Death of Me | Now Published to Kindle and Paperback!

Recognizing the Inevitable

Chapter Fifteen – Recognizing the Inevitable

Just like Vincent had said, Arkin was the one sitting in front of my apartment building the following morning. And every morning after that. I had seen him get out of the car and stretch his legs a few times.

Didn't he have anything better to do? Couldn't he be a little more inconspicuous?

My eyes rolled as I let the curtain in my bedroom fall closed. It overlooked the street in front of the building, so I could see Arkin plain as day when I peeked out. One would think the word discreet was a common thing in a gang member's vocabulary. Apparently not. Or, maybe I just didn't count because I knew he was out there.

Dexter came trotting into the kitchen when I poured his food into his bowl. He pushed his entire body into me as he walked past like a cat. The coffee pot bubbled as it finished brewing, and I got a mug out of the cabinet. I needed some form of normalcy. The gang had encroached on my life. The only time I felt wholly separate from them was when I was with Jack. Training with him had become my safe-haven. It still blew my mind that none of the boys had ever been able to figure out where I went when I vanished on them. It drove them nuts, and dare I say worried them.

Vincent was not happy with the missing time.

He questioned me about it almost every time he brought me home. I continued to be able to dodge the interrogation and keep him from finding out about my self-defense classes pretty damn well, if I did say so myself. On the other hand, I had become a little reliant on him with regard to his car. Devyn and Dante hated it, but even they were beginning to warm up to Vincent. I was guessing in Dante's case it was somewhat to do with the amount of money Vincent and the guys had been pouring into Tuxedo throughout the month.

Had it really been that long?

The night I was 'kidnapped' seemed like a distant memory. The boys truly did feel like a part of my day to day routine. They were always there. If not just Arkin, then Brandon and Lucas sometimes popped up too. Lucas had made sure to tell me that he didn't blame me for ratting him out. He was just trying to do me a favor and picked a terrible time for it. They had – somehow – become important to me. It was amazing how life worked sometimes.

A knock on my door pulled me from the recesses of my mind. Dexter's head raised, and he let out a soft bark, but that was it. Just from his reaction, I had a feeling I knew who it was. Heaving a sigh, I grabbed another mug to pour coffee into. Then I took both cups to the door and fought the battle with how to hold them and unlock the door too. I was an idiot for not thinking to set them down first. After only spilling a little of the coffee onto my arm, I walked back to the couch and sat down, setting both cups on the coffee table.

"Come in!" I hollered a minute later. He usually came in as soon as he heard the lock tumble.

Lucas came in, eyes riveted to his cellphone as he shut the door behind him. He still didn't look up as he crossed the room and sat down next to me. How this had become our routine, I couldn't really say. Even though Arkin was assigned to tail me at that point, Lucas still popped in to check on me. I think he knew more than any of them how much I hated having someone puppy-dog me around all the time. He reached for his cup of coffee, his eyebrows furrowing as he glared at his phone.

"Lucas, watch –" But I was too late. His fingers hit the rim of the mug and it slid backwards, sloshing hot coffee onto his hand from the force of the movement.

"Son of a bitch!" he hollered, dropping his phone to the ground as he shook his hand and then clutched it against his chest. Unlike me, he drank his coffee black. So, there was no creamer to cool the beverage down.