Tomorrow Is the Day

Over the next four boring days, Talia found a new best friend in Johnny.

He ate lunch with her everyday, though it was often his breakfast, and never complained when she joked easily about his short stature. They drank every night before or after dinner and it was always whatever liquor Talia chose. She listened to his complaints (of which there were many) and she tried to give him advice.

Johnny recognized Talia for what she was, which was intelligient and helpful.

She'd grown up around organized crime, her father had raised her completely in the know, and she had a lot of insightful things to say. Most families had been kept in the dark about the business but Talia had always gotten the feeling her father had wanted her to follow in his footsteps. She rarely said anything to Johnny unless she was drunk though. He knew the recipe to getting her completely plastered and he knew that she had to be comfortably prodded into giving her insight into the world of the mafia. She wasn't just an outsider looking in; she knew.

Talia was equally as interested in Johnny, though not in the business aspect. They listened to a lot of the same music (though he assured her all of the guys had good taste when it came to music) and they liked a lot of the same trends. She found him to be a great friend and she almost wished that she knew him from different circumstances. When she was free of this house, she was running and never looking back. There would be no keeping in touch with anyone there.

"We're going out on the boat, you comin' with?" Johnny asked, strolling into Talia's bedroom without knocking. She'd borrowed a magazine from Val and had been stretched across her unmade bed. She hadn't made it out running with Vengeance that morning because her and Johnny had indulged in a bottle of tequila the night before. Val had enjoyed some margaritas with them while they took shots from the bottle. Needless to say, Talia hadn't rolled out of bed until much later than her usual 4 AM wake up call.

"When you say 'we'...?" she trailed off, sitting up and placing her magazine to the side. Johnny chuckled and scuffed his shoes against the carpet. His sunglasses were still flicked down over his eyes because he'd probably just been outside. Despite the heat, he was wearing jeans and boots though his normal t-shirt was replaced with a white wifebeater.

"I mean everyone except for Vengeance and Val's sister is coming along," Johnny clarified, crossing his arms with a smirk. Talia smirked too. She'd heard the stories about Michelle and Brian. They'd all had Talia laughing hysterically though she was somewhat jealous of any girl that had been with Brian. He was always right around the corner, watching her; no doubt just as jealous of Johnny as Talia was of Michelle.

"How could I possibly miss seeing Brian and Michelle on the same boat together?" she said, sliding off of the bed gracefully and stretching, "Wanna take bets on who gets thrown overboard first?"

"You're hilarious," Johnny stated, his smirk slipping into a wide smile, "We're telling her that you're my cousin from New York so stick with that story, alright?"

"Nah, I think I'll tell her you kidnapped me and you're holding me against my will because my uncle paid you to," Talia joked, cocking her head to the right. Johnny shook his head and the smile disappeared.

"Seriously Tal, it took a lot for me to convince Shadows to let you come out. Don't fuck it up."

A serious warning was laced into his otherwise friendly tone. Talia considered not going, her own smile fading from her face, but it would be suspicious to Michelle and Shadows if she decided to stay in. Johnny never mentioned how she called Shadows by his 'street' name. He still made fun of Vengeance for it but for Shadows, everyone knew it was a matter of respect. She realized she wouldn't be able to call any of the men by the names they used on the street and struggled for a moment to remember Shadows' actual first name.

"I won't fuck it up Johnny," she sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "Lemme get changed and I'll see you downstairs."

Johnny left and she set to finding an outfit to wear. Now that she concentrated on listening, she could hear another female's voice floating upstairs. She threw on a normal black bikini and a black knit cover up that you could see through. She hadn't washed her hair from the day before so she threw it up easily in a ponytail and rummaged around in a drawer inside the walk in closet for her sunglasses. Luckily, she'd been bored and well enough to have done her makeup when she woke up.

When Talia finally made her way down the stairs, she was excited to meet the woman that was sure to send Brian over the side of the boat. She'd heard the horror stories from Johnny and some from Brian himself. Apparently, Michelle and Brian hadn't lasted longer than two months, though they'd never officially put a label on their relationship. They'd been taken with each other at first but they'd descended into the pettiest of arguments very quickly until eventually, they had to put an end to seeing each other.

"Oh, here she is!" Johnny said as soon as she turned into the kitchen. Talia assumed this meant that they'd just been talking about her. Val was standing next to the counter, her hand on her hip. Shadows stood behind her, one hand on the counter. Johnny was to Talia's right, smiling at her with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes and Michelle stood in between the two groups. "Michelle, this is my cousin Talia."

"Hi," Michelle said, leaning forward to shake Talia's hand. Shadows was watching Talia closely as she shook hands with her friend's sister. Michelle was pretty, in her own way. She had long brown hair, flowing down over her abundant breasts in waves. She did look like Val a lot though her features were a little bit bigger and the bone structure on her face less defined. She was wearing a pink sundress and her sunglasses were pushed up onto the crown of her head, holding some of her hair back. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Talia reciprocated. "You're Val's sister right?"

