The Deadly (Part 3 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 11- Nova

Allegra:

I couldn't stop the frown on my face. It wasn't sadness, but I was puzzling over Aldrich more and more. Now that we were in the car, refreshed from a good night's sleep and ready for another meeting, I was stuck in my thoughts. Daitan and Nyoka were discussing some theory of physics, and Phoenix was silently nodding her approval at different points in the conversation.

He didn't act like the other men of his stature, but I couldn't believe that there was someone like that running a whole mafia. His eyes were kind, and from the hours we spent in the conference room with him, he was patient and not very volatile. Maybe it was unfair of me to expect those things out of every mafia boss, but the others I previously met fit the bill much better.

There were small details I'd picked up on, but nothing that was bad or could give anyone leverage against him. When Aldrich was around his men, most who had british accents and used the vernacular, his own words took on a stronger accent and style. His men seemed to respect him a great deal, but none of them withered under his penetrating gaze quite as much as I thought. It couldn't be only me that felt like he was staring into my soul when he caught my eye.

And now I was willingly walking straight back into a situation that I didn't understand. I didn't like that. Yes, I was a control freak, and I knew it. But not being able to read someone and analyze them bothered me greatly, and somehow, my team and I had come to the agreement after our diner stop the previous night to stay with them for a couple of days.

You could chalk the decision up to fatigue, to not wanting to make the drive every day, there were dozens of reasons. However, now that we were piled into the car with our bags in the trunk, I was seriously starting to question if we were completely sound of mind when making that decision.

"I feel like I forgot something," Phoenix muttered next to me as she stared out the windshield, pulling me from my thoughts.

Nyoka laughed from the backseat, "You've been saying that for the past couple of hours."

"And you say that everytime we go somewhere further than ten minutes away," Daitan added.

"I'm probably just being paranoid," Phoenix muttered before sinking back down into her seat.

I couldn't help but notice that she was wearing Forte's sweatshirt again, trying to dress comfortably for the car. She clutched at the sleeves a little nervously, and I knew that I wasn't the only person who felt a little odd about leaving home.

As always, I blocked it out. I just focused on the road in front of me, and tried to count the stripes down the center of the road. We were passing them so quickly that I couldn't actually count them, but I could lie to myself and pretend, anything to distract my brain from thinking in the silence that overtook the front seat. Nyoka and Daitan were convincing each other of something in the back seat, but Phoenix and I didn't have much to say.

Thankfully we had already been driving for a while, so I didn't have much time left to dwell on the fact that we may be making a bad choice. When we pulled up in front of the house, I pushed those thoughts away completely and glanced at Phoenix, who also steeled herself before swinging her bag over her shoulder and stepping from the car.

We only had to wait at the door for a second before the door swung open, like they were expecting us and waiting nearby. The one in front of us was the young one, but this time there was no superhero tshirt, it was some band that I didn't recognize.

"Hey, you brought your stuff!" Mason seemed genuinely excited at the prospect of having guests. "Awesome, I'll get your rooms ready during the meeting. I need an excuse to play hookey a little bit, yesterday was too much."