All Is Fair

After Cozette walked into her apartment that she shared with a guy called Marty, she couldn’t help but feel annoyed. The conversation she just had with Liam really made her angry and he was just being foolish for not leaving her alone. Even though she didn’t know if he was ever going to speak to her again, she knew she was going to get into trouble for speaking to her. She wasn’t an important person but people who controlled her every move didn’t like her talking to the enemy. That’s the exact reason that she’s living her boss’ son. He was there to keep an eye on her and she was here to be his little helper. This is what she ended up doing when she got home, helping him.

Walking into the living room she found Marty and a bunch of people hanging out. She sighed deeply as she noticed that Marty was passed out on his back, lying on the floor. Before she decided to do anything about it she ignored the people calling out to her and walked upstairs to her bedroom. Cozette quickly turned on her computer and placed her phone next to it. When her computer was turned on and she was signed into Skype she pulled her hair up in a bun before descending downstairs. When she walked into the living room the people inside ignored her presence and kept on watching the TV. She walked over and turned it off before turning towards all of them.

“It’s time to leave.” When a blonde girl with humongous boobs started to complain Cozette looked at her with a pointed look. “Now.” She didn’t wait until the girl left as she walked over to Marty’s lifeless body. Since he was much bigger than her and lying on the floor she simply pushed him onto his side, so that he wasn’t going to choke on his own vomit if that happened. Everyone left fairly quickly and Cozette started to clean up after them. When she was almost done, there was a knock on the door and she simply thought it was someone who forgot something. When she opened the door however she almost freaked out but instead pulled the person inside the flat and up to her room. As soon as she closed the door she pushed the guy in front of her so that he stumbled backwards.

“Are you seriously retarded? I told you to stay the fuck away.” Since Marty could wake up any second Cozette whisper yelled at the man in front of her. She was so angry that she felt like beating the shit out of this person.

“I saw you at the funeral, Cozette!” The boy whisper yelled back at her and walked forward as she backed up. She soon hit the door and he trapped her by placing his arms on each side of her. “And then I saw you talking to that Liam kid. What did you tell him? Huh?” He pushed his body against hers and she felt her breath catch in her throat. Cozette was very often scared but in front of this man she couldn’t show that. When he saw that someone was scared of him he always used it against them.

“Back off Joe, what I do isn’t any of your business.” She tried to push him away from her but it only made him push his body against hers harder.

“Well I’m saying it’s my business so spit it out.” He punched the door behind her hard and pushed his face closer to hers. “What did you tell that fucking Payne boy?”

“I didn’t tell him anything.” She spoke through clenched teeth and looked him in the eye with an annoyed expression on her face. “He wouldn’t leave me alone, so I simply told him to fuck off and then I left.” Joe pushed himself off Cozette and sat down on her bed. He looked annoyed and angry and she tried to steady her heart beat. Whenever Joe got mad, you never know what’s gonna happen.

“What did he say?” She huffed in annoyance and sat down in front of her computer. A friend of hers had tried calling her on Skype but since she was busy downstairs she missed it. Cozette looked at her phone and noticed several texts from the friend, saying she wanted to talk to her. She sighed and turned toward Joe. She knew she looked angry but she didn’t care.

“Well, he too saw me at the funeral. He was only wondering why I was there.” Cozette shrugged and waited for him to answer. He seemed satisfied with the answer as he nodded his head. He then looked up at her with a sly smile and patted his lap as he spoke.

“Come here babe.” She pretended to think about it for a few seconds before walking over to him, if she hadn’t then he would’ve been furious. She knew what was going to happen, because it happened every time he was here. As she sat herself down on his lap, his hand went to her bum and Cozette tried to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach. The hand traveled up her back and he grabbed a strong hold on her neck that hurt like hell. When he forced her to lean her head back he bit down hard on Cozette’s neck. She knew there was going to be a mark afterwards, he liked to mark her. His mouth came up to rest by her ear.

“You need to remember that you’re mine Cozette. Not even your boss man can keep you away from me.” His other hand went in between her legs and she couldn’t stop the moan that left her mouth. “You need to remember that.” Before she could respond he threw her on the bed and walked out of the bedroom. Cozette held her breath until she heard the front door slam shut. She clutched her heart and felt the fear overflowing her in an instant. As the first of many tears rolled down her cheek, she silently cursed Liam for existing.

*

Cozette looked at the list in her hand and sighed heavily. Her lovely roommate was a wanker that didn’t know what was good for him, so when she saw nothing but unhealthy things on the shopping list he handed her this morning, she wasn’t surprised. It really sucked that she had been with this family for so many years now, and they still treated her like shit. The only one who even remotely treated her like family was indeed Marty’s father, Martin. They were both Martin, senior and junior. He had taken care of her when she was left with nothing, but he still didn’t know the truth. No one knew the truth.

She walked into the store and grabbed a cart before starting on her shopping. Cozette got all the things he wanted her to get and then some regular food. When she stood by the milk someone tapped her shoulder lightly.

“Hi.” The voice was too familiar and when she turned around she made sure to look around to see if anyone was watching.

“Hi.” Cozette nodded her head towards Liam and then quickly turned around. She walked away from him but she felt him following her. When he didn’t stop walking behind her she turned into an empty shelf line and turned around to face him. “What do you want?” He looked at her with a blank expression before shrugging and looking into her cart.

“I’m still wondering who you are.” Cozette groaned loudly and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“I don’t even talk to you, so why do you keep on asking me who I am?” She crossed her arms over her chest and when he noticed that he smiled.

“Because I like things that aren’t perfect.” She looked at him with a confused stare and his smile only grew. “This is the second time I’ve met you and I can see that something is eating you up.” Instead of showing him that his words hit her core she looked at him with angry eyes and pointed at him harshly.

“Just because your life is fucked up and your parents died, does not mean everyone in the universe is broken. You got that mafia boy?” Her words made him chuckle but Cozette could tell he was a little hurt by them.

“Maybe not, but you seem like a person who hides a lot. I just want to know the person behind the shield, so to speak.” He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. “And I know more than you give me credit for, Cozette.” He winked at her and she felt her heart stop beating. His hand dropped from her shoulder and he turned away from her. As she watched him walk away she realized she had never felt more scared in her life. Not because she was afraid for her own safety. But because she was afraid that Joe was going to find out about Liam’s sudden interest in her. Before Liam walked around the corner she shouted to him.

“If you think I know something, you’re wrong. Sleeping with the enemy won’t clear you family’s name.” He turned his head to look at her with a sad smile before shaking his head slowly.

“Maybe not, but what kind of brother would I be if I didn’t try? And you never know, you might actually find me pleasant to be around.” He shrugged as he turned around completely. He walked back to where she stood and leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “You see, you and I both know that my family didn’t have anything to do with Gabe’s murder. But the only difference between us two is that you know who did, I don’t.” Cozette leaned back and looked at him shocked.

“What makes you think I know?” His smiles was soft as he placed his shades over his eyes.

“It’s always the quiet ones. Nice hickey, by the way.” She gasped lightly as her hand flew up to her neck and she cursed herself for not covering it up. He walked away laughing at her reaction and she stood there, even more confused than before. But there was one thing she was sure of; Liam was a force to be reckoned with.