TYLER

Mario had taken us to a small bar only a few blocks away from his place. It was small but crowded, a perfect place to talk without having to worry about being listened to. He ordered three bottles of beer while Faith found us a table at the back of the bar, beside the pool table.

Faith sat in the middle with me on her left and Mario on her right. I took a long drink and then set the bottle on the table. "How?" I finally asked the question I had been dying to ask on our way here.

Mario wiped a few droplets of beer with the back of his hand. "Remember the guy you bumped into this afternoon?" When I did not immediately answer, he quickly added, "in front of your apartment." I vaguely remembered the guy in a black hoodie and gave Mario a nod. "That is Nicolò. He has been watching you for two months now."

I stared at Mario in disbelief. "Two months?! I only arrived in NYC about a week ago!" I blinked a few times as I tried to absorb this new information, something I had never expected before. "Did he follow me back when I was in D.C. as well?"

He nodded. "GC wanted to recruit you long before you have even graduated. The story of a boy who would do anything for money but is very loyal to his friends and organization. You are Santiano's most precious asset." Mario pointed his beer at me and then took a drink.

"No, you are wrong. Santiano's most precious asset is me, it is my friend." I swore I would never mention anyone's name and right now, even though it was unlikely that Mario would betray me, I could not take any chances. I wanted to keep Luc safe.

Yet his answer surprised me. "Oh, you mean Lucas Buchanan? We know about him. GC's son wanted him instead of you but Lucas is too deep into Santiano's organization, pulling him out now would not guarantee his full submission. It is far too risky."

"But why me? I have walked out of the organization a year ago. I was a free man."

Mario took another long drink and then set the empty bottle on the table. "GC does whatever he wants to. He does not need to explain his reasons to anyone."

"If he wants me, then why did he threaten me and tell me that I am replaceable?" It did not make any sense. If the guy had gone to so much trouble to have me in his organization, why had he kept telling me that he could kill me anytime?

Mario gave it a thought. "That is because you refused to do the job."

Now it started to annoy me. "Seriously, man?! My girlfriend was missing the whole night by the time I got home. The job was not the priority at that moment, was."

"That is exactly what GC does not like about you. Your girlfriend. You quit your old job because of her too, right?"

There was silence. Dead silence. For a full ten seconds, nothing but silence since I did not have to answer that, we both knew the truth. Autumn had been the only person who had managed to pull me from the dark hole, she had shown me light and told me that there was another way. Plus, my dad, who had been suspecting my night job at that time, would not have me doing that job.

Faith, who had been quiet for the whole time, took this rare occurrence to ask the questions I knew she'd been dying to ask. "Who is GC? Who on earth is this Santiano guy? Who are these people and why do they have so much hold on you two?" She looked at me and when she realized that I was not going to be the one answering, she slid her gaze back to Mario.

He sighed. "GC is Grande Capo, he is the Italian mafia boss here in NYC. Santiano is Ty's old boss back in D.C., he owed GC some money and for interest, he handed Tyler to GC. Although," Mario paused and locked his eyes with mine. A frown appeared on his forehead. "I still do not understand why he did that. I thought he considered your friend Lucas as his own flesh and blood and he knows how close you are to Lucas."

Mario was right. Lucas Buchanan, or what I called Luc, was the one who got me into the drug-dealing life. I did not blame him since I was the one who had made the decision to earn money this way but a part of me wished he would speak up when Santiano decided to give someone, aka me, away to the Italian mafia boss. I had not spoken to Luc since that phone call with Santiano, hell, I had not spoken to him since the whole thing between him and Shanelle (my half-sister) crashed down. Now that I sat down and had time to think this through, I felt that maybe I should talk to Luke, explain my situation to him, and maybe, just maybe, he could help.

In my opinion, the words of a drunken man were stupid, nonsensical words because that was exactly how I would describe those things I had said to Autumn a few nights ago.

"You know," said Faith as she grabbed the pitcher and started to fill the empty glasses. "Even if you are drunk, you can not escape my questions. I will keep asking until I get the answer." Mario was about to reach for the filled glass when Faith grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye. "I suggest you tell me the truth before you get yourself drunk and say something you regret."

Mario heavily sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"What happened between you and Kylie?" Her voice was tight and I could tell how important his answer was to her.

Again, he gave the same answer. "Nothing." Faith's eyes narrowed, not with suspicion, but with anger. It gave Mario enough reason to elaborate, "there was nothing that happened between Kylie and me."

"I saw you both naked on my bed," she said in a low voice. "I knew there was something so do treat me like I am a fool ." She grabbed the glass she had filled earlier and downed half of the content. "I am not Blair Waldorf, okay. When I find out that my best friend slept with my boyfriend, I do not go ahead and ship you both off to the sunset."

Mario stayed quiet for a moment, seemed to absorb the information thoughtfully, and when he finally opened his mouth, his response was unexpected. "Did you ask Kylie?"

Faith frowned. She looked every bit confused when she asked, "What?"

"Did you ask Kylie the same question that you just asked me? Did you ask her if there was something going on between me and her?" asked Mario again.

"I-I-" Faith clamped her mouth shut and swallowed convulsively before she gave him her answer, "no, I didn't. She tried to tell me that there was nothing but I did not believe her. I know what I saw."

He drew back, his dark brows flattening into a straight line. "Then there is nothing I could say."

I could see her struggling to decide who to believe. On one hand, she believed what she had seen to be true yet I knew a part of her doubted that. "Why?" Her voice was barely a whisper. "Why did you do it, then?" This time it was louder.

