Chapter 38
"Aves?" The sound of my name being called from behind me has my heart racing. More than so the sound of the voice calling my name becomes the reason to my suddenly spiked up nerves.
My plan to come home, grab clothes and disappear until all three of them decide to stop being hypocritical, selfish, assholes and apologise for everything they said and did, vanishes once I turn around.
Hunter stands by the entryway of the kitchen, his wide body taking up almost all of the entrance. The messy, sweaty hair, glistening chest and shorts indicate that he was most likely working out in the home gym. The one we've done all of my training in for the past month.
"I was just getting clothes." Is the first thing I say. My hand has a tight grip around the handle of the fridge, reminding me of the water bottle I didn't get the chance to grab.
"You won't uh, stay here?" He scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. I refrain myself from yelling at him.
"No I won't." Not until all of you realise what you've done.
"You're staying at a friend's house then?" I almost roll my eyes at the way Hunter's jaw twitches when he finishes his question. He really well knows that Aiden wouldn't let me sleep somewhere else than his place, when things are as they are.
"Aiden's." I shrug, grab a water bottle from the fridge and bump the heavy door with my hip, successfully closing it.
An awkward silence greets us as we stand there, sneaking glances off of each other. Both of us waiting for the other's next move.
I look at Hunter through my lashes, the water bottle tightly in my fist. He looks around, his hand rubbing the back of his neck in a tense manner.
He clears his throat. I lift my head, "I just want to say that I'm sorry... for what I said. I didn't mean any of it, A." Hunter looks sincerely into my eyes. A lump forms in my throat, my heart beating faster.
The back of my eyes burn at his genuine apology. But what he said and done-what all of them said and done-isn't something to forgive easily.
They made me feel bad, for actually once being happy in my life.
I clear my throat, desperately not wanting my voice to break when I talk. "I..." I trail off, not knowing what to say.
What do you even say when someone you can't forgive apologises?
"You don't have to say anything, I just want to explain myself... if you have time?" He cautiously asks, walking toward me and stopping a few feet in front of me.
I fiddle with mom's bracelet that sits around my wrist. Without thinking I nod.
"Okay, uh..." he looks at the chain around my wrist before his troubled eyes meet mine.
His face settled in a frown. "I didn't like that I saw you with Aiden.
The way you know... you both were dressed and I guess the sight of that was what made me, lose my shit and snap on you.
" He finishes with a dry cough and looks down at his feet again.
My eyebrows draw together, my hand curling into a fist. "You beat Aiden up, because you didn't like seeing us next to each other?" I ask slowly, raising an eyebrow. The tears behind my eyes, turning into those of anger.
Hunter cuts his eyes to mine, "no-yes," he shakes his head and sighs, "I mean, I don't like you two together. You're my baby sister," he gestures with his hand, "and he's my best friend, who's so much fucking older than you."
"It's a five year age gap." I remind him. It's hot. He throws his head back groaning before he drags a hand down his face and looks at me. "It just doesn't sit right with me!" He exclaims.
I bite the inside of my cheek, my arms crossed over my chest. "Because?"
He looks everywhere but me. After long seconds of silence, "it goes against the bro-code!"
My mouth drops to the floor at what I hear. My twenty-two year old, considerably mature brother, criminally involved brother, talking about a code as if he were a teenager.
"The what?" My eyebrows have hit the top of my forehead at this point.
Hunter doesn't respond. He rolls his eyes and clenches his jaw.
"Do you mean the code the four of you made when you were, what, fifteen?" I scoff. "Please tell me you're joking." He doesn't even look at me.
"It's just not right. My sister," he gestures to the right, "with my best friend," he gestures to the left. "Fucking together,"he claps his hands and glares up at me.
"Look, I knew you guys wouldn't be over the moon about the two of us, but everything you did, was way too much." I snap at him.
"He's not good enough for you." My nails dig into the skin of my palm, my blood boiling at what I hear.
"You know nothing." I grit.
"He's in the fucking mafia, the man is dangerous! You can't seriously want to be with him! Hell, you fucking hated his existence!" He yells, standing up straight.
My glare hardens, "you're literally describing yourself right now." I narrow my eyes, keeping my voice steady.
Hunter looks at me with a ores expression. Running a hand through his hair, he sighs, "why are you even with him?"
I feel my heartbeat increase at the thought of Aiden.
I could make a whole list of reasons as to why I'm with him; from his personality, to his looks, to the way he treats me, to the way his eyes shine when he talks about something that excites him, to the way his voice always sounds different in the different voice messages he sends me, to the way he pounds me with his big-
"I-" I stop myself. Aiden needs to be the first one to hear about what I really feel, "he makes me happy." I respond instead.
"He makes you happy?" Hunter asks rhetorically, raising his eyebrows. "Anyone can make you happy, Avery, why him?" He throws his hands up in the air .
"Anyone is not Aiden." I answer coldly and clench my jaw. The look I give him has him shutting his mouth and leaning back against the counter like before.
