7 ◆ Something To Think About ◆

◆ MILES ◆

Brichese, Italy

"What now?"

"He's livid. He's going to kill me this time."

Okay... Death threats at eight in the morning. Great.

Just commonplace for anyone in the business, it seemed. Sleepless and enduring another headache, I opened the garage door to let a seething Niccolo in.

Between the two of us, I had often been the unpredictable one. The one with daily mood swings, temperament issues.

Except for that time when he tried to piss off my father by blackmailing me, Niccolo was my total opposite: he practiced restraint and behaved more maturely. Smart and never a slave to impulses. The type to think rationally before making a move. Almost always in control of his emotions.

Until now. The guy looked like he just walked out of a crime scene.

We stepped inside my garage to hide from the bodyguards. Some privacy would be necessary. From the look on his face alone, he didn't need to say that something drastic and unlawful happened before he got here.

The unmistakable trail of blood on his clothes said a lot. There were dark red stains on his wrinkled shirt. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to get my imagination brewing.

His baggy eyes and filthy shoes told a story, too. Dirt also soiled his jeans and shirt, but not too dark for anyone to miss the patches of dried blood on the hem and along his pant leg.

Small red stains grimed his fingertips. Niccolo's scowl eased as he leaned against the wall of my cold garage. His chest moved as he tried to steady his breathing, fists clenching at his sides.

"Remind me who we're gossiping about?" I sighed, trying to keep my tone casual and light. I wasn't the poster boy for calmness and levelheaded behavior, but I had to try to wind him down first in order for me to know what really happened.

Niccolo ignored my question and kept glaring at the ceiling. "I'd rather do time but I won't think twice if Ilya tells me to shoot him in the head this time."

"Morning to you, too." Great. Now he was talking about Ilya again, and the Russian mobs' plans to eliminate every single one of our clan members sometime in the near future.

"Your father's just fucking obsessed." Niccolo glared at the gray walls, his voice twice louder than mine. He swore after a tense moment stretched into a minute or so of me just watching him control his anger.

I stayed put beside the light switch, deciding to hold in a caustic response to let the guy vent.

"He's gone insane."

"More than usual?" I joked.

"Everything's gone tits up since that greedy psycho entered the picture. At least tell me you're planning something."

"But why's he going to kill you?" I forced a grin to let him know he need not be losing his temper if he wanted to talk to me about something important, especially if it involved my soulless father and whatever it was that left dried bloodstains on Niccolo's clothes. "Fuck did you do this time?"

"He found out I've been spying on him and Leandro." Niccolo scoffed. "The drug trafficking, I can tolerate. Sure. It's easy money, alright. But now he's smuggling teenagers in and out. Like fucking contraband." He clenched his fist and sighed out loud. "Talk to Ricchar. You gotta do something about it—fast."

"I'm trying." I sighed. The past weeks, I hadn't actually been that involved in the family business. I just couldn't find a weighty reason to still care about what they were doing behind closed doors.

My brain just conceded to the truth that no matter how many times I tried to right their wrongs and tell my father to quit dealing with the mobs, it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference. Pappa and his money-drunk compadres wouldn't step out of the trade anytime soon—that much I was sure of.

Nothing was going to stop them from trying to dominate the network of organized criminals here in Europe and declare themselves to be the top of the food chain. Some people got off on just knowing they owned people and countless lives. It wasn't a matter of loyalty or attention; they just liked the idea of being in control of everyone around them.

So I discouraged Mykaela from talking or meeting up with Ilya again. She didn't need that kind of bad influence. I was enough. She'd be better off without a violence-magnet paternal figure in her life, even though the man was in fact her biological father.

I just hoped she would listen to me this time.

Niccolo grunted and kicked something beside his dirty shoe. "Your girlfriend almost got killed because of his piece of shit business partner and he's still kissing the psycho's ass like nothing happened."

Leandro Fucking Tomassini...

Of course he was to blame, too. Once again, the bastard was ruining everything. Fucker just wouldn't quit.

I'd never forget that day I almost shot the guy in the head multiple times for hurting Mykaela. For assaulting her and torturing her all night. And for no valid reason.

If it weren't for her choice to not press charges and Kel begging me to just let it all go, I would've called our best hitman to get rid of Leandro. Rid this world of another abomination. Too bad my father practically worshipped the psychopath and his clan of money and power-driven elitists who only lived for themselves.

In his defense, Leandro probably couldn't find a more willing and useful "business partner". No one had dared to approach him with a business proposal, as far as I knew. Considering Leandro's uncertain status in the world of organized crime and his infamous short fuse, I doubted the other Italian mob bosses took him seriously.

"Eat. Grab a drink. Clean up." I faked a friendly grin when Niccolo looked me in the eye. I wasn't used to seeing him escalate an outburst and just venting his frustrations like I was his well-paid shrink.

Nicco scowled and glanced down at his clothes. "It's not my blood."

Like I cared. "Burn them. Shower by the pool. You smell and look like Death just dug you out of a hole."

