The Ones Who Saved Us

Chapter 21

Avalee's POV

Two weeks had passed since the night Cameron had tried to force himself onto Arya. I had given my brothers and Papa the picture of Cameron, claiming that he had been stalking Teddy and Naina, but as of yet, they had made no progress on finding out who he was. Instead, they had doubled security around the house and had assigned two bodyguards for both Teddy and I to keep a close eye on us whenever we left the house.

It might have helped if I had told Emilio and Matteo that he was the Blade, but I knew Alessandro and Papa would immediately put an end to my street fighting. This was the only outlet I had to channel all my pain and anger into, and losing it would crush me.

I had improved so much since my first fight as I learned to gauge my opponents' weaknesses and use it against them. I already had a few wins under my belt and was gaining a reputation in the street fighting world as the Hurricane.

Today my friends and I were meeting up for the first time since Arya's grounding to go to an art museum. I had convinced Papa to let me go without the bodyguards, wanting some sense of normalcy when I went out with my friends. Of course he had insisted that I wear a bracelet with a tracker and a small button to press that would alert my family and their Mafia soldiers if I needed help.

The six of us were packed into Jamal's SUV with Jamal driving and Cara in the front, Marco and Raphael in the middle row, and Arya and I all the way in the back. Jamal's questionable music taste paired with his questionable driving skills made for an interesting car ride. Marco and Raphael were cursing at Jamal to hand them the AUX so they could control the music while Cara was yelling at Jamal to pull over so she could drive us the rest of the way.

Not that it mattered considering we were only two minutes away from our destination.

"Why's it so fucking hot in here?" Raphael shouted. "Turn the heat down."

"I'm sorry, but last time I checked this was my car, not yours," Jamal scoffed. "And my fucking heater at home broke today, so I'd like to be as warm as possible until I have to go back to that icebox."

We soon reached the art museum. Once Jamal parked the car, we walked inside viewing all the exhibitions. With the three siblings and Jamal still arguing, Arya took my hand and dragged me away from them. "God, those four are going to give me a headache. We'll give them time to cool off, and they can come find us when they stop acting like children."

Arya led me to the Asian exhibit, which was quieter and more secluded than the others. There were brass statues of Buddhas, colorful Chinese and Japanese paintings, and intricate carpets and embroidery.

Arya stopped in front of an Indian painting of a young girl adorned with jewelry and flowers in her hair. Her body was in a graceful pose with one leg lifted off the ground pointing in front of her while the other one was planted firmly on the ground, turned to the side, and bent at the knee. Her hands were arranged in a way that it seemed like one was pointing at her foot while the other hung loosely at her side.

It was absolutely gorgeous.

"I hope that I'll look this graceful in my Arangetram pictures," Arya said.

I squeezed Arya's hand which was still tucked in mine. "You will, Arya. I've been to some of your performances, and you're incredible."

We continued walking through the exhibit hand-in-hand until I had to go to the bathroom. Arya decided that now was the perfect time to regroup with the rest of our friends. As I went to the bathroom, Arya sent a message to the group chat letting them know where we were.

After I finished washing my hands, I stepped out of the bathroom only to be slammed against the wall, my body caged against it by two hands on either side of me and a body pressed up against me. I reached for my bracelet, but the person who had me cornered restrained both my arms, holding them against the wall. One of his hands undid the clasp the held the bracelet securely on my wrist. A small clang echoed through the hallway as it fell to the ground, the man's foot stomping on it causing the bracelet to break into multiple pieces and scatter down the hallway. My eyes were tightly shut as tears fell down my cheeks.