and both would turn and look at me to make sure I was okay. How can I really be okay? I’m not gonna break down and die on the spot.
I did almost die that night and I lost the two most important people to me in the world. My body says I should get pissed off, but I don’t wanna even do anything.
They lead me into the living room while they all head into the kitchen. I know they’re going to just talk, and I should probably go listen so I can figure out what’s going on, or maybe get a better understanding of the situation that I’m in now.
Is Luca in California now? Is he on his way? Did he tell Gramps, ‘hey I’m going to knock off your niece in three days?’
I wipe away the tear that escapes my eye. I just sit there and stare out the window.
“SHE’S BEEN IN THE SAME position for over an hour,” a man’s voice snaps me out of my head. I guess I’ve just been sitting here.
Arya leans down in front of me, grabs my hand and asks, “Avery, would you still like to go to school today?”
I look around at the three of them, well more than the three of them now. There’s Mac and a few other guards standing around, all staring at me.
What the hell, maybe it will make me feel a little bit better. Get me out of this funk.
I give her a nod as I get up and grab my stuff. Mac follows me out to the car.
I didn’t even think about saying goodbye to anybody, maybe I should just go back up to my room and sleep today away.
Mac goes into the school with me, but he keeps his distance, which wouldn’t matter anyway. At least half of the students here have their own personal guard, probably the same ones that show up in a limo. The president’s son graduated last year, and he usually had four or five guards around him.
I just don’t care; I don’t pay any attention to Mac as I walk to my locker. I ignore Paisley and the bitch group when I pass them. They say a bunch of shit but I’m not listening. I even ignore Asher’s group. Noah gave me a tight smile, but I didn’t acknowledge him.
I missed the first two periods but make it in time to my third one, ignoring everybody in the class, even Tate sitting next to me.
I’m not trying to be a huge Debbie downer, as I swipe a couple more tears away, but as soon as she finds out who I am, I’m gonna lose her, too. Maybe she’ll find out after Luca kills me, then I won’t have to deal with how much pain I caused her.
Tate is an awesome friend, even though I’m not talking to her. I’m not saying much of anything except for a couple yeses and nos. The teacher wanted me to solve a problem, but I ignored him and thankfully he left me alone. My awesome friend still puts her arm through mine, as she walks with me to my locker so we can go to lunch.
She knows I’ll talk to her soon. I’ve got to get my brain to start working, and my tongue to function again.
The tears come again out of nowhere. The weight of everything is getting harder to handle.
My appetite and my mood are the same. I just get a salad and some fries. At least something to snack on, to keep myself and my mind occupied during lunch hour.
A couple people come over and try to talk to us, but they just end up talking to Tate. She doesn’t make a big deal about it.
“Oh my God,” she says as her fork clatters down on her plate. I glance in her direction, then turn back to my food.
“Avery,” she says while jabbing me in the ribs to get my attention. “Asher is back, he just walked in. We can make it out the side door if you want.”
I look at her, give her a tight smile and shake my head no. That’s all I have left to give right now. Maybe if he just took me over the table in front of this whole fucking lunchroom, then he could be done with me. I would be free to go back to running and fearing for my life.
As of right now, Asher is a little speck on the totem pole. There’s a huge difference between fucking and killing, especially when I’m the one that will be getting it.
I look back to Tate with sad eyes and choke on a sob as I say, “I’m sorry, I can’t do this today. I’ll talk to you later.” I hope for now she’ll be okay with this.
“Oh Avery, please tell me what’s going on with you, even if you need to call me later or something.” She gives me a huge hug.
I grab my stuff and motion to Mac across the room that I’m ready to go. I know my face looks horrible and my eyes are all red and puffy.
I swing my bag over my arm and I just walk out. I don’t pay attention to who I pass by, but I know. I can feel him as he watches me walk the whole way, but thankfully he didn’t stop me.
One day he will, I’m sure it’ll be soon. Right now, I don’t give a shit.
Asher Mancini can get in line.
