SURRENDER - Mafia Romance

• CHAPTER 17 •

The next day, they were all back to usual, talking and eating and enjoying their time. We were all sitting around the table, and while all of them were having fun, Ace was focused on his whiskey glass, playing with it, making the ice inside hit the inside of the glass. I was sure he was focused on something but a part of me felt like he was doing everything to avoid my eye contact.

I was sure that whatever happened the day before were feelings forced by the fear we were both in. His looks for me, his touch, his hug, everything was based on not seeing me again. He didn't think that the next morning, we would be sitting at the same table, right next to each other, taking breakfast with the boys and not dealing with any damages created by that horrible night.

He suddenly got up, taking his glass with him. "When you are all done, come to my office."

As soon as he started to speak, the room dropped silent. They all nod and assure him. all the eyes in the room were directed to him, along with mine. But when his eyes turned to meet mine, for the first time since yesterday morning, my heart dropped.

"You too, Talia."

And with that he left the room, leaving me behind with all the eyes of the room burning the side of my face. I cleared my throat and got up, grabbing my plate with me.

"Talia," Joe called for me as I exited the dining room.

I looked behind, knowing exactly what he would say.

"Is everything okay?"

Okay, maybe that wasn't what I was expecting.

"Yeah," I smiled. But he didn't buy it.

"Are you sure?"

I hummed again, walking to the kitchen. I rinsed my plate and put it in the washing machine.

"After tomorrow, no one is expecting you to be okay, Talia. You know, we are all used to this but we all know that you're not."

I turned to face him, I placed my hands on the island behind me.

"It was hard, but I survived, right?" I chuckled. This couldn't get any more awkward.

"You can always talk to me," he gave me a soft smile, "I was so worried for you," before I say anything, his hand was caressing my cheek and his eyes were reaching for my soul.

Okay, maybe now it is more awkward.

"Thank you, Joe," I nodded. He dropped his hand from my cheek.

"Anytime, Tal,"

I smiled at the nickname he gave me, which reminded me of yesterday when Ace called me Lia.

"Let's go." He said before making our way to Ace's office.

I was unsure of why Ace wanted me to be there and so was everyone. Romeo's eyes were piercing me but I avoided his eyes. I never knew why this guy hated me that much.

"I am going to start by saying," Ace started, catching the spotlight in the room, "yesterday was horrible for all of us," as his eyes wandered from eye to eye in the room when they landed on mine, I felt like these words were directed to me. "We are not easy going and we are certainly not easy to break, of course, all thanks to everyone in this room." He took a deep breath and stood up from his chair and started walking around the room, "and that leads me to explain that since Talia was a part of the horrible event that happened yesterday, I brought her here to assure her that this isn't the usual," he looked at me. "That being said, I keep getting calls, overall, a lot of people know what happened to Fox."

"That's perfect!" Romeo blurted out.

"No. That is not perfect at all," Ace corrected him, "the big people Fox works with won't let that pass easily. They will do everything to bring us down because Fox's image reflects on their image. So we have to be more careful than usual. These people are capable of doing everything."