Thalia

I tried my best to keep my now flushed cheeks from exposing me. Peter's words really made me feel...special. I liked it. And I could tell he was genuine when he had said them.

Or was he?

My smile slowly disappeared as I thought about it. Peter was a bit of a player, according to Corey and Rhys. Was he just saying that to me to get a reaction or did he legitimately mean what he said? I furrowed my brow.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Peter asked me as we pulled into the garage and parked beside Fiona's car.

I shook my head. "Just thinking. I mean, everything is gonna be so busy now. There's not going to be any peace and quiet."

"Was there any to begin with?" Peter asked with a stupid smile. I couldn't help but snicker.

Fiona knocked on the door, giggling at something one of her friends had said. She adjusted the shopping bags in her arms just as the door opened to reveal Simon. He gave a respectful head nod as everyone walked in through the door.

"Sir, Madams." He greeted as we entered.

"Simon, can you help me with these bags, please?" Fiona asked.

"Of course." Simon said, taking half of the bags in her arms."

"Simon, please your too old to be doing the heavy lifting around here, allow me." Leo said as he tried to take the bags from Simon, but Simon pulled the bags back out of Leo's grip.

"With all due respect sir, I'm not 'too old' to be doing anything. I can do whatever I please, including the heavy lifting." He walked past a shocked Leo who's eyes were wide in confusion. "You don't have to look like a Greek god and be built like an ox to do something in this house." Simon added as he made his way up the stairs.

Fiona, Peter, and I burst out laughing at Leo, who simply crossed his arms and playfully rolled his eyes. Fiona's friends gave awkward chuckles.

"He sure did tell you a thing or two." I smirked at Leo, who rubbed the back of his neck.

"That...wasn't my best gentlemanly moment."

Peter punched Leo's shoulder. "That's an understatement."

As I looked at Leo closer, I noticed he looked a little weird. It was then I realized that he wasn't wearing his usual suit and tie attire. Instead, he was dressed in a blue and white striped shirt with blue jeans and converse. I blinked in confusion. I was so used to seeing him dressed so sharply that the person before me looked so foreign.

"Hey, Leo, what's up with your clothes?" I asked pointing to them."I thought you didn't own anything that wasn't a suit."

He gave me a look."Ha ha. Very funny Tal." He said with an eye roll. But that's something else I was going to tell you, though." He said pointing to Fiona. "I was hanging with Ricardo and his friends today."

"Awe!" Fiona cooed. "Look at you two! My favorite boys getting along!"

"Oh, so I'm not your favorite boy?" Peter asked in offense.

"You're my favorite gremlin." Fiona clarified, earning a proud smirk from Peter.

"Yeah, we got along." Leo said, steering the conversation back on topic. "We got along so well that he decided to hang out here after his friends left so he's waiting in the living room for you."

Fiona gasped dramatically and practically dumped the rest of her bags into Leo's arms and ran off into the living room. Her friends took this as their cue and decided it would be a good time to leave.

Peter placed his hand on the small of my back, an action that sent shivers up my spine, and walked with me towards the living room where a Latino man with sharp chiseled features lounged on the couch, flipping through the channels on the television. That must be Ricardo.

"BABE!" Fiona exclaimed as soon as she saw him. Ricardo's eyes met hers and they lit up. "Fiona! Amor de mi vida!" He grinned, getting up and embracing her tightly. Ricardo had clear light brown skin and wavy brown hair. He also had a small birthmark beside his nose. It kind of looked like a single freckle.

"Oh!" Fiona pulled away from Ricardo's embrace and motioned towards me. "Ricardo, this is Thalia. You know, the girls I've told you about."

"Ah, yes." Ricardo said in his thick accent, extending his hand for me to shake, which I did. "Thalia, I'm Ricardo. I've heard so much about you!"

"All good, I hope." I joked.

"Oh, Fiona would never do you like that. Based on the way she talks about you, she thinks of you as a sister."

