A/N: Comment, vote, and enjoy
The endless highway was filled with bright orange lights.
The darkness consumed the trees surrounding us.
I grabbed the steaming hot coffee cup and took a small sip.
I glanced at the rearview mirror to see only two cars. One was a Kia and the other was a Subaru.
They've been following me for a mile. I wasn't stressing it but was still aware of my surroundings.
The car started slowing down. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
I'm accelerating, why the hell is it doing the opposite?
The tank is full. There's no signs showing at all.
I took the closest exit and made my way towards a gas station.
Smoke started coming out of the car just as I parked. Mia slowly started getting up.
She blinked a couple of times and looked at the mess of the car.
"Come on Cherry," I groaned. I got out of the car and cursed.
Mia got out and scoffed. "Don't you dare," I said, glaring at her.
She smirked, "I told you so," she said, putting up her hair.
"Whoa there buddy," said a voice from behind me. "I think you're at the wrong place,"
A man with a red and black plaid shirt with a white shirt underneath came out.
"Yeah, no shit," I said, pissed off.
"Sal, chill out," Mia scowled at me.
Mia walked over to the car and opened up the hood of the car. The smoke started to die down. Mia sighed, "Do you know where the nearest auto repair shop is?" she asked, looking at the man.
"It's about 15 miles from here," he said, checking the time. "I can give a call to the tow truck,"
Mia nodded, "That would be great. Thank you," said Mia.
The man nodded, "Y'all can come on in and sit while I call Mincey," said the man.
Mia nodded. She turned around and looked at me. I rolled my eyes, as I grabbed her bag, my phone, and my wallet.
We went inside, and sat a small table near the registers. Mia leaned against the wall while sitting in the chair and closed her eyes.
"It's the engine," said Mia, looking at me. "There is some copper wires touching the engine, and the oil filler cap, it needs to be changed, but that's all I've been able to see for now"
I let out an irritated sigh. I wasn't angry at Mia. Mia always helped Mr. Wylie with his car. He taught her so many things about cars.
Mr. Wylie owns a small car shop back in town. Ever since they moved away, a new owner that they could trust was hired.
Whenever Mr. Wylie would come home from work when they used to live back in town, Mia and him would go to the garage and start fixing up the red 1961 Maserati that was originally Mr. Wylie's grandfather's car but was passed down to him.
There were many parts that needed to be replaced, so Mia and Mr. Wylie would work together on it.
Ever since Mr. Wylie has left to go live in North Carolina, Mia hasn't really worked on cars. She was heartbroken because her only mother and father figure left. She misses them a lot.
"How long does it take to change?" I asked, checking the time.
"It depends," said Mia.
I groaned out impatiently. The man from earlier came up to us a couple minutes later.
"Mincey is outside," he said, nodding towards the door.
Mia thanked him once again and we left the gas station. I made sure to grab her bag.
"What a beauty," whistled the man.
He touched the side of the car with delicate hands. I cleared my throat and he stood up.
"Mincey," said the man with a long beard. He held out his hands for Mia.
His hand was all greasy and dirty. Not to mention the reeking smell of beer coming from his mouth. A large stain was on his shirt that looked like oil.
Mia nodded, and smiled but the smile didn't reach her eyes. He had a smug look on his face.
He kept staring at Mia's legs. Mia was in a skirt with a sweater on top. But it doesn't matter what she's wearing, he needs to stop making her feel uncomfortable.
I stood in front of Mia. His smug look disappeared.
He looked at me and furrowed his eyebrows.
"I'll be charging you $600 dollars for taking it to the shop," he said, glaring at me.
I got my wallet out and put the money in his greasy hands.
"Alright, well one of you will have to stay here, my truck only has one spot available," he said, with a grin.
I scoffed. He went to his truck and I followed. I opened the door. There were tons of boxes on the floor and clothes on the floor. A large tool box was on the floor.
There was barely any space for me to sit.
Not to mention the amount of liquor bottles and cigarettes'.
"See?" Mincey said, smirking.
I took the dirty clothes and tossed them behind his seat. I took the large box and threw it back. The only thing left was the large toolbox. It was tall and had many tools sticking out.
I tried closing it but failed. "Sal, I'll go," said Mia, looking at the mess.
I scoffed, "Hell no, this guy's a creep," I responded, looking at him staring at Mia.
"I know, but how the hell are you going to sit in there?" she asked, sighing.
I smirked. I stepped on the small step attached to the car and sat down. "C'mon kid," said Mincey, annoyed.
I put my feet on the dashboard of the truck. I looked at Mia and held out my hand. She looked at it and slowly put her hands in mine.
She stepped on the small step and sat on my lap. She put her legs towards the small amount of space left near where the passenger door will close.
I shook my head and gently moved her so her legs were with mine, on the dashboard.