"Yes!" she answered pleasantly. Talia liked her voice. She'd imagined it to be more high-pitched and annoying. It was silky though and slightly reminiscent of her sister's. Talia bobbed her head and noddded. "Are you staying long? Where are you from again?"

"Oh, I'm not sure how long I'm staying. It's kind of open ended," Talia breezed easily, "I'm from New York."

"Oh yeah? Where in?" she asked conversationally. Talia's eyes darted from person to person in the kitchen. She wasn't sure how much any of them had told her though she thought she was safe to embelish freely.

"I live in Manhattan," she answered.

"One of my best friends from high school lives in Manhattan! What neighborhood?" she squealed. There was the annoying voice Talia had expected. Apparently it only came out with excitement. Val and Johnny looked apprehensive with the question. One slip and the entire cover would be blown. She locked eyes with Shadows. His gaze was intense when she smiled, first at him and then at Michelle.

"Gramercy, right on Lexington next to the park," Talia answered, again easily. Her father had owned an apartment there and they'd gone there multiple times. Idly, she wondered if she now owned that apartment. In the months since her father's death she'd gotten plenty of news about various odd places and items he owned. Most of them were cars or condos but she'd forgotten about that small apartment on Lexington Avenue. "It's a really nice spot actually."

"Oh wow, I believe it. That's a great area. You live alone?" she asked.

"For now," Talia answered, "I lived there with my dad but he decided to ditch me for the Upper East Side. I'll look for a roommate sooner or later."

Shadows nodded at her and raised the corner of his mouth in appreciation for her lies. Talia dipped her head at him as Michelle babbled to her sister and her about how nice New York was and how much her friend loved it. She leaned against the refrigerator and crossed her arms as she tuned out the chatter. Johnny gave her a discreet thumbs up and she grinned lazily at him. Shadows spoke finally, telling Michelle that he'd also been looking at apartments in New York just to have one.

Heavy footsteps fell slowly down the stairs. It sounded to Talia like a dead man walking. Brian appeared and immediately the conversation was over. Everyone looked at him as he strolled into the kitchen. Talia licked her lips and bit them, trying her hardest to keep the smile off of her face. The tension was immediate and, for a second, Talia couldn't hide the smile.

"Michelle," Brian said, his greeting cold. Val sighed and dropped her head in a hand, rubbing her temples in frustration. Shadows reached up to massage her shoulders in a soothing, loving way. Johnny was hiding his mouth behind a hand, no doubt struggling not to laugh just as much as Talia. Michelle raised her arms to cross them over her chest.

"Hi Brian," she returned, her tone flat. Her face betrayed her sour feelings toward the man in front of her, as well as her body language. There was silence in the kitchen for only a moment before Val stepped forward from underneath her boyfriend's hands.

"Are we ready to go?" Val asked. She was in a purple bikini with a white coverup over it. A small hat sat on the back of her head and she, as usual, looked absolutely adorable. She stepped in between Michelle and Brian discreetly and pointed to the back door.

"Yeah, let's go," Shadows rumbled, pushing her along and grabbing Michelle's shoulder as they went. Talia smiled up at Brian when they were mostly out of the house and he let a grin crack on his stony face before he shook his head. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they walked out of the house and Johnny smirked.

"I feel like Michelle isn't gonna like my cousin much by the time we get back to land," he said quietly, chuckling to himself and then stepping in front of the pair to exit the house. The statement was probably true. Brian had Talia tucked into his side very closely and intimately. She'd wrapped her arm around his waist and let her thumb hang in his belt loop conspiratorally.

"I kinda have that feeling too," Talia agreed, grinning up at Brian. They walked down the steps of the deck and around the pool towards the beach.

Talia had been on the beach more than a few times now and she'd never seen any hint of a boat though she should have assumed they owned one.

When they reached the fence, Shadows punched in the number and held the gate open. Michelle must have thought the security system was extensive, as it was obvious that she didn't know the real business the men were in. His eyes flashed when he saw Talia and Brian strolling down the path together, following Johnny down to the beach.

Val, who was behind her sister when they both turned to look back, grinned and shook her head. She took everything with good humor, which was good for Talia. If she didn't, things in the house would definitely be awkward. Michelle, however, appraised the two with a calculating glare before taking her sunglasses off of her head and nestling them onto her face. Talia looked up at Brian when she did it and he smirked down at her through his eyelashes.

"Yeah, I don't think you two are gonna be very good friends," he whispered in her ear, his breath causing chills to go down her spine despite the heat.

He straightened up as they began walking on the sand again, letting Shadows close the gate behind them. The group started walking diagonally down the beach to the right, the opposite of the way she ran in the morning with Vengeance.

There was a steep curve in the beach, that was blocked by a small gathering of trees. Talia knew that there must be a cove on the other side. When the group trudged through the sand and reached the trees, she was surprised to find a small path that looked like the one on the property. It took only a minute for them to walk through the trees, Michelle and Val chattering about Michelle's job at some salon in downtown Huntington.

