𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋

00:18

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CHAPTER 18
leave me alone, punks

"Oh, absolutely fucking not." Nico's voice reverberated in my ears through the phone as I stared at the two men in front of me. "Hell, no."

I shrugged, though he couldn't tell so I hummed in agreement.

"Huh?" Nico asked, confused as if he had expected me to put on a fight.

"Ok," I repeated.

"I swear if I find out that you went, I'll fuck you up."

I rolled my eyes at his behavior, fed up with the overuse of that expression. In the span of the two weeks following what has been dubbed as the execution, my brothers got the habit of ironically quoting what I've said when they found nothing better to retort. Even Nico. Real mature for a mafia Don.

"Got that, Nico."

"But no, for real. Last time you stayed alone with a man you got kidnapped."

I winced at the reminder. "I was two years old," I huffed.

"You're not going anywhere on your own."

I grunted in response then hung up, staring back at the two boys in front of me one of whom looked more excited than the other.

"You heard my brother. I can't go to your place Demitri."  As soon as class ended, Demitri started hounding me like a vulture, bugging me to go to his place to "finish the project" and seeming to forget that Alexander was with us.

"You let your brother control your life? You don't have to worry about him," Demitri retorted, stepping closer. "I can handle him."

My eye twitched unintentionally, and I would've doubled over in laughter if I didn't want it to keep up this masquerade to get him off my back. "You wouldn't be able to handle him if you were God." I smiled at him as he huffed, and I backed away. "We could meet up in a coffee shop or something. That alright with you Alexander?" I looked at the dark-haired man leaning against the wall, eyes broody as he watched the scene.

Alexander shrugged in agreement, so fucking detached from the conversation I want to punch him in the face. Demitri grunted and sulked away in despair, no far greater than mine as I got stuck with a sexual deviant and an indifferent block of ice.

I started making my own towards the cafeteria, already imagining the bleak taste of the food on my tongue. The twins unfortunately couldn't join me for lunch and were therefore unable to get me out of this hole. My only choice was eating with my new friends, food that even the richest people in the U.S. couldn't make taste any better.

I felt the air shift beside me, a skill acquired after many years of stumbling in the street, and I guessed it was Alexander. "I don't think you should hang out with him."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" I scoffed mockingly, crossing my arms defensively. Demitri's aura bugged me in a way no one had in a very long time, and I've been hanging out with criminals since I was a toddler.

"Well for one, you didn't refuse his invitation yourself," Alex said as he continued to walk beside me. "So I thought you really wanted to go."

I stopped in my tracks, looking at him as if he'd completely lost his mind. "How could I fucking refuse him. Have you seen his pretty blue eyes?" I asked mockingly, hoping my abnormally high tone would convey enough of my sarcasm. Alexander looked at me, eyes wide stunned. "Didn't you hear how he stalked Jenna when she told him she didn't want to date him, or how he wouldn't let Mercy go after she slept with him once, despite telling him multiple times that she didn't want to talk to him?"