I laid her back on my chest. "You okay?" I asked, not trying to make her uncomfortable.
She nodded. "Let me know if you get uncomfortable, sì?" I said, quietly.
She nodded and laid her head on my chest.
The man finally sat in the car and started the truck.
He pulled out of the parking spot, aligning it with the Maserati. He hooked the large hook to the front of the car.
He came back and grabbed a remote to lift the Maserati up. He sat down in the car and took off.
Mia took out her phone and went to her notes.
I glanced at the rearview mirror and glanced at Mia.
'Are you sure we won't be killed?' she typed into her phone.
I reached back towards my gun that was in the waistband of the back of my jeans. I grabbed it and placed it next to us.
Mia let out a sigh of relief.
Mincey turned on the radio and country music started playing. He rolled down the windows and started singing to the song.
His raspy disgusting voice sounded disgusting.
Is this man insane? It's 15 degrees outside.
The cold air touched our bodies. Mia shivered at the feeling.
I reached over to close the window but saw nothing. There was no button or anything.
"M, can you sit straight?" I asked, whispering into her ear.
She complied and sat up straight, so the back of her head wasn't on my chest.
I took off my hoodie and gave it to her. She thanked me and put it on.
She laid back on my chest and yawned. I kissed her head and wrapped my hands around her waist.
Mincey kept glancing at both of us but didn't say anything.
He reached over towards Mia and grabbed a beer bottle from the large tool box.
He winked towards Mia and took a large sip of the beer. I stayed highly cautious as we went down the dark road.
***
After an unsettling 30 minute drive, we finally reached Lenny's: Auto shop.
I helped Mia get down. She grabbed the gun and put it in her bag. I looked around to see a small diner right across the street.
Mincey backed up against the garage and parked the truck.
Mia started heading towards the entrance as I followed right behind her.
The dim flickering lights came into view as I entered.
A man sat behind a desk with a small smile on his face. "How can I help you folks?" said the man, with an accent.
Mia and I explained to him everything. He put in all of the information and told us that it would take at least an hour or two to get it fixed, depending on the damage. The amount due was $850.
I told Mia to take a seat so I could pay the amount. The man refused saying that the payment wasn't due until after the car was done.
"Alright, you both can go to the diner across the road if you would like. We'll have your car ready in no time," he said, smiling.
He went back to the garage.
"Coffee?" I asked Mia.
"Yes please," she replied, grabbing her bag.
I grabbed her bag and grabbed my gun, as we left the auto repair shop. We sat down in the small booths and ordered coffee.
The diner was a small one. Pictures of cars and race cars were plastered around the whole diner.
The servers were wearing red and white.
I glanced at the time to see it was 3:30 am.
My phone started to vibrate. I furrowed my eyes while grabbing it from my pocket.
Giovanni.
I had an angsty feeling once I saw his name appear on my phone.
I declined the call and looked at Mia.
My phone kept vibrating but I turned it off.
Just a few moments later we got our coffee.
"Is it Almana?" Mia asked, nodding towards my phone.
I shook my head, "Giovanni," I mumbled, annoyed.
Mia rolled her eyes, and took a sip of her coffee.
Her phone started ringing and she furrowed her eyebrows, while grabbing her phone.
She showed me the phone. Almana was calling her.
She picked it up and put Almana on speaker. "Hey Mia," she said, out of breath. Almana's voice seemed to be shaky.
Mia furrowed her eyebrows, "Hey, is everything okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, um can you tell Sal to pick up his phone?" she said.
I put both of my phones on the table.
Mia and Almana hung up shortly after. The secret phone I had to communicate with Andrew started vibrating.
I had given Almana another phone so she could contact me.
I made sure to throw away the tracker on my phone, that Alessio knows about, before we left town.
I picked it up and answered, "Sì? Va tutto bene?" I asked. (Yes? Is everything okay?)
"Sì, dove sei in realtà?" she asked. (Yes, where are you really?)
The sound of screeching tires filled my ears.
"La Maserati si è rotta, quindi abbiamo dovuto fermarci per farla riparare. Dove sei?" I asked, glancing outside the diner. (The Maserati broke down, so we had to stop to get it fixed. Where are you?)
"Sull'autobus. Guarda, so che hai detto che lo prenderete entrambi, ma non posso semplicemente sedermi e lasciarti prendere da solo. Ora mandami la tua posizione," she said, speaking seriously. (On the bus. Look I know you said you both will get him but I can't just sit around and let you get him by yourselves. Now send me your location,)
I groaned, "I told you not to come for a reason Almana. Go back home," I said, annoyed by her actions.
She should know better than to follow us. Not only is this dangerous for her, Mia, and me, but this can also jeopardize our mission.
I can't have Almana get hurt too. I won't allow it.
