Accepting Owen (Emilia's Perspective)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Sis, I've got to meet up with my men to discuss some things," EJ said, standing over me on the couch.

I'd been following him to work everyday, rerouting his thought pattern. Every time he brought up Little Ava, I'd turned his attention to something else. If he seemed upset or stressed about it, we did some retail therapy with cars and suits. We'd gone out drinking the night before to celebrate him getting better, and I'd had a few too many. "I'll get up," I groaned.

"No, I won't be long. I'll be back in a few hours. You should take a day to see the city."

"You were supposed to see it with me."

He shrugged as he walked backwards to the door. "Duty calls."

"How the hell are you so chipper right now? You drank more than I did." I tried to sit up and my head spun like I was going to fall over.

"Maybe I'm just stronger."

"Shut up, sexist. I just need a few minutes."

EJ pulled the door open behind him. "I can't wait. I have a city to run. I'll meet you for dinner." He left and I forced myself to my feet.

I wasn't very good at hangovers, but kept finding myself getting them. It probably spoke to a problem of impulsivity, but the right time to deal with it wasn't in the middle of a hangover. I made myself some breakfast and sent a text to Owen to tell him I was missing his garbage food truck. The memory of that first day with him made me smile, and I got a little more excited about the day ahead.

Coffee and an egg sandwich wasn't quite the same hangover cure, but it was sufficient. I showered and poured myself into some leggings and a T-shirt, and looked up a walking path that would get me through some of the prettier parts of the city.

I was slipping on a pair of sneakers just as someone knocked on the door. I checked out the peephole- you can never be too careful in a mafia family- but the woman at the door looked relatively harmless, dressed in a beige button down and a black pair of slacks.

I opened the door for her with a smile. "Can I help you?"

Her eyes went wide as she took me in. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," she muttered. "I knew he wasn't answering my texts because of another woman." She tried to peek around me into the apartment, but I blocked her view.

"Are you talking about EJ?" Surely, she wasn't.

She laughed mirthlessly. "Yeah. Of course. I'm so fucking stupid."

"Do you have some kind of problem with him?"

Her fist was faster than my reaction time, which could be blamed on the hangover. She caught my lip, and I stumbled back. "You fucking whore! You tell him I said-"

My fist was also faster than her reaction. When I punched her in the eye, she fell onto her back and stared up at me. "I'm his sister, you dumb cunt. Get outta here before I make you regret waking up this morning."

***

I leaned back in Elijah's chair, dabbing at my lip with a napkin I'd found in one of his desk drawers. His office was nicer than I expected, but if he didn't show up soon I was going to start trashing the place. I had been angry at my brother a million times over the years, but not as mad as I was sitting at his desk with a fat lip that refused to stop dripping blood down my face.

The door opened, and I prepared to launch a full war at EJ, but a stout man approached. When he saw me, he got angry, his face drawn into a frown with furrowed brows.

"I think you're in the wrong office, sweetheart," he said as he stood twenty feet from me.

"I'm not."

"I think you are, and I think you need to get out of that chair." He took a few steps closer.

I forced a fake laugh as anger continued to course through me. For the second time in two hours, my identity was being mistaken. I was starting to think I needed to wear a name tag. Kicking my feet up on the desk, I watched the man stalk towards me, glaring at me.

I dare you.

Just as his hand was about to wrap around my throat, the door opened and another guy walked in. "What the fuck are you doing?" he seethed. "are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"She must be!" The guy said as he put his hand on my flesh and I couldn't contain the laughter that shook through me at his mistake.

"Hands off! Now!" EJ barked.

He whirled to see EJ coming into the office, and withdrew his hand immediately, taking several steps away.

"I didn't know she was your lady, Boss," the man said, dropping his head to the floor.

"She's my sister, you incompetent fuck. How did you not recognize her? Get out!" His eyes turned to my face and I moved the napkin to give him a full view. "Your lip. Did he do that?"

"No. It was some bitch who saw me at your apartment and assumed I was sleeping with you because you haven't been answering her texts," I spit, letting my fury out with my voice.

His eyes narrowed. "She hit you?"

I snarled and scoffed. "Just wait till you look in the trunk of the car I drove here."

EJ paled and emotions battled in his eyes. "What? You put her in the trunk? Is she… alive?"

I threw my hands up as EJ closed the difference between us. "How would I know? She's been in there awhile. You might want to go check."

He grabbed the top of my arm and hauled me into the elevator. "What the fuck happened?"

I shrugged, and EJ growled low in his throat as he pushed me outside. I pointed to the car, and he wrapped his giant hand around the back of my neck, holding me in place. I wanted to elbow him in his gut for it, but I wanted to see how this next part played out.

Taking a deep breath, he used his other hand to pop open the trunk. "She's not here." He looked around inside it, then heaved a sigh. "She never was, was she? Did you hurt her?"

"Oh, do you care?"

"No, I just need to know if I'm going to have to answer questions about this to the cops," he said, squeezing my neck.

"Ha! No. But that fear is your payback for me getting punched in the face. I gave her a black eye and sent her on her way." I touched my lip and groaned. "It's bleeding again. Fucking asshole." I shook him off and slammed the trunk closed.

EJ's mouth dropped open in shock. "You're blaming it on me? Because some girl caught feelings?"

"I'm blaming it on you for even… ugh! Just get the fuck away from me!" Why did men even exist?

"Sis, stop," EJ complained. "Tell me what she looked like."

Fury, mine and sympathetic for Ava, surged through my veins. "Tell you what she- I should break your stupid neck. I'm going home. You have more than one girl that might've punched me for you not answering her texts? Clean your shit up! Get a new mattress before you bring home your child bride."

~ sorry this has taken so long. I've had several people ask for more, so here's a little something. I'm going to try and finish it out. Thanks to everyone who has kept on my ass about it 😂