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Stumbling up, I sent Connor a glare through his back.

"Why didn't you tell me you were working for Mendez."

He looked at me, then turned his back to me again.

Oh, this boy had nerve.

"Connor."

Ignored.

"Connor, I'm warning you."

The sides of his lips slightly upturned but other than that, he just completely ignored me again.

"Fine, ignore me all you like but can you at least uncuff me?"

"I'm not stupid Maya, I know you can uncuff yourself without my help."

I groaned, knowing perfectly well that I could if I wanted to. But honestly, that was so much effort.

"The minute i get out of these cuffs, I'm going to knock you out you know."

"Oh really?" He asked, his whole face now lit up with amusement.

He really thought this was funny, didn't he?

I stopped dead in my tracks, waiting for him to notice the fact that I had stopped. Guess I was actually going to put into use that self defense I'd been taught for so long.

"Maya, you ok?"

I faked a tear, trying to play on his sympathy card.

"Connor, I just, I just can't stand it when you lie to me. I thought we were meant to be the best of friends, you know?"

"Hey, hey, I was just teasing earlier, I didn't know it'd make you this upset." He said, worry actually evident in his eyes.

Too bad he wasted his worries on me because next thing he knew, I was jumping up, kicking him right in the face. He stepped back, hissing as he clutched his nose.

But I wasn't done yet.

I walked up to his now nose-blood ridden face and roundhouse kicked him to the side.

I mean, he did only have a month's training from Derek, not like that was really going to stand much chance against me who had been doing it for most of my life.

"Fucking hell Maya, are you bipolar?"

"No, I just do things to get what I want." I said as Connor now teetered on the edge of balance after the last attack.

I finally brought him to the ground, front kicking him into a sitting position before kicking him one last time in the face, knocking him out for at least a while.

Serves him right for keeping things from me, I thought as I now got to work on the handcuffs that were still hindering my freedom.

Bending my head down, I tried to undo one of the bobby pins which were in abundance all over my head.

I could only imagine what I looked like right about now though with my head bent down in a really weird angle as my hands traveled around my head.

Sometimes I really do think I belong in an asylum.

I was so close, so close to getting out of these cuffs when my buttery as fingers let the bobby pin slide right through them onto the ground.

Why couldn't anything actually go to plan for me? Like did god really find that much amusement in my misfortunes?

I could just picture it now; God sitting on his throne as his hundreds of angels stood there, pointing their divine fingers down at me as I stumbled around outside of Mendez' house.

"ARGH GOD DAMMIT." I screamed as I jumped up and down in some kind of tantrum.

I looked behind me as Connor started to regain consciousness.

It had only been like five minutes, why was he stirring already?

Just as I was about to knock him out again, I heard a familiar voice calling out for him.

"Connor, why are you and Maya not in the hou-- Oh this day is only getting funnier and funnier. NANCE GO GET ALL THE OTHERS, THIS IS REALLY A SIGHT WORTH SEEING." Mendez screamed, pure delight just slap bang on his face.

I'd really rather not get gawked at like I'm at the zoo.

But then, from behind him walked out a girl who I could only describe as absolutely stunning, with her atypical reddish ginger hair and pale skin which went perfectly with the deep red dress she was wearing as it hugged her, perfectly showing off her body.

Why am I literally just surrounded by models? Every where I seem to go?

After she came, she just stood there for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

Well, I'm not 100% sure laughter is exactly what I would call it. It was more of a mix between a scream and a laugh and a snort. I'm not really sure what to call it.

"SHAWN, BABE YOU HAVE TO COME SEE THIS."

Oh come on, I didn't do anything that impressive really.

I only knocked out a partially trained fighter twice the size of me with my hands restrained in front of me.

Ok, maybe it wasn't nothing but it sure wasn't as big as they were making it out to be.

Coming behind who I now guessed was Nance, a man almost three times the size of her, in muscle, came and circled his hands around her shoulders, leaving a quick peck on her cheek.

Who were these guys, the fucking Avengers?

"Wow, I wouldn't have expected our fully trained spy guy would get knocked to the floor by a half trained little girl, what's this all about?"

My face fell instantly after I registered what he said.

And as my face fell, so did everyone else's.

"Erm, babe, I don't think you were meant to say that in front of her." Nance said, but right now I honestly couldn't care what she said.

Connor was a spy?

Mendez sent Shawn a sharp look, as if to say he'll deal with him later.

