A Hidden Danger

What's Groveling

Data

The moment a person realizes they are the biggest asshole on the planet is a hard moment to swallow. I normally would have never considered myself to be that. But sitting there at that table with the club whore in my lap talking trash to the bravest person I've ever met just proved that I didn't know a fucking thing about myself.

I may have thought I was protecting everyone involved, but in truth I was just fucking up the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Why is it that we never figure these things out until we get to the point of no return? No hole was deep enough for me to crawl into, and I deserved to have my balls cut off and served to Marigold on a silver platter.

I saw the spark in his eyes and started moving at the same time. The club whore fell to the floor as we stood and hammer grabbed me by my collar. I could hear the whore yelling as Hammer pulled me out the back door. I could see Rachel following and her face was a mixture of rage and pain. The look only made me fall further into my pit of despair. I had royally messed everything up.

The hit came faster than I was expecting and I fell to the ground, knowing I was going to have one hell of a shiner tomorrow. I slowly stood back up and waited for him to say something. Maybe he thought I would fight back, but I knew better. I didn't deserve to fight back after what I'd done. I didn't deserve to be breathing in my opinion.

"What the hell was that? It was bad enough that you've ignored her anytime she was around, but that was beyond disgusting! that is not who we are!" Hammer yelled.

"I know!" I screamed out. The words leaving my mouth felt like a slight relief from the pain I was feeling. A relief that I didn't deserve. "I fucked up! I thought I was protecting her and you, hell all of us!"

"What are you talking about Data? You weren't protecting anyone! You were an asshole, pure and simple." Rachel seethes.

I had hoped to keep everything locked up about her past. I didn't want there to be any chance that it would get out about who she really was. It was dangerous enough just to be in the same vicinity, but for them to find out we helped her would be the end of all of us. I couldn't risk everyone's lives by giving into my feelings for the girl I just met.

"The first night we worked with Autumn I learned about who she is and where she comes from." I said, shaking my head.

"And?" Hammer growled out.

"It's bad. It's so fucking bad. Camilleri. As in the Camilleri family."

Horror passed over Hammer's face and I knew he understood what I meant. Rachel looked confused as to what we were talking about, and it made sense. That family name wasn't something that was spread around for a reason. To the world they were a business family with control of several markets. Squeaky clean in the eyes of the general public. But in our world, or well the one we were trying to get out of it was a name that made most men shit themselves. Fear wasn't a word that could properly describe that feeling.

"No."Hammer said, shaking his head.

"Yes. She's married to Marco Camilleri and her father is Nico Malta."

"Shiiiiitttt." Hammer groaned.

"Yeah." I sat on the ground and put my head on my knees, trying to gather what little of my senses I could.

"I don't understand. Why is that so bad?" Rachel asked.

"They are the mafia of mafias. You don't want to have anything to do with them if you can. Do you think she knows?" Hammer said'.

"I don't think so. She wouldn't have run away with the heir of that family if she knew. She just thinks she has a rich family. It tracks about right, though. The women in those families rarely know about what the business really is."

"Rach, go get the prez and vp. Tell them 911." Rachel flew back into the clubhouse.

"Have you hidden her well?" Hammer asked.

"Like Fort fucking Knox. As soon as I learned about her, there was no way I wasn't covering my tracks. You know what they'd do to her if they found her. She'll be dead as soon as that baby's born." I sighed out.

"So you thought if you kept away from her it would be better for us?" Hammer asked, sitting next to me.

"Yeah, if she needed to be moved it would be easier for her to not be too attached. Plus, we're trying to go legit. I didn't want to compromise all that we've been working on. I was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Hell still am." It was the truth that I didn't want to admit. But there I was admitting to something that would change everything.

"Good luck with that, asshole. You could have kept your distance without gutting the girl." Hammer said.

"Easier said than done. She had to hate me cause I didn't trust myself to stay away."

****

"So we have a runaway princess on our hands?" Prez asked.

"Yeah. But she doesn't have a clue." Hammer said.

"This could bring any number of problems our way." The VP Tex said. He looked at me for a moment before he asked. "How much does she mean to you?"

"Everything." I answer honestly.

"Then she stays. We may be going legit, but that doesn't mean we're going to start letting people get hurt under our watch. She had a sense that she and her baby weren't safe and no matter the reason why she left. That means she needs help. We have already agreed to help her with a new identity and I tell you there would be a bunch of pissed off old ladies if we didn't honor that." Prez who we call Match said.

"I know you're the best at what you do, but make sure to keep a watch on things. We don't want them getting word of where she is. Now if she leaves on her own, that's another story. And after that shitshow in there, it's a possibility." Tex said.

"How do I even get her to talk to me after that?" I asked.

I would blame her if she did pack up and leave. I was cruel for no reason, and I don't even know how to explain that. I can't just walk up to her and say sorry I was a dick, but your husband is a big bad mafia don. The less she knows the better. Her safety is the most important part of all this.

"Saying you're sorry couldn't hurt." Hammer said with a smirk. Part of me wanted to slap him in that moment.

"I think you should start by making sure she's willing to even entertain the idea of talking to you. It may take a while before she's willing to. You embarrassed her in front of an entire room of people. It's not something that you fix with just I'm sorry. This is going to take groveling of the highest caliber." Match said.

"What does Groveling even mean like this? I know what groveling is but how in the hell do you grovel for something like this? I'm so screwed." I said.

"Think of it like this. What do you think she felt tonight and all the other times you ignored her?" He paused while I thought. "Got that feeling?" I nod. "Multiply that by a million. That's the way you need to feel when you're trying to make this up to her. Simple sorries aren't going to work. You're gonna have to dig deep and pull out every sweet and incredible thing you can think of," Tex said.