The Gangleader and Me |✔|

011

Chapter Eleven

The Trip!

Ashley POV

I was awoken by Gracie, the housemaid. "Ashley, good morning." She greeted me with a nod, standing beside my bed.

"Your parents said you should meet them in the living room, right now." She informed me. I sat up in bed, trying to run a hand through my tangled hair.

"Is it really that important?" I asked and she nodded before exiting my bedroom.

I groaned, crawling out of bed and ruffling my hair as I headed downstairs.

After the night of the shootout, I had skipped classes for the rest of the week, pretending to be sick just to lay low for a while, as Tyson had advised.

I still couldn't grasp the idea of him being part of the Mafia, so I had spent the week in my room, secretly researching about the crimes and gangs involved in the city over the past year.

Unfortunately, it only led me to a dead end.

When I walked into the living room, I saw suitcases on the floor. I raised an eyebrow, considering Charlotte had just returned from a tour two days ago.

I saw her and my father sitting on the sofa, casually dressed and talking. I walked over to a chair and took a seat.

"Morning." I greeted, trying to relax as they both looked at me with smiles on their faces.

"Good morning, sweetie." Charlotte greeted, beginning to powder her cheeks.

"Good morning, honey." My father said, straightening his tie.

"Where are you both going?" I asked, motioning toward the suitcases.

"On a tropical trip." Charlotte announced, smiling at my father.

"So, when are you both returning?" I exhaled a breath, fiddling with my blouse.

"A couple of weeks, maybe more if the weather isn't fair." My father replied with a nod.

"So, I have the mansion to myself? Awesome." I started to smirk, adjusting myself in the chair.

They both chuckled.

"That's the problem." Charlotte said, shaking her head. "You are not staying here alone." She said, glancing at my father. I slowly looked between them.

"We asked a colleague of mine to look after you until we return." She informed me with a smile and my father nodded.

"What?" I raised my voice. "I don't even know this 'colleague' of yours and you want me to stay with a complete stranger until God knows when?" I scoffed, staring at her.

"She's also a mutual friend of your father and she is a married, respectable lady." Charlotte said, patting my father's leg and looking at me.

"But..." I started, just to be cut off.

"No buts." He said, shaking his head with a serious expression. I muttered to myself as I leaned back in the chair.

"Why can't I just stay here?" I protested, spreading my hands out. My father sighed.

"We all know what you did the last time we left you home alone." He said, narrowing his eyes at me with a slight glare. I chuckled, lightly.

The last time was about a year ago, before I moved here.

My brother, Justin, was away on a camping trip while my father and stepmother were celebrating their anniversary in Paris.

Meanwhile, I decided to throw a huge party that ended with my guests trashing the house. Things got so out of hand that the neighbors called the cops and I spent the rest of the night in custody with my friends.