Cold as Stone

39

I placed the cigarette up to my lips and breathed it in. Someone came out and stood next to me. I grabbed the cigarette, blowing out the smoke. They grabbed it and put the cigarette up to their lips.

"How's life, Adds?" John asks, softly. I shrug.

"You know how it is in the crime life." I mumble. "Enemies day in and day out."

"But-"

"Don't." He sighs.

"They love you, Addison." He whispers, handing my cigarette back to me. I grabbed it and put it up to my lips. I breathed in the smoke. "They can help."

"I know but this is-"

"Your fight and all of that bullshit. You gotta remember, you're the princess of their mafia and you're the queen of all the other mafias. Your father is practically the number one mafia besides yours. People will help."

"Did you get what I asked for?" I say, diverting the conversation. He sighs, knowing what I was doing. I put the cigarette out, putting it in my ashtray.

"Yes and no." I looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "She will call off the people but she won't give you the password to the virus."

"Your kidding. You have to be kidding. I need the password to do-"

"Addison, calm yourself." I took a deep breath. "We can finish this in the morning. It's late."

"But-"

"Addison, I'm telling you to go sleep. You need rest and if you don't get your rest, you will be tired. Plus, you have a bullet wound that needs to be healed." I narrowed my eyes. "Now go, sleep. We can finish this tomorrow after you get some rest."

"Fine." I mumble. He smiles. I pass him, bumping shoulders with him. He lets out a small chuckle, making me roll my eyes. "Go see Stephan."

"You got it, boss." I rolled my eyes and left the room I was in.

I carefully go down the hall, trying to be quiet. I walked in without knocking. I carefully made my way to the other side of the bed and climbed up. The person stirred.

"Addison?" Adrian whispered, quietly.

"Shh, I'm not here." I whispered.

"Okay. Well goodnight, ghost." He mumbles, turning around. I roll my eyes. A smile formed on my lips. I got under the covers and curled into a ball. I closed my eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

--

I walk into the kitchen, rubbing my eyes. I looked at the other people who turned to look at me. I looked at the faces, my gaze stopping at Xavier's and Stephan's face.

"It's not noon. Why are you here?" I ask, confused.

"It's past noon, Addison." Dante says, softly. My face dropped.

"Why didn't anybody wake me up?"

"Because you needed your sleep, Adds. You would've passed out if you didn't." I roll my eyes.

"Whatever." I mumble, sitting down in one of the chairs.

I leaned back and closed my eyes. I was still tired. Everybody got into small conversations. I didn't join in, considering I was in a mood. My phone started ringing, making everybody shut up. I take it out and answer it, putting it up to my ears. My eyes were still closed.

"Addison speaking." I mumble out.

"Shipment came in." I opened my eyes and stared at the table.

"I know it came in. Why are you calling about it?"

"A body came with it."

"You gotta be kidding."

"Afraid not, boss."

"Okay, this is my problem, how? How is this my problem exactly? I know it's with my shipment but why is it my problem again?"

"A note was in it. The same handwriting from the last note." I looked at Stephan. I narrowed my eyes.

"Stop killing my goddamn people, Stephan. I don't care anymore."

"What are you talking about?" He asks, confused.

"First you killed my second in command, I wasn't mad about that because he was pissing me off. But now another person? And in my shipment?"

"I didn't kill anybody in the past year. When we went to the casino, that was the first in a year."

"Okay then explain why Sebastian is dead? You wrote the note and had your signature." He tensed up.

"Addison, if I killed Sebastian, I would've bragged. Am I bragging about killing him?" My face dropped. "No. I'm not."

"Boss?"

"What do you want now?"

"You should know the person has a butterfly on her left wrist and wings on the other." I tensed up.

"Oh fucking great. One threat eliminated, now we have a bigger person. I'll be there in a goddamn minute." I grit out. I hung up and put my head on the table.

"Addison, are you okay?" Xavier asks, softly. I shake my head.

"People hate me." I mumble out.

"They hate you because?" Darius asks, confused. I looked at him.

"Because having people hate you makes you want to live." He tensed up and so did the others. "Don't worry, I'm not that stupid. Anyway, we have another threat. Persumably Ryan's stupid fucking brother."

"What happened to the girl?" Adrian asks, confused. I smirked.

"Oh that bitch? She's dead. She's the person that was in my shipment. Sends a hell of a message." I mumble, standing up. I looked at Stephan. "You should track down your fan who hates me. Probably also runs in their little group. I'm gonna go get ready."

"Wait." Dante says, making me look at him. "You said you had to talk to me last night. Was it important?"

"I'll explain later." He nods.

--

I walk into the conference room, sitting down at the head. All the mafia groups were here with their underboss. They all bowed their heads, out of respect. I rolled my eyes. They looked at me and I leaned back in my seat. Elijah was on the right of me while nobody sat on the left.

"Why are we here?" One of the mafia men asks, making everybody snap their heads to them.

"Simple. You all know the threat against me." They nod. I smirk. "You all know the program called 'virus', right?"

"Yeah. We don't use it though." Marco spoke up.

"I know that too. Now let me finish talking without you guys interrupting." I grit out. They tensed up and I smiled. "Now, you heard rumors of it, right?" They didn't speak and I sighed. "Speak."

"Yes, we heard rumors about it. Different things, why?" Another person asks, their accent heavy.

"What exactly is it?" Someone's underboss asks, curious. I smirk.

"A channel. Between people. Mostly for anything. Was mostly used for assassins."

"What happened to it exactly?" Xavier asks, confused. I looked at him.

"A bitch got needy and wanted more power. That same bitch is in my chambers, getting beat. That same bitch pinned shit against me. Kinda why I have a lot of people against me right now." I grit out. They tensed up.

"What did she pin against you?" Another underboss asks, confused. I looked at them.

"The murder of her father. I mean, I did murder him after she paid me too. A lot of people hate me for that. But what's new?" I ask, shrugging. "Now, let's talk business. A thing I kinda hate but what's new?"