Our Riley (Reverse Harem Mafia Romance)

Chapter 22 - Riley's POV

Riley's POV

I lost count of the days since Lucas carried me out of that warehouse. The last few weeks or so have been a blur of meals being fed to me and the boys taking shifts on babysitting me. It wasn't until a few days ago that I started talking again and leaving my room. My physical wounds were pretty much healed but mentally I am still having nightmares about what I did that night. For the most part the boys have left me alone. Well, there hasn't been a 24 hour watch on me but that doesn't stop Dom from checking in every 10 minutes.

I had woken up a few hours ago but decided to just pull the covers over my head to block out the light shining from my window.

I heard my bedroom door open slowly, "Happy Birthday shortcake"

Dom sounded way too excited this early in the morning. I groaned, remaining underneath the covers until he pulled them down off my face.

He was holding a tray of food with a huge goofy smile on his face. "Want breakfast in bed, beautiful?" I nod and sit up as he places the tray on my lap.

I look down at the smiley face made with whip cream and cherries on the pancake in front of me and then back up at him.

He rolls his eyes, "I know, I know. You don't like cherries, but I had to make the eyes out of something" He smiled, plucking the cherries off my plate and into his mouth, sitting at the end of my bed and laying back to stare up at the ceiling.

I cut a piece of the pancake off and took a bite, "It's a little dry."

Dom sat up, resting on his elbows and looked at me in disbelief, "What? Really?"

I took another bite and smiled softly.

He sighed "You're evil", he chucked my stuffed bunny at me and I laughed.

He sat with me, stealing pieces of my bacon while I finished my breakfast.

"Take a shower and put on something cute. We have a whole day of birthday activities planned" He smiled and kissed my cheek and then left with the tray he brought in.

I took a quick shower and decided on a pastel colored sundress and my vans. I patted my wet hair with the towel then tossed the towel in the hamper and made my way downstairs. I could hear the boys whispering around the corner before I stepped into the room.

"Surprise!" They all said in unison. There was a crooked happy birthday banner in the entryway secured to the wall with silver duct tape. As well as balloons scattered throughout the living room and the kitchen, and a table full of gift bags and colorfully wrapped boxes with bows.

Before I could say anything Lucas broke the silence, "Damien was in charge of buying the clear tape to hang the signs but he forgot so we had to improvise" Lucas looked at him with harsh eyes and Damien just shrugged.

Once the initial shock wore off I could feel tears pooling in my eyes, "This is perfect.."

"Hey hey no crying on your birthday" Dom scooped me into a tight hug until he was sure I wasn't going to start bawling.

"Really though, you guys didn't have to do all of this" A wave of guilt rushed over me.

"We wanted to" Victor was looking at me differently, with softer eyes and he even had a slight smile across his lips.

"Open my gift first!" Lucas was in front of me with a gift bag before I could interject.

I sat on the couch and pulled the tissue paper out then pulled out the gift. "You got me a Macbook?... This is too much"

"It's for writing" He smiled brightly, "Well, I mean it's for typing, instead of those old journals you use. And you can password protect your stuff so no one can read it but you. I can help you set all of it up later, we can even open your own website or blog or something so you can show people your short stories. I could also get you one of those softwares for writing books, you know the ones where you can like edit the pages and formatting for printable copies and-"

He stopped rambling when I wrapped my arms around his torso. "Thank you Lucas, I love it"

I felt his hand rub my back as he pulled me closer, "You're welcome"

"Okay it's my turn" Damien interrupted the sentimental gestures by handing me a small wrapped box.

I peeled the wrapping paper off, "Lucas wrapped it, I didn't pick those colors" His monotone comment made me giggle.

"It's a knife. Well it's your knife" He blurted out the gift before I completely unwrapped it, "It has a scorpion engraved on the handle."

Once the knife was in my hand I felt the weight in my palm and the room around me disappeared. I wasn't sitting in the living room anymore, I was back in that warehouse. I could see the blood on my hands again and the look on his face when he took his last-

"I'll hold onto that for you.." I blinked and Victor was crouching down in front of me so he was at eye level with me, his hand was in mine. He gently took the knife from my hand and set a small gift bag in the empty spot it left. "Open this."

I took a deep breath and then pulled the tissue paper out of the small bag and pulled out, "A pack of highlighters?"

"Don't sound so ungrateful little one." He chuckled, "They're for annotating your books."

"Oh.. Thank you" I smiled at the sweet gift. I was expecting something extremely expensive and over the top, considering how much money he has but this was actually a very thoughtful gift.

Everybody was silent for a moment and then Victor broke out into a laugh and the rest of the boys soon followed his lead and I felt like I missed the joke. Victor took the highlighters from my hand and tossed them on the couch then grabbed my hand, "Come with me"

I stood up and followed Victor down the hall on the other side of the house until we reached double doors I hadn't walked through before. "You didn't think I would get you a pack of highlighters for your birthday, did you?" He pushed the doors open and on the other side was a fully stocked library with a couch and reading chairs. Shelves upon shelves of books, and one of those ladders with wheels to reach the top shelves. There was a wall that was just floor to ceiling windows that let in so much daylight the room looked magical. I was speechless, walking through the room and running my fingers along the spines of the books and onto the fabric on the chairs.

"This is..." I was at a loss for words.

"Amazing? Brilliant? The best gift you've ever received?" Victor was smirking like he knew exactly what he had accomplished.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I was jumping up and down like a kid who was just told they're going to Disneyland. I stopped jumping and I was standing inches from him.

"So... You like it?" He closed the gap between us, looking down at me, my body was pressed against his.

Before I could talk myself out of it I reached up on my tippy toes and kissed him quickly and then pulled away. "I love it."

I could feel the heat on my cheeks and I went to step away but his hands landed on my hips and pulled me back in, before I could react, his lips were on mine. He kissed me deeply and passionately, I could feel his fingers digging into my hips as I pushed my body against his. I wanted more and I wanted more now. I slid my hands up his shirt against his chest and he let go of my hips and pulled away from my lips leaving me feeling desperate and unsatisfied. "Happy Birthday Princess" He softly kissed my forehead and left the room before I could respond.