Page 57 of Pain and Possession

"Olive stay. Hock what did you need?"

I flush slightly, sitting back down inwardly cursing myself for not noting which page I was on before I closed the book.

Somewhere around chapter seven, I think…

"We have a situation, well two actually. A team just got back to pick up that shipment we had coming in and there's no barge."

I peek up, watching Noè clench his fists, "Elaborate onno barge.” Hock just makes a poof motion with his hands and a growl leaves Noè’s throat.

“Get Biggs and the others the fuck in here."

Hock nods, his carefree demeanor nowhere in sight as he goes to turn looking down at me, "Oh and the second situation, Laney has been at the front gate throwing a tantrum for the past fifteen minutes."

I gawk, my book forgotten as anxiety ripples through me, "What why?" I scramble looking around for my phone. He just shrugs, "She wouldn't say just kept insisting on seeing you. Said she'd cut my dick off and call the cops if I didn't produce you for her."

Jesus Christ Laney. They're the fucking mafia.

Noè snickers at that making Hock frown and flip him off before he heads back out into the hallway. He stands, pulling my phone from a drawer in his desk before he hands it to me. I gesture vaguely, looking for an explanation on when he took my phone or why. I'm offered none as a group of familiar looking men scuffle into the room, all looking flustered and nervous. One I recognize as the guy that kept showing up with gifts from Noè, they all give me the same nod they do when they pass him in the hall. Making me feel more than a little uncomfortable as I turn my phone on heading for the door.

"Olive, keep to the ground floor with your friend." He orders, only adding to my irritation but I understand. His misplaced and irrational trust for me doesn't extend to my best friend. I wouldn't want to put her in a situation to be in more danger anyway.

She does enough of that on her own.

Olive Age Fifteen

I duck behind the dumpster, my heart racing in my chest as the heavy stampede of footsteps grow closer to the alley. Lane gasps beside me already picking through the duffel bag we just snatched from a hotel cart. I gawk as my eyes land on the hunk of engraved metal in her hands. She grips the sliver handgun tightly in her fist. It looks awkward in her small hands as her dirty, strawberry blonde hair sticks to the sweat on her forehead.

"Fucking hell Laney put that up!" I whisper shout, halfway to a heart attack.

"Relax." She whispers, shoving it back into the bag. I scoff, "I would be relaxed if you had stuck to the plan. We don't do groups. That's the rule."

"That's the rule." She mocks, jerking my arm as she stands the footsteps stalled at the head of the alley.

Ohfuckohfuck.

We take off again, the men behind us getting dangerously close. Laney keeps a vice like grip on my arm as we run, the duffel bag in her free hand and me in the other. The weight of both of them slowing her down. She's always been fast, faster than me at least. I scream as my ankle twists, my foot finding a hole in the poorly paved alley sending me down hard, colliding with the pavement. I scream again, kicking as hands hit me just as quickly as I fell. Her blue eyes go wide with fear as she stops a little ways away. I suck in a shaky breath as the cool tip of a blade presses into my back. I don't try to look at the man holding it there, the more I know the more danger I'm in.

"You little girls picked the wrong group."

"Let her go!" Laney screams, the anger in her voice not matching her size. She’s only fourteen but she's always been stronger than me. Braver.

"What the fuck are you doing? Run!" I yell back, tensing as the blade presses in harder. The fabric of my lost and found t-shirt not doing much in terms of protection from the blade or the cool fall wind. That’s all this grab was supposed to be, some warmer clothes not a handgun and a knife in my back. Her brows furrow as she quickly reaches in, dropping the bag to the pavement with the gun now gripped tightly in her hands.

I'm gonna die. We're both gonna die.

"You'd better-“ His words a cut off by the pop of the gun. My eardrums scream in protest as it bounces off the alley walls. Her whole body trembles as she kicks the bag forward, "Let her go."

Suddenly the pressure on my back gives. The pain in my ankle forgotten as I scramble up towards my friend. I still don't look up as one of them grabs the bag, Laney keeping the gun pointed at him despite her shaking. They mutter what I'm sure is cuss words in another language as they turn heading back down the alley. I gawk yet again at my best friend, who looks just as surprised as I do.

"Holy shit." She mutters eyes wide, flinging the gun down.

"Don't fucking throw it!" I yell, but she's already grabbed ahold of me dragging me again towards the other end of the alley.

Laney throws her arms around me as soon as the gate slides open, the men lounging on either side of the gate shoot her less than friendly looks.

"Where the fuck have you been? Noè had the club cleared and nobody would tell me shit. Then you go MIA for forty-eight fucking hours. I show up and your apartment is trashed."

I pause pulling back, "My apartment is trashed?"

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