Falling For The Mob

22 Metal and Fireworks

Zoë

Aimlessly, I stare out the window of Addy's car.

After three hours of hearing the same question repeated, she finally demanded to let us go. Now all I want is to go home and nurse a cup of tea, and forget this entire week. Maybe we should have brought Sam with us, if her name can rattle the police commissioner, maybe we would have been released much sooner.

The car comes to a stop in front of a large gate, making me realize that we haven't been in the city for over half an hour. Addy has a grin as I meet her gaze. "You seemed very stressed, so I thought I might try teaching you one of my favorite methods of distraction."

She laughs at my expression. "Don't worry, you'll see soon."

Soon after, the gates swing open, and we begin a three-minute drive till we reach a large house. Well, house would be an understatement, the place looked like a marble castle.

Double doors swing open to reveal a grand hallway covered in beige and white as two butlers welcome us and take our coats. "Addy, where are we?"

"This is where Sam and I grew up." I feel a slight smile tug at my lips as I imagine a raven-haired girl running through the halls with laughter before she became the closed-off version of herself that she is today.

Addy confidently navigates through the maze of corridors, greeting a few people on the way before abruptly coming to a halt in front of a heavy black door.

The door opens to a descending staircase filled with the smell of fireworks and metal. A bit of doubt is plastered on her face, which is something I am not used to seeing.

"Before I open this last door, I'm going to explain something to you so you don't draw your own conclusion. When Jack and James Claymore were younger, they had certain... hobbies and after starting their families, they passed it on to their children. One time, after an argument with Sam, Lawrence brought me here to cool off. Somehow, I also started to like it a lot."

I find myself laughing at her nervously ramblings. "Is this you finally bringing me to your murder dungeon?"

"You joke now, but actually, I really do need you to not freak out." After she enters a ten-digit code on the keypad, the light turns green and the door unlocks with a loud metallic thud.

The smell of fireworks becomes stronger as I feel a slight drop in temperature.

In the front of the room, there is a large couch and coffee table that are facing a long black counter that is separating the room. On the other side, there is a long hallway that ends with a concrete wall. Deep dark holes are plastered all over it.

"So, your family is filled with gun fanatics?" I am definitely surprised, but not enough to justify her worry. Given how much money these people have, the next step in having a hobby like this would include a private shooting range. Not to mention Sam literally having a gun in her desk drawer.

"Is that why Sam keeps a gun in her desk?"

"You saw that?" She sighs as she drops on the couch. "Try not to think about that too much, Sam just has a bit of a past, and she can be paranoid at times." This along with the random fight she seemed to get into around Christmas are forming a strange image of her in my mind. But I don't want to think about Sam right now.

After collecting herself, she smiles again. "So, do you want to try it?"

Immediately shaking my head, I begin to back off, but she flashes me that sinister smile of hers that I have seen too many times. The smile that tells me that whatever my opinion is now, it won't be later.