The Mafia's Secret(Book 1)

Chapter 17 ✔️

SCARLETT

I should be dead. That was all I could think as I slowly opened my eyes. Taking a moment to observe my surroundings, I couldn't recognize where I was. There were no machines and no indicators that I was still in the possession of my father. The big giveaway was the lack of restraints around my wrists and the fact that the bed was actually comfortable and not the hard disgusting mattress I had been stuck on.
Before I could observe the room any further, a loud metallic banging sound could be heard outside of the room. Despite the pain coursing through my body, I slowly got out of the bed. Grasping my abdomen as the pain worsened, I struggled to walk across the room. By the time I managed to get out of the room, the pain was unbearable.
Leaning against the wall, I observed the man before me. He was casually cooking pancakes in a pan. It was as if he could feel eyes on him because he stopped flipping the pancake, chuckling. Frowning, so many mixed emotions filled my mind as he turned around. I was angry he had abandoned me, yet I was so relieved and happy that I was now reunited with him. Above all that emotion, was shock. So much so that I found myself collapsing to my knees.
Within seconds he was by my side, pulling me to my feet. "Easy, Scar. You'll tear your stitches." He said as he placed me on the couch.
With as much strength as I could muster, I swung the palm of my hand across his face. It was well deserved and it was clear he knew that because he was completely unfazed.
He chuckled, shaking his head. "Feel better?"
Tears welled up in my eyes. "Where the hell have you been, Zayn? How did you find me?"
He sighed. "It's a long story. One I promise I will explain. But for right now, you need to save your strength. Besides, breakfast is ready."
He went back to the kitchen, dishing up two plates of pancakes and two tall glasses of orange juice. He put whipped cream and syrup on both plates like we used to do when we were younger. It was surprising to know he still remembered how I ate my pancakes since it had been years since we had seen each other.
There was nothing but silence as we ate. It was deafening as the only sound was the scraping of plates and chewing. I had so many questions filling my head but Zayn had made it clear he didn't want to answer any. As frustrating as it was, I knew there was a reason for it. He never did anything without reason.
"I can see those gears of yours spinning. What's on your mind?" He asked as he finally put down his fork. He always was a faster eater than I was.
"How did you know where to find me?"
"I've been keeping an eye on you since the day I left. I still have loyal friends who tell me your every move."
"That still doesn't tell me how you found me."
He sighed. "Give me your arm."
He gave me no time to question why before he grabbed my arm, turning it so my palm was facing up. He did the same with his opposite arm. Our sibling tattoos. Two crosses entwined in thorns and a crown. It signified that no matter how hard things got, we would always trust and believe in one another. We had gotten them in secret on my fourteenth birthday. His friend, Javier, had done them for us.
He pointed to the middle of the crosses. "Feel right there."
Doing so, there was a small bump as if there was something underneath the skin. "What the–"
"–A tracker. I kind of put it there while you were sleeping the next morning. It was hard for you to notice because it was still sore. Like I said. I would never leave without knowing if you'd be safe or not."
"You knew I was with Xavier, didn't you?"
He sighed, looking away.
I had my answer. "You son of a bitch. Do you have any idea what he put me through?! The hell I endured?!"
"Scar–" He started but I cut him off.
"–No! Don't do that! You left me to get kidnapped by that animal, fully aware that you could have come at any time! And you chose to come after our father decided to torture me! Screw you!"
I stood despite the sharp excruciating pain forming in my abdomen. I was barely able to stand for more than a few seconds before the pain became too much. Collapsing to my knees as I held my abdomen, I could feel the warmth of blood soak through the bandages. Blood coated my fingers as I pulled my hand away. Blood had started to seep through the bandages.
"Shit, Scar. Here, let me help you."
Despite being angry at Zayn, I let him help me back onto the couch. He got up, walking into an unknown room. I could hear him rummaging through cupboards before he came back with a First Aid Kit. All I could do was watch him as he cut open the bandages, revealing a bloody mess of where I had been shot. There were five stitches. Two had ripped open so Zayn went straight to work, cleaning the area. He offered a small bottle of hard liquor for the pain, which I happily chugged as he re-stitched the spots. I was used to being stitched up without any sedative or antibiotic so all it did was feel like a bee sting each time the needle penetrated my skin. Once the wound was bandaged back up, he put the box on the floor.
"Three questions. You get to ask three questions and I will answer truthfully."
"You expect me to believe that? Do you know many people have lied to me this past week?"
"I would never lie to you, Scar. You know that. Now ask away before I change my mind."
I sighed. Three questions wasn't enough for all the answers I wanted to know. "What happened between you and Nina?" I finally asked after a moment of silence.
He raised a brow, seeming genuinely surprised that that was my first question. "Caleb was telling the truth, Scar. Nina cheated on me with Xavier. She was telling him everything that got Darren's wife killed. He would have killed you too if Nina hadn't convinced him that forcing me out of the city was better. Nina did like you after all. So she convinced Xavier to keep Darren's kid in hiding and to kidnap you instead. About a month later she confessed to also working for our father. She needed money to pay for her moms medical bills and I didn't hold that against her. She then told me how she planned to get herself killed to make up for all of the wrong she did. Again I didn't hold that against her. Now next question since that was three answers in one question."
"You expect me to just ask another question when you gave me more questions you won't answer?"
He chuckled, smirking. "Hey, I could be giving you no answers but here we are. Now ask away."
Some things never changed. He was still the man who only gave the answers he wanted to give. He was a man that could easily distract someone if he needed or wanted to. In a kind but annoying way of course. Which was incredibly frustrating as his nosy younger sister who always wanted answers. Especially now.
Finally rolling my eyes in annoyance, I thought long and hard about what my next question would be and if it would give me the answers I really wanted.

* * * *

"So what happens now?" I asked, hardly satisfied with the answers he had given.
"Well, you can't stay here while your wounds heal. You will go back to Xavier because you're safer there than with me."
"What?"
"We can't risk being together with our father out there. He wants us all together, remember?"
Realization Suddenly dawned on me. "You're working for Xavier now, aren't you?"
He sighed. "For? No. The correct term would be with. The day Caleb told me our father took you, I went to Xavier. I made a deal with him that he could have you if he released Darren's kid and helped us take down our father." I had no time to express my shock before the doorbell rang. Zayn gave me an apologetic look. "Speaking of which."
He said nothing else as he stood, walking over to the door. The second he opened it, one of the last people I wanted to see, walked in.