When they stepped out of the cool shade and into the hot sun, they were on another beach that housed a large dock. It looked like a private marina and Talia was momentarily stunned. It was obvious that the men were rich but she hadn't realized how extensive their property was. There were three boats altogether. Two were smaller sport boats, maybe about 20 feet. The third was a small yacht, still large in comparison at probably 50 feet and much more grandiose.

"I didn't know you fucking had these," Talia said as they stepped off of the sand and onto the wood of the dock. Brian grinned but didn't look down at her. They passed the two sport boats and Shadows helped Michelle and Val onto the yacht. Up close, it was an impressive vehicle. The name on the side was written in black script and read 'Forever.' "The boat's name is Forever?"

"Yeah," he answered, picking Talia up by the waist easily and placing her onto the yacht, "I think it's a good name."

"I guess it is," she agreed, shrugging. He pulled himself on after and ran his hand through her ponytail, tightening it for her. She smiled at the action. Brian could get intimate quickly and do things that Talia considered a boyfriend thing to do, like lift her up to put her on a yacht or tighten her ponytail for her. "But this is a yacht ya know. You shoulda named it something like, 'Filthy Rich'."

"You're hilarious," he told her, rolling his eyes.

"That's the second time someone told me that today and I've only been awake for like, two hours," she grinned. He shook his head and chuckled at

her, putting his arms around her shoulders and pulling her in for a hug. Normally, he wasn't as open with affectionate things. In fact, most of the time he wouldn't touch her so easily. Talia figured it was because Michelle was present and she couldn't tell him to fuck off without making things weird. She wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed, feeling his hard abs against her body, but let go just as quickly as she did it.

He kept one arm around her shoulders though and steered her deeper onto the boat. The back was open and had an L-shaped lounge of white couches. Michelle and Val were already sitting down. Brian brought her inside. There was a small lounge there, with a TV on the wall behind the navigation area of the boat. White couches that matched the ones outside lined the opposite wall. Shadows and Johnny were starting the boat.

"Want me to show you around?" Brian asked casually. Talia nodded, curious to see the extent of the boat. He took his arm off of her shoulder and gestured for her to go down the stairs. She glanced at Shadows, who was watching her, and smiled. He smiled back. His dimples didn't show though (they always did when he smiled at Val, she'd noticed) and she wondered if he was unhappy that she was present.

The first thing Talia saw at the bottom of the stairs was a plasma screen TV hanging on the wall. To the left of that was a small kitchen with dark cabinets and stainless steel appliances. To the right was a small lounge with dark wood floors and white couches, similar to the ones outside. The ceiling had two sunroofs, letting in an abundance of bright sunlight.

"Holy shit," she said, laying herself down on one of the couches and staring at the blue sky. The boat gave a jerk and then started moving smoothly, away from the dock. Brian stood over her, looking down at her and then up at the ceiling. "This is really nice."

"Thanks," he answered, "I picked it out with my dad."

"You both have good taste," she commented, "Expensive, obviously, but good."

He laughed at that. "Extremely expensive, c'mon I'll show you the bedrooms."

"Bedrooms?" she repeated. Talia was used to money, but in a different way. These men all owned a lot of things whereas her father had reinvested most of his money and spent it in much less volume. He'd preferred to have a variety of different town houses, apartments, and vacation homes to having a lot of flashy, expensive items.

"Yes bedrooms, come on."

He led her to a door that was behind the stairs they'd come down, next to the kitchen. When he opened the door there was a small hallway with two doors. He opened the one on the right and showed her what he called the guest bedroom. It was small and somewhat cramped, though still beautiful with a small sunroof above the bed.

Through the door on the left was what was obviously the master bedroom. It was much more spacious, though you still had to step up onto a platform to get on the bed. There was a sunroof the size of the bed above it. It was also more spacious with a miniscule bathroom adjoined to it. The bathroom, though small, was beautiful. The counters were marble and the walls, floor, and fixture a pristine white. Talia threw herself onto the white duvet of the bed and rolled around on it.

"I'm gonna live with you guys forever," she said, staring up through the sunroof. Brian laughed and stood at the end of the bed.

"I thought you'd rather put a bullet in your head than stay around me for another week?" he asked, bringing up their argument from a few days before.

She laughed at the memory because she couldn't even believe she'd said it. Talia often felt bitter about staying the house but she couldn't help but like the people there, for the most part. Vengeance being missing from this trip wasn't a disappointment.

"I was just pissed at you," she explained, writing it off simply. He laughed again. "That was also before I knew about the yacht."

"Alright, ya gold digger, I see how it is," he joked playfully, crossing his arms and shaking his head. Talia laughed at that one.

"I'm rich enough all by myself thank you," she reminded him, "I might not have come across all that money legally..."

"...Or on your own," Brian reminded her. She cracked a grin as she sat up on the bed, running her hand through her ponytail to smooth it down. She shrugged and then nodded in agreement.

"Call me the illegal heiress," she said, her eyes flashing. She slipped off of the bed and past Brian, moving into the hallway and back into the room with the small kitchen and the abundant sunlight. She could hear Johnny and Shadows talking up the stairs, murmuring under their breath. She caught a whisper from Shadows, something about a son of a bitch getting what he deserves, and turned away to smile up at the man next to her.

