The Mafia's Angels

25. The New Penthouse

Josephine's POV:

I startle awake from a nightmare, that I immediately forget as my eyes flash open. Whatever it was about, I was terrified, and it had given me a headache in the back of my head. There's also an arm around me and I look at it, squinting my eyes and trying to work out where the hell I was. I slowly turn my head around to see who's behind me, scared at who will be there. Why can't I remember anything?

I sigh in relief, as I see Alex, his face peaceful, and his full lips slightly open, letting out a soft snore. Then, everything comes flooding back to me from last night; the karaoke, seeing Gene, snuggling with Callan, Theo giving me his baseball bat, waking up in the middle of the night and being scared, running down the dark corridor and into Alex's room before jumping into bed with him.

Gently, I wriggle out of Alex's arms as not to wake him, before I inspect his perfect face closely. I smile to myself giddily and kiss his cheek. Then, I stumble off the bed, and rush across to Gene's bedroom, excited to see my friend again, almost falling face first in the process.

But she isn't there.

The clock on her nightstand says it's midday, so I reckon she must be downstairs having lunch with Tae or something. I push any negative thoughts out of my head, and sigh, excitement at seeing my friend being the only emotion on my mind.

I run downstairs, the marble floor freezing underneath my bare feet. I almost fall face first again down the staircase, but no one's there to see. In fact, the house is suspiciously quiet, and I think that's strange, as usually it's bustling already with activity at this hour.

Suddenly, I get chills up my spine, and my thoughts start overwhelming me. What if some more bad guys came and killed everyone in the house while I was sleeping? Are the bad guys still here? Are they waiting for me around this corner?

I contemplate running back upstairs and cowering behind Alex.

'GET A GRIP JOSIE!' I internally scream at myself.

There's no one waiting for me around the corner, and I try and steady my ragged breathing, as I tiptoe into the kitchen. I hear a noise coming from the entrance hall, and I jump, turning round to face the general direction it came from. Backing up into the kitchen, I keep my eyes glued open, awaiting the arrival of a baddie.

"What's with all the sneaking around blondie?" a voice comes from behind me.

I scream, whipping round again to find I backed all the way into the kitchen, and Theo's glancing up at me, confused, from the table.

"YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!" I exclaim, "I THOUGHT THE HOUSE HAD BEEN INVADED AGAIN AND I'D SLEPT THROUGH IT!"

"Well, you can calm down, the house isn't getting invaded any time soon," he says. "Not when I'm here," he adds, and I can't quite make out his tone.

"Where is everyone then?" I ask, as I head to the fridge.

"They're all at the safe house," he replies, between mouthfuls of pancake.

"Safe house?"

"Yeah, where we went yesterday. Sal wants us all out of this house. Well, he wanted us out last night, but after our little karaoke trip, I thought it was best we got a good night's sleep before the big move. We're all moving back into New York today."

"Oh that's good," I reply, as I grab a banana to go with my cereal, before sitting opposite Theo.

"Why?"

"This house scares me too much now."

Theo doesn't say anything, but instead watches me start to eat my cereal.

Even knowing both Theo and Alex were here with me, I still couldn't help but feel terrified, every sudden sound making me jump out of my skin. This crippling anxiety hadn't faded, as I hoped it would've last night. It was still there, if not stronger this morning.