Our Riley (Reverse Harem Mafia Romance)

Chapter 6 - Victor's POV

Victor's POV

Idiot. That's what she is. She's an idiot and she could have been killed because she was wandering into places she doesn't belong in. Stupid Girl. Why do I even care? She's not my responsibility, if she wants to go and get herself killed than whatever it's not my problem.

I sigh and light a cigarette, taking in a long drag and running my fingers back through my hair to get it out of my face. I pace around the room thinking about what just happened until I sit on the edge of my bed, leaning forward and resting my arms on my thighs.

Did I hurt her? When I grabbed her arm, did I grab her too hard? Damn it. This isn't me, I don't hurt innocents. I only hurt the scumbags who deserve it. Riley didn't deserve that.

I stand up, smashing my cigarette into the ashtray on my bedside table and leave my room, closing the door behind me. Heading in the direction of Riley's room I peek my head into Dom's room. "You and Lucas need to go pick up stuff for Riley, bathroom essentials, some clothes, basic stuff."

"Someone feels guilty about being a dick to our new house guest" Dominic teases, drying his hair with a towel and walking out of his attached bathroom.

"Shut up" I close the door and turn around looking at the door of Riley's room. I step up and raise my hand to knock but hesitate when I hear sniffling coming from the other end.

Am I the reason she's crying? Oh my god I must have hurt her. Damn it.

I knock on the door gently and after a moment she gives me the all clear to come in. When I open the door she's sitting on the bed, legs crossed with a few books laid next to her. Her eyes are puffy from crying and the sleeves of the t-shirt she's wearing are pulled over her hands.

"What do you want?" Her tone is defensive and that's understandable, she must be uncomfortable here and still confused.

I sigh, stepping into the room and leaning my back against the wall by the door, "I apologize for my behavior earlier in the hallway."

She watches me closely, probably trying to determine if I mean what I said. Her eyes on me makes me uncomfortable, I slide my hands in my pockets and look away, scanning the room with my eyes and avoiding hers. My eyes land on a disgusting looking stuffed animal resting on her nice clean silk pillows.

"So you're like the boss of the other guys, right? You tell them what to do." Her question catches me off guard. She sounds curious and when I look back at her, our eyes lock for a moment before I look away.

"Essentially yes" The corner of my mouth pulls up almost into a smirk "I'm what you call a boss, of some sorts"

"And the man with the gun... I mean the one who was.. You said his name was Damien, what's his role?" She asks and I move around the room, standing in front of the window looking out over the yard. Making a mental note to put more security around the back gates.

"He's a trained assassin." I say dryly and turn to look at her but her eyes dart to the floor. "He kills whoever I need him to kill, but every now and then I like to get my hands dirty" I watch her trying to see if what I said startled her but she doesn't look uncomfortable.

"And the really tall one? Dominic. What does he do?"

"Besides bringing home strays?.."I look at her pausing to let my words sink in, "Well Dom is like the muscle, the bodyguard, he's trained in hand to hand combat"

"Do you think he could teach me? I mean, would he teach me how to fight?" Her eyes meet mine again and they are lit up, more than they were before, I could see the excitement.

"Why would you need to learn how to fight?" I scoff.

She rolls her eyes "Oh geez I don't know, maybe so that next time there's a man holding a gun to my temple I can get myself out of the situation."

"Instead of squeezing your eyes shut like a helpless little girl?" I tease and she throws one of the books lying next to her at my chest but I catch it pausing to look at the cover before flipping through it. "That's not a bad idea, it's too bad you aren't staying long enough to learn how to fight"

She ignores my comment about how long she's staying "And the blonde haired one, how did he know all that stuff about me?"

"That's Lucas, he's the youngest out of the four of us. His specialty is all things tech, tracking, hacking. He most likely just pulled your file from hospital databases and police files." She nods at the information I'm giving to her. I would have been hesitant about telling her all of this but Lucas was right, she has no one to tell and she may be useful to us.

I land on a page in the middle of the book I'm holding, it's covered in annotations written in cursive and by various colored pens. "So you write in your books, is that highlighter?" I turn the open page covered in yellow and pink markers to a direction she can see.

Her eyes locked on the book, "Give it back" there was an ounce of urgency, maybe even worry in her tone of voice. Like I might damage the belonging she is obviously attached to. I step up to the edge of the bed and place it next to her gently.

My eyes scan over her injuries, trying to see if I can pick up any visible discomfort with her arm. Where I grabbed her. I had no intention of asking if I hurt her, I don't need her thinking I have a soft spot, or any form of weakness at that. My phone rings in my back pocket, breaking my train of thought. "Lucas and Dom are out buying you bathroom stuff so you should be able to shower soon. Excuse me" She nods in response and I excuse myself then slip from the room and into the hall, answering the phone. "Speak"

A man's voice starts on the other end, I recognize the raspy tone as one of my lower level men I have keeping an eye on the underground. "Sir, there's been talk from the underground that there's a man who put a hit on you and your men."

I sigh, another drunk idiot getting too far down the bottle and speaking every thought that comes to mind. This is nothing to be concerned about,  "We've heard talk like this before, what makes this any different"

"Apparently he got too drunk at the pub last night and was bragging about how he's gonna run the city once you are eliminated." There's a brief pause in his words "Him and his men."

The drunks who start these rumors aren't usually backed by their own men, "His men. Interesting. Do you have any names?"

"No Sir, not yet but I can find out."

"Call me as soon as you have names." I hang up sliding the phone in my back pocket and head to Damien's room, knocking on the door.

He opens the door rather quickly, standing a little too formally in the doorway "Sir" He tips his head forward, his way of greeting me. His hair is wet and he's dressed in black tactical cargo pants with a belt and a tight black t shirt tucked in, he doesn't wear anything different.

"Damien" I nod in response and he moves to the side to allow me the room to get by him.

Once I'm inside his room I glance around, it's extremely clean like always. His bed is made to military standards and everything is lined up perfectly on his shelves. "Sir, did you need something from me?"

"I'm just checking in, after what happened this morning I just want to make sure you're fit to work today."

"Of course Sir, I am more than fit to work today" He breaks eye contact and his eyes fall to the floor before being met with mine again and I notice.

I can tell something is eating away at him, "What is it?"

"Well, Sir, um..." He sighs, relaxing his shoulders a bit, "Did I hurt the girl? I'm having trouble remembering what I did before you woke me up and I just wanted to–"

"I just came from her room and she's fine. You didn't harm her at all, you can relax." He nods and I can see the weight lift off her shoulders. I figured he would be hung up on the event at least a little bit, because of what happened last year. "Enough soft talk, there's work to be done."