"You're in a good mood today," he observed, "Why is that?"

"Oh well last night, while I was hanging over the toilet throwing up a bottle of tequila, I bargained with the man upstairs that if I lived through it, I'd start being nicer to everyone in the house," she joked, winking up at him. She didn't know what had her in a good mood though. Waking up without a brutal hangover must have been part of it though.

"I guess we'll have to thank god then," Brian said. Val and Michelle came down the stairs then, still talking about Michelle's job. Talia got the feeling that they were talking about one of the girls that Michelle worked with. Johnny followed them silently. When they got to the bottom, they ceased their conversation abruptly. Michelle glanced in between Brian and Talia.

"We're about to open some white wine Talia," the brunette said, "Do you want a glass?"

"Tally wouldn't drink wine," Val said, laughing, "She drinks whiskey with the boys."

Michelle smiled tightly and cocked her head. Johnny wrapped an arm around Talia's shoulders, despite her being slightly shorter than him and said something about his cousin being a man. Michelle ignored it.

"You must be Zack's favorite girl then, huh?" she commented, her voice trying to kill with kindness. Talia threw her head back and laughed before shaking her head.

"Zacky and I don't play well together," Talia informed Val's sister. A smile toyed on her lips. She was playing Michelle, and easily. The woman was obviously trying to dig into Talia's business. "I swear if murder was legal, we'd be trying to kill each other first."

Brian snorted. The irony wasn't lost on anyone in the room. Murder was something everyone on the boat, excluding Michelle, had a hand in some way or another. Val and Talia had never killed anyone, though they'd both benefited from it. Talia didn't doubt that the three men aboard had killed at least one person each, though she couldn't say for certain.

"Really?" Michelle asked, clearly surprised. "I never thought Zack could hate anyone."

"I'm a different breed," Talia said, smirking.

Val rolled her eyes and handed a glass of wine to her sister. Michelle stared at Talia for a moment longer before taking a sip and smiling at her sister.

The intensity was not lost on the men in the room. Johnny immediately scoured the small kitchen on the yacht, finding whiskey in the last cabinet he looked in. Talia removed herself from being in front of the two women and grabbed the neck of the bottle, twisting off the cap and taking a long shot from it before handing it back to Johnny.

"If I don't get drunk now," she whispered, "I might be the one to push her off, instead of Brian."

Johnny smirked, pouring out four glasses of the amber liquid. After a few glasses, the men would undoubtedly turn to their precious beer to drink for the rest of the day. Talia wasn't looking for a slow day of fun in the sun. She wanted to get plastered and crash in that beautiful bed down the small hallway. That would be most ideal.

"Why don't you bring this up to Matt?" Johnny suggested, handing her two glasses of whiskey. She deadpanned and sighed. Talia still wasn't necessarily comfortable being alone around him. He didn't want her around and he didn't hide it, not that she expected him to. It was his house and his family she was intruding on, it made sense for him to show his distaste.

Regardless, she gripped the small glass and made her way up the stairs. The boat was cruising now under the command of Shadows. It wasn't going too fast, though Talia didn't doubt that it could if he made it. Shadows' sunglasses covered his eyes but there was a microscopic grin on his face that showed he enjoyed being the captain of his ship. She offered him the glass and he took it, raising in it before they both took a sip.

"You like the boat?" he asked, his voice a deep rumble in his chest. She leaned against the high chair that sat in front of the controls, cradling her glass to her chest.

"It's gorgeous," she answered truthfully, "Brian gave me a tour just now. I don't know how you don't stay out here all the time."

"I wish I could," he said, smiling at her, "Business is very time consuming, however."

"Yes, I remember."

There was a silence between them. Talia wanted to go back downstairs but she didn't know how to initiate her departure from Shadows' presence.

She sipped at her whiskey instead. They were already out of the view of the shore completely. The Pacific Ocean twinkled under the bright sun and the yacht cut easily through any small waves it encountered. They were shielded from the wind but Talia's hair still fluttered a little bit from the speed. The silence was broken by Michelle, who was walking up the stairs with her wine glass in hand.

"Mr. Sanders, when are you gonna make my sister Mrs. Sanders, hm?" she asked, her voice causing Talia to roll her eyes. It was such a typical thing for her to say, so predictable, and it made Talia's blood boil in annoyance. She assumed that Sanders was Shadows' last name. The name Matt Sanders sounded mildly familiar to her but she couldn't place it, like trying to remember a song's lyrics without even remembering the song at all.

"That's the same question your mother and my mother asks," he said, glancing at her with a grin, "And I never answer either of them."

"Michelle!" Val scolded, "Don't go asking things like that. It's none of your business."

"Are you saying you wouldn't tell me the moment you got engaged?" Michelle commanded. Val said nothing. Talia personally would have told this woman at the very last possible minute, if she was her sister. She smiled at the group and then, silently, excused herself back down the stairs. Johnny and Brian were talking quietly when she was on her way down but stopped the moment she reached the floor.

