The Code To A Don's Heart

t w e n t y - n i n e

Present day,

The McCoy family neighbourhood

Toluclova, New York

I sat curled up next to Viktor in a booth of an old café I used to visit a lot years ago. Little Java was a good place. Small, homey and the owners were good friends of my mother's back in the day but they weren't around. I thanked God.

I was stalling taking Viktor to my house. I hadn't been there since Peirce left. I'd stayed with my neighbour, Mrs. C until the shock of the fact my brother had gone dulled enough for me to visit my dad and tell him before I went to my apartment and didn't move for a week. This place brought back good and bad memories, all of which had been swirling through my mind since Viktor and I left the warehouse panic rooms three days ago.

We'd been switching from train to car to get where I was now, the 'hood' of the little town Toluclova. There was a small business district that separated this place from the rich neighbourhood of celebrities who resided in New York but wanted the quiet of a little town. That place was locally known as Bling Empire. It was much like Mazadora town in Santa Pores where Miss Kay lived. There were rows and rows of mansions and the cars on the street were sleek, extravagant and slightly elegant.

"Hey," Viktor nudged me and I had to blink to get back my bearings. I was staring down in my coffee cup, my brows frowned and my lips pursed.

I put the cup down. "Sorry," I apologized. "Just a little bit distracted."

"You have to pay a little more attention to your surroundings. We are still legible to be in Brava territory," Viktor explained and bit into a slice of toast. While he'd gone for the full breakfast combo (toast, scrambled eggs, sausage and pancakes), I didn't have much appetite so I stuck with a coffee. He'd tried to persuade me to eat but I swore it would be his shoes I'd be throwing up on.

"I know. I'm attentive," I mumbled and rubbed a hand over my eyes. It felt good to have my bruises gone and no pain whenever I did that. I hadn't been getting any sleep and neither had Viktor but he didn't look as unkempt as I seemed to be.

His blond hair was still a shaggy golden mess and his baby blue eyes were surrounded by bags but unlike mine, they weren't dark and menacing. We hadn't talked about his uncle and I knew he wasn't handling it well. There were times when he just looked into space and got this expression that made my heart squeeze in my chest so I did for him what he did for me when I was almost lipping on the edge.

I kissed him and made him momentarily forget what we were doing, where we were, what had gotten us here, who we'd lost in the process and the danger we faced. I'd decided having the Don's lips on mine was one of the most exciting moments in my life. Each kiss was different, sometimes slow and soft others desperate and angry and my personal favourite were the sweet and lazy kisses that had my heart trying to pump out of my chest.

We hadn't gone into depth about the kissing either. We just did it an acted as though everything was normal which somehow, it was.

"You need to get some sleep," Viktor told me and I rolled my eyes.

"So do you," I pointed out. "And I promise we will. My house isn't far. We can ditch the car somewhere and walk the rest of the way. It's about an hour's trek. Help us stay awake and keep active."

At my last comment, I shifted from him and stretched a little, cracking my back. I dropped like a sack of potatoes though. Allowing my body to readjust to the new relief. I couldn't help the yawn that attacked me. My eyes were droopy and watery after it and Viktor chuckled next to me.