Mr. Mafia Man

Chapter XI: The Moment

As soon as I stepped out of the van the gang sped away. I watched them speed down the long driveway, then I headed into the house. I burst through the front door and screamed "What's popping bitches?!" Unfortunately for me my mother, step-father, and Nicolas were standing right infront of the door. They all looked very concerned until they turned their heads to see me.

My mother immediately ran and jumped into my arms, basically already a ball of snot, while my step-father and Nicolas conversed quietly.

"I - I thought you were dead," my mother cries, forever the drama queen. "I was so wor - worried." She continues to sob.

Steve, my step-dad, wraps up his conversation with Nicolas and heads over to me. "Welcome back kiddo." He said before giving me a quick hug and picking up my mother to presumably haul her up to their room.

As I watch Steve struggle to carry my uncooperative mother up the winding staircase, I can feel Nicolas move next to me. As soon as they are up the stairs and out of sight Nicolas turns to me.

"What happened?"

"I got kidnapped while waiting for pizza, duh. Which I eventually got, don't worry. You're girl never gets scammed out of pizza, I'm not an idiot." I reply, rolling my eyes.

Just then Dmitry walks in, obviously just getting off the phone with someone. He is holding a folder in one hand and a pen in another with his phone smushed up to his ear. He seems completely engrossed in whatever is in the folder. Without looking up, and presumably without noticing my presence he addresses Nicholas.

"So they want one hundred grand for her safe return. I'm confident that I could wire that here by tomorrow, tax sheltered of course through a fake charity-"

"Dmitry." Nicholas interrupts softly. Once he has Dmitry's attention, Nicolas tilts his head in my direction. "They brought her back."

Dmitry finally notices me and lets out a relieved sigh before hugging me. While he is doing so I look up to see Nicolas looking... dare I say it?... a little bit jealous. Now I'm not one to pass up a chance to impress one of my acquaintances, especially one that is this cool headed and composed all the time, so of course I have to hug him too.

"Ahh, does Nicky-poo want a hug too?" I say mockingly in a baby voice before bringing him in for a hug. For the first couple of seconds he struggles before relaxing in my hold and awkwardly hugging me back. I couldn't help but notice that he smelled really good, and despite having what must be the most chiseled muscles ever, he was remarkably nice to hug.

Dmitry breaks the awkward silence by asking the million dollar question, "So how did you get them to release you?"

I was just waiting for this question, as I was proud of my means of escape. "I annoyed them into submission. By the end of it they were practically begging to let me bring them back. Turns out Nicolas, not everyone can handle my personality as well as you can." Insert sarcasm here. "Speaking of which, they gave me this note to give to you. Seeing as I don't like to read any more than I have to, I bequeath this paper to you."

Nicolas took the paper while Dmitry asked "Don't you have to be dead and have a will before you can bequeath something to somebody?"

As I shushed and elbowed Dmitry, Nicolas began reading the note out loud:

"'In lou of the $100,000 ransom, we, the undersigned, have decided to bring Evelyn Thomas back due to the fact that she is just so goddamned annoying. We would appreciate it if she never interacted with us again. Thanks, The Irish Mob. P.S. She has been fed; we spent an hour driving around looking for a pizza place open late that also made pizza with stuffed crust.'"

"Oh my god sister," Dmitry exclaimed. "You crushed it! I can't believe you got pizza out of this whole ordeal!"

Nicolas just shook his head and said "Can you wire thirty grand to the Irish Mob regardless. Label it as a apology gift for having to deal with Evelyn here and a thank you for taking her off our hands."

Dmitry nods and heads out of the room, raising his phone up to his ear again and opening his folder while heading back into the other room. Now it's just Nicolas and me in the room.

"Here, let me walk to you to your room." He says and before I can say a word off we go. As I follow his black fitted t-shirt ass through the house to my room, I can't help but mourn the fact that he didn't seem more upset about my disappearance, and more enthusiastic about my return. At the same time I reprimanded myself for caring about what he thought.

When we got to the door of my room, he just turned to look at me. The silence quickly became comfortable, which is weird because most of the time when something is quiet for a long period of time, I tend to feel awkward.

After looking into each others' eyes for what seemed like an eternity, Nicolas reaches out and tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear. I subconsciously lean towards him and him towards me. Our eyes lock as we move closer together, Nicolas' hand is still close to my face and he moves it so his palm is gently cupping my cheek. When we were less than a foot apart Nicolas seems to come back to his senses and pulls away quickly.

We stare at each other for a while longer before he mutters a quick "Good-night" and briskly walks down the hall. I mean, I should have corrected him, because, technically, it was really early morning, but I was still inexplicably warm from where he had touched me on my face. Raising my hand I gently swipe my fingertips over the area. I can't believe Gang Guy and I just had a moment.

As I am standing there, Dmitry comes up behind me. "Hey I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're home, nevermind whatever Nicolas said."

I blush remembering the moment that Nicolas and I just had, but I was a little confused about what Dmitry had just said. "What do you mean by 'nevermind what Nicolas said'? He didn't say anything but goodnight to me."

"I was just a little concerned is all. I know Nicolas and what he likes to do and say."

When Dmitry wouldn't continue I pressured him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he tends to push people away, regardless of how important they are to him or visa versa." Dmitry sighs. "He was pretty worried about you last night, you know. Once he realized you were missing he called me over ASAP. He doesn't hate you Evelyn, as much evidence as there is to the contrary."

"Why?"

"I don't rightly know why he likes you, maybe it's your stunning personality, or killer looks."

I frowned, Dmitry knew he wasn't answering my question. Dmitry smiled when he looked at me, but when he saw my expression he sobered up.

"Why he pushes people away is his story to tell, not mine, but I can tell you who he is affiliated with is one of the reasons why he maybe isn't as... loving as other guys. His father discouraged showing emotion when he was growing up, and I think that translated to him not showing emotion now."

We stood there for a few seconds as I mulled over what Dmitry had just told me. Of course Gang Guy had a hard home life. It isn't an excuse for any of his actions though, especially killing that man, or stealing my Capri Suns. And it's not like I'm going to treat him any different because of this. We've all had a shitty home life and it might be a reason for doing something, but it should never be an excuse. We can't control our upbringing, but we can control our actions.

"So hey, just don't be so hard on him, okay? He's trying, for the first time in his life he is trying. Why he's trying for you, I don't know, but at least he's making an effort. So... don't let him down, okay."

"Copy that. Good night Dmitry."

"Good night, Evelyn."

Word Count: 1425 Words

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Hey hey hey, whats popping B?

I debated splitting this chapter up, but decided against it so I guess you guys are just getting a super long chapter today ;P. 

Also I twisted my ankle cleaning my room the other day, so this is why y'all are getting this extra little update, so hopefully my pain served some purpose.

-3AMmayhem