The Mafia's Secret

Chapter 30

SCARLETT

Panic consumed me as I opened my eyes to see a dark figure looming over me. Before I could move or push them back, they had my arms pinned to the bed. They quietly shushed me as they kept a firm grip, fighting with my own attempted movements. It wasn't very much movement since moving around still hurt tremendously.

"Dammit woman. Would you calm the fuck down!" Xavier exclaimed in an amused tone.

He let go of me the second I relaxed. Pushing him away from me, I sat up to see him sitting next to me. He rubbed his face with his palms, rubbing out what I assumed to be tiredness. I took that time to observe that I was no longer on the cot but on a king size bed in another room. He must have moved me while I was sleeping.

Once I had managed to calm my racing heart, I observed the room I was in. It was a smaller room that any of the others I had been a "guest" in. The king bed was the only big thing in this entire room. The closet was small with only a simple top shelf and coat hanger. The small nightstands barely fit on either side of the bed and there was only a small six drawer horizontal dresser opposite of the bed. There was no bathroom.

Finally glancing at Xavier, he was sitting beside me with a raised brow. His head was tilted slightly as he looked me up and down with a curious look. I couldn't handle how uncomfortable it made me, knowing I was most likely shouting in my sleep.

"You were shouting in your sleep." He finally said, moving closer to me.

Looking away from him, I sighed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

Xavier grabbed my chin with a gentle grip, slowly forcing me to look at him. I wanted to pull away as tears started to fall down my cheeks but I couldn't as he caressed the side of my face with one hand while he used his other to tuck my hair behind my ear.

"I don't care that you did." He pulled me back down to the bed.

Resting my head on his chest, I was careful not to put too much weight on my side as he wrapped an arm around me. He ran his fingers along my spine as we laid there in silence. The only sound was of our steady breathing and the sound of the furnace turning on. The silence only lasted a few minutes before Xavier sighed, moving his fingers to where I had been stabbed. He traced his fingers around the bandage.

"I never meant for this to happen, Scar." He finally said as he kissed the top of my head.

"I know."

"I will make them suffer for what they did to you. All of them. Starting with your father." His body tensed for a moment but quickly relaxed.

"I know."

He kissed the top of my head once more before pulling the sheets up to my shoulders. As we laid there in silence, I wondered if he would ask about the nightmare. The thought went away the longer we laid there in silence. The only sounds being his slow and steady breathing. His heart slowly pounded against his chest in a slow rhythmic pattern as his body relaxed. It was soothing to hear, distracting me from the images of the nightmare I had endured. It only took a few minutes for the images to stop forcing their way into my mind. Once I was left alone, I found myself falling back into the grasp of sleep.

* * * *

There was nothing but silence as I opened my eyes. I expected Xavier to be long gone from the bedroom but he was still in a deep sleep beside me. Deciding to let him sleep, I slowly got out of bed. The pain in my side was still there but nowhere near as painful as I stood up straight.

Finding a pair of gray leggings and a black sweater folded neatly on the dresser, I changed into them. Despite knowing I looked like an absolute mess, I left the room and headed up the creaky stairs. As I did so, the constant stepping upwards started to make my side burn with pain. I would have stopped halfway up the steps if I hadn't heard someone walking around upstairs.

"I see you're looking a lot better." A feminine voice spoke out of nowhere, nearly causing me to trip on the last few steps.

Glancing over to where I had heard the voice, a woman was seated at the table in the dining room. She had a mug in her hands. steam rose from it as she took a drink, gesturing for me to sit down across from her. I felt as if I didn't have a choice so I reluctantly walked over. She put her mug down, offering a friendly smile.

"You must be Cyrus' wife?" I guessed as I sat down across from her.

She nodded. "Yes. But I'll prefer 'Fiona' over 'Cyrus' Wife' any day." She chuckled, taking another sip of her drink before quickly putting down her mug. "Oh, how rude of me. Would you like some coffee?"

"If you wouldn't mind."

"Cream or sugar?" She asked as she stood.

"Both please."

She gave me a soft smile as she poured the cup of coffee. Watching her put cream and sugar into it, she walked back over to the table, placing the mug in front of me. Before I could say anything, she walked back to the kitchen. She rummaged through a cabinet above the fridge. I couldn't see what she grabbed but when she came back over to sit down, she placed a bottle of Tylenol in front of me. I gladly took a couple of the pills, popping them into my mouth as I took a sip of coffee to swallow them down. The next few sips I took, the bittersweet flavor danced around my tongue. I hadn't had my usual dose of caffeine in a while, so I took my time savoring the sense of relief the coffee gave me.

After a moment, Fiona finally spoke. "So, what's a kind looking lady like yourself doing in this kind of life? Especially after all you've been through."

Her question stumped me as I took another sip of coffee. "I was born into it, I guess." I finally said, taking another sip. "What's a corrupt police lieutenant doing running a police department?"

She chuckled. "Is that what Cyrus told you? My dear, I'm well aware the department I run has plenty of dirty cops. The issue is I can't do anything about it without risking the lives of those who take their job seriously. Those who are truly good at their job. Those who abuse being an officer, only do it for the safety of someone they want to protect. And I respect that. Doesn't mean I agree with it."

She took a long drink of her coffee. I wanted to ask more questions about her type of life and how she could be okay with it but before I could, a small little boy came out from one of the bedrooms down the hall. He held a medium sized teddy bear in his arms as he rubbed his eyes. It was obvious he was tired as he walked over to sit on Fiona's lap. He rested his body against her chest, putting a thumb into his mouth. He kept looking at me with shy glances.

"Henry, this is Daddy's friend. Miss Scarlett." She introduced.

Henry still couldn't look at me directly, causing me to chuckle as I took another sip of coffee. Fiona whispered something to him. Within seconds Henry was off her lap and headed back to the bedroom he had come out of. Within a few minutes, he came back out of the room. Another older boy followed after him. The other boy seemed a good amount of years older than Henry. They waved their goodbyes to Fiona after grabbing their school bags and shoes, leaving out the door.

Fiona shook her head, smiling. "The older one is Quinn. He doesn't like when his father has 'guests' over. He's old enough to understand the whole situation unfortunately. Makes it hard to raise the two of them. He'll understand soon enough. Like you did at your age."

She was right, unfortunately. The two boys were born into this now and no matter what, there was no way out because even if you left that kind of life, it had a way of coming back to you.