listen (rio g.g) 1

25

"IF WE BURN,
YOU BURN WITH US."
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Alivia breathed a laugh as she came to a halt in front of her apartment building, finding her three friends huddled together by the entrance, voices hushed and hurried.

Annie's eyes narrowed when they noticed her. "How could you?"

Alivia raised a brow for her to elaborate but Beth cut in, "Let's not do this here."

Alicia's jaw tightened as the three women followed her upstairs to her apartment, her dog still panting heavily from their run.

They gathered around the kitchen island and Alivia grabbed a water bottle from her fridge and turned to face them. "Y'all want anything?"

"How could you do that?" Annie didn't waste any time expressing her disgust. "He was a person. He had a family. He had a life."

"I know." That was all Alivia could say. She didn't know what else to say and even if she did, it wouldn't have mattered. Nothing she told them about what she did mattered.

"Was it worth it? Did murdering a man make you closer?" Annie spat.

Alivia pursed her lips and bit the inside of her cheek to keep her from spitting anything back at the blonde. She didn't have the energy to fight. "Is that why you're here? To yell at me?"

"No," Beth said before Annie could start hurling more insults her way. "We wanted to ask you something."

Alivia raised a brow when Beth didn't continue. "Okay?"

"We wanted to ask you for a favor."

Alivia laughed under her breath. Of course, they were here because they wanted something. "What is it?"

"We were hoping you could talk to him, maybe ask him what his plan is." Ruby cut in and glanced at the other two women. "With us."

"Is he going to kill us?" Annie cut in aggressively. "And if he is, could you ask him not to?"

"So, now my relationship with him isn't so bad huh? Not when it's useful to you."

"Oh, it's still bad." Annie crossed her arms over her chest and clenched her jaw.

"Right, well-" The front door opening cut Alivia off and they all watched as Rio waltzed into the home, a takeaway bag in his hand.

He scanned each of them as he placed the bag on the island. "If I had known you were coming over, I would've brought more."

"We wouldn't wanna impose on your little date." Alivia rolled her eyes as Annie shot her a sarcastic smile.

"They're here because they wanted me to ask you not to kill them."

"Is that so?" He said amused while shaking off his jacket and placing it on the back of the armchair before taking a seat.

Alivia sat down on the bar stool next to him and watched as the women fidgeted at the silence that followed.

He remained silent as he took out the sushi from the bag and placed one of the boxes in front of her. He stopped and looked up at them. "Okay."

"That's it?" Beth narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay?"

"That's it." He shrugged and popped a piece of sushi into his mouth. Alivia's brows furrowed momentarily.

"There you go," she smiled up at her friends. "If there's nothing else-"

"You don't expect us-" Annie began but Beth cut her off and motioned for them to leave.

"Thank you." She shot Annie a glare when she tried to protest again. Beth smiled at them before ushering the others out of the apartment. "We'll leave you to it."

Alivia waited for the door to close behind them. "They're gonna do something stupid."

"Don't worry 'bout them." He shook his head and popped another piece of sushi into his mouth.

She frowned again. "Have you never eaten sushi before?"

He stopped and looked at her. "You tryna tell me there's something wrong with the way I'm eating?"

"No, not at all." She laughed as he stuck his middle finger up.