Tomorrow Is the Day

There was a knock on Talia's bedroom door and she opened her eyes immediately.

After she'd eaten, she'd excused herself to her room and cleaned up the mess she'd made from unpacking. When she was done with that she made the bed, organized her makeup on the vanity, and resigned herself to the idea that she'd be living a completely boring and idle life for the next few months. She'd done her makeup and now the bruise under her eye was completely invisible. Now she had nothing to do but wait, so she laid down and tried to sleep.

"Come in," she called. The knock was just a polite nicety. Any one of the people in this house could just use a key to open the door and any of the men in the house could use brute force to knock it down. Talia did appreciate the obvious respect they'd shown for her privacy thus far though. The door opened to reveal a bored-looking Syn. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to eat," he explained, staying in the open doorway. "Val's grilling some food and I didn't want you to just sit up here alone, I guess."

As if on cue, Talia heard Val's voice calling out to her boyfriend for help with the propane tank. She smirked in the direction of the window and then sat up, grinning at Syn.

"I don't mind being alone..." she said, standing and stretching, "...but I also don't mind eating."

"There's beer too so that's always a plus," he coaxed her. She fixed her hair in the mirror over the vanity, smoothing down any bumps that her pillow might have caused. She straightened out her black v-neck and pulled at her shorts before she turned to leave the room with him. It was only for a second but Talia caught Syn watching as she smoothed out her clothing and she could have sworn he'd been admiring what he saw.

"Beer is exactly what I need right about now," she agreed, smiling as she passed him. He shook his head and followed her after he closed her door. They trampled down the stairs quickly. Talia already felt at home. She'd spent a lot of time staying in various different houses so if she pretended hard enough, it was almost like she was a guest in one of her father's friend's homes.

Vengeance, Shadows, and Val were all standing outside. The kitchen had food laid out on almost every inch of counter space available. Talia looked over the selection and felt bad she hadn't offered to help sooner. Syn pried the cap off of a cold bottle of beer and handed it to the girl before opening his own. She grinned and raised the bottle to him before drinking down as much as she could.

"You're drinkin' that beer like it's water and you've been in the desert for a few days, damn," he commented. She chuckled and rolled her eyes at him.

"If you had the day I had, you'd wanna drink too," she said. He laughed and pointed at her, his index finger raising from around the neck of the bottle. Talia admired the easy smile on his face and the way he wasn't tense at all. She truly felt comfortable around him, which never happened for her. It usually took her a long time to let her guard down and joke around with someone, yet Syn had accomplished that in literally no time.

"Okay, I'll give you that one," he agreed. "You're doing pretty well though. You seem okay."

"I am okay," she clarified. "I'd rather be at home but, oh, actually I'd be at work right now so maybe I'd rather be here for a few more hours."

"Well, I'm always at work so..." he trailed off, reminding Talia exactly who she was sharing the house with. She remembered all the times her dad had stood from the table at a restaurant, left during the middle of a movie, or missed out on something she was doing because of his work. A grimace appeared on her face as the memories came back and Syn immediately realized he'd drifted into rough waters. "Let's go watch Val burn Zack's eyebrows off, c'mon."

She smiled tightly, her mind still elsewhere, and followed him out onto the deck. The sun was setting over the ocean and the salt water smell was heavy in the air. The heat had disappeared and a breeze ruffled through Talia's black and bleached blonde hair. She was in love with the view. The pool water was calm and the small rock waterfall dripped lazily into the light blue water.

"Hey Talia!" Val called, smiling and waving with the iron spatula in her hand. Talia smiled back easily and made her way over to the woman. Shadows and Vengeance were fiddling with the grill, beer bottles in both of their hands.

"Val, you should have came and got me. I would have helped with all of this," Talia scolded. Val rolled her eyes.

"You're a guest!"

"Enough of this guest bullshit," Talia said, "I'm perfectly capable of helping out around this house and I'm going to."

"Thank you Talia," Shadows said from his spot by the grill, "Val seems to think you're on vacation or something."

"I want her to be happy," she hissed at the larger man, slapping him in his toned stomach. Shadows laughed, his dimples showing. Talia was sure that if anyone else had hit him that way, they'd be knocked on the floor already.

"It's only fair that I help around the house. Y'all aren't a resort, it's not like I paid to come...okay, well my uncle might have paid for me to come but whatever, I can still help you. I'll go nuts if I just sit around all day," she said, smiling at her friend. Shadows kissed the top of her head and smiled at Talia over Val's head. She nodded once at him in understanding and sipped her beer. "What's grill master over here doing?"