Talia felt more like a misfit now. She didn't belong down here, where the two men she'd befriended were obviously talking about business she couldn't hear about and she didn't belong upstairs, where she was disliked by two out of three. She finished her whiskey quickly to offset her feelings of inadequacy.

"Give me the glass," Johnny said, reaching out for it, "I'll fill you back up."

Talia handed the empty glass over and he took Brian's too. It seemed they were all drinking at an exorbitantly fast rate. The men all seemed to be stressed to some degree now. A full glass of whiskey was handed to her and she sipped at it immediately. Val and Michelle seemed to be oblivious to the angst rolling off of Johnny and Brian but Talia couldn't. Shadows seemed calm enough but he was also the obvious leader.

"Where's, uh," she glanced up the stairway at the two women, "Zacky?"

"Business," Brian answered. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"He's having a client over, that's why we left. He prefers to only do business with people he knows so that would be Zack and some other closer associates that you haven't met," he explained. Brian smacked his arm but Johnny ignored him. Talia understood that.

This client, however, must have been extremely important. Shadows had made it impeccably clear that people did not enter his home on a regular basis. Johnny had explained the night before, while plastered from tequila, that because Vengeance ran the most dangerous (and illegal) aspect of the business, he had a few people underneath him to help. Talia assumed these people were at the house now.

There was silence while Brian glared at Johnny, trying to impress his anger upon the shorter man in silence. Talia didn't really see how her knowing vague generalities about the business was a liability. She had no contact with the outside world right now and when she was free to leave, she was running and never looking back. She could always talk to the cops when she got out, before she left, but the thought was abhorrent; Talia was not a rat.

"What kind of whiskey is this Johnny? Not JD," she asked, swirling the small amount of liquor she still had in her glass. "It's really strong."

Johnny grinned mischievously at her. "Crown Royal Canada," he answered, "Eight years old."

She sipped the rest of her glass and held it on her tongue. It burned her mouth and stung at her eyes before she swallowed it, remarking at the flavor.

Her father had drank Crown Royal whiskey on occasion, though he mostly drank scotch or brandy. He'd always let her sip at it when she was younger and then, as she grew into her teenage years, turned a blind eye to her alcohol consumption.

"It burns so good," she commented, grinning and handing him her empty glass. Brian finished his as well, though instead of getting more to drink he settled on cracking open a beer from the fridge. Johnny had another glass in her hand within seconds and she was already sipping it, savoring the deep flavor again before swallowing it. Jack Daniels was for shooting; Crown Royal was for tasting.

"Maybe you should slow down," Brian suggested dryly, surveying her through critical eyes. She smirked at him and finished the glass, even though Johnny had just filled it. She could already feel a tingling in her toes and her gums were numb. A lazy smile covered her lips.

"Maybe you should pick up the pace," she rebutted. Johnny and Brian watched as she danced over to the bottle of whiskey. Talia grabbed the bottle by the neck and took a shot straight from it. She abandoned the glass now and returned to the two men. It always amazed her how being drunk hit her. It always took a moment but then washed over in a peaceful wave. "Let's get wasted and swim in the ocean!"

"Now I know why you get her drunk constantly," Brian said to Johnny. Talia giggled and took another shot. "She stops being a fighter."

"Remember when you called me little fighter?" Talia asked. She leaned her head on Brian's chest for a moment and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. His eyes couldn't leave her as she leaned into him heavily, taking another shot from the bottle. "That was cute. I liked that."

Johnny and Brian shared a glance of disbelief. Talia had been getting wasted with an alarming frequency since she'd been in the house. However, she'd never been so open and friendly before. She was acting as if they were all friends, even if she was uneasy around the people upstairs and felt like she didn't belong when she was sober.

"Don't look so shocked, assholes," she scolded, "Maybe I'm developing Stockholm Syndrome."

The two men laughed and shook their heads. Talia wasn't a friendly person, she was hard and cold, but she was used to interacting with her cousins on a daily basis. She missed having friends. Johnny was a good distraction for her though. He was like a friend to her, always keeping her busy and laughing with her. Talia appreciated that.

"You're not developing Stockholm Syndrome," Brian said, rolling his eyes. Talia shook her head as her arm wrapped around his waist.

"You don't know that," she persisted. She grinned foolishly up at him and he bit his lip, shaking his head at her. Talia could never get enough of this man, she thought. Everything he did made her want to be close to him. She might have been acting incredibly drunk but she was only acting on how she felt toward him. She was extraordinarily attracted to him.

He knelt down, keeping his arm around her, so his face was even with hers. His eyes scanned over her face, looking at her pink lips in much detail. The moment between them was intense and quiet. When he met her eyes again, he spoke.

"I do know that," he said softly, "You're not nearly weak enough to develop it at all, let alone this quickly."

"I'm not weak at all," she said smugly as he straightened himself, "I dunno what you're on about, 'not nearly weak enough' my ass."

Talia took another shot before maneuvering out of Brian's arms and placing it on the counter. Her stomach was burning and she was well on her way to plastered. She ignored the two men and went up the stairs to the top deck of the yacht. Michelle was staring at the water off the back of the boat. Shadows was staring through his sunglasses as he steered the boat. Val stood watch behind him, her arms wrapped around his body and her chin resting on his shoulder.

