She's No Longer With The Band

Sixteen.

Nate's Point of View:

Brendan, Dean, Jackson, Brady, Alec, Dennis, Andrew, and I have been sitting together at a circular table in this dim lit eerie room in the basement of one of Giovannis buildings. I'm still in absolute disbelief over the fact that this is happening, I mean it's practically absurd that we're combining mafias or whatever the hell that means. Just the fact that we're working together now makes me feel queasy.

How are the two most narcissistic people on the planet going to manage working with each other, when they loathe each other. All for the common goal of even more wealth than they need... once again, it makes me feel sick.

The eight of us have pretty much been silent since we've all arrived. I was the last one to arrive, but I arrived twenty minutes ago. I glanced down at my watch to see that it was 8:10, meaning that our punctual mob bosses were ten minutes behind schedule. To think that they're pulling us for this vital meeting, and they're late to it irks me.

My entire body was stiff and of course I had my guard up. I hate half the people in this room right now, and once Alessandro and Giovanni walk in, I can say that I hate more than half of the people in this room. It's all so stupid. Everything about this is just so pathetic.

Looking around the circular table, I noticed there were three empty chairs. One for Giovanni, one for Alessandro... but who's the extra chair for?

Alec exhaled what seemed to be a pent up breath and did a lip bubble which caused my head to shoot up.

His jaw then clenched as he checked his massive Rolex and then shook his head. "Fifteen minutes late... shocker,"

Brendan snickered and shook his head in slight amusement. "What else did you expect mate?" He asked, accent thick as I looked down and caught my bottom lip between my teeth. "They can enforce whatever rules they want, and they don't follow any,"

Dean ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back further in his chair. "They probably won't show up until 10," He muttered as I looked down and gritted my teeth against each other.

If they don't show up in the next twenty minutes, I'm out of here. I know I sound like some big shot trying to act all tough and shit, but I'm being straight with you. I'm not going to sit around like some little bitch and wait until these two assholes decide to show up. And look yeah I get it I'm talking a big game for someone who can get killed with ease, but I don't fucking care anymore.

I've been through a lot over the years, and somehow I'm not scared of these fuckers anymore. Matter of fact, I've grown to hate the two of them so much, that I just don't even know what to do with myself. All I want to do is get out of the mafia, which is practically impossible. I don't know how I'm gonna be able to do that, when I have Giovanni and Alessandro breathing down my neck.

And I don't feel like being on the run for years.

It's all fucking impossible.

I swallowed and kept my eyes down. It wasn't until Brendan nudged me lightly, that I realized I had been bouncing my knee rapidly.

His brows furrowed as I brought my knee to a halting stop. Concern was drawn across his features and it's a look that I recognize all too well. Brendan knows me so well, and I know this look of his so well. He always knows when I'm thinking too much, when I'm upset, when I'm not feeling well, or when I'm angry. He can read me like an open book.

"You good?" He whispered, gently checking.

I almost nodded, but figured it wasn't even worth lying about. Instead I weakly shrugged, hating the way his face fell a bit. I swallowed again and looked down, knowing I wouldn't be able to ever fully explain all of my feelings. Especially now, I mean, I'm not going to vent to Brendan about the same topic in front of Brady and the rest of them...