Bend and Break(poly)(bxb)

Nine

If someone would have told me a couple of weeks ago that Diana wanted me alone, I would've pissed myself.

Now I have a certain level of numbness over me. I'd like to think I'm stronger now, though it feels like the opposite.

"Von likes these," Diana says as she places a bag of easy-to-peal oranges in the cart.

I grab a box of sugary cereal I remember as being Romero's favorite before I realize I haven't seen him eat anything in days.

"Romero likes those, right? Get them." I didn't even know Diana was watching me, slender winged eyes and red lips fixed in my direction.

I put them in the cart. "He hasn't been eating much."

"I know, but when he does it will be there."

I almost smile at her. She knows the guys really well, despite how abusive she is towards them. Alone, with the exception of the three black clothing clad guards we have with us, she puts her claws away. She's still intimidating but she isn't berating.

"Do you always buy groceries for them?" I ask her.

"If they don't have time to do it themselves, or to send their housekeepers to." Diana picks up a couple more things and by now the cart is almost full. "They've been busy with the move so I had to step in."

For the first time, I can see her as a mother. One that has been through hell, lost her son to gang violence, then adopted a badass kid like Von to replace them.

I wonder how I would've turned out if I could've just adopted a parent when my mother got deported.

"Mia." Diana looks at me without any emotion at all. "Pick something you like."

I nod at her, slightly stunned by how nice she's being. Immediately I go to the practically tucked away International Foods aisle.

There is a specific brand of hot sauce that Romero and I like, but it's too far up. Guessing it's too spicy for the average shopper here. I'm on my tippy toes and holding onto a shelf so that I don't slip when someone reaches for it from behind me. Slender fingers wrap around the red-stained bottle and too late do I realize who the hand belongs too.

Hair like flames, eyes like coal.

"Looks like your leg is healing nicely." Cleo holds the bottle out to me like I'm going to take it. "How fast can you run on it?"

The way he leans towards me is predatory. He reaches his other arm across me, trapping my frozen body between him and the shelves before I can even think about moving.

I'd be stupid to think I could fight him off. If he's too strong for Von I don't stand half a chance. I can't scream for help. I'd risk someone calling the police. I'd be questioned and forced to reveal my gang affiliation or worse, I call them and my father answers.

"You're probably thinking about doing something stupid right now. I know how you are." Cleo lulls his head in an almost childlike way. His hair falls into his eyes and he throws it back before leaning even closer to me. He has orange dusted across his pink skin, down his neck and beyond the fabric of his black shirt.

"Are you alright miss?" An elderly lady suddenly asks. She has a pink floral dress down to her ankles, a cane in one hand and a basket in another. She wandered into this aisle without my noticing because my heartbeat is in my ears.

"I'm fine." The smile I give her deserves a callback.

Cleo rewards me with one that will haunt my dreams.

The lady wobbles on and he finally pulls away.

"You're smarter than I thought. Give me your hand, no your neck." Cleo reaches for me and I almost jump out of my skin.