GAGE

53// d e a d

I AM SO SORRY I left you guys hanging for like 9 months but it's been an interesting year. I wouldn't be surprised if none of you remembered what's going on in this story at this point or even still have this in your library but I love you all thx

And there are probably a lot of typos in this one, please comment if you see any.

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I spent all day yesterday explaining as much as I could to Hailey about what happened between Gage and me, not to mention him leaving.

She asked me repeatedly why I didn't go and I only had one answer. That I thought it might be a good thing for me to stay. She thankfully stopped pestering me and understood my side of the dilemma.

Sun creeps through the blinds and I turn towards Hailey in the bed to see her looking back at me.

"Does he have any food in this house?" she asks.

"Honestly, I doubt it–" I begin before she cuts me off.

"What was that?" she asks quickly as she sits upward.

I follow her actions, "What was what?"

She narrows her eyes as she looks around the room momentarily before gasping. "That!" she jumps.

"What?" I whisper.

"That!" she hisses.

I stay silent, hoping to hear what she hears.

"Hailey, you're crazy."

"No! What if it's one of those big guys dressed in black coming to kidnap you?" she asks lowly.

I chuckle at her assumption. I trust Gage enough to know that when he says I'm safe here and taken care of, I have nothing to worry about.

"It's probably just Nick," I brush her off. I scoot off the bed and motion for her to come with me downstairs, "Come on!"

She groans before following me.

I peer around the corner and see the familiar blonde boy.

He looks up when he hears me approach him. "Hey," I smile.

He returns the greeting before he sets a card on the counter.

"Gage left me very specific instructions for you, but I'm going to try to keep it as simple as I can. Use this," he motions to the credit card, "It has money on it, wow surprise. Don't worry about how much is on it. Trust me, you won't run out. Also, don't stay out too late, keep your phone on you, and don't get freaked out if you see big guys following you. They're on our side."

"Anything else..." I sigh sarcastically.

"Yes, actually. Don't worry too much, everything is taken care of. If anything happens to you, the first one he'll be hunting down to kill is me, so don't do anything stupid," he instructs.

"Okay, and what exactly is he doing wherever he is?" I ask curiously even though I doubt he'll tell me.

Nick chuckles and walks a little closer to me.

"What's funny?" I quirk a brow and cross my arms.

"Listen, sweetheart, he didn't tell you for a reason. If he wanted to tell you, he would've," he shrugs.

I sigh heavily and begin to whine, "Nick, fucking tell me!"

"I'll tell you this; The Mafia is an association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct. The Naumovski is a branch of the Mafia. If you've heard that term before, it's because that's the group we're in," he motions to himself, referring to him and Gage. "Are you following?"