Talia ignored the couple and made her way to Val's sister. There was an odd tension between the three of them. Based on the conversation she'd bailed on earlier, Talia made an educated guess that there had been a small argument between the sisters. Michelle glanced up at Talia when she approached, smiling tightly and looking away again.

"Hey," Talia greeted. The boat was moving faster now, the wind blowing through her hair but not unpleasantly so. Michelle pivoted her body to face the other woman when Talia sat. She sipped at her wine. Neither of them said anything though. The spray of the ocean falling was all they heard.

"Valary tells me you're taking one of her classes for her while you stay," Michelle brought up finally. Talia shrugged and nodded.

"I have nothing better to do really and I've always been interested in sociology."

Michelle bobbed her head slowly, a thoughtful look in her eyes. She brought the wine glass back up to her lips but then lowered it without taking a sip. Talia's heart began to beat faster. Her mind raced with the worry of keeping her lies straight. She hadn't realized that her drunken state would possibly inhibit her from being able to lie as well as she usually could.

"That's not fair though, you're here for your cousin," she pressed, casting a cool glance at her blonde sister. "Besides, there's so much to do here! Especially for an East Coast girl like yourself. I'm sure you'd rather go out shopping or be on the beach or something, not sit inside and do homework all day."

Oh you have no idea, Talia thought cynically.

"To be completely honest, I'm here on more of a sabbatical anyway. I just needed some...mental health time. I'm kind of treating it more like rehab than vacation," Talia laughed easily, "Rehab that you can drink at anyway. Johnny's good for that."

"Johnny's good for what?" came Johnny's voice from behind her. Talia turned and glanced up at him, a jolt of fear running through her. She hadn't heard him, nor expected him to be behind her. She should have expected it though, considering she was still a prisoner, no matter how many liberties they let her think she had.

"Getting me drunk!" she replied happily, patting the seat next to her and scooting over slightly to make room for him. Johnny barked out a laugh and sat down. His heavy arm draped over Talia's shoulders easily and he sipped at his beer nonchalantly. Michelle smiled at the fake cousins. "He's good to have as family."

"Family is important," Michelle said, dipping her head. She pointed out Talia's tattoo, reaching out and tapping it twice with her index finger. The two women shared a smile. "It's nice to see that there are other people that feel the same way."

"Ah yeah, my uncle is one strict Gambino, huh?" Johnny joked, a fake Brooklyn accent washing over the girls. Michelle laughed but Talia's blood ran cold; he'd mimicked her father's accent almost perfectly.

"C'mon Johnny, everyone knows that Gambino shit is just something my dad made up," Talia said nervously, swatting his arm off of her. She hadn't realized they'd delved this deeply into her history. There had always been a rumor, whether self-started by her father or not, that he had some relation to the Gambino family, one of the five families that ruled the New York City streets. She'd always taken pride in the way others respected the name. However, this wasn't a very well known fact and it disturbed her that Avenged Sevenfold had even been able to dig it up.

"I dunno Tally," Johnny shrugged, "Uncle Andrew's definitely scary enough to be in the mafia."

This was dangerous territory now. Johnny was practically blowing his own cover. The immense amount of trust he was putting in Talia, for apparently no reason, was almost flattering to her. She met his eyes with skepticism and then rolled her eyes at Michelle.

"My dad isn't that bad, I swear," she joked easily, "Though he might not wanna find out about how often I wake up hungover out here. I'm not nearly drunk enough though. I'll be right back."

Talia excused herself. Shadows and Val were talking as she passed them. He cast a watchful glance at her as she descended the stairs but otherwise, said nothing. Brian was sitting on one of the long, cushioned seats. He was looking at his phone, though Talia couldn't imagine there was any service out in the middle of the ocean. Land had been lost sight of long ago and Shadows still showed no sign of stopping.

"What's up?" Brian asked, looking up and slipping the phone into his pocket. Talia took a square stance in front of him, trying to look as aggressive and tough as possible. She wanted some answers.

"How the fuck did you guys know about the Gambino thing?" she asked, "My dad made that shit up ages ago."

"What're you talking about?" Brian asked, sitting up and placing his elbows on his knees. He stared up at her with a confused look on his face. She bit her lip and rolled her eyes, annoyed. She explained what Johnny had done upstairs in front of Michelle, as well as filling Brian in on how well kept of a secret that was. He groaned when she told him and sat back in his seat.

"You know I can't tell you that," he said. Her mouth set into an even deeper frown. "Hey! Don't look at me like that!"

Talia opted to say nothing.

"So what? I get the cold shoulder now?" he asked. He didn't wait for an answer. Instead he pulled her from her hips into his lap. She fell gracefully onto him and huffed in aggravation. Talia moved to get up but he didn't allow it, wrapping his arms around her like a seatbelt. His fingertips rubbed against the bare skin of her thigh and she could feel a blush on her cheeks. She peeked at him before glancing away immediately, embarassed that he was looking at her. "Are you blushing?"

