The Decuplets

Stalked By The Mafia?

Scarlett

I am never alone, but today I decided I needed some peace. I drove myself to Starbucks and went inside, computer in hand, hoping to get work done as I sipped my favorite beverage.

However, I struggled to find peace and did not feel alone.

This man, dressed in all black, was sitting opposite the room from me in a chair. He had not pulled his phone out once, ordered a coffee, or took his eyes off me. I was growing anxious.

Now, call me crazy, but my mind immediately darted to my parent's being apart of the mafia.

This man's whole demeanor was strange and intimidating– he was a tall, buff guy and his left ear seemed to have wires attached to it.

I figured that was an earpiece to hear orders.

I know I sound ridiculous, but my gut was telling me I had to get out of there.

I texted my family group-chat to inform them of the weirdness going on around me, but I left out my conspiracy of this suspicious man being part of a mafia of some sort.

My phone had an incoming facetime call and I was quick to answer.

"Hi, Reece," I answered, gathering my things into my hands.

"Stay on the phone with me as you walk to your car, okay?"

"Never again is she going somewhere alone," I heard Brandon mutter with frustration in the background.

As I exited the store, I noticed the man get up from my peripheral vision. My heart bgean beating out my chest as my anxiety truly spiked now.

"Reece, he got up after me," I panicked, my breathing becoming scattered.

"Scarlett, run to your car."

And so I did. I sprinted like never before until I was in the safety of my now locked vehicle. 

I quickly started it, Reece still on the phone, and backed out. I made eye contact with the man as he entered his car right next to mine.

"Oh my God, Reece! He was parked next to me! He is going to follow me!"

"Scarlett, stay calm. Drive home, we'll be waiting outside."

I did far from calmly drive home and even ran a few stop signs. As I was in sight, Reece hung up and I pulled into the garage where my brothers were. One of them shut the garage door as soon as I entered.

I engulfed them all in a group hug which threw them off slightly, but they returned nonetheless.

"I thought that would be the end of me!"

"So did we," Liam admitted, motioning for us all to follow him to the living room.

We all sat down as Noah asked me to explain what happened.

After breaking it down for them in detail, I decided to let them in on my theory. "Do you guys think this had anything to do with mom and dad being in the mafia?"

I kept my head low, nervous of their responses.

"Actually, that was our first thought," Brandon told me, making my head shoot up.

"Really?"

"Yeah, we've actually had some odd experiences recently, too," Gabe informed me. 

I raised a brow. "Like what?"

"Well, I received a letter with no return address the other day. After I opened it, the contents made goosebumps rise immediately. The writing was detailed descriptions of something each of us did the day prior, down to the time-stamps."

None of my brothers looked as phased as I was, which led me to my next conclusion.

"You all knew about this and didn't tell me!"

"We didn't want to scare you, Scar," Gabe shared, "but we realize that not telling you put you in as much danger, or more."

I understood, because I definitely would have thought everything and anything was something to do with a murder keeping tabs on me, but I also felt a bit upset that they just wanted to bypass this important information from me.

"We've done our research, and we may know what's going on," Zach said curtesy of my silence.

"We even got in touch with Zia Mel and Zio Luc," Clay added.

Clay's attribution made me the most shocked. Aunt Mel and Uncle Luc, Luc being my father's brother, last spoke to us at our seventh birthday party. After that, they cut all ties from us– they never answered our calls, texts, even emails.

I was curious. "Well, what did they say?"

"They knew exactly what was going on. Alfonso Hernandez, who affiliates with previous Don Garcia and Hernandez Sr, wants revenge on our parents for taking out the two of them. With our parents in jail, it did not take them long to figure out they had ten kids as well as locate them. Zia and Zio then went on to explain how they assume we are all being followed, with explains the letter and the tabs kept on us, and should keep an eye out. They told me if anything suspicious happens again to give them a call."

Learning this was a lot to take in. My mind was circulating through a million different thoughts. This was going to change our lives forever. Not to mention that we haven't spoken to our parents– God only knows if they're aware we have figured out their secret.

"Why wouldn't Zia and Zio do something about it in the first instance?" I wondered reasonably.

"They feared other mafias may have been fucking around with us in hopes we would tell our parents or their associates, so before they acted on the situation they had to be sure," Corey finished for Clay.

I don't know much about this whole mafia thing, but that sounded understandable.

Brandon called Zia and Zio and informed them on the recent ordeal. I hadn't heard their voices in so long, and it brought me back to heartwarming memories.

The two of them told us they were going to have security guards posted up at our home and bodyguards, who would remain at a distance, in public.

This all felt surreal. It was abnormal, but our new normal.

My posture was droopy as I had practically become one with the couch. My brothers' faces revealed defeat. They looked tired and scared, and so was I.

"This is going to be really hard, but try and ignore this all," Liam reassured everyone with a slight smile.

"But make sure you're on alert while doing so," Brandon added.

"Are you guys not scared?" I couldn't help but wonder. I felt I could sense they were, but then again they never share their emotions properly– other than Gabe.

"Of course we are, Scarlett. But we need to stay strong for each other," Reece expressed, sighing before he spoke.

"Right, of course."

I disbanded the group and went to my room to ponder. Gabe eventually joined me and we drowned each other in our endless worries. It was nice having a brother I felt I could count on for anything– don't get me wrong, my brothers would probably take a bullet for me, but Gabe is definitely my number one built-in-best-friend.

Do not tell any of the others that, though...

Just wait til Ella hears this.