Send a Prayer Up Above

Chapter 4

The skin was thin and sensitive above the ribs and it felt like he was needling the tattoo into my bone. I clenched tighter, feeling the blood escape my hand. I bit my lip and held in my whimpers, I didn't want to give Kylo the satisfaction. He watched me intently, crossing his legs. Fortunately, Alex was fast, clearly having done a few of these, but the pain seemed just to get worse over time. I hoped the skin would turn numb, but the opposite seemed to happen. I drew blood from my lip and a sweat had appeared on my brow. I bore my look into Kylo's, but didn't say anything.

I still thought it was beyond ridiculous to demand me to pay for the briefcase, but he was mafia and he could demand whatever he wanted. I suppose he was right about that; I was lucky. Maybe I had sentimental value to him, like an old pencil case, and that's why I wasn't already at the bottom of the Hudson. He did mention though that this symbol tattooed on me meant that I was in. In as in the mafia, or in as in the inner circle? I knew from movies that with the Russians two stars on your chest meant that you were a Vor, one of the leaders. So this couldn't mean being a leader, but I also didn't see this symbol on Alex and I didn't imagine him being the kind of guy who'd want to hide it. Quite the opposite actually.

I observed Alex's bared arms (he was wearing a grey wife beater, of course), but only saw words that meant nothing and art that swirled and circled all over his skin. I wondered what his position in the hierarchy was, and then wondered where Kylo ranked. An intuition that said high reared its ugly head. It wasn't because of the fancy apartment or the expensive car, he came from money I knew that. His mother had been a mayor and his father was an antique collector. He grew up in apartments with high ceilings and learned in private schools. And that's exactly why I knew he must be ranking high, and not only because the man who was tattooing me had called him Sir, but because someone who had gone to the most elite schools on Manhattan, would not rank low anywhere.

Rich, taste for blood and power with an intimidating physique. I suppose mafia was made for the man he had come to be, but I wanted to know what had pushed him into it. He didn't seem miserable, didn't seem to hate . . . whatever this was. I know he hated working for his mother, I know he despised his father. But something must've happened for him to become this. It hadn't happened when he knocked on my door five years ago. After pretending like I wasn't home, then him pointing out that he could see me through the blinds, I opened the door and he wasn't there to blackmail me, but to help me.

He gave me a job, a legitimate one. His mother-the-mayor, Leia, was exceedingly busy and Kylo seemed equally as occupied. He needed an assistant who was discreet, knew how to blend in and think fast. I stood there, looking at the man who was hovering a head above me and questioned his motives. I was a thief; how could he trust me?

"Because I'll turn you in if you steal from me." He said and flashed a grin.

So, Kylo became my boss and I worked for him dutifully. It was a lot of running errands and a lot of detailed assignments and I was good at them. He paid me well and he was the one that suggested college to me, helped me figure out how to set up a college fund and everything. The school was supposed to be in New York City though, I had found a perfect one too. He was also the one that suggested I'd major in finance, as then I could come work for him as more than an assistant. I could help him run their family business and make a name for myself. But then Kylo and I became . . . more, undefined but more.

And then he left, dropped everything and left the country. No note, explanation, or phone call. He just left. All his mother said was that they had been fighting more and more, but in the end, it was family business, not mine. And I had no part in it, even if according to Kylo I could someday. So, I had to accept that he was gone as fast as he came into my life. But New York had his stank all over it, so I couldn't stay either. Later, after a new state, city and friends, I realized love made the danger in his eyes look like safety.