All Is Fair

Lea walked down the street towards her apartment building. She worried about Toni all the time, unsure if she would be able to handle all of Gabe’s responsibilities. It didn’t take much for her to notice the unfamiliar face that had been following her but she shrugged it off of her shoulders. If the person behind her was stupid enough to harm someone such as herself then he had karma coming his way.

Suddenly a blonde head appeared around the corner. “Is there a reason a girl of your size is walking down these streets by herself?” The cops’ humor wasn’t funny to Lea; she actually found it quite insulting. She may have been small but after dating her ex Alex, she was very capable of protecting herself.

“When you’re as high up in the Pazilini Mafia as I am, people tend to leave you alone.” She noticed that the man that had been following her was now gone. The blonde had now caught up to her side and made equal strides to keep pace with her. He looked good, dressed in jeans, a white V-neck and a leather jacket. She viciously shook the thoughts out of her head, remembering that he was a cop.

“So what are you doing in this part of town Lea?” she rolled her eyes at the fake concern.

“Save it for when you’re around other cops, Officer Horan.” She kept walking hoping that he would just turn around and leaves her alone. “Clearly, I’m walking toward my home. What are you doing? Following me?” A smirk crawled up her lips, as he looked taken back by her comment.

“I don’t recall telling you my last name Ms. Marchelini.” Lea knew he would look into her and her family, but it was clear that he never expected that she would reciprocate. She smirked at him and continued walking.

The small talk continued all the way to her door. She turned on her heels to say goodbye and was met by his extremely close body. He was staring at her with such blue intense eyes that she felt like he was peering into her soul. “Why did you get yourself into all this mess, Lea?” It really is no place for a woman.” Who was he to tell her whether or not her families mafia was a place for a woman.

“They’re my family, not just some Mafia. What does it matter to you anyways? You hate us all the same without even trying to understand what’s going on.” She used her anger as an excuse to leave him standing in the hall. She wasn’t truly upset that he didn’t like them; she was use to that kind of reaction. Truthfully she just didn’t like how close he was getting to her.

It wasn’t longer than ten minutes before someone knocked at her door. She opened it lazily, leaning against the doorframe knowing that it was Niall. She watched him carefully as the boy stared at the ground. He just stared at his feet processing what to say to her. Lea had no interest in talking to him but she wasn’t in the mood to be rude so she stood there silently.
“Look,” he finally said. The two made eye contact, which made Lea’s body shiver. “I’ve been rude, I’ve jumped into all of this without a clue to what has been going on and instantly blame you and used you for information.” She could see it in his eyes that he was being sinker. His blue globes stared so hard that she felt as if she would implode if she moved.

“Let me make it up to you and take you to dinner.” Instantly she sighed loudly and rolled her eyes, mumbling some insults in Italian. If this was his attempt to make her talk then he was going to be really disappointed, she thought to herself. She tried to walk away but Niall quickly grabbed her arm and spun her back around. She was up against the wall now with his arm at her side keeping her from moving.

“Just as friends.” He reassured her. “ No cop business. No Mafia business. Just you and me getting to know each other.” She could practically feel his breath on her lips but how close he was to her.

“Fine.” She finally gave wanting to put some distance between them. His hand brushed her side as she moved and left a trail of electricity as it left. “Pick me up at seven. And this is your idea so you choose.”

Quickly she shut the door before he was able to demur her decision. Once Lea heard his footsteps walk away she sunk down to the ground against the wall completely unsure of what just happened. Her fingers traced along the trail his had left. Only one thing was drifting through her mind.

“Fuck. I need to call Toni.”