I looked at Fiona in shock."Really?" I asked, a warm fuzzy feeling rising up in my chest. A sister? Being an only child, I never knew the joys of growing up with siblings. So to have this girl who I've known for only about three weeks call me a sister to her, it meant a lot.

Fiona nodded. "And just look at you and Peter. You two are all lovey-dovey. If you two keep this up, you might ACTUALLY become my sister." Fiona winked.

I winced as I remembered that one awkward encounter where Fiona walked in on Peter and I and got the wrong idea. I hope she wasn't hinting at that.

"It's not like that Fiona, and you know it. Stop trying to play matchmaker." Peter joked, rolling his eyes at his sister.

"Well, look at your hand." Fiona smirked.

Sure enough, Peter's hand was still on my back. He quickly pulled it away and our cheeks reddened.

"Fiona." Leo said in a warning tone. Fiona raised her hands in surrender and smirked cheekily at Peter and I.

"You're going to be one of Fiona's bridesmaids, right?" Ricardo asked, changing the topic. I nodded in response. Ricardo hummed and suddenly his phone buzzed. He pulled it out and his brow furrowed.

"Um, can I speak to You and your brother's Fiona?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of his phone. His once lighthearted and calming aura changed to one of ice and nervousness.

"Sure." Fiona said looking at him expectantly.

Ricardo remained silent for a moment before he added, "Alone."

Fiona looked at him in confusion before her eyes widened as she realized something. "Oh!" She exclaimed looking over at me before she turned back to her fiancé. "It's alright. She knows."

Then I suddenly remembered that these people were in the Mafia.

Oh joy.

Ricardo looked at me warily. "Have you all initiated her into the Mob yet?"

"No. She found out on accident. This lifestyle isn't safe for her." Leo stated.

"You know you could get our entire Mob in trouble for this right? If someone who isn't in out mob known about our mob, we either have to initiate them or murder them. Or else we'll- "

"We've got it covered, dude. As long as no one else knows that she knows, we're fine." Peter said, cutting Ricardo off. He gave him a pointed look to boot. Ricardo glanced over at Fiona, then he looked at me before sighing.

"Alright. I won't say anything. But if it comes down to it, I'm not going to take the fall for this." Ricardo said, glaring right back at Peter.

"What was it that you were telling us?" Leo asked.

"Michael found out who was stealing from us. It was Eli." Ricardo said pointedly.

"Great. Now we're going to have a fucking body on our hands." Fiona mumbled.

"A what?" I asked.

"A body, a corpse, a cadaver, a carcass, a stiff, whatever you want to call someone who's going to be dead." Ricardo said, looking at me with a raised brow. Now that he realized I knew about their secret lifestyle, he spoke to me in a much ruder and sassier tone. Peter seemed to notice too because I saw his scowl at Ricardo from the corner of my eye.

"We're going to have to kill him, Thalia." Leo clarified.

"B-But why? Why not give him another chance? What about his family and friends!"

"You can't steal from the Mob and expect to get away with it, Thalia." Peter said.

"It's all about rules, laws, authority, and fear in the Mafia." Leo clarified. "You can't have one without the others. You can't skip out and you can't favor. Then you're going to lose your throne." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Fiona's right. We need to send a message. We can't have anyone else trying to embezzle out money like this. We've already lost thousands. This can't happen again." Leo looked me in the eyes. "And in regards to his family and friends, he shouldn't have pulled such a shit-headed move if he cared about them. There was only one way this was going down."

My brow furrowed and Leo turned to the group. He was no longer Leonardo Ronan, proper businessman. He was now Leonardo Ronan, Mob King. "Get changed guys." He said. "Things are going to get a bit messy."

Everyone stood up and turned to go to their designated rooms.

"Wait!" I called out. They all turned back around and looked at me, expecting me to protest again, but I surprised them.

"I'm coming with you."