You Again (Completed) ✔️

55.

Cole's POV

Irina walks into my room with Riley and Eliana by her side. She looks at me and says. "It's time to get up. We're going out for dinner. Some of the family wants to see you."

Eliana sits next to me on the bed. "Riker was against it at first, but then he said that it would be good for everyone to know you'll be here when needed."

"Did you forget? I'm completely out. I only came here because Riker owes me a lot. I won't be getting involved in the family politics." I say. "I will go to dinner to see the family again. I owe them that much."

Riley smiles at me. "They're going to love having you around again, Cole. Just remember the family is going to want to meet Julia. After all, once she marries you, she'll be part of the family."

"I'm not marrying her. We're taking things slow because I hurt her real bad during high school."

Eliana places her hand on my arm. "This has to do with when you fought the elders with Riker when you were seventeen."

"Yes, if they knew I had a girlfriend back then, I'm sure they would have looked for her and then taken her so they could get to me. When do I need to be ready?"

"Dinner's at seven," Irina says. "We'll see you at 6.30 sharp at the front door." The girls walk out of the room.

Looking at the clock on the nightstand, I see it's half past four.

It looks like the girls are giving me two hours to get ready.

I grab a suit from my suitcase and then head to the bathroom. Stripping off my clothes, I climb into the shower and turn the water on. I pour a small amount of shampoo onto my hand and wash my hair. Then I grab the soap and wash my body. It doesn't take long before I'm cleaned. I step out of the shower and dry myself.

Once I'm dry, I change into my suit. Walking out of the bathroom, I hear my phone ring. Picking it up, I see 'Julia' flash across the screen.

I'm never going to get sick of hearing her voice.

I answer the call and say. "Hey, Julia." My heart begins to race as I wait for her to answer.

Julia: Hey, Cole. What are you doing?

Me: I'm about to go out for dinner with my family. You?

Julia: I'm crawling into bed at Knox's place.

It's too early for her to go to sleep. I hope she's alright.

Me: Are you feeling okay?

Julia: I'm tired of everything that happened today. I wish you were here and not in New York.

I wish I had been there with you, too.

Me: Me, too.

A text message comes up on my phone, and I get out of the call to look at it. Julia and I are quiet while I read the message.

Me: The high school reunion is in two weeks, and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me.

Julia: I promised myself I wouldn't step foot in our old high school again, but being able to move forward from what you did to me is making me wonder if I can do the same with the other people from school.

Me: Does that mean you're coming to the reunion?

Julia: Yes, Cole. I'll go with you.

Me: That's great. Can we make it like it's our prom? I will come to your house in a limo with flowers and chocolates.

She laughs.

Julia: If you weren't the asshole you were in high school, would you have asked me to prom?

Me: Yes, I would have. I didn't want you to know my secret of being in a mafia family, so I had to do what I did. My life back then was dangerous, as I was helping my cousin in New York when we were in high school.

Julia: Thanks for telling me, Cole. If you had asked me to prom, I would have accepted in a heartbeat.

Me: I'm going to make our high school reunion a night you'll remember, Julia.

Julia: Okay.

She becomes quiet, and I know that she's about to fall asleep, so I say.

Me: Sleep tight, Julia. I can't wait to see you on Monday.

I hang up the phone. I see Irina, Eliana and Riley standing next to Riker while heading downstairs. "Sorry, I'm a bit late. I had to talk to Julia."

Riker laughs. "You spend a lot of time talking to that girl." He wraps his arms protectively around Irina and kisses her neck.

A smile appears on my face as I watch my cousin with the woman he loves unconditionally. "You can't talk, my dear cousin. I see how you become putty in her hands. That's the way I feel when I'm around Julia. Since she returned from Nova Island, I found ways to be around her. I thought the weekend away from each other would be good, but it's not. This woman is consuming all my thoughts, and I'm counting the minutes until I see her again."

Riley nudges her brother with her shoulder and says, " Riker was the same with Irina. When Irina woke, her phone would start to ring. Between classes, she would be on the phone, and before going to bed, they spoke. I had to remind them both I was around and that I wanted to spend time with my best friend, too. Riker started to limit his calls, but he still wanted to be part of our everyday lives."

Eliana looks at us. "We should go. You know how the uncles hate it when we're late."

Riker throws his head back and laughs. "That guy shouldn't expect the Boss to be early. Especially when I have heaps of things to do."

Eliana links her arm through mine. "You should come back more often. I miss seeing you around here."

I think this dinner is about me joining the family again.

We walk out of the house, and a black SUV is parked in front of it. Eliana lets go of my arm and steps into the car. I follow her inside, and then Riley sits beside me.

Irina and Riker sit at the front with the driver. The car pulls away from the house, and I watch it disappear as we drive away.

Eliana leans her head against the headrest. She turns her head towards me and says, "It will take us half an hour to get to the restaurant. Riker doesn't like having conversations too close to the house, as a few family members have been traitors to the family. He doesn't want to kill another family member, but if they're going to turn their backs on him, he has no choice but to do it."

I don't want to take my rightful place in the family because of the traitors who could appear within it.