Snow and her Seven

Chapter 15- Dream On

My mum just bought me a new laptop because my other one is getting fixed. She is literally the best human being in the world. 

______

It bothered Brutus more than he let on. Well, many things did concerning Snow. 

One was Frederick Gregory's interest in her. 

Another, and more importantly, Brutus's own desire for the woman was growing- faster than was he was comfortable with. It didn't make sense to him on some levels- she was arrogant, hardy, temperamental with a lot of baggage that Brutus never wanted in a woman. But then there was her unflinching honesty, unlimited loyalty and general protectiveness to anyone she was close with. 

She had a fire in her- one that contradicted every icy facade she put on. 

His phone rang, diverting his thoughts from his girlfriend. 

"Yes?" 

"Frederick's been digging into Snow's background." 

Brutus stiffened, waiting for Felix to go on. 

"He's even tried hacking into her private records. Or rather, getting his internet lackey to do it" 

"Add more firewalls. Make that information impenetrable to him. I don't want anyone to know about Snow's past" 

Felix was silent for a moment. "Even you boss?" 

"Yeah. Even me." Brutus hung up, running a hand through the short hair on his head. He did want to know more about Snow's life, knew there was a lot there- but Felix had made him stop the first time. The second time, Brutus had stopped himself. 

He wanted her to tell him. Not be a result of his digging. 

Brutus checked his watch, saw the time and grabbed a gun from his bottom drawer. Some of his workers had been blabbing about the kind of work Brutus did. And as they say, snitches get stitches. 

_____

Just one more year. One more fucking year, then you're out of here. 

Snow struggled to not beat her head against the desk, amusing the hell out of Cohen who sat next to her. Tanner flanked her other side, on the edge of chuckling as he watched her struggling not to cuss out the teacher. 

She didn't like Maths, not one fucking bit. Too much numbers, formulae and random angles that bore no relation to what she wanted to do in the future. Who the fuck needed this much numbers in their lives anyway- if you weren't a mathematician, physicist or another sciencey occupation that snow couldn't give a shit about. 

The only thing getting her through the lesson was Tanner's incentive- that she would start learning the ropes of what he did in Brutus's many business. 

And then- like a song from Heaven- the bell rang, brightening her attitude almost immediately. She flipped her gaze to Tanner, eyeing his chestnut hair and sharp profile. The son of an astrophysicist attributed to finding another planet and world reknowned for his universe thesis', the boy was meant for greatness. 

Tanner's presidential gaze came to her and he raised a brow. "Ready?" 

"I was born ready." 

Tanner stood, grabbing her bag and shouldering it. "I don't doubt it." 

Snow gave him a sardonic smile, hurrying Cohen who was chatting up a girl. To be honest, Cohen and Tanner looked like brothers- but she forced the thought to the back of her mind and jumped in Tanner's Ute, breathing in the lovely new car smell. 

Tanner gave her a look, but drove off, waving to Cohen who followed. 

"Now, what I do requires...a strong stomach. Some people don't follow the rules and it's my job to put them back in line. Or put them in the ground" He paused, giving her a glance. "Brutus will probably be in the room over from us, dealing with clients who didn't do their part or pay what was wanted. So if you hear screaming- other than the screaming in our own room- it's him." 

Snow nodded slowly, a small part of her wanting to see what exactly Brutus did. Tanner pulled into a nondescript looking lot, veering off to the side to some back rooms that looked like they had been pulled off of a horror movie set. 

Large steel compounds with flickering lights and stained concrete. "Lets get going Snowy my dear, some fun is to be had" 

There was a brightness in his eyes that Snow liked, following him out of the car and into the nearest steel warehouse, dark stains on the concrete floor as they walked. Lights flickered around them, but remained low, Tanner whistling as he checked over his phone. 

"Tanner is one psycho fucker Snow. A real lunatic" Cohen murmured to Snow, dropping into step next to her. Snow raised a brow, waiting for him to go on. Cohen shook his head, a knowing expression on his face. 

"The real lunatics are the ones that can manipulate people in their sleep. Get whatever they want and do whatever they want without anyone questioning their actions- but not because they're afraid. Because they believe his lies." 

Tanner stopped at a door near the end of the corridor. Cohen lowered his voice. "Tanner was born like that." His face quickly brightened, a smile adorning it. "And we love the psycho even more for it" 

Snow was surprised, more than surprised- but there was a darkness to Tanner, one she had noticed ever since she had seen him with the Seven, one that had grown darker when he was elected Student Body President. 

And she liked him even more for it. 

Tanner gestured to the open door, a mocking bow. "Age before beauty" 

Snow snickered, walking in. And what she saw made her heart skip a beat. There was a man, lying in the middle of the granite room, blood running down his face as if he had been freshly beaten. 

Bruises marred his exposed skin, colouring his body like a grotesque colour by number. 

Tanner practically skipped in, closing the door and crouching in front of the man. 

"Do you know why we are here?" 

The man shook his head. 

"Are you afraid?" 

The man nodded. Tanner's face shadowed, an intense sort of glee tilting his lips. 

"You should be. In this business, no matter how cut throat it is, we look after our own. Did you look after your own?" 

Snow's brows furrowed, wondering what had happened. What the man had done. 

Tanner frowned when the man didn't reply, clicking his tongue as he stood. "Your son came to us. He told us certain things that doesn't make me very happy with you. Not happy at all." 

Snow watched the man's face crumple, a shameful fear coming over his face. She raised a brow, turning to Cohen. Cohen shook his head, mouth thinning into a hard line. 

Tanner pulled out a knife, flipping it around his fingers as he watched the man. 

"Your son is ours. That means you don't touch him, beat him or even fucking breathe near him, capisce?" 

The man blanched, falling back as Tanner came close. "I'm going to kill you. And no one is here to save you." 

And then Tanner started cutting the man, deeply and cleanly, a grim smile on his face. 

Cohen put an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close as the metal tang of blood filled the air. 

But she didn't need comfort. 

All the man did was remind her of her mother. 

-----

Sorry, haven't updated in a while and this one is shit. 

Lmao, thanks for reading anyway.