Hunter crosses his arms across his chest in a defeated way. What he says next surprises me, "I just want you to know that I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything I said and did," he pauses for a minute, "and I regret everything I told you and I'm sorry." He looks at me through his lashes.
"You said that already," I mumble making him chuckle.
I look down at the floor, as silence engulfs us once more. "I should be going." I announce. He nods, "be careful."
......
The freezing air nips the skin of my face as I walk out of the house. I nod towards Danny, who sends me a smile. The rest of the guards stand spread around the territory like statues. Dressed in just black suits, I wonder how they're not cold. Or maybe they are but mask it well.
I shrug at my thoughts and make my way over to my car. Opening the white door, I throw the duffle bag in the passenger seat and close it once I'm inside.
The music plays softly in the background as I drive down the long driveway. The trees by the fence are leave-less, making the front yard and drive way look boring. The guard by the gate opens it for me and I drive down the calm street.
More cars drive before and behind me when I enter the central road of the suburban area. My mind drifts back to the day Tristan found out about me and Aiden. That was the day he beat Aiden up for the first time.
I never thought of my brother as a hypocrite, he was someone who would be responsible for whatever he caused, despite handling it with a childlike manner, he would never compare or try to talk his way out of things, so accusing me and Aiden of doing something bad-something he did himself- was shocking, to describe it simply.
It was the same day I found myself asking Hunter if he knew what was going on with Tristan, despite knowing that I was the reason for his disappearance myself, outside the bathrooms of the hall.
The same hall that old man approached me.
My eyebrows scrunch together. Ever since that day, his name has been appearing in my brain at random times and places.
I get that annoying feeling, like when you know you've forgotten something behind but don't know what, or when you know that you want to do something but don't know what that something is.
It's as if I've heard his name before. The indefinite before makes my whole body tense. It's annoying that my brain won't cooperate and remember where I've hear his name from.
Vincenzo Bellincioni.
I drift out of my thoughts when the green light turns red on the four-way intersection.
Knowing it'll take a while, until I can start driving again, I look out of the left window, a white car with a lady and a dog is beside me.
Smiling at the sight, I turn to my left and see a black car.
Noticing my rearview mirror being a little bent, I turn my attention away from the big vehicle.
When I've adjusted it to my liking, I see a black BMW X5 behind me. I close my eyes for a brief second feeling confused. Wasn't the same car beside me a second ago?
I look back out the same window. The black car is still beside me. The same BMW X5. Behind it stands a car of the same brand.
When I trained with Hunter, he went through the cars used within our... business. The brands surrounding me where on the list.
Doing away with my paranoia, I start driving when the light turns green again. Turning right, I enter the nearly empty driveway. The opposite lane is full, probably with people going home from their works in the centre of New York.
My fingers tap anxiously against the steering wheel. Before I can stop myself I turn my head to the side, one of the black cars is driving right next to me, I turn my head back, despite the gut feeling telling me to look the other side too.
When I do check, I get the nerve-wrenching feeling of being tailed. The three black vehicles have enclosed me between them, in an almost empty highway.
It's at times like this that I wish my naiveness would work. The exit ramp on the lane next to me let's me test my limits. I drive off while looking into my rear-view mirror. My heart drops to my stomach as the cars follow the same route as me.
Once I'm driving on the highway again, they encircle me like before. I embrace the panic as my eyes start to burn. There's at least fifteen minutes until I enter the city.
"Call Dee-Dee." I speak into my phone. Aiden insisted on having his contact like that. Apparently I called him that once I was drunk off my face. The robotic voice confirms my instruction and the ring tone fills my car.
I almost dance when his voice reaches my ears. "Ciao, amore mio." He greets, I can practically hear the smile on his face.
"Aiden?" My voice trembles unintentionally. He dismisses someone rudely and shuffles around with something.
"Ry, what's going on? Are you alright?" He asks alerted.
"Uh," I look in the rear view mirror, the BMW closer than before. "There's three cars following me. On the highway." I ramble into the phone, tapping my fingers.
"Can you describe them to me?" Aiden asks. I hear him running, before opening a door and talking to someone in Italian.
I do what he asks me to. There's shuffling and whispering on the other end as I drive in silence. I'm not ready to die, my subconscious reminds me. I roll my eyes, taking a deep breath. Now is definitely not the time for thoughts like this.
"Ry?" I glance at my phone and out the windshield. "Yeah?"
"I have people coming to you, just don't stop driving, not matter what, okay baby?" I nod, and mutter a yes after I realise he can't see me.
The skyscrapers come into view and so does the busy street of New York's centre.
"I'm nearing the city," I inform him, looking at my mirrors.
The car on my left swerves behind me and the right one drives closer.
My heart takes a pause from pumping blood the second the tinted window, rolls down a few inches and a tan, tattooed hand hangs out, a gun with a silencer between the person's fingers.
The driver keeps his hand out for a few seconds, tapping it against the glass, before pulling it in and rolling the window back up.
"They have guns." My voice is unrecognisable. My gaze settled on the road surrounded by buildings. The growing traffic almost a mile in front of me doesn't make anything better as I remember Aiden telling me to not stop.
No matter what.