|19|

•Ramon•

There were a thousand questions in my mind the moment she didn't come to school. I waited for her, like a whipped man, I waited outside the school gate even when Lizzie and Calvin walked to their classes. 

She was never late to school, always early no matter what class she had first. Lizzie said she wasn't feeling well but that was the least of my worries. What if her prick of an ex hurt her again. 

I texted her like a starved man in need of food. I was hooked on her, her smile, her laughter and when she didn't talk to me for a day, it didn't even last a whole day, I was in a shit mood and was willing to bullet through anyone who took the piss out of me. 

I spent the day doing my work in school, spending lunch with Lizzie and the guys. Lizzie was quieter than usual, the comfort she seeked from Charlotte no longer there. She didn't talk to us much other than answering the basic question, Josh asked, are you going to eat that? Which she answered with yes and he rolled his eyes, eating his own food. I texted Charlotte, waiting for a reply. 

I finalized our essay in home Ecs and sent her a picture to tell me if it was perfect or not. I didn't even get a fucking reply for that. 

"Ramon!" I heard Riley's voice behind me. I stopped and turned to look at her as she ran down the stairs of the school and headed towards me and the boys. 

School had ended and no matter how much I wanted to see Charlotte, I pushed the feeling aside as Riley stopped besides us. "Can you drop me home?" She asked and I chuckled as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. 

"No after school class today?" I asked her though I knew she didn't go to them. She fucked around with the wrong crowd and she wasn't going to listen to me. 

We kept it a secret in school, our father's death. The world knew but it was out of the media, no matter how many times people tried to leak it. Riley was in a private school at first but she transferred to the public school because everyone bullied her for her weight. 

It was a stupid thing to do because my sister was a fucking beautiful woman. I opened the passengers door to her and she climbed in. They bullied the fuck out of her in that school, tempting her to end her life this summer. She would run to the bathroom after everything she ate and she would throw it all up. 

I caught her one day and I told her to stop giving them the upper hand and to put a bullet through their heads because she was Riley Vitali. My sister and nobody was going to mess with her and make her cry every night. 

I closed the door behind her as my friends climbed into the car and I headed towards the drivers side. 

"Hey." I heard her voice as her car slowed down besides me. Tiffany was smirking, a giggle passing her lips as she watched me get into the car and slam the door shut. My window was rolled down as she waited for me. 

"I'm having a party tonight. You already know my address, see you there." She giggled and drove off, not waiting for me to say no. 

"Free booze? Count me in." Josh said behind me as I started the car and pulled onto the road. 

"Can I come?" Riley asked as I took a right on the road. 

"No." 

"No." 

Alex and I said at the same time. Riley blushed a little at Alex who grinned at her as he noticed her glancing at him. Jesus Christ. 

Driving fast and going in and around the cars, I arrived in our neighbourhood. I saw the security guards opening the black gate for me when they noticed my car. 

"Mom wants to talk to you today." Riley said to me as I drove up the driveway, where other men in black were waiting. 

"Why?" I asked as my friends jumped out of the car and headed inside. We always came here, they lived with me. Calvin and Josh's parents had died when they were young. My parents took them in and Alex's dad stayed with us. Every person I trusted, lived in the house with me. 

"Something about the business. She wants to change the logo to your name." Riley shrugged her shoulders as she climbed out of the car. 

"Boss. We got a problem." I heard Jackson say to me as I got out of the car. "We got someone waiting for you in the basement." He said, with his arms crossed in front of him. 

I nodded as I walked inside the house and headed straight towards the kitchen where my mom loved to be. My mom was always the first priority.

"Ramon." She smiled at me as she placed the cookie tray on the table. "How are you, darling?" She asked me in italian as I walked towards her. Riley walked into the kitchen behind me. 

"I'm good, mama. School was boring." I replied back to her in italian as I leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. 

Riley walked towards mom and kissed her cheek before looking at the cookies. "Can I take some?" She asked in english, not bothering with Italian. 

Italian was a connection to our dad, something she wasn't going to form because she was trying to heal herself. Taking herself down the path of darkness wasn't a choice she was giving to herself. 

I switched to English as well. "Take it and put it in your mouth so it will burn you." I grinned at her as she rolled her eyes and mom slapped me on the head. 

"Look at this." Mom said to us as she took her gloves off and walked towards the table where papers were placed. She walked towards us and placed the paper in front of both of us. "I like this logo. The two R's connecting into one. Ramon and Riley." She followed the swirling line with her finger. 

Mom was starting her own business. She was pulling herself away from the billion dollar businesses that dad had left her. It stressed her out, and making sure every property and every product was perfect wasn't her favourite thing to do. She didn't want to sell houses or sell products she wasn't passionate about. 

I told her to work on something she liked. We had enough publicity and one of the best marketing teams to push her product out into the world. 

She was making her own makeup line. Mom didn't have a name for it yet, but she had designed the logo herself. I got my artist skills from mom, Riley would say. 

