Cleo

General

Jesus and Giovanni arrived at five just as they promised. The boys were in their rooms and Jasmine was beside me at the kitchen table. The men looked at her several times, questioning looks exchanged. We ate first. The dinner Jasmine prepared was great, much better than I would have made myself.

When the men were full, I pulled down four wine glasses and poured us all a glass. "We've got trouble." Were the first words out of my mouth.

"We do. How we going to fix it?" Jesus sipped his wine, looking over the glass at me.

I rubbed my thumb against my lip and shrugged. "Listen, we can't go against them separately. The Cobra's are a large gang full of heartless bastards. They are fearless and ready to spill blood." My eyes moved to Jasmine as she looked around slightly horrified. "I need some of your men here. A handful from each of you." Giovanni started talking about not wanting to lose his protection. "You don't understand, we've figured out that they are attacking us first. Without me, you two wouldn't have become friendly. We'd be living in a blood soaked town. But I am the happy medium, I keep the drama down and profits up."

"What are you?" Jasmine asked. The men looked at her surprised, I just put my hand up.

"He's going after me hoping that if he cuts the tie, you will lash out on each other." I sighed and brought my glass up, taking a long, needed gulp. "I need your help."

There was silence for a while. No one looked up from the table. I was hoping they were calculating numbers, sorting their people in to groups. "I can spare ten men. Most of my guys have jobs to do and I need some around for me, just in case. Ten is all I can give you." Jesus looked down at his watch as he spoke.

"I'll send those willing to come, Bella. Do you have room for them here?"

"No, so I will need you to arrange shifts. Split your guys into groups and send them over when it's their time. They can make themselves at home during their shifts as long as they respect my property and the people on it."

The two men agreed and left soon after. Jasmine continued to ask questions that I continued to avoid. The less she knew about me, the better off she was. If people asked questions, she wouldn't have answers and that would keep us all safe. She was not my main priority. I had other lives to protect as well. Of course, I would do the job I was hired to, but if I was dead, how would she make it?

The boys made their way out and complained that there wasn't much food left. Niall was the first to the pan and the only one to eat the remaining cod. There was a bit of pasta, but not enough to please them. So I grabbed a couple boxes of frozen pizza from the freezer and handed them to Jasmine. She glared at me, but turned to the oven.

I found myself back in the basement. I started in the wine room and placed the two bottles of wine back where they belonged. I took a moment to just stand there and look around. I took the moment to let everything sink in.

When I felt satisfied with myself, I walked slowly to the panic room. I pushed the bookcase aside and looked at the keypad. I typed in the nine digit pin; 253672872 and opened the heavy steel door. The room was about the size of my bedroom back home. There were three beds, a full wall of monitors that canvassed the entire property. There was a wall of nonperishable food and water. For a room inside such an extravagant house, it wasn't much. It would keep us safe in case of an invasion, a war...possibly. The room was designed to protect against tornados, bombings and hurricanes. But no one could be completely sure that six, now seven people could survive in the room for days, if needed. We'd probably end up killing each other a few hours in.

I turned away from the room and shut it up tightly before heading back up the stairs to an all out pizza battle. Niall was on one end of the crust as Harry had the other. They both looked intensely at the other and didn't blink. As their eyes started to water, I could tell who the winner would be. Niall blinked first, releasing the pizza instantly. "One day, Styles. One day I will win!" He popped a beer and took a swing before wrapping his arm around me. "If I seemed unsure about having Jasmine around before, forget about it. She is making corn beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes tomorrow. If she's half as amazing as my mom was with Irish boiled dinners, I think I'll marry her."

"I'd like to see how far you'd get with her when she cuts your balls off and cooks those. I'd keep your distance, she's pretty gutsy. Don't piss her off." Niall at me strangely for a second then shrugged. "Get her what she needs, if she wants to cook, let her. I know we'll all be happier."

Niall smiled and turned to talk to Jasmine. I grabbed the vodka from the cupboard and a shot glass before retreating to the living room. The boys grew quiet as I sat down and took the first shot. The clear liquid burned like nothing I'd ever had. I didn't let the pain show on my face as I downed another one. I finally understood why The Screwdriver was a thing. Shot after shot, I pushed the pain away and finally, I just didn't feel it anymore, I didn't feel anything. The liquor was as sweet as candy and the world finally seemed to calm down.

No one really bothered with me. I was drunk beyond anything I'd been before and it felt good. Actually, I'm sure someone bothered me, but my mind was telling me I was floating and that vodka was water. So there was a good chance they were trying to say something to me.

When I finally decided to make myself available for reality, or as much of reality as my brain could piece together, I found myself in the kitchen with Louis, Harry, Liam and Niall. Apparently, as some point, Zayn came in and gave me a kiss on the cheek and went to bed. God knows when Jasmine went to bed. Everyone but me knew, really. But honestly, these boys were built to look like Gods, so it wasn't that big of an exaggeration.

Harry was the first to slide beside me as I slowly fell to the ground. Slowly. It looked and seemed slow, but the pain I'd feel in the morning was proof I didn't defy the laws of gravity even in the slightest. Liam stepped in and grabbed me, throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me to bed. The last glimpse of the other boys I got was a laughing Louis and Niall and an aggravated Harry.

Liam tossed me on my bed and looked down at me. "You are not a pretty drunk."

"Ouch." I said, sticking my tongue out at him lazily.

"You're face is as red as a tomato, your hair has managed to tangle into this weird...forest of hell and you sound like you lost your tongue." He turned to leave, I attempted to grab his arm, but instead of setting my foot on the ground, my burning hot face found the rug instead.

Liam sighed loudly and picked me up again. "Stay, Cleo. Be a good girl." He teased, but there wasn't a smile on his face as he looked at me. "Go to bed."

"Come with me." I smiled, reaching for his hand. He jerked it away and laughed.

"You're something else. A real piece of fucking work." And he was out the door before I could say anything.

I woke with a splitting headache and found myself in a disgusting bathroom. My bathroom. I found the remains of last night's cod all over the floor and even though I didn't want to, I had to clean it.

I took an Aleve and started cleaning. When I finished, I snuck a look at myself in the mirror. I felt and looked like that painting of the mangled face. The one where the guys everything was placed in different spots. It's a widely known piece, very famous. But my face was not going to be admired far and wide like that, so I hopped in the shower and sat there for a while, letting the water was away the evil that vodka had attracted to me.