Four
ASHER
When I watch Avery walk by every instinct in my bones wants me to go after her, to confront her, to show her I’m back. I might be a little sick, hoping for the look of fear in her eyes or maybe even the look of a game, this could’ve excited her, some women roll that way.
I know better than anything to think that, especially with the look on her face. That girl is downright miserable and terrified, and I’m one-hundred percent sure it had nothing to do with me.
I consider myself a half decent guy. I’m fair, to a certain degree. Not really with Avery, I can’t be fair, then I’d never have a chance of getting what I want.
Even though my girl walked right out of the school doesn’t mean that this is over with, at all. I just have to figure out what the hell is going on.
Her eyes were puffy as she walked by. She never looked directly at me on her way out of the cafeteria, but when she stiffened, I could tell that she knew I was right there.
Something is freaking her out more than me. Nothing can be worse than me, especially when I want something that I can’t stop thinking about.
“Let it go for now, man,” Carter says in between bites of his food. He doesn’t need to say anymore, we both know that there’s something going on with her. Carter’s at the other end of the table just eating while the rest of my guys are sitting here staring at the cafeteria doors with me.
I noticed Mac, the Romano’s guard right when I walked into the cafeteria. It doesn’t shock me that much to see that Vito has security for his granddaughter.
He doesn’t acknowledge anybody as they walk in or out. I’d be disappointed if my guard did. He’s not here to make friends and be nice to everybody. Neither are the other fifty or so guys that are standing against the wall.
Deep in my gut I know that Avery is gone for the day. After her and Mac first walked out of the cafeteria, my body propelled me forward. Even if it was a few inches, it doesn’t matter, it still showed the direction I was going.
My guys all noticed this at the same time and quickly jumped into action, keeping my ass from getting into a fight to be able to talk to Avery.
This would be extremely bad for a couple of reasons. If I got in a fight and I had to kill Mac, because I would win, I will make sure of it even if the guys had to come and finish up for me. The whole situation wouldn’t be good for me.
It would be hard to talk myself out of this with the school administrators. Eventually they’d have to call the cops. They could try to sweep it under the rug but eventually it’ll get around. I could end up closing the school for good.
The biggest issue I would have would be the fact that I’m very certain if I ended Mac to get Avery, that would be a declaration of war between the Romanos and the Mancini’s.
I think it would be a lot harder to explai
n that I’m obsessed with Vito’s granddaughter instead of letting me kill her guard to get to her. That looks like a threat against the granddaughter of a Boss.
I glance over to where Tate usually sits with Avery, her eyes are slightly swollen, too.
Dammit, I don’t like to see my niece upset. What the fuck is going on?
I’m out of my chair and halfway across the cafeteria before I even realize it. It’s good I have my boys because for some reason my body just projects forward before I even think about it.
When I pull out the chair, Tate notices me. She doesn’t even move her head up from looking at her phone, just her eyes.
“Fuck off, Asher. I am not in the mood today for anything that you have up your sleeve.”
I ignore her comment. I do have an urge, a deep tingling in my soul to ask her what the hell is wrong with her, like a caring uncle would. I knock that shit away as quickly as it starts.
“What’s wrong with Avery?”
I’m sitting right next to Tate, not giving her that much personal space. I’m sure as shit not leaving till I figure out what the hell is going on with my girl.
She just looks me in the eyes, like she’s silently judging me. She’s searching, searching to see if I’m sincere, to see if I even have a caring bone in my body, to see if I deserve any answers from her.
“Please leave Avery alone, Asher.” She turns to face me so that we each have each other’s full attention, we’re nose to nose. “Something bad is happening to her, I can just see the pain radiating from her.” A tear slips down Tate’s face and she quickly wipes it away.
I’m not used to not being able to directly grab anything and everything that I want. But there is something going on, even my guys don’t want me running after her.
This just makes Avery more of an enigma.
Tate puts her hand on my shoulder, and the movement makes me jump and my hands ball up into fists. I’m taking a deep breath feeling kind of like an ass. Tate’s my fucking family, we shouldn’t have to be like this all the time. We just live in a vastly different world from others.