◆

◇ KEL ◇

It was past midnight and I should be reading through my new medical books. Despite the fact, I couldn't just hang up on him now. I was tempted to, but I didn't want to be rude to Enzo just because Miles didn't want me to keep talking to him.

What Enzo just said made him sound like he was badmouthing Miles and the Falcos. I'd never thought Enzo would lie to me about something that important. Was he being truthful now? Or was he simply trying to manipulate my emotions?

It kind of made me regret picking up the phone. Although the conversation was already making me rather queasy, we had to talk things over or else the sneaking anxiety keeping me awake at night would never go away.

"It's just disappointing, y'know?" I said while a heavy feeling in my chest weighed me down. It made my insides ache somewhat. Although I'd been trying hard to distract myself from the anxiety-triggering thoughts, it was not an easy feat at all. "'Cause I actually thought...we could be friends."

"What?"

"Expected too much, apparently."

"Of course I'm a friend, Mykaela." Enzo scoffed loudly on the other line.

Friend? If he was really my friend, he would've been totally honest with me and would've come clean sooner than the Falcos could tell me the real deal. Then I wouldn't have felt this betrayed and unimportant.

Did he not trust me? Probably. He most likely thought I was just another sacrificial pawn he could make use of later.

It hurt. Some nights I would cry about it. Because I trusted him. Wholeheartedly. I just never thought he would turn out to be a manipulative liar and a fake friend. Much like some people I had been trying not to think of for a while now.

"Come on..." he drawled. "You know I'd never do that to you."

I scoffed and pinched the bridge of my nose. Okay... Now he was making me think Miles and his mother had been lying to me. Brainwashing me.

"Just forget everything Maxim said. Or whatever the Falcos told you I did. Please."

"I wish it were that easy, Lorenzio." I held back a sigh, fairly disappointed in what was happening to our friendship. In all honesty, I thought Enzo would never be the type to trick or influence someone to his or his family's advantage. "And I shouldn't have asked you to help me. I know that now. But thanks, still. Anyway, I'll try to...um...get the money soon so I can pay you back."

"Bellezza..."

[Beauty...]

"I'm sorry. I have to go."

"Mykaela, I didn't lie to you."

"I gotta go. Sorry. Please don't call if it's not an emergency—"

"Can we please not make a big deal—"

Not a big deal? It was no big deal? I massaged my forehead, dizzy all of a sudden. I really didn't expect we'd be having this talk tonight. But since he made an opportunity, better yet address the issues that had been causing me more sleepless nights than usual.

"Don't cut me off just like that. Please."

"You know what hurts most? You acted like you cared. All these months. Only for me to find out—" None of it was real. None of it mattered now. It was all just pretend to him. I was just too blind and naïve to have figured it out sooner. The facts sank in again like a dull old knife wedged into my chest.

"No— I mean, yes. I didn't tell you a few things," he said calmly. "It doesn't change the fact that I care about you."

"I don't know anymore." I sighed. Now hot tears filled my eyes. Why wouldn't he just come clean? "You lied. All those months."

"No."

"Fine. Bye."

"Wait." Enzo spoke louder, his tone insistent. "I didn't tell you about Leo's plans. But I didn't lie to you."

"Forget it." I wiped the senseless tears off my cheeks. Ugh.

Why did my emotions always get the better of me? Hopefully he couldn't tell that I was already close to crying my eyes out.

"Look. I'm just gonna have to...find work soon. Book some jobs here. Fashion Week's coming up. I'll try to... I'll send the money soon. Okay?"

"Mykaela, come on..."

"I'll pay you back, every cent, but not now. Sorry." Darn it. The stupid tears blurred my vision even more. I just hated losing friends, but I shouldn't think he wanted to keep up a friendship with me. "It's gonna take a while."

"Bellezza, ti prego."

[Beauty, please.]

"Thank you. For all your help. Thanks."

"Hey." Enzo tsk-ed. "Don't talk like I'm never gonna see you again."

I wanted to hang up on him but I didn't want to be rude. While he droned on about why he didn't tell me everything, I left the phone on my pillow on speaker mode as I took a few deep breaths and let the tears flow. I just cried to myself while my lungs felt like I was being suffocated.

My thoughts deteriorated as I stayed helplessly curled in a fetal position under my blanket. Why did it hurt this bad? Why was I even crying? Ugh...

It had been my routine: berating myself till I felt like the pessimism was just part of my daily routine. I had to get over it because it would only give me more sleepless nights. No sleep equals no concentration the next day. With school, exams, and everything else, I should take care of my health first and foremost. Mental, physical, the overall. I really wish it were that easy.

"Bellezza?" Enzo spoke softly now. He probably wondered why I wasn't responding to him anymore. "You going to sleep now?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna send you the terms. I mean, the payment agreement. Or do you prefer to sign it in person?"

"What? Agreement?" He sounded doubtful now. "We talkin' about this again?"

"Can we meet up soon? Like, next month or...whenever you're not too busy?"

"Erm...not sure. Sort of busy right now."

"Okay." I sighed, somewhat disappointed in his answer. "I'll just email it. Take care."

"Mykaela—"

"Bye. G'night."

◇