"I like it." Riley smiled at the gold coloured logo. I agreed with her. 

The moment I graduated high school, I was going to take over the business. I was learning the business side of the world from Alex's dad. He was the one who was in charge of it all but he was teaching me the fast paced rather than me needing to go to college and university. 

"I've got some work to do." I said to them both. I leaned down to kiss mom on the cheek before heading towards the door. "I would like a nice plate full of lasagna please." Grinning at them as they chuckled, I walked out of the kitchen. 

The smile disappeared from my face as I saw Calvin, Alex and Josh waiting for me near the door to the basement. "Time to join the big boys, Josh." I clapped him on the back as I pushed open the door and walked down the dark staircase. 

Unbuttoning my sleeves, I rolled them up as I saw Miles waiting near the door that led to the integration room. He nodded at me as he opened the door and I walked inside. 

Calvin cursed behind me as I saw Cameron sitting down on the chair. He looked up at me as I glared at him. His face was covered in bruises that I didn't do. He rested his hands which were covered in dirt on the table as if he had just come from somewhere. "I just want to talk." 

I didn't want to listen to him as I took the gun out of Miles hands and walked into the room, pointing it to his head. "You have some nerve to show up here." I chuckled to him, shaking my head at his stupidity. 

"They're planning something. I don't know what it is but they're planning something." His voice was a plea to listen to him. 

"What makes you think I'm going to listen to you?" I scoffed, my hand tightening on the gun, my finger an inch away from the trigger. 

I wanted his blood splattered on the wall for hurting her. 

"I've done stupid shit but there is so much you don't know." He started talking. "They killed my sister, Ramon. I fucked up and I joined their group because I needed money. They took my sister and said I needed to help them take you down. I didn't know it was you who was the fucking Maifa. I thought it was your dad." He pointed to Alex, as he started rambling. 

Alex's dad was the face to the world while I was the mind behind it. I kept to the shadows, not wanting anyone to see my face. 

"They sent me to the school and I was told to keep an eye on you." He wasn't helping his case. "You beat the shit out of me in school and I went back to them to tell them I found something that could hurt you." He didn't need to say her name. 

"You keep her out of this." I took a step towards him. "You hurt her again-"

"You can't hurt me, Ramon. You really can not hurt me anymore. I've lost everything." His voice broke as he stared at his hands. "They killed her. She was five years old and I took her away from a shit life. I was looking after her and they killed her in front of me and then beat me up for not being strong enough to fight you." His hands were shaking. "They killed my sister." 

Calvin cursed behind me softly as I watched Cameron cry. I wasn't going to fall for his tears. He could cry all he wanted, but I was a paranoid fucker and was not going to let him twist his way into my mind. He would weave his way into my mind, and make me believe him so he could run back to Logan and tell him everything. 

"I'm not falling for it." I muttered to him as I turned to Miles and moved my hand towards Cameron. Miles nodded as he walked towards Cameron and lifted him up with one hand. 

They would have already checked him but I needed to see with my own eyes that he wasn't carrying a weapon or a microphone. Miles patted every inch of Cameron who stood there, allowing it to happen. 

"Tell me who the lightning devil is." I asked, lowering the gun but never taking my eyes off of him. 

"I can't." Cameron muttered as Miles took a step back and nodded at me. He was clean. Either he was completely stupid or he truly felt sorry. He was stupid. 

"I'm going to ask one more time." I gave him a chance to come clean. To lift his hands up in surrender. "Tell me who the lightning devil is."

My men couldn't find the identity of the lightning devil. Whoever it was was fighting in Joe's Gym. I sent Alex there every day, waiting for the name to be announced but he never showed. Did he realise we were looking for him? Was it a man or a woman? Who the fuck knew. 

Cameron waited. Hesitated. Doubt crossed his eyes as he shook his head. "I don't know who it is." 

The fucker was lying straight to my face. I strode towards him angrily, and punished him against the wall. I pushed the gun against his temple as he looked up at me. 

There was no fear in his eyes, as if he waited for me to put a bullet through his head, wanting that peace. Fuck that. 

"Tell me who it is." I hissed at him and he shook his head, muttering he didn't know. 

"Ramon." Calvin called out to me. "He hasn't come with a phone or anything. Alex has been working on finding out more about the lightning devil. We can get it ourselves." 

That was the thing about Calvin. He was soft. A guy that wasn't involved in the violence side of my life. He put me on the right path, holding the rope for me so I didn't dwell in the darkness for too long. He pulled me out, making sure I didn't taint the world with blood. 

I moved away from Cameron who staggered back against the wall. "You want an easy death, that's why you came here. I'm not giving you the pleasure of one." 

His eyes were a plea, begging me to end his lips. "Please just end it. They'll kill me for coming here." Hks voice shook in fear as he widened his eyes. 

I walked away from him. "You're not leaving." I told him as I nodded at Miles who understood exactly what I said. Do not let him out of here. 