Mario looked at me, there were questions in his eyes and I answered him with a shrug. He closed his eyes as he let out a weary and nervous exhale. "I did it to protect you." His eyes fluttered open and he lowered his gaze to meet hers. "I will always protect you, Faith. You are the only one that matters." Looking as though he'd decided to reveal his secret, Mario squeezed Faith's hand. "Nothing happened. I got Kylie drunk and seduced her but I could not bring myself to do it. I only stayed until you left, I had to make sure that you saw us."

She just gaped at him for a moment. "She was telling the truth," she muttered to herself. "Kylie was telling the truth and I didn't believe her." She blinked a few times as if trying to refrain from crying. "Protect me?" Faith whipped her head up to face him, fire flashing in her eyes. "Protect me from what, Rio?"

I took a deep breath although I wasn't the one to answer. I knew if this was a movie, this would be the tipping point. The climax of the story is the highlight of the event.

"Protect you from the organization I work for. They would harm you to discipline me." Mario clenched his jaw as his hand curled into a fist. "I could not let anything happen to you."

Faith laughed humorlessly. "And a simple breakup won't suffice?" asked her with a tone of sarcasm.

He shook his head. "I had to make sure you hate me, that way you do not want to have anything to do with me anymore. We can't even be friends."

She held her palms up. "Why?"

Mario looked her in the eye as he said, "because they will be able to see it in my eyes, they will know that I still love you."

She stared at him for a good ten seconds before she swung her hand and gave him a good slap right on his left cheek. Mario clearly hadn't expected something so violent from someone so delicate, looked so perplexed. His jaw was actually hanging open with shock. "That's for seducing my best friend." She gave him a hard shove on the shoulder and said, "that's for not telling me the truth."

Her hand, the same one that had slapped him earlier, was now caressing his bruised cheek. Faith let out a small sigh and said, "this is for protecting me." With that, she slammed her lips against his and took him by surprise as she kissed him wholeheartedly.

I saw Mario blink a few times before closing his eyes and letting himself be drawn into her. I quickly looked away, anywhere but them. Even though they managed to put me in an awkward position, I was happy for them. It was about time for Faith to know his true feelings for her. Yet at the same time, I felt pain. Excruciating pain throbbed in my chest because I knew I just severed all things with Autumn. I broke her heart and in the process, I broke mine as well. No matter how many times I told myself that this was for the best, my heart still could not take it.

How could all of this be for the best when I felt the worst?

AUTUMN

I awoke to the loud banging on the door. My eyes fluttered open and I was suddenly surrounded by darkness. It took me a while to realize that I had forgotten to turn on the lights before I had gone to sleep this afternoon. I carefully swung my legs over my bed and stood. The trip to the nearest lamp switch took longer than necessary since I accidentally bumped my toe with the cupboard on the way.

Once I turned on the lights and was finally able to see my surroundings, I moved to the front door. "Who is it?"

"It is me, you idiot!" I heard Jess yell from the other side of the door. "Open the damn door! I have been here for over an hour!"

I quickly unlocked the door and swung it open. "What are you--huff!" Jess jumped on me the second she saw me, putting her arms around me as she suffocated me with her super tight hug.

"Why did you not tell me you guys have broken up? I thought I am Miranda to your Carrie, Bonnie to your Elena, the only person who knew that you have peed in your sleep the night you found out your grandma died."

She finally pulled away so she could see my face. Under her scrutinizing gaze, it was hard not to cry so I kept blinking like a broken traffic light. "Autumn, are you okay?"

I shook my head and one traitorous tear escaped from the corner of my eyes. I wiped it away with the back of my hand. "How did you find out?"

Jess rubbed my arms up and down in a soothing motion. "Colton."

My hand holding a spoonful of ice cream stopped midair. "How did Colton find out? Did-" I paused and swallowed hard. "Did Tyler tell him?" I knew it was unlikely to happen but still, I couldn't help asking.

"No, he heard it from this girl called Faith. Apparently, they used to date back when they both lived in Vancouver then they broke up and now they got back together, believe it or not." Jess rolled her eyes.

I knew it would only hurt me more if I asked but curiosity got the best of me. "What did she say?"

"Okay, so apparently she saw me and Colton the other day at the cafe. She asked him if I was his girlfriend. Colton said yes and asked her what was she doing with Tyler. Then she asked him how did he know Tyler so Colton told her about their friendship back in Carlton. Anyway, she told him that you and Tyler had a huge fight yesterday and he crashed at her place last night."

I didn't know which one hurt me more: the fact that he'd told her about our fight or that he spent the night at her place. Jess seemed to notice the change on my face as she leaned forward and clasped her hand on mine. "Autumn, look at me." I looked up and saw my reflection in her eyes. "Do you want me to knee him or throw a brick at him? Maybe if he doesn't look so handsome, he won't be such an asshole to anyone."

Did I? Did I want him to be harmed?

I shook my head. "No. Let him be."

"Are you sure? Cos I don't mind getting jailed for kicking that asshole in the nuts."

"Well, I mind. You're my best friend and," I paused to take a deep calming breath before I continued, "I need my best friend now more than ever."

"Oh, babe." Jess stood and moved beside me. As she pulled me into her arms, I laid my head on the crook of her neck and finally let the tears I'd been holding this afternoon run down my cheeks.

Jess patted my back softly and whispered, "it's gonna be okay, babe. It's gonna be okay."

Even though I knew deep down that it wouldn't, a small part of my heart wanted to believe otherwise.

© All Rights Reserved 2018 Rosen

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