"Why would I be blushing Brian? I'm flushed with anger," she retorted, trying to move away from him again. He didn't allow it for a second time. He moved so his palm ran up and down her thigh. She bit her lip as the heat in her cheeks slowly began making its way to a lower part of her body. She had been attracted to Brian from the very beginning and it wasn't doing her any good now.

"Flushed with anger?" he repeated. A sultry chuckle left his lips. "No, I think you're blushing."

"Why would you think that?" Talia asked, turning to look at him finally. It had taken her a moment to be able to actually look at him. His eyes were hypnotic and his cool hand felt nice against her warm thigh. She found herself in another world altogether. He smirked at her, his eyes never once leaving hers.

"I've seen you angry before, little fighter," his voice was low now and Talia leaned in closer to him, "Right now, you are definitely not angry."

"You seem awfully sure of yourself."

He hummed and closed his eyes, leaning back completely. Talia was thankful that his eyes were off of her but now she could look at his exposed throat and daydream about how much she wanted to let her mouth wander along his skin. He was completely still and silent. Talia bit her lip and dragged her eyes away from the man underneath her.

Talia wasn't one to give up though and Brian's blatant change of subject had only piqued her interest. Her father had never told her the truth about the idiotic Gambino "secret." She'd always secretly assumed it was a rumor, made up by him to gain mystique and respect, or a joke his friends had come up with. It was a quiet thing, rarely mentioned. As far as his accent, that baffled her. She'd never thought that the way someone spoke would ever come up in a background check for an organized crime unit. It was wildly irrelevant.

She wrapped her arms around Brian's neck and settled easily into him, gauging his reaction cautiously. His muscular arms tightened around her thin waist as she shifted around in his lap. Her long thin fingers traced over his exposed throat, tracing a single line up and down. His face was completely relaxed as she brought her fingertips over his protruding cheekbones.

"Why did Johnny know about my father's accent? Did you ever meet him?" she pressed. Her voice was silky and coaxing. She was trying her best to be seductive. Her buzz, quickly snowballing into a full out drunken extravaganza, allowed her to feel completely at ease on this attractive man's lap.

"I never met your father," he said seriously, opening his eyes. "That's all I'll say on the matter, understood?"

She relented at his serious tone and removed her gentle hand from his face. She wouldn't give up, not until she learned the truth, but for now the battle was over. Talia didn't trust any of the men in the house but she could try to get the truth from them. She was a creature of logic, most of the time, and it made no sense for any of them to know that much about her father.

"Understood," she murmured, staring into his eyes until he shut them again. He settled comfortably back against the cushions, completely at ease.

Though she was flush against him and relaxed, Talia was in need of more liquor if this day was going to be salvaged.

From the top of the stairs, Val's voice was full of laughter and promises of fruit and more wine. Her tan legs were visible first and then the fact that she'd stripped off her cover up. Talia was now aware that the yacht had stopped moving. It had been such a smooth voyage anyway, though that was to be expected from such an expensive piece of machinery. Val's eyes lit up with mischief when she spotted the two curled up on the couch.

"You two shouldn't let Zacky see you that cozy," she said with a laugh, "He might go a little crazy."

Talia sprung out of Brian's arms to her feet. He chuckled when she did it and sat up to give his full attention to Val.

"Michelle too," he added. The blonde's laugh filled the small room and floated up to the deck, loud enough to set off questions about what was so funny. Talia crossed the room and gripped the neck of the whiskey bottle before lifting it to her lips and throwing her head back. She counted to six before she could no longer take it.

"Damn girl," Val said, shaking her head and smiling, "You need to slow down. Your liver's gonna be on a suicide mission before you're twenty five."

Talia just shrugged and took one last shot before twisting the cap back on. She would probably drink her way through a liquor store's whiskey collection by the time they let her leave. She moved on to beer, stealing a strawberry from the bowl Val was rinsing. The blonde handed her the assorted fruit, instructing her to bring it up. Brian had already left the lower part of the yacht and ventured upstairs.

Once the sunlight hit her, Talia felt the pleasant stupor of drunkenness finally wash over her. A stupid smile graced her lips and her eyelids drooped easily. Everyone was sprawled comfortably in the sunlight. When Val joined them, they all spoke and laughed about nothing and everything all at once.

Even Shadows seemed to be completely at ease. Talia remained mostly silent. She laughed a lot and easily, because everything was funny to her when she was drunk but she rarely said anything in conversation.

Despite her cold exterior, Talia was usually very talkative and the center of attention in her group of friends. It left a longing ache in her throat for the normality of home and the familiarity of her cousins and few friends. She wasn't used to being so silent and unnoticed. Perhaps it was because her father had always spoiled her and showed her off. She could remember a variety of times he'd taken her shopping for a dinner she was going to attend from the time she was the young age of five. When he'd made her take piano lessons for a few years, he'd allowed her to show off to friends and business associates that were close enough for her to call 'uncle.'