"Don't listen to what he said, Maya, he's talking shit." He said, slowly walking closer to me with his hands outstretched.

"I'm not a fucking animal, you don't need to come at me like I'm about to attack you at any time."

"Apologies that I don't take that completely seriously." He said, pointing straight to Connor who I could now hear groaning on the floor.

"That's because he was a dick."

"What, and kidnapping you makes us less dicks than a good friend who was only trying to protect you?"

"He was spying on me, what kind of good friend does that?"

"He was spying on you for me, I didn't give him a choice. It was that, or I'd kill Zara." He said.

At this though, I went silent.

I turned around slowly towards Connor, expecting the sadness that had taken over his face now.

I was still angry at them, don't get me wrong, but threatening to kill someone was a complete different story to spying on someone.

Heat travelled through all my veins, anger slowly taking over every cell of my body.

Slipping my hand into the waistband of my trousers, i pulled out a safety pin that was stuck next to my hip. SLiding it into the hinge where the handcuffs linked, I pried open the link just enough for the handcuffs to become loose enough to slip off my wrists.

With the anger leading my movements, I sprinted towards Mendez, fists raised. 

I wish I didn't underestimate how exhausted I was though, because before I could even land a blow, a fist was in my face and black dots flew around my vision, my legs suddenly buckling as I felt the harsh cold of the pavement smacking on my face again.

"You probably shouldn't have done that, you know?" I heard a feminine voice say.

Dazed out and on the brink of passing out, I heard a small statement that left me in greater confusion than I was in before.

"She's one of my own, she can take it."

---

Remind me to have a pair of pliers on hand next time I'm knocked out because even with me trying with all my might, my eyes just refused to open.

Something like a dip was to the right side of my body, that's when I realised that it felt like I was lying on a mattress.

Whatever was causing the dip in my bed was warm as heck and smelled like sandalwood.

Suddenly, the warm thing spoke up, surprise lifting his voice by a few semitones.

"Guys, I think she's waking up." Jacob's voice announced. In a few seconds, I heard multiple shuffling feet coming towards my bed.

Groaning and with the help of willpower which I didn't have, I opened my eyes, taking in my surroundings.

It wasn't the basement I was expecting with its four poster all white bed and cream wallpaper adorning the walls. Generic pictures of flowers and a cityscape laid hanging off the walls. If anything, it seemed like I was in a guest room.

The door which lay on the left of the room suddenly swung open and all the small mutters in the room went silent as an authorative man stood in the doorway. It took a few minutes for me to realise it was just Mendez.

I couldn't help chucking at the thought that he looked like Gordon Ramsey from one of his Hotel Hell's theme songs.

Nance and Shawn looked over at me, looking completely amused whereas Lorna, the lady looking after the house, looked over at me in concern, probably thinking something along the lines of:

She needs mental help.

Jacob, who still hadn't moved off the bed, looked down at me, as if reading my mind and started chuckling with me.

"What are the lovebirds laughing about?" Mendez asked, not a hint of much emotion coming through."

"Beats me." Shawn said, the amused look still gracing his features.

"Jacob, care to explain?" Mendez said, sending over a chilly look at him.

The chuckle died on his lips as he was forced to look down under the gaze of the man in the doorway.

"We were just thinking about how you looked like Gor--"

I let out a little cough, just to tell Jacob to shut up before he got himself killed.

"Ermm, how you look gorgeous in that black top?" he said, trying to correct himself. 

I looked at him, trying to see in what world he thought that Mendez was going to buy such a bullshit story.

"Gosh, Este, might want to keep the noncery to a minimum. We're not adding pedophile to the list of your bad attributes." Nance said, a laugh escaping with her as she sat in the aftermath of Jacob's stupid comment.

"Not now, Nance."

"Sorry, boss." she said, still not having wiped the smirk off her face.

The room sat in total silence, no one saying a word as Mendez took his steps closer and closer to my bed. The silence still loomed in the air as he lowered himself onto the left side of the bed, sandwiching me between Jacob and himself. 

The silence still fought on but in the time it had taken for him to sit down and for me to process what was going on, I had seemed to have started a staring contest with him. Staring down into his familiar hazel eyes, I found myself seeing my reflection in them, as it he was a mirror to an alternative me.

The whirlwind of a staring contest ended abruptly when he raised his hands. In an instant, I recoiled into Jacob. 

"Why did you move away?"