Vengeance took a break from fiddling with the grill to glare at her, which she returned with a smirk. He grunted at her and she leaned against the grill, taking another sip at her beer. "The grill won't start Russo, I'm fixing it."

"Maybe it won't start because the tube connecting the propane tank to the actual grill is off, genius," Talia pointed out, squatting down and attaching a small, dirty black tube onto the top of the propane tank. She twisted the top and then stood back up, closing the lid of the grill and then pushing the button. Syn and Shadows laughed when the grill started up and a flame appeared when Vengeance lifted the top.

"Never let a man do a woman's job, I guess," Val said, laughing. Talia smiled, though the feminist in her disagreed. She'd keep her mouth shut though. Everything and anything she said in this house was going to have to be trivial and pleasant. She didn't want to make any enemies here, at least, no more than she already had.

She knew that Shadows wasn't exactly her friend and Vengeance obviously was her biggest problem in the house. Syn was being nice to her, for now. She wasn't entirely sure what he was up to anyway and his motives didn't exactly have to be right. There was still another man that she had yet to meet and all she knew about him was that his name was Christ. He could be another Vengeance to her for all she knew.

Val was the only true friend she had here and even that wasn't the strongest link she'd ever had. Talia and Val had been friends for three months because of a class in college. A three month friendship wasn't worth much, not to Talia, and if Val's ideas of friendship were anything like hers, this was all disposable. The facade they were both putting up of this great friendship was okay for now but it seemed like a strong wind could blow it away.

In general, Talia's entire life was standing on the tip of a knife and she could fall at any time.

"Okay so how many hot dogs and hamburgers am I making?" Val asked and the boys began telling her their orders. Talia settled for just one burger and finished off her beer before she followed Val into the house. The blonde woman began molding chopped meat into burgers and Talia just reached for another beer.

"What do you want me to do?" Talia asked. "I'll make some french fries, you got potatoes?"

"Maybe," Val answered. She used her bare foot to point toward a cabinet behind her. "Check back there for 'em."

Talia shifted some items around and found a bunch of potatoes that she could use. She placed her beer on the counter and made some room for her work, pulling out the cutting board she'd used earlier and looking for a potato peeler in the drawers. It didn't take long for her to peel the potatoes over the garbage can and she began slicing them into french fry shape.

"Those look good, you like to cook?" Val asked conversationally from her spot next to Talia. She took a break from slicing to sip her beer again and then nodded.

"I'm Italian Val, I love to cook!"

"Isn't Talia a Jewish name though?" she asked, her eyebrows knit in confusion.

"It sure is," Talia laughed. This was something she went through a lot, mostly in high school. "My mom was a history buff and she was in love with Hebrew culture. My dad brought her to Israel on their honeymoon so it kind of makes sense when you know her."

"It's a beautiful name," Val complimented, smiling at the story. "And uncommon. I have such a bland name...Valary, ugh."

"I like your name!" Talia countered. It was such a trivial conversation that Talia hated to even waste the breath. She focused her attention back on her french fries and began heating the oven for the food. Val chatted about her mom's reasoning behind choosing the name and then ranted about how her sister, Michelle, had the better name. Talia searched for seasoning as she consoled her that Val was a nice name.

"I guess it's a good name," she sighed in agreement, leaning against the counter when she'd finished with the burgers. "I'm just saying, my mom could have called me something prettier. Ah well, it sounds sexy when Matt says it and that's all that matters, right?"

"Yes," Talia laughed, placing the sliced potatoes in the oven. "That is all that matters."

"What about you? You got a boy out there in the real world?"

"Nah, I've been single for a while," Talia answered, shrugging. "I haven't really found the right guy."

"Well, you and Brian looked like you were having fun when I got home before," she pressed. Talia and Syn had been sitting in the kitchen still, when Talia had finished eating and Shadows and Val had walked into the house. They'd talked for a while about nothing, mostly just harmless flirting and talking. The look on Val's face hadn't escaped Talia's notice and that was when she retreated into her room.

Now, the dark-haired girl couldn't keep the blush from her face so she turned away, opening the oven and checking on the food. She shrugged when she looked back at her eager friend.

"We'll see."

The two words were enough to send Val's mind spinning into a romance novel. She tried to hide her giant grin by sipping her beer but Talia caught it. There was no harm in letting her believe that there was a Nicholas Sparks novel going on here. It would give them something to talk about at least. Talia knew that her days here were going to feel endless.

