Crossing the Lines

EIGHTEEN

Hannah's POV

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Of course he gave me five minutes.

He gave me a life altering option with five fucking minutes to decide. This time I'm not choosing life or death though, I'm choosing to die soon or in a few weeks. I was ready to die before, but I'm not so sure now. I may have joined a mafia, but I also found friends, family.

"What're you gonna do?" Thea asked while we all sat in my room, silently.

"I don't know."

"If I may." Oliver spoke up. "I will say that all of Ace's safe houses are mansions."

"What fucking difference does that make?!" Leo scolded him.

"Hey! I'd rather die in a mansion than a concrete warehouse." Oliver definitely had a point there. 

"What do I do?" I asked, looking around the room.

"We can't tell you." Sarah answered, everyone else nodded in agreement. "Ace is big on free will. You may have shitty options, but he'll still let you choose. If he finds out we chose for you, he'll kill us."

I understand that he doesn't want them to influence my decision, but they already did. They influenced all of my decisions the minute they became a family to me. Dying sucks, but I'd rather die for people I love, and die fighting. I don't want to be a coward who runs away from her problems. I already was that girl, and I hated her.

Sarah follows me as I walk out of my room into the hallway, facing Ace and the Capos. They all looked anxious, wanting to know my decision. My decision controlled everything. If I go with Ace, I will be put at the center of a fucking war. 

"I choose the second option." Sarah froze behind me. All of the Capos looked wary of my decision, not expecting me to choose the one that would put me in the most danger. I think Ace already knew what I would choose. He was the only one that didn't look surprised.

"Okay." He told me before he left.

I finished packing my bags before we joined everyone in the training room. By the time we got downstairs, cars were already here to take people to other compounds. Thea and Leo had to go to another compound.

"Be safe, will see you soon." Thea told me, giving me a hug before she got into a black SUV.

"Stay alive." Leo joked, even though he was dead serious. 

We hadn't seen Ace or the Capos in three hours. Even after everyone left, they were still running around and making sure they had everything. It was now 4:00 am and all I wanted to do was sleep. In an attempt to stay awake, Sarah tried to teach Oliver how to use a whip. It was pretty entertaining. I thought I was bad, but he practically hog tied himself with the damn thing.

"Okay, are you guys ready?" Ben asked, walking in to the training room. We all nodded, grabbing our stuff and following him. I expected us to just take a car, but we ended up boarding a plane. Ace, Antony, and Vinnie were already seated.

"Where are we going?" I asked. 

"Vermont."

"Wait, Vermont?" Sarah spoke up. "As in the United States?" He just nodded.

"Aren't we at war with the American mafia? What are we doing, giving Hannah to them?" Oliver asked, now jumping in as well.

"Essentially." Ace said, causing my eyes to widen.

"I don't remember this part of the plan..." I'm definitely starting to freak out. I'm sure he was stressed and tired, but he was definitely not in the mood for our bullshit.