"You heard Nance, I don't want to even know what the rest of your 'bad attributes' are. I don't want your murdering hands to come anywhere near me."

Instead of looking angry or pissed like I had expected him to, he just let out a sigh, sending a small glare towards the still smirking Nance and Shawn.

"You were out for an hour-ish. We have dinner so we can go do that and then tomorrow, I have a bit of explaining to do. Training starts tomorrow aswell, the more we get done, the better."

But as he said all this, he said it to me as if he was forgetting one crucial thing. 

That I was his prisoner.

"I thought I was one of your prisoners." I said, looking back into his scrutinising eyes which were sswirling with emotions that I couldn't pinpoint.

"What gave you that impression?" He said, looking at me like I was slightly deranged.

"You don't even know me that well, yet here you are, treating me like you've known me for years." It may be true that Mr. Nicholls got to know me but I know for a fact that Esteban Mendez did not know me.

"Technically, Maya, I've known you for years. Known you ever since year 7, haven't I?"

I just looked away, not wanting to accept the fact that my confidante, all this time, was one of the most dangerous men of London, no, England as a whole.

Without saying anything further, he just got up, signalling to Nance to come with. As Nance left, Shawn and Lorna followed, leaving me in the room alone with Jacob.

I couldn't get out of my head how I had told Mendez to get away from me for basically being a killer. But Derek was a killer too, so was Jacob and Zara and Connor.

Even I nearly turned into a killer myself less than a few hours ago, how could I forget?

Jacob sat there with me, looking at me as if he was trying to figure something out.

Instead of just sitting there in an awkward silence, I reached over to him and wrapped my arms around him, leaning my head on his chest. Less than a second later, I felt him arms circling around my back and waist, returning the embrace.

We just sat there like that for a while, me subtly breathing in his scent of sandalwood and him resting his chin atop of my head.

Forever seemed to have passed and yet, neither of us made a move to leave the embrace.

If it wasn't for Lorna coming in, I'm not sure we would have moved anyways. She ushered us downstairs, taking us through a passage of hallways and room until we came to a room which resembled an extremely blinged out living room.

In the room sat Nance and Shawn on one sofa, Derek on a double by himself and Mendez sitting on a single.

At mine and Jacob's arrival, all four of them raised their heads then looked at each other, as if having a silent conversation between themselves. I looked up at Jacob, asking him for answers through my eyes but he just shrugged and looked away.

I walked over to where Derek was sitting, shoving him o the side to make space for me and Jacob on the double sofa. 

"Anyone actually want to explain what's going on?"

Mendez got up and stood infront of me, making me feel almost small, compared to him.

To be fair, he is a 6'4 giant versus my 5'5 self.

I stood up aswell, trying to make myself look less small and squishable next to him but he only seemed amused by my efforts.

Grunting a little, I whacked my hands forwards, trying to catch him offguard. 

It worked for about half a second and in that half a second where he had taken a small step backwards, I got myself ready to fight but instead of getting to fight back, he just stood there, smirking as he saw me get myself ready.

Why wasn't he getting ready to fight himself?

That's when I took an actual good look around the room.

From every corner, there was a man in black holding a gun pointed right at me.

Infront of the men were Nance, Lorna and Shawn, all looking at me as if to say 'Really?'

I could attack him if I wanted to, but it'd probably only end in me getting gunned down.

So with a sigh, I lowered my fists, letting go of my defensive mode.

I looked around the room once again, everyone looking at me like I had genuinely lost it.

"You can stop looking at me like that now ok." I said as everyone just carried on staring.

"What, do I have something on my face?" I asked.

Everyone stood stock still.

"Are you all going to carry on gawking at me like I'm some zoo creature or is anyone actually going to tell me what's up?"

"Well," started Mendez "I think they were all expecting you to be a little more scared of me really. It's not every day a little girl like yourself tries to square up to the biggest gang leader of the country."

He really couldn't have said anything more egotistical, could he.

"Sorry for deflating your ego." I said, sending him a smirk.

"She really is one of your own, you know?" Nance said to Mendez before walking off. Soon enough, everyone had followed until it was just me, Mendez and Connor standing in the room.

"Where's all the others?" I asked, suddenly not liking the atmosphere of the room.

"At the dinner table, you've really been keeping them waiting you know."

"Show me the way, then." I said, starting to get annoyed at the whole fact they were treating me so nicely.

If you're going to kidnap me, at least make it feel like a kidnap. That way, I wouldn't actually need to be confused as to what was going on.