"Can you just pull out the big pot and start boiling water for the corn? I'm gonna start grilling," Val asked, picking up the plates laden with burgers and hot dogs. Talia nodded and did as the woman asked, sighing when she was alone in the kitchen. Vengeance and Syn were laughing outside and she watched through the windows as Shadows rested his arm over Val's shoulders. She felt alone.

"I fucking hate this," she muttered under her breath. She took the fries out of the oven, still mumbling curses, and turned around to find Syn smirking at her. She jumped at how silent he'd been and cursed internally for letting her guard down. "You scared me!"

"Do you always talk to yourself or is that a more recent thing?" he asked, the smirk still evident on his lips. Talia rolled her eyes and shot her middle finger up. He chuckled as she watched the water for the corn.

"You wanna make yourself useful and get the corn out of their husks, dick?"

"Hey now, little fighter, I'm just playin' with ya," he said, smiling easily at her. She shook her head and smiled back, pointing at the corn she needed him to shuck. He moved around the counter and started on the job. Talia stood next to him and watched his tattooed hands make quick work of the corn. She glanced up at his concentrated face. "You like what you see?"

"Maybe," she retorted quickly, "Or I'm just horrified by how ugly you are."

The comeback was on a high school level but unfortunately, it was the best Talia could muster with her dry mouth and accelerated heartbeat.

"You don't look horrified," he observed, lifting a corner of his mouth in a half-smile. She shrugged and grabbed the finished corn from the counter in front of him.

"I'm a good actress and you should remember that," she warned, dropping the vegetable into the boiling water gently. He laughed lightly and her heart swelled, causing an immediate blush to cross her pale cheeks. Luckily for her, her dark hair covered her face and she looked into the pot of water for a few minutes longer than necessary. "Do you guys, um, always do this?"

"Always do what?" he asked, his eyebrows knit over his brown eyes in confusion.

"Eat together," she explained, "Like a family."

"When we can, yeah. We are a family Talia, we have been for a long time," he answered earnestly, trying to convey his message. The four men had been close for as long as they could all remember and despite being what society would consider dangerous, they were still human. Syn knew that most people wouldn't understand. In the business, it was important to have some people you could trust.

"I can tell," Talia answered, dipping her head. Outside, Val screeched and garnered the attention of Syn and Talia. They both watched as Vengeance lifted her in the air by her waist and Shadows pretended to hit her, playfully poking at her stomach. She wiggled in protest and wide smiles were on both men's faces. Syn smiled at Talia when her attention came back into the kitchen. "I respect that about you guys."

"That's how you were raised," Syn said observantly. Talia smirked and lifted her arm to him. He inspected the tattoo there and shook his head, smiling. "Family first," he read, "That's how it always should be."

"I was always taught that loyalty was the most important trait that anyone could have," she explained, "And I'm only loyal to my family, by blood or choice."

"It must be hard for someone to be called your family," he guessed and she laughed.

"It's easier to become the Pope."

Syn laughed and the door opened. Vengeance appeared, his eyebrow raised at the smiling pair. He wasn't sure what exactly his friend was doing. Talia was business, nasty business in his own opinion. Once the heat was off of her and her uncle made a deal for her safety with Cappociamo, she'd be gone. They'd all been in on her case and Vengeance thought he knew her personality well enough to be able to say that she'd disappear, especially after the betrayal from her family.

"Val wants to eat outside and she said you guys could set the table, if you're not too busy flirting," he smirked. Talia sighed and rolled her eyes automatically. Every time the green-eyed man spoke she felt her blood boil. Besides, she wasn't flirting with Syn, not yet at least. She finished her second beer and let Syn tell off his friend, though he ended up saying nothing.

"Where are the plates and shit then?" Talia snapped, annoyed.

"I think someone needs something a little stronger than beer," Vengeance chuckled, entering the house and making his way to the refrigerator. Syn moved out of the way and he reached up to the cabinet above the fridge. A bottle of Jack Daniels was in his hands and Talia nodded in appreciation. She didn't need to be wasted but she wouldn't mind a buzz. "You wanna go shot for shot?"

"I think you're trying to get me drunk," she smirked, flirting slightly to test the other man. Syn bristled at the attention she was giving her enemy and his friend. She was pleased at his reaction and he pulled out three shot glasses. Vengeance filled them and they all eyed each other before throwing them back. The whiskey burned Talia's throat with a familiar sting and she smiled as she put the glass back on the marble counter top.

They each had three more shots before Val tapped on the window. She had a hand on her hip and an expectant look on her face. To Talia's surprise, Vengeance rinsed out the shot glasses and Syn sprung into action taking out plates and forks. She searched the cabinets and found a large bowl to put the fries in and took the corn off the burner, carefully using towels to dump the boiling water into the sink.

