Shivers

Chapter 5

Arianna walked out into the lobby again and grabbed Lukas by the arm. "Let's go, we have somewhere to be." She commanded sharply. 

Lukas tugged against her grip. "What's going on?" 

"I took the job and you are going to be staying with Hammon until I get back." She explained to him while still walking ahead. 

Lukas jolted them to a stop just outside the lobby. "No, that's not fair." he cried. "I have to go with you. You're supposed to teach me. I'm your apprentice."

"Lukas, I am not going to argue with you." she retaliated, trying to move to the car. 

"Arianna, stop being a coward and tell me what is going on!" Lukas must have gained a big pair of balls to say that to her. 

Arianna whipped around like a viper about to strike. "What did you call me?" She seethed at the now frightened boy. "You better be lucky that you are my friend's successor, because if you weren't, I would take you to the bridge and throw you off with a rope tied around your nuts." 

"A-Arianna," Lukas stammered out. "I want to know. I want to know what is going on because I see you as a sister to me. I don't want to walk around blind in the dark anymore." This sincerity in his blue eyes was heart wrenching. Arianna wanted to keep him safe, keep him away from the world they were in. She had no choice when she was a girl. She was shoved head first into the cruelty and Lukas had just seen it. She may have taught him a bit about contracts and defending himself and how the underground worked, but she never wanted him to know the struggles of being on The High Table or being in the family of one. This was a truth that she wanted to hide from him.

Arianna sighed. "I have a past, Lukas. One that I don't want you to see." He frowned at this. "But...I may open up if you are patient," she compromised and his eyes held a hint of hope. 

They both walked to the car. "Are you really going to make me stay with Hammon?" Lukas questioned her. 

She thought over the question. "The world is filled with lions, vultures, and lambs, Lukas. I would rather teach a lion than a lamb or a vulture." Lukas raised a brow, confused my this random anecdote. "That means, no. You will be coming with me."  

The ride home was filled with Lukas smiling and laughing. Only once did he say anything. And that was to ask why her uncle ever removed her from the clan. She answered him with a sneer and whipped the car into the drive. Lukas knew he would not get the answer anytime soon, but in his case, it didn't hurt to try. Arianna opened the door and went into her room, pulling the leather suitcase out from under the bed and smiled. She may just get it back, her succession. She would get it back for her father. Arianna then turned to her closet and opened the door. Inside it looked like an ordinary closet. Clothes were hung on hangers and shoes were in the floor, but under it all was another side. Arianna began throwing shoes onto her bed and lifting up the little latch underneath. The floor lifted up and she began her decent down the ladder and into the hidden room. It was dark down there, but she knew this whole room like the back of her hand. 

Her hands lightly brushed across the cold steel walls and found the light switch. The LED lights came to life and she gazed at all her things. Her guns lined two walls, and on the other was miscellaneous other weapons (brass knuckles, lipstick knives, mini handguns, smoke grenades etc.) And in the drawers in the small counter space in the center of the room was a large variety of knives. In the back of the room, was her work clothes, hanging on a mahogany gun wrack. She wasn't sure what exactly she would take. It did not take long for her to get what she wanted and needed, but she did take a moment to herself to collect herself. If she did this right, she would be able to honor them. She would be able to pay back the bastard for Hammon and she would be able to make peace with her past. 

Arianna climbed back out of the room and grabbed the rest of her bags. A buzzing noise caught her attention and she slid her phone out of her pocket. 

                                    Text message:

Iolev: My men will be there to pick you up. 

Arianna nodded and walked into the living room where Lukas sat with his bags in front of him. "How long will we be gone?" 

"The coronations are in May, so about two months." She estimated while watching out the window for their ride. 

"Have you told Hammon yet?" Lukas asked her, lookig sad.

"No, he doesn't need to know." Arianna informed.

Lukas did not ask anything else after that. Arianna watched as a large black BMW drove casually up the drive and stopped. Arianna looked back at the boy and he became pale. He was worried, but Arianna showed no fear. But deep inside her, that same little girl in blue dress and playing the piano in her father's library. Arianna grabbed her bags and met the car in the drive. A man in a dark suit stepped out of the passenger side and took the bags from her hands and placed them in the back before taking Lukas's bags as well. Arianna and Lukas got in the car and accepted that this was their last chance to turn back. The car pulled away and their chance was gone. The drive ended at the airport with a private jet heading somewhere that would mean a new standing for them both. 

The jet landed and Arianna looked over at the boy, his black hair falling in his closed eyes and snores escaped his mouth. She nodded and picked up her things. "Lukas," she whispered next to his ear. 

His eyes opened slowly and looked up at her. "Are we there?" 

She nodded. "We just landed." Lukas got up and followed her out onto the tarmac where a limo sat waiting for them. at all four corners of the car were tall men who she knew were guards. She could tell they were guards by the way they stood. Tall, intimidating, and always attentive of the world around them. At the back door in a black suit, white shirt, black slacks, and black loafers was a man. He looked to be about Arianna's age, around 25 to 28. He had brown hair and deep brown eyes. In the light of the sun, they looked chocolate brown. But in the shade, his eyes looked black.  Arianna noted everything she could about him. 

Gun in a shoulder sling under his jacket. He has been in a fight by the scar under his eye. That was as much as she could pull from him at the moment. From sight, he was almost unreadable, maybe she could talk to him and learn a bit more about him. "Alessio Petrov?" she stepped up to him. He towered her by a full head, but that made no intimidation for her. 

He grinned allowing two sets of dimples to show themselves. "Arianna Antiago?" he asked right back. 

She nodded. This was him. Just as cocky as his uncle. "Yes. This is my apprentice, Lukas Hammon. I am training him for a friend of mine." She introduced the boy who had just woke up and was still trying to figure out where they were. 

Alessio observed the boy quickly then stuck out his hand in greeting. "Lukas, I am Alessio Petrov." Lukas shook his hand back shyly. "Does he speak?" Alessio turned quizzically toward Arianna.

"Oh don't worry, once you get him talking, he will never shut up." she assured him. She turned her head and saw that no one else was around and that they were safe for now. "Shall we get going?" 

Alessio nodded and shouted something toward his guards. They all got into the car and then the trio followed in as well. The drive to the Petrov mansion was filled with Alessio and Lukas jabbering on and on about themselves. Arianna stayed silent, observing every location, every stop they made, every turn, and every road they avoided. Alessio even noticed her attentive state and took the moment to observe her closely. Olive skin that looked frail to the touch, though, the scars on her arms said otherwise. He looked to her face, a pair of forest green eyes set in a face he could only describe as marble. She was...odd to him. The car stopped in the drive and they all looked out at the mansion.  Lukas was awestruck by the masive home, whereas Arianna was unphased by it. She was the first out the doors, Lukas second, and finally Alessio. Arianna stuck close to him until they were in the sanctum of the grand foyer. 

"I hope you will enjoy the time you have here." Alessio stated to the two. 

"I think I'll love it." Lukas stared up at the marble staircase in the center of the foyer. 

Arianna looked over to Alessio who motioned for her to follow him. She followed, leaving Lukas in the foyer alone.