In all her life, the spotlight could have been on Talia, or off of it, as she wished. The cool way with which Shadows ignored her in the hallways of his home and the burning intensity with which Vengeance sneered at her was something new altogether. Now that she was alone, not in the literal sense of the word, her strength was crumbling. She wondered with great misery if it had only ever been a facade. In fact, now that she had nothing better to do, Talia often wondered if her entire life had been lived as a fairytale.

After all, her father had been the mafioso and not her. She hadn't committed any illegal acts, not for the sake of gain anyway. She had never done much worse than punching a girl in a bar fight, let alone commit any of the atrocities she'd heard her father's friends joke about late at night when she was supposed to be a sleeping teenager. She'd ridden on the coattails of her father's dirty wealth and that was all. There had been nothing hard about her life except for growing up without a mother.

Her drunk mind couldn't find a reasonable conclusion for why she was so bitter and angry.

"Talia, are you even on Earth right now?"

Val was leaning forward, across Michelle and Johnny, to wave her hand in her face. Shadows was watching her, his eyes almost hard enough to be a full-blown glare. Only Val and Brian looked mildly concerned. Johnny and Michelle were laughing, as though her zoning out was funny in the least bit.

Talia's mind was troubled now but she tried to shake it off with an easy smile.

"Yes," she responded, "Or well, I'm back on Earth now."

"What were you thinking about?" Michelle questioned.

"My ex," she answered untruthfully. She hadn't thought about her ex-boyfriend in a very long time, mostly because he'd been far in the past and partly because he wasn't even worth the thought process. "Back in New York, he-uh, he's the reason I came out."

"You shouldn't even waste your thoughts on that dickhead," Johnny played along, pulling Talia into his side and messing with her ponytail. She smiled up at him with drunken ease. Michelle's face had softened, her cheeks a bright pink from the wine.

"Aw, sweetie, don't even waste your time thinking about the miserable fool that let you go," she instructed. "Most men aren't worth the time or sadness. Or so I've come to learn..."

Brian snorted and Michelle turned her neck sharply to glare at him. Shadows looked amused. His mouth had a slight tilt upward though sunglasses covered his eyes. Val placed a warning hand on Michelle's wrist. An awkward tension filled the air over the group. Talia felt that perhaps she was expected to fix the silence, but she held her tongue.

"Let's swim," Shadows suggested, pushing his body forward and sitting up. Val slapped Michelle's knee with false enthusiasm and nodded. The other missed it, but Talia caught the shallow shake of his head that Shadows gave to Brian. The sisters were already walking away when Talia declined swimming when Johnny brought it up.

"I'm a little tired," she answered, "I might take a nap."

"Not in the sun," Shadows rumbled as he stood, "We wouldn't want you to burn."

Talia's breath caught in her throat. She wasn't sure what to make of his comment. Johnny walked past her, after Shadows, and Brian shot a stone cold glare at the leader's broad back. He sucked on his teeth before standing up and glancing down at the drunk, dark-haired girl. The sun was beating down on her and she stood, wobbling, without looking at Brian. He followed her down the stairs, which slightly annoyed and slightly pleased her, and caught her by the shoulder when she almost tripped.

"Were you really thinking about your ex?" he asked, when he followed her into the larger bedroom on the yacht. He closed the door behind them and waited to turn. Talia turned sharply to look at him, her gaze cool and appraising. Her head was swimming but not malfunctioning.

"What?"

"Were you really thinking about your ex?" he repeated, turning and facing her. "Brody. Were you thinking about Brody?"

"Jesus, how much do you fucking people know about me?" she asked. Her arms crossed over her chest seemingly of their own accord. He grinned easily

and stepped toward her. She didn't like the mischief in his eyes.

"Why did you call him that?"

"Brody?" she questioned, her mind flickering before her.

"That's his last name," he reminded her needlessly, "Aiden Brody, why'd you call him Brody?"

Talia smiled and shook her head. Brody had been her boyfriend for an entire two years, though the relationship had been less than stable. They both were firecrackers and into anything that warranted a cash bribe to the cops on her father's part. Talia had tried most drugs with him and had never been crazier about a human being in her life, though that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"We hated each other more than we loved each other so I called him Brody," she answered cryptically. "Anything else you want answers to? I'd be more than happy to tell ya, considering you were so open with me before."

He said nothing, just stared at her.

The real reason she'd called him Brody was simply that everyone did. He preferred it and that's how he'd introduced himself to her. She always liked to think in the beginning that it would distance her from him. Talia's feelings had been rushed and immediate, always a knife throw away from disaster.

She rarely thought of him now but he'd been the only one she'd ever let destroy her. She'd vowed a while ago that she wouldn't let anyone else find themselves in that position.

She raised her hands to pull her ponytail out but stumbled. Brian moved forward to catch her but she caught herself on the edge of the plush bed. He grinned down at her and shook his head. The tension was broken as he started to help her upright. Talia giggled but her breath caught in her throat abruptly as his fingers combed the tie out of her hair. She turned when he was done, looking up at him with wide eyes. He studied her face for a moment before holding the hair tie out to her. She took it from him slowly.

"Have a nice nap," he said quietly, slipping out of the room and leaving Talia with her worst enemy, her thoughts.