Vengeance was pouring three glasses of whiskey now, filling them halfway and then screwing the cap back on the bottle. Syn had disappeared already to set the table outside and Vengeance leaned against the counter to watch Talia move the corn onto a plate she'd come across. Her makeup covered her bruise exceptionally well, though anyone could still tell it was there because of the swelling. She hummed as she worked and it almost made Vengeance want to apologize--almost. He bit his tongue and grabbed the bowl of fries and the plate of corn and carried it outside instead.

Val came in with a rush, grabbing salt, condiments, and buns for the hamburgers and hot dogs. She said nothing to Talia but offered her a smile which the girl returned. She was starting to feel the whiskey now and an easy smile slid over her lips. Vengeance came back then, grabbing his glass and Syn's and letting Talia carry her own out into the salty air.

Shadows and Syn were already seated at the wooden table. Val was carrying over a plate of hot dogs and then she sat down in a large, wooden chair next to Shadows. Vengeance sat next to her, with Shadows at the head, so the only seat left was next to Syn. She smiled shyly at him as she pulled the chair back and sat down in it. He smiled back before looking away.

There was no hesitation in grabbing for food. Talia and Val let the boys make a mad dash for the 'best' of everything, laughing at their light bickering before taking their own share of food. The light breeze was cool against their skin and after a while of silent eating, Shadows began complaining about his mom and her constant pestering for him to go see her.

"Matt, go see your mom! When's the last time you saw her?" Val nagged. Talia was incredulous and she took another sip of whiskey to hide the look on her face. She'd never heard of the head of a dangerous, supposedly notorious gang getting nagged to go see his mother. It was ridiculous to her but she also kind of loved the idea. Her father would never have been coerced into doing anything he didn't want to.

"Jesus, Val, I don't need this from you too," he sighed, rubbing his hand over his forehead.

"C'mon babe, I'll go with you. We can make an overnight trip out of it," she suggested, pawing at his arm gently. Talia was absorbed by the interaction. She'd always pictured herself in Val's position when she was younger. As she'd grown older and more cynical though, she pictured herself alone for most of her life. She could never imagine being with another person, not for long anyway.

"Alright, fine. Call her later and let her know. I won't be busy on Wednesday," he dismissed the subject then, turning away from his girlfriend and looking out over the ocean. Val accepted the small victory quietly, picking at the fries on her plate.

"Thanks for making these Tally," she said, holding up a french fry and smiling, "They're really good. You'll have to teach me how to make 'em."

"Yeah, sure. No problem," she mumbled, feeling out of place at the table. She reached shyly across the table for more fries and Val grabbed her hand.

"Wow! I love this ring! I've always wanted a thumb ring, where'd ya get it?" she asked, releasing her hand when she'd looked her fill and letting Talia grab her food. Talia looked down at her plate and then grinned.

"My dad bought it for me when I was younger," she explained shortly. She didn't give the full explanation of what the ring was, or what it meant to her. She felt a slight nudge from Syn's foot and she looked up at him. He smiled at her and then winked. Talia rolled her eyes and kicked playfully at his shin, turning away from him and shaking her head. She caught Vengeance's questioning stare and huffed, letting the smile drop from her face.

"Johnny's gonna be back soon," he brought up. Relief washed over Talia when he didn't bring up the slight flirtation between her and Syn. She wasn't up for a fight. "What d'you think he'll think of Ms. Flirt over here?"

Talia said nothing, biting her tongue when she saw Syn's sheepish grin in response to Shadows' questioning glare. More than anything she wanted to lunge across the table and beat Vengeance senseless. Her anger was rising like bile in her throat but she knew that if she wanted to remain in the house as well as on Shadows' good side, she had to play nice.

"I think he's gonna like her," Shadows said slowly, leaning back in his chair and grinning. "She scratched the hell outta you, for one."

Vengeance's smirk turned sour and Talia leaned back in her own chair, finishing her whiskey smugly. His green eyes flashed in her direction with malice but she ignored it, turning her head away from him and looking to the man at the head of the table.

"And Johnny usually likes feisty girls," he finished, his eyes bouncing between Talia and Syn with amusement.

"You all like feisty girls," Val pointed out, her arms wrapped around herself in the cool breeze, "And if I didn't know any better I'd say Zacky is just jealous that Ms. Flirt doesn't have her eye on him."