I have to take care of Mia and Luka. I don't even know what state Luka will be in.
I'm too stressed to find Luka.
Is he okay?
Is he going to try and shoot me again?
I'm worried about going to the club. Not only is the club not in our territory, but it also is affiliated with a gang that thinks they're good enough to be in the mafia.
But the gang is not even that good. All it is, is a couple of high school kids running around with drugs and knives.
The Cosa Nostra only allows them to hang around there because the kids sell drugs at parties.
The club, Blvd99, is a big human trafficking ring with an underground fighting ring.
I'm anxious to have Mia go in there but I don't have a choice. If I go in there then Alessio will find out and not only will he be livid, but they're will most likely be a shooting.
"Hell no! You're going into their territory, without any protection. If anything happens to the three of you I'll feel so much guilt Sal. So no, I'm not going back. Luka's my brother too Sal! Now stop being a jerk for a second and send me your location," Almana said, pissed off.
"I guess selfishness runs in the family," I said, irritated.
"It does, now send me the damn location," she said.
I smiled at her stubbornness.
Almana has always been there for all of us. She may not be blood, but we all still love her if she was our own. No matter how much of a pain in the ass she can be, I'm grateful for her.
I sent her the location immediately.
"Happy?" I asked, scoffing.
"More than," she said.
"Are you sure you aren't being followed?" I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.
"Yes, I promise. Now, I'll be there in half an hour, stay safe," she said.
"You too," I said, before we hung up.
I remembered seeing a bus stop sign half a mile back.
I was so angry that the car just randomly blew smoke.
I was angry at Albano for not taking care of my car. I would always send him money to make sure the car was okay or he could go get it fixed.
"Is Almana okay?" asked Mia, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Yeah, she's on her way here," I said, playing with the napkin in front of me.
"What? Why? Is she okay?" asked Mia, worriedly.
"Yeah," I replied, sighing.
We talked for the next thirty minutes and enjoyed each other's company.
We left the diner and crossed the street to get into the repair shop.
Just as we headed for the door, a BMW parked at the repair shop.
My phone vibrated and I saw Almana had texted me.
Almana- You're about to be pissed
Me- What'd you do?
The hair on the back of my neck stood up as the car door opened. The whole black BMW was tinted.
My whole body went rigid as someone's foot came into view. The passenger door opened.
I kept looking at the car, while reaching for my gun that was behind me. I grazed the gun while looking at the two opened car doors.
I wasn't worried about the car, more like who was in the car.
As soon as I saw a king cobra embedded in the center cap of the tires rims, I had a feeling I knew who it was.
I made sure to have Mia behind me just in case anything messes up. I straightened my hand that was reaching for my gun, as soon as I saw the person on the driver's side.
Giovanni.
Just my luck.
He looked at me with a wide grin. Behind him stood Narrati, with a nervous looking smile.
"Didn't think you'd get rid of me that easily now did ya?" he said, closing the driver's side door.
I looked to the sky and let out an aggravated sigh. I glanced at him to see him opening the car door behind him. Mia let out a sigh of defeat.
I furrowed my eyebrows, while praying it wasn't Alessio.
Almana came out with a nervous look. She had a gym bag in her hand.
"How?" I asked, glancing at all three of them with a blank look.
"C'mon now, just because you were sneaky enough to get on the bus, go to Albano's house, and get another car, doesn't mean I can't do a similar thing," said Giovanni, his face went from a grin to neutral as he saw Mia.
What the hell is his problem? He had the same blank look at Annie's once he saw Mia.
"How the hell did you know? No one was following us!" I exclaimed.
He chuckled darkly. "You really think I'm that stupid Salvatore?" he replied. An unsettling chill went down my spine as he said my full name.
Giovanni never says my full name, not unless he's displeased with me.
"I had Albano tell me," he stated, "that idiot will do anything for money,"
I'll deal with him once I'm back in town.
"Plus, just because Alessio doesn't know about your cute little Cherry, doesn't mean I don't. I already talked to Albano when I knew you were gonna do some stupid shit like going to find Luka," said Giovanni, as he went up to the main door of the repair shop.
He held the door open, while looking at me, "Let's talk inside, sì?" he said.
I grabbed Mia's hands and we both went inside to the small shop.
Both of us sat down.
"Ah, you're back," said the man at the register, looking down at the papers in his hands.
"I have some bad and goodish news, which one would you like to hear first-" he stopped mid sentence, as he looked at Giovanni and Narrati.
He gulped, anxiously.
"The bad news," said Giovanni, with a smirk.
The man looked at me, and I nodded for him to continue. "Well, um there was a burnt out cigarette right under the battery. We didn't think much of it but the copper wires had burnt edges. So, it looks as if someone burnt them purposely," he grabbed his phone and showed me pictures.
