Addicted

Chapter 1 - 2011

Esmeralda's  POV.

"You are hereby sentenced to five years in prison, no less no more. Court dismissed," the judge declared, banging his gavel.

Everyone started to rise from their seats and murmur among themselves. I couldn't help feeling slightly sad but what had to be, had to be. Turning to my mum, I found her and dad talking business with a man in a suit whom I'd seen at a few dinner parties.

I glanced at Luke as he was led from the court room, hand-cuffs, piercing, orange jumpsuit and all. He didn't even spare a glance my way which hurt but it was to be expected. I mean, I was the reason he was being led away in cuffs with five years in jail weighing heavily on his shoulders. His parents and lawyer left soon after, muttering to each other quietly, eyes on the ground.

"Esmeralda, time to go," mum said strictly and then remembered she was playing the part of a sympathetic mother and put an arm round me saying, "it's not good at your age to be in a court room, you shouldn't even be here in the first place."

With that said, the act taken in by everyone within hearing distance, dad led us out of the court room and to the car out front in time to see the police car drive towards the prison where Luke would be locked up in for a while.

Long enough for him to forget? Nope.

Long enough for him to learn his lesson? Definitely.

Sliding into the leather back seat of the car, we set of in silence, the tension thick enough to be sliced with a knife.

"So what do you have to say?" dad asked, glancing at me in the rear-view mirror as he drove smoothly across town, towards home.

"That didn't go in as well as we wanted it to. Five years isn't enough," mum answered before I could.

"Yes, that was a disappointment, we obviously didn't pay the lawyer enough to do a terrible job," dad sighed.

We drifted off into silence once more, all in our own thoughts, though I did catch a few glances exchange between mum and dad in the front seat.

"Spit it out already," I sighed after five minutes, "what do you have to say?"

"We've decided to take you off the recruiters list," dad replied bluntly.

"You're joking right!?" I exploded, leaning forward between the two front seats and looking from one to the other and back again.

"We're not," mum stated, "this recruitment went absolutely terrible. We were so close to being found out because of your little mistake to let him into our world far too soon. What were you thinking!?"

"She wasn't," dad sighed.

"So what now? I don't date for 'fear' that the guy finds out and you have to kill him?" I ask sarcastically.

"God no, nothing that extreme," mum laughed, no humour in her voice, "just boarding school."

"Boarding school?" I raised an eyebrow, she had to be kidding.

"Don't parrot," dad said sternly, "and yes, we've already enrolled you at Greenvalley High Boarding School in the country. You will be a 'normal' girl and after a year we'll reconsider putting you on the recruitment list."

"So I take it I should give you the 200 grams I'm carrying on me now since I won't need it?" I asked emotionlessly.

"That's the spirit," dad grinned at me as I sat back in my seat.

Of all the options, they'd chosen to send me to boarding school in the country. It was bad enough being taken off the recruiters list, this was a million times worse. I was the best they had since I knew the company inside and out and had a brilliant sense of who could and could be trusted . . . until now that is.

Luke, oh Luke, you poor innocent idiot. Why the hell did you have to muck up that one order completely, I thought to myself as the gates to our mansion slid open and we drove up the long driveway.

Yeah, my family was loaded thanks to both my parents having two jobs that both paid a shit load. Mum being head of the biggest cosmetics company in the country and dad being in charge of the biggest shipping company in front of everyone but behind the scenes it was a whole new story.

Let's just say that they were the leaders of the biggest drug gang in the country and had been under the radar from the police for longer than I'd been alive with so many suppliers and buyers in and out of the country, we had more money than we needed. And that's just how I liked it, unless of course it meant that that money was used to get me admission into a fancy boarding school in the middle of nowhere.

"Esmeralda, don't sulk, it doesn't do your looks any good. Now don't worry, you only have a week of this school term left so you'll be starting at the beginning of next year, enough time to say goodbye to everyone," mum smiled at me before getting out of the car.

"Yay me," I muttered to myself, getting out of the car and heading to the front door.