Thalia

"No! absolutely not!" Peter objected immediately, but that was something I expected. "This is not something you need to see."

"Why not?" I asked. "You don't like me protesting against you, but you but you don't like me joining in on it either?"

"He's right, Thalia." Leo stated. "Things get...bad when we're on Mob business."

"Okay then. I've seen you guys get bad on certain occasions. I'm sure I can handle it."

"I'm sure you can't" Ricardo deadpanned. I gave him a look.

"It doesn't matter if you can handle it or not, Thalia. The main reason you can't go is because of the risks it poses to have you there. Just like Ricardo said, one of the rules in the Mafia is no one outside of your Mob can know about it. If they do, you have to kill them or suffer the consequences, which are more than likely death. You're not in our Mob, but due to Jason's foolishness, you know about it." Leo tried to reason.

"Then why not kill me? That would make things easier." I pressed. I didn't get it. If me knowing about their lifestyle had become such a problem to them, why weren't they doing what they do best?

"Thalia," Leo began. He walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm not going to lie, that would make it easier. But here's the problem with that," He pressed his lips together and closed his eyes as he tried to collect his thoughts. "You've...basically become family to us." He said bluntly.

I blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah. It's kind of weird to say, but honestly, you've grown on us, Thalia. We can't...we couldn't..." Leo shrugged. "You're different from other people. Most people easily would have ratted us out for a quick buck but you...you've known about our family business for almost a month now and you haven't even tried to breathe a word to anyone. You have your phone, so you easily could have called the cops or someone, but you haven't. You've honestly earned more than respect from us. Thalia. You've practically become family. After everything you've done for us, we couldn't kill you. You're too important."

My mind traveled back to when Peter had told me about his family. I thought he'd been playing when we were pretending he had to kill me. Well, the actions were fake, but when he said I'd grown on him, THAT was real. My eyes met his and his lips tilted up a bit in a small smile. Maybe what he'd told me in the car wasn't as fake as I thought it was.

"Blood makes you related, Thalia, but loyalty makes you family. You're keeping our secret, so we're keeping yours. Don't make this an argument. Please, for your safety and ours, stay behind." Leo stated, taking his hand off my shoulder and walking off. Ricardo and Peter soon followed, Peter casting a glance at me over his shoulder.

Fiona looked at me in sympathy. "Thalia, you really want to come with us, don't you?"

I nodded. "But why?" She asked me. "What about our lifestyle is so appealing to you? You've been interested in it from day one! I don't get that."

"It's not that! It's...It's..." I trailed off as I tried to think of an excuse. Why was I so interested in the Mafia? I racked my brain for an answer, But even I didn't know.

Fiona sighed. "Thalia, you have a choice. That's something I never had and you're choosing wrong. You want have to be a part of this life. It may seem cool and badass and everything you've ever wanted, but it's not. It's filled with death, loss, murder, and betrayal. Based on what I've noticed about you so far, I don't think you're ready for that life yet." She walked over to me and placed a hand on my cheek softly. I look at her in her eyes and she sighed. "You're really hell-bent on coming with us, huh?"

I nodded and a small smile grew on her features. "Fine. Come with me. I'll see if I can find you some appropriate clothes in case things get as bad as Leo thinks they will."

I grinned as I followed her up the stairs. "Wait, what do you mean, 'as bad as Leo thinks they will'? How could they get bad?"

"If Eli tries to kill us."