The point she'd made hung in the air over the table. Talia caught a glimpse of Shadows' amused face before she dropped her head in her hand, shaking it gently. This wasn't what she was signed up for. In fact, anything past protection wasn't what she was signed up for and if these little 'family dinners' were going to involve putting her in the spotlight, she'd eat a ham sandwich in her room from now until her release date.

"Are we done?" Talia asked, struggling to keep her voice even. She'd already known that Vengeance was opening his mouth to fight back with Val and she didn't want to be the cause of fighting.

"Yes, we are," Val answered, rising out of her seat and grabbing empty plates. Talia followed her lead and together, they had the table mostly clear in one trip. Once they were in the kitchen, Val sighed and turned to her friend. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "I shouldn't have said anything else to Zacky about it. He just keeps getting under my skin! He's never like this to anyone."

That was news to Talia. She'd imagined him as the bitter, lonely one of the group. Now that she knew he wasn't, she struggled to figure out which one was. Val was genuine with her apology though and Talia forgave her easily.

"It's fine," she answered, a cool edge to her tone. She begrudgingly began rinsing the dishes and stacking them into the dishwasher as Val disappeared outside again without another word. Talia sighed and tried to finish the work quickly, glancing out the window to see Val more preoccupied with chatting than cleaning up the table. When she finished loading the dishwasher, Talia did a quick clearing of the counter and made her way out of the kitchen.

"Hey, Talia, wait," came from the kitchen as she passed through the hall and, almost like instinct, Talia froze and turned. Syn was already making his way toward her and she waited silently, a sigh pent up in her lungs. Over the past 24 hours, Talia had rolled her eyes and sighed enough to send her through high school again and she was tired of it. She was an adult, not a child, and she wasn't prepared to be treated like one again. "What? You're just going to bed? It's not even nine..."

"Not much else for me to do," she shrugged.

Syn was silent then, his mind racing for ideas on how to make her stay downstairs. She waited expectantly, unsure of why he'd even bothered to ask her why she was going upstairs. He couldn't produce anything meaningful though and Talia was tired of her nice routine. She turned away from the man and, without any words spoken, went upstairs.

Talia knew there wasn't any chance that she'd fall asleep but the truth was that, like she'd told Syn, there wasn't anything else for her to do. She could pretend like she belonged downstairs with the group or ask to borrow a book from Val but right now, the only thing Talia wanted to do was be completely miserable. She stripped out of her shorts and t-shirt and crawled into the bed without bothering to take off her makeup. She settled into the soft mattress and starchy sheets that reminded her of a hotel with a debilitated, broken sigh.

Thoughts were torturing her now. The faces of her family swam through her brain; first her father, then her cousins, and lastly, her uncle. Her father was gone. He left her with all the bitterness in the world. Her cousins had betrayed her and her uncle had kept her in the dark. She'd always been taught that family came first but now, she wasn't sure who her dad had been talking about. As far as she knew, she was his only family and he always put business before her. He hadn't been in contact with his dead wife's brother for many years before his death.

With the betrayal and her imminent capture had come an entirely new cast of people for her to think about. There was Val, who seemed like she couldn't hurt a fly but could probably load a gun just as fast as a soldier. She was a distant friend but also the only one she had now. Shadows seemed like a tough guy, with all of the tattoos and his bad attitude. He was constantly looked at as the leader, which made Talia cautious. However, tonight she'd seen an obviously different side of him that cast him as more of a brother instead of a leader and that confused the hell out of her.

Vengeance was something else all his own. She'd never known an enemy as great as him, nor as attractive. He'd smacked her in the first twenty minutes of meeting her, which was definitely a record for Talia. She never backed down from a fight but for some reason, she was mildly afraid of Vengeance. His temper flared constantly and now that Val had let it slip that his personality wasn't always so hateful, she wondered why he disliked her so much.

Then there was Syn, her kidnapper and the one who proclaimed himself as her worst nightmare but was turning out to be more of a dream. His motives weren't clear to her but she did know that he was different than anyone she'd ever met before. Talia's upbringing had led her to always be careful when choosing friends and it had resulted in her not getting close to many. Syn was breaking that mindset with ease, apparently, as even now she wouldn't mind being around him. It was disturbing her greatly and she couldn't even begin to fathom how she'd feel toward the man by the end of her stay in this house, though she'd try her hardest not to get too involved.

She sighed at the quiet hum of voices from outside her window. They weren't upset by her disappearance and, somehow, this bothered her. Talia wanted to fit in. Talia wanted to be a part of something strong and she wanted a family to be able to put first. Right now, she was alone. This bed was going to be her best friend until they let her out or she got herself out.