Mendez strolled infront, Connor following close behind. I walked behind them but I put a little distance between them and me because I was slowly taking in how beautiful thee actual building was.

Leaving the room behind me, we walked into a corridor which had this beautiful cream wallpaper with a red striped running through it, making it seem dated but in it's own beautiful way. The carpet my feet were walking on seemed more like holy ground, the way it just let my feet sink into the carpet after every step I took.

I didn't even realise I had been so focused on walking that I had walked straight into Connor.

"Why have we stopped?"

"Because we're in the dining room? You just walked straight into my chair."

I raised my head to look around and indeed, I had just walked into Connor as he was getting into his chair.

"Nice to know I've impressed you with my interior design skills." A new voice said from behind me.

I actually had to strain my neck to get a good view of him. He was pretty muscular. Not as bug as Shawn, that's for sure, but he had enough to get around.

But what I really noticed first was the cream tan skin that some of the most intricate green-blue eyes sat on.

I didn't really know what to say. I just kinda stood there and stared.

"You've done it again, Zayne." Nance said, rolling her eyes.

"Done what, I can't help that I'm just so naturally sexy. It's a compliment when the girls just stand and stare." He said, clearly aiming that at me.

I coughed, trying to play it off like I wasn't actually looking at him.

"Don't know what you're on about, Zayne, you just caught me in a moment of thought, that's all."

"Sure, darling, sure."

I heard both Derek and Jacob coughing simultaneously. I looked over at them, checking to see if they're ok but they both had the same sour looks on their faces.

"Zayne, sit down, you're making the boys jealous."

"Touche." he said, taking the seat next to Shawn.

With only two seats left around the whole table, one next to the Nance girl and one next to Zayne, I decided that it'd probably be better for my hormones if I sat next to Nance.

"Good choice." She said before she sent an innocent smile Zayne's way.

"Is Quint going to be back anytime soon?"

"The race starts in 5 minutes so he won't be back in time for dinner."

"What are we waiting for then." Zayne whined as he looked over all the food on the table.

I only really noticed the food myself right about now aswell.

And damn did these guys make some good food.

I hadn't really seen such a good array of food since, well, since I was at Jack's.

The 12-seating table now only had one seat left on it, which I presumed was for the other driver, Quinton.

I felt a bit awkward going for the food first but Zayne didn't seem to have that problem at all. The moment my butt had hit the seat, he'd began ravishing himself.

Grabbing all kinds of food from left and right of him, I watched him as he devoured everything he was dropping onto the plate.

Is this what I looked like when I was eating at Jack's?

"Z, slow down a bit, we actually need to feed these guys you know." Shawn said as he looked at Zayne with the same expression I think I had on my face.

"I'm not stopping them from eating, they cant eat if they want." He said, halfway through a bite into a chicken wing.

By now, everyone else had began eating, cleverly avoiding the places where Zayne was leaning towards.

By the time I'd even managed to raise my hand to be able to get the food, all the chicken wings were gone.

"You could have saved me a chicken wing, Zayne." I grumbled, deciding to go with a nugget instead.

"Finders keepers."

"You didn't exactly find it." Nance said, following up by taking a fat bite out of a pastry.

Before anyone else could steal the good food, I noticed how the jar of marmite had stayed completely untouched.

"You guys seriously don't like marmite?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

"What kind of person are you?" Jacob finally spoke up, looking like he'd just watched me perform cannibalism or something.

"It's delicious, don't even get me started." I fought back but the whole room suddenly erupted into 'EW NO's and 'THAT'S DISGUSTING's.

God, you can really stop playing tricks on me now.

First you get me kidnapped and now you're sending me into a house of people that don't like marmite?

Well played, god, well played.

----

a/n: lololololololol can anyone guess what she'd going to be told tomorow?

who of the new characters so far is your favourite? (i've got to say that mine's Zayne I mean, who couldn't fall for his intricate blue-green eyes?)

funniest thing happened(ok not that funny but still) I was just going through my notifications and I read one that said 'where to sell kids clothes' but i completely didn't see the clothes bit and just read 'where to sell kids'. i couldn't stop laughing for so long.

also, i need to get your opinion on something. I've been trying to change up my writing style a little bit, has anyone actually noticed or am i just thinking too deeply into it :/

AND one last question, do I make a playlist for this book or nah?

that's it so, have a good evening, my lovelies <3

Lolaalvilivi