Deck of Cards

Chapter Two | Rules

"Luca", Alessia allowed the name to echo in her mind as she walked towards him, already beginning to wonder whom this young man truly was. All she had known from Tanner was that he was a bit fidgety, uncomfortable in this atmosphere, but that was a usual reaction. Even the best of the ten cards had been intimidated during their Excursion, so Alessia knew how to act around everyone. Tanner commended the boy, though, explaining that he was a good listener and followed all of the instructions given to him. Alessia really liked obedience in her followers because of the fact that the slightest bit of rebellion could bring her precious scheme burning down. The eerie silence of the walk that the two had begun snapped the girl out of her thoughts, causing her to glance up at the taller boy.

"Scared of me already?" she snickered, her signature smirk painting across her rosy lips. It looks like she finally caught his attention, as he had begun to spatter out incoherent sounds, attempting to think of an inoffensive comeback. "Babe, first rule. Don't kiss my ass," she warned, that underlying devious tone appearing in her voice once again. Without even needing to study Luca too much, Alessia was able to tell that his cheeks were flushed a deep shade of red. "Good", her mind murmured realizing that he was already under her thumb and it hadn't even been five minutes. "C'mon, Luca, come back at me. I'm sure you're a lot more sarcastic then you let on," she paused, waiting for any reaction, but earning none. "Fine," she grumbled, already frustrated with her new pupil. "Come with me," she broke the silence once again, grasping his hand and dragging him into a hotel.

It was hard for her to deny that Luca was attractive, but there were various reasons that she could never do anything about it. He was only an eight, not to be trusted, especially by the Queen. Also, Chase would probably attempt to murder the boy if he had known that Alessia was showing any interest in him. In Chase's twisted mind, they were in a relationship, but she knew his ways. She knew that every time he drank, he would go out, find a girl and bring her home before calling Alessia, slurring apologies and begging for the forgiveness he did not deserve. Just the thought of Chase's desperation caused her to internally roll her eyes.

"Is this your place?" Luca's voice spoke for the first time since they had left the meeting. "Finally", Alessia internally groaned, looking up to see his reaction as they entered her apartment. Each Jack had purchased an apartment in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles in order to spend a significant amount of time there without being caught on by the police. Obviously that was also Alessia's doing, as she was the mastermind behind each and every move the Deck of Cards made.

"Yeah, you like it?" she replied simply, dropping his hand and making her way into the kitchen in order to rummage around for some food. "Hungry, Luca?" she allowed his name to roll off of her tongue slowly, almost dissecting the syllables. He seemed to notice this, too, because immediately, his tanned cheeks flooded with blood, turning a shade of red to match the polo shirt he donned.

"Y-yeah, sure," he stammered, causing a purposefully loud sigh to be forced from the thin girl's lips. His nervous mannerisms were already irritating her and it was yet to be ten minutes with him. "Maybe he's worse than you thought," she mentally scolded herself, shaking her head.

"Rule two. Don't be nervous around me. If you wanna make it here, you need to act like you belong. You stutter when you're holding that gun and they'll make you a joke. You stutter in front of Tanner, he'll hit that stutter out of you," she warned, stopping her actions to look at the boy that was frozen in fear. Of course. "God, lighten up!" she finally snapped, walking over and grasping his shoulders - having to stand on the tips of her toes to do so - and shaking them lightly. "You're really annoying me with all of this fear. I'm just a girl, like you're a guy," she shot him a sharp glance before hearing him cough.

"I'm sorry," he croaked, causing the girl's lips to fall into a purse. She didn't reply, but she stood before him, cocking one of her hips to the side and crossing her arms over her chest as though she was waiting for him. Which she was. "I, um, don't know what to say," he mumbled, his voice almost inaudible, but unfortunately, the brunette beauty before him heard every word that slipped through his lips.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe tell me a bit about yourself? And while you're at it, tell me what you want to eat because I'm starved and want food," she sarcastically spat her venomous side already beginning to peak through her calm exterior. "We'll be working together for awhile, so we might as well not be awkward," she explained, an obvious decrease in the anger in her voice evident. Before he could even respond, though, she turned to the freezer and pulled out a package of buffalo wings that she planned on cooking. "Like wings?" the small teenager asked, arching a single eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah, I like wings," he replied instantaneously, attempting to let the nerves slide off of his skin. In order to survive this mission, he had to remain on Alessia's good side, which was proving to be more difficult than expected. "But yeah, my name is Luca-" he began, but was cut off with a sharp, "No last names!"

"We don't have anyone give last names. Not even the little eights," she teased, a smile painting across her face. "God, she's beautiful" echoed through Luca's mind, but he immediately pushed the words away, knowing that he wasn't here for anything other than the defense of his nation.

"Oh, okay, makes sense," he nodded in agreement as he watched her small figure maneuver the kitchen while preparing the wings for the two to dine on. He stopped speaking after that, which earned him a dark look from the chef that silently screamed "Continue!". "Okay, so, I'm Luca, as I said before, but uh, yeah, I've lived in New York ever since I was born, which makes sense since I am hoping to the be eight of the New York. Uh, I," he stammered momentarily, then realized that Alessia was on the verge of slapping him if he didn't release the bundle of nerves he was holding so close to him. "I don't know, I'm kinda a boring person. I play soccer sometimes, I spend more time listening to music than I do talking," he let a soft laugh slip through his lips as he concluded.

"Oh, so that means you barely listen to music since you basically don't talk?" the sarcasm in Alessia's voice was playful this time, not attacking as it had been previously. He turned slightly to find her perched on top of the countertop, just sitting and watching him with an intent expression. He instantly furrowed his eyebrows out of confusion before breaking out into a grin as her teasing settled in.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who knows, maybe I just talk a lot and you'll want me to shut up and be wishing we were back to this," he retorted, earning an impressed look from the gorgeous girl. She simply stared at him, that illuminating smile of hers slowly tugging on the corners of her lips. Why was she smiling? The anxiety was flushing through his body, reflecting in his large eyes.

"I think I'm gonna like you, Luca," that same tone of voice caused the hairs on the boy's arms to stand up as he simply stared at her. Before she turned to remove their food from the oven, she flashed him a smirk to alert him that her words were true.