Lonely Together

19

VALENTINO

The ride to the police station absolutely tore me apart as I thought about Mariah, sitting up there in my apartment wondering what had just happened.

I absolutely regretted not telling her—she deserved to know. Still, I knew in the back of my mind that she probably wouldn't have even given me a chance if I told her when we first met. I should have taken that loss and let her live her life, but now she was caught up in this.

"Come on, Santori," the officer spoke as he grabbed me and pulled me out of the car, the flashing lights of paparazzi immediately blinding me.

Of course they were here. The mafia boss and his sons had just been arrested. Last night at my parents' home, I found out that someone had ratted to the cops, but that they only had evidence against my father. This wasn't the first time my father had gotten caught, and we just assumed that it would be like last time and he would get off. It didn't seem that likely though, especially not since they were arresting me as well.

I ducked my head to avoid anymore pictures as I was walked into the station and was immediately thrown in a cell. I stared at my feet as I waited for anything to happen, unable to stop thinking about Mariah.

She wouldn't want me after this. She wouldn't want someone who lied to her, someone who was such a liability.

"Valentino, you can make a call and then talk to your attorney," a guard about my age spoke, opening the gate and leading me out.

Immediately at the phone, I dialed Elijah's number.

"Eli, I need you and Ashti to go over to my place and get Mariah. She was there when I got arrested. Make sure she's okay," I told him frantically, hoping he would follow each of my directions.

"Okay, I will," he replied, shuffling in the background as I assumed he rushed to leave. "Val...how much trouble are you in?"

"I-I don't know. None of my businesses are involved, my father doesn't have anything to do with them. I don't even fucking know why I'm here."

It was true. My real estate dealings were completely separate from anything to do with the mafia, which is exactly why I was so confused as to why I was being arrested. I must have gotten caught up in something without knowing.

"Good luck, bro. Ashti and I are on our way there."

He hung up and the guard led me to the room where my attorney, Maya Ashe was waiting. She was arguably one of the best attorneys in the city—she never lost a case.

"Valentino, I have good and bad news for you," she admitted as I took a seat across from her. "We already know that there's a lack of evidence for you after the last case...it's clear none of your business is part of this and they think you're not active in the...organization. You're gonna get off when they start the investigation. Right now, your bail is set for 1.2 million."

"Okay, that's doable," I replied, running a hand through my hair roughly now that my cuffs were off. I was relieved that I would be getting out, but I was still so worried about Mariah.

I needed to fix everything.

***
MARIAH

"Mariah!" Ashti's voice shouted as I rushed out of Valentino's building, tears welling up in my eyes.

My vision was clouded with the color red as she approached me, anger building up in me. So much had happened in the past hour that I felt as if my lungs were constricting as I tried to even process what I had happened.

"You knew!" I yelled as she approached me, making her stop in her tracks, shocked at what I was saying to her. "Why didn't you tell me?" I finally said much quieter, my voice breaking as I felt my stomach drop.

Everything was starting to make sense to me as I replayed the scene in my mind. The way they stormed in there, the lack of emotion on his face, and all the guns they had found.

"Oh honey, I thought you knew," Ashti told me, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into her embrace. "I assumed he had told you."

We stayed like this until I calmed down, my thoughts no longer racing as I tried to think as rationally as possible. Valentino had never appeared to me to be someone with ill intent or as if he wanted to bring harm to anyone, yet here I was finding out that the guy I was starting to see myself in a future relationship with was the son of a mafia boss.

"I-I need to go home. I need to be alone," I told her suddenly, pulling away from her embrace to wipe my eyes.

When she didn't protest, I gave her and Elijah both a small smile. Walking away to my car, my heart feeling like it was broken into a million pieces as I wondered whether or not I would even get the chance to hang out with Amber and Ashti once again. They would always be a reminder of Valentino.

As soon as I got to my apartment, I collapsed onto my couch as even more thoughts flooded my already crowded brain. I had told him all about Audrey's death and I had let myself become so intimate with him while he was hiding something so major from me.

I liked to think that he was a good guy and wouldn't have engaged in something so sinister, but there was still a nagging in the back of my mind that reminded me of the short time we had known each other. I didn't know him as well as I had thought.

From what I knew about the mafia, they killed people, sold drugs to people, sold firearms and much more—all things that ruined people's lives. I couldn't be associated with it.

I laid on my couch in silence, simply trying to think things through when my phone rang beside me, Valentino's name popping up.

As much as I wanted to answer it and hear his voice—hear that he was okay—I declined the call for my own sanity. Talking to him would only make me worry even more and force me to cry even more. I needed to do what was best for me.

Still, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Valentino leaving my life would send me right back into my spiral of loneliness. It was enough to make me feel sick to my stomach.

A/N: not sure how i feel about this chapter, but i'm trying to get better at expressing how each character truly feels. please vote!