I Owe My Mafia Brothers Money

14

The rest of the ride was spent in silence. I was feeling offended and I ignored the uneasy feeling growing in my stomach, the rising panic getting stronger with each minute.

I was repeating to myself that it's nothing and I'm not afraid

"Tobias you came, good to see you, man. And that's the younger sister everyone is talking about? Hi, I'm John"

They've been talking about me?

"Lena," I said curtly.

"Lena, it's nice to meet you. Hey, are you okay you're looking a little pale" he looked at me concerned.

"Y-yeah I'm fine," I said weakly and Tobias sends me a questioning look but didn't say anything. 

"You want to try?" He was referring to shooting and I definitely didn't want to try. He looked at me surprised when I wordlessly shook my head.

He tried to hand me a weapon and I took a deep breath unable to say the word. He took my silence for uncertainty and not the absolute fear I was experiencing right now.

"Alright, first I will show you how to shoot and you will try after that" Tobias decided and looked at me weirdly.

I think it was the noise that ultimately triggered the worst response in me. My knees got weak. Black spots started to cloud my vision. Soon I was lying on the ground at first not understanding what's going on. For the first moment I didn't know where I am, why am I lying on the ground. Quickly everything came back to me.

"Lena? What is going on? Wake up! Now!" Tobias' voice was sharper and louder with each second and I couldn't ignore it so I opened my eyes.

I was greeted by concern painted on Tobias's face.  His friend looked worried as well.

I blinked twice trying to understand what is going on. He was patting my cheek gently as soon as I was more capable of recognizing my surroundings someone pulled me into a sitting position and handed me a bottle of water.

"Drink"

I did as he said.

"What happened? Talk to me. Are you sick? Do you feel unwell?"

"I-I panicked I'm fine. It's fine now"

"Should we call an ambulance?"

"No, it's okay please don't I promise it's fine" I started weakly.

"I need to call Gideon"

"No, wait. I'm really okay" I said stopping him from hitting the call button. "Can we just go home? Please, I want to go home" I pleaded.

"Are you sure you don't need a doctor?" Tobias's friend asked in a worried voice.

"Let's get home then," Tobias said "Can you walk?" I nodded weakly and tried to get up with some difficulties. He helped me and held me closely so I won't lose my balance again. It was sort of sweet to think this cold asshole was capable of making such a protective gesture.

As we were driving he sends me concerned glances every two seconds but I was feeling alright now, just ashamed.

"I'm fine, really"

"What was that? You just dropped dead for no reason. Maybe you're sick or something?"  He asked, concern was clear in his voice.

"No, I just. It's PTSD"

"What? PTSD from what?"

"I-" I started speaking and then I stopped. Because I didn't want to talk about this. I figured that with every second Tobias loses his patience which was clear considering how the car speeds up at the period of silence "Because of my biological mom's death. I don't really want to go into details" I said quietly. 

"Why haven't you told me that you're afraid of guns so much?"

"At first I was angry that you didn't ask me if I want to go with you and then when I saw the actual gun I just... I couldn't speak"

"Next time you're afraid you're telling me instead of waiting until it completely overwhelms you," he said sharply and I nodded.

"I'm sorry"

"Don't. I should've asked you first. I should be the one apologizing"

"It's okay"

"It's not. Fuck, Gideon is going to kill me"

"He doesn't need to know," I said and Tobias looked at me for the first time without any sort of negative emotion. Now we had a common secret.

Okay, I spoke too soon.

My brief connection with Tobias was severed instantly as we enter the house. It was unfortunate that everyone was gathered in a dining room.

"Lena fainted when we were at the shooting range"

Fuck.

"Are you okay?" Julien directed his words at me, he came closer and grabbed my face with both hands. He looked closer at me with clear concern shining through his eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's nothing" I assured.

Julien quickly moved from Gideon's way and my heart stopped when I realized that it was my oldest and scariest brother who was now standing in front of me. Too close for my liking.

I didn't know what to do so I just looked on the ground and started playing with my hands. He lifted my chin with his finger gently and asked.

"How are you feeling?" He asked calmly, his eyes unreadable.

"Fine. I feel totally fine. I didn't faint because I'm sick or anything it's just the last time I heard the gunshots mom died I just... for a moment I was there when it happened" in the middle of that sentence my voice broke and my eyes teared up a bit.

This is when something unexpected took place. Gideon's arms wrapped around me and he pulled me closer to himself.

Gideon was hugging me.

🌹🌹🌹

Hi guys,

sorry for posting short chapters but I figured it's better than nothing 😅