I headed upstairs with the others behind me, Josh quieter than usual. He would beg every day to let him join the family. He was brought up alongside me but being the youngest out of us all, Calvin said he didn't want Josh to be a part of this life just yet. Eventually he would have his part just like Calvin and Alex did but not yet. He needed to know how dangerous this life was. 

"I found some footage from a shop. It's blurry and the lightning devil never takes their hood off. They wear a mask. Identity is important to them." Alex started to say as we walked upstairs and headed to my room. 

I opened the room door and headed inside with them behind me. Calvin and Josh jumped on my bed while Alex walked towards my computer. He plugged in the USB as he sat down on the chair. "Whoever it is, walks up this street every day after the fight. They come out of the gym," he was doing the commentary for the video. I watched the lightning devil walk out of the gym, the hood covering its face though the video was a little dark. "See this?" Alex slowed down the video for me as I watched the lightning devil climb up the dustbin and jump over the wall, disappearing into the darkness. 

"That's the alley that I found Charlotte in. She hurt Cameron in that alley." Calvin said behind me from the bed as he watched the video. Alex nodded. 

"Imagine Charlotte is the lightning devil." Josh said, chuckling from the bed. 

Alex looked up at me. "There was another video but they deleted it. The guy who owns the gym has his men deleting any footage of the lightning devil. This is the only one I could get but I heard that Joe has seen the face." He was waiting for me to give him the order. To bring Joe in for questioning. 

I pushed myself away from the computer and nodded as I unbuttoned the first button of my shirt. "Get him in. Pay him whatever he wants but I want to know the face. If Logan gets a hold of this fighter that he claims that can kill me, I want to know who it is first. I want to put a bullet through his head first." 

"What if it is Charlotte? She did come with bruises on her face to school? Calvin saw her in that exact alley as well." Josh thought out loud as he watched me walk to the corner of my room where my paintings were placed on the ground. The stand had my unfinished piece. Her eyes watched me as I stared at the picture, wondering if I could ever do it any justice. 

"There is no way it's her. We know Cameron hurt her. We took her out with us to the fun fair and dropped her off at her house. She lives next to Lizzie. I asked Lizzie." Calvin said as he shook his head at Josh. 

I stared at the painting I was making.  

She was art. A beautiful canvas that waited for me to paint her. My fingers itched for the paint brush, to draw every freckle on her face. To draw her secret smile, to draw her. I could never do justice to her body, to her face. She made me feel something inside of me the way art did. Every art piece had a meaning behind it. It wasn't a painting. It was a masterpiece, which she was. 

She had the secret smile on her face the moment I had drawn her with a pen. The smile that said I am trying so hard not to grin. I wanted to see her grin so I was going to draw her. Paint her. Lizzie had sent Calvin the pictures we all took at the funfair and I had printed one out of Charlotte. She had a big grin on her face, as she posed in front of a food truck. 

I picked up the pencil and took a step closer to the canvas. I ignored them behind me as they talked about what they would do with Cameron. Nobody was going to do anything. 

I outlined her face, glancing between the picture at the canvas as I thought. 

There was a chance it could be her. The lightning devil. She was strong, her reflexes too quick for a few defense classes. I saw the way Cameron looked at her the day I was tempted to kill him. I saw her eyes. Full of regret. 

There were things I didn't understand about her. I had watched her, any time I could during last year in school. She never realised it, never saw me watching her. I tried to get her intoxicating face out of my mind. I partied, I went to the gym to get her laughter out of my mind. I slept around with girls to get her off my mind. It was impossible. 

Something had changed this year though. I had seen her the moment she had walked into school on the second day and all I could think was fuck. The boys knew how I felt, no matter how much I tried to avoid it. 

I couldn't bring her into this life but if she was already a part of it. My heartbeat jumped, a smile on my face as I thought of the possibility of her being the fighter, Logan claimed he had on her side. 

I couldn't, shouldn't, jump to conclusions but if she was the lightning devil, then Charlotte Woods was already involved in my world. 

"You're drawing her?" Alex questioned, pulling me out of my thoughts. 

I nodded, as I picked up an eraser and rubbed a line away. No mistakes. She was perfect.  

"Lizzie thinks you like her." Calvin chuckled and so did the others. "She doesn't know that you're whipped about her."

"Fuck off." I threw the eraser behind me, at them as they laughed. 

I stared at her picture. I was completely whipped about her and it didn't bother me at all. She was the one that made me laugh without a care in the world. 

I promised to myself that if she didn't turn out to be the lightning devil, I wouldn't progress anything with her. Not yet. I would wait for when I was stronger and had people I trusted blindly to protect her if I couldn't. 

Alex would bring in Joe, get him to tell us who the lightning devil was. If it was Charlotte, I wouldn't give a damn that she didn't tell me.

 If she was the lightning devil, I would make her mine. I would wait an eternity for her to fall in love with me because when it came to her, there was nothing else I wanted. 

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I want someone to paint me like Ramon paints Charlotte (:

Question- Favourite party trick? Or are you a staying at home person like me?