Mia and I went up to the small desk. We saw a mixture of black and a cigarette on the bottom.
Albano.
I glanced at Giovanni. He winked.
"The goodish news?" I asked, still keeping an eye on Giovanni.
"Well, there's a little bit more problems in the car due to the intense force used to mess up the cables, but we can get it fixed," he said. "But it's gonna cost you quite a bit of money,"
"I'm not worried about the money," I responded, glancing at the man.
"Great, but it'll take us a day or two to get it fixed," he said, with a small frown.
I let out a groan of anger. Mia laid her head against my bicep.
I knew she was upset, because now our chance of getting Luka is delayed all because of Giovanni.
No.
I don't even know if my brother is going to be alive after the car is done or if he's even alive right now.
I refuse to give up, when we're only a couple hours away. I glanced at Mia with a smirk.
She looked at me confused, "Well, we'll pick it up. You have my contact information right?" I asked the man.
He nodded, "We'll give you a call," he said. "Thank you for being so understanding,"
I nodded, as he walked into the garage.
I glanced at Giovanni, "Does he know?"
"Not yet," he replied, grabbing his keys. "What's your plan kid?"
I scoffed, "My plan? What's you plan?" I asked, glancing at Narrati and him, "You both gonna snitch or what?"
Narrati shook his head.
"No, I just don't want there to be a war again between Cosa Nostra and us," he said, glancing at his watch.
"Good, now let's go get Luka," I said, looking at Allie.
She nodded, with a smile.
Mia, Narrati, and Allie went outside to the car, while I waited for the man to return.
"You know this might not go our way right?" Giovanni asked, glancing at me.
"I know," I said. "If he finds out you and Narrati helped, you're fucked,"
If Alessio finds out his most trusted men went against him, they'll be stripped of their jobs or worse.
He chucked, "Aw, are you worrying about lil ol' me?"
I rolled my eyes in annoyance.
"I know, but it's better that I make sure the four of you don't get killed," he said. I nodded.
The man came back out and I told him I had to grab a bag from the car.
I followed him into the garage and grabbed it.
I came back out to the BMW.
The trunk was already opened. I placed the bag that had clothes, guns, and a small first aid kit inside.
Mia's bag, and Almana's duffle bag was in the trunk.
I opened the back door and sat in the car with Almana and Mia. Mia was to the left of me.
Mia laid her head on my shoulder and let out a tired sigh.
I kissed her cheek and whispered to her to rest.
I looked at the gold king cobra that was on the headline of the car. It was large and really detailed. I remember it looked very similar to the tattoo on Giovanni's back. I remembered seeing it while we were training, it was very detailed. The skin was very detailed as well as the eyes.
I had asked him about it. He told me it was his military unit's symbol. He had a lot of resources all over the world.
I had known that Giovanni had asked a close friend of his for the car once I saw the rims of the car.
Alessio and him met at an event for the military. It was in Spain, and the Italian mafia was providing some weaponry to the military. The military was beyond pleased with how much weaponry we've changed and made even deadlier to.
Alessio said he would only supply guns and none of the deadlier weapons that we've adapted.
The general was upset to hear that, and had Giovanni, at the time Corporal Giovanni, persevere Alessio.
Obviously it failed, but Alessio saw something in Giovanni. Maybe it was a friend, or a lost man who was just trying to survive, but he told Giovanni that once he was done with the military he would have a job if wanted one.
The military already knows Giovanni is a part of the Italian mafia, but obviously they won't say anything since we give them weaponry.
Giovanni zoomed down the road, and my thoughts were interrupted.
"I'm sorry," said Almana, looking at me.
"For what?" I asked, quietly as I saw Mia sleeping on my shoulder.
"For them finding me, I was at the bus stop walking towards the shop but they pulled up," she said.
"It's not your fault," I said, truthfully. It really wasn't. She didn't know that they were coming, neither of us did.
"How did you leave?" I asked Almana.
"I told Nico and Anaya that I was going to Alyira's cabin for a few days and they didn't say anything," said Almana.
I chuckled softly, "Look at you lying," I said, grinning.
Alyira is a really good friend of Almana. She's always been there for her even after Almana's parents passed away.
"Do you know where you're going?" asked Almana, to Giovanni.
"Nah, just driving around for fun," said Giovanni.
I scoffed. Almana yawned and laid her head against Mia's shoulder while closing her eyes.
He took out his phone and started blasting Eminem songs.
Mia woke up shortly after with a cranky look. Almana glared at Giovanni.
"Can you lower it down idiota?" she asked.
"Just for you sugar," he winked through the rearview mirror.
Instead of lowering it down he raised the volume to the max.
And that's when the bickering between the two of them started.
A/N: finally at chapter 30! LET'S GO.
What do we think of Giovanni?
Comment and vote and enjoy