everyone in the grande household was on high alert since the car incident. the night emmanuel and ariana got home, he instantly went out for a "walk", which the kids all knew meant he was going to a meeting, to discuss with some of the other block leaders about what had taken place, and emmanuel was right. he knew exactly who calum was, though calum didn't know him, otherwise he'd have made some sort of move or threat.
because of this, the block was on watch mode, meaning night walkers were guarding the houses once the street lights came on, and in this case, the grande kids were under special protection, especially ariana. she always had someone riding the bus with her to manhattan for school, and from manhattan, as well as someone walking out and about with her at all times.
she was never left alone.
as she was in her room studying, she couldn't help but overhear her father and some of the block leaders discuss what their plan of action was.
"what are we supposed to do, we have to make a move manny."
"he tried to get at ari, we can't just sit by and let that happen."
"no disciple would let this man go unpunished."
"hey," emmanuel said. "i'm not just gonna respond with violence when my kids are involved, especially ari. we need to go about this smart. we can't let anger get the best of us, this man is way too fucking powerful. it won't cost him a dime to ruin any of us." ariana made eye contact with her father for a second before quickly retreating to her room.
as she climbed back in bed, and tried to focus on her homework. "you should really find a better way to snoop." her father said. "i wasn't snooping, i'm just worried. this seems like a big deal, and this calum guy—"
"you have nothing to worry about ariana. everything's gonna be fine."
"then why am i being baby sat by the boys on the block?" she asked. "because i can't go with you to and from school and neither can your brothers." emmanuel said. "has this guy ever killed anyone?" ariana asked. emmanuel just sighed as he looked at his daughter. "yeah, word came back today that he killed one of the young ones a couple days ago."
"so, he'd kill toby and brandon?" ariana could feel herself getting worked up. she hated that her brothers were risking their lives for this. that her father was risking his life for this. but their family was too far in to ever get out. "he'd have to get through me to get to them first." her father chuckled.
"don't say that, it's not funny." ariana said sternly. "i know. but you have my word that i'll keep you and your brothers safe, i promise mija." emmanuel kissed ariana's forehead and left her room without another word. he knew if he'd stayed, she would've been able to tell joe scared he was.
______
"come on, five more minutes." calum said, his lips softly attacking michelle's neck. "if i don't leave now i'll never go." she moaned. "maybe i don't want you to go." he mumbled against her skin, as his lips made their way back to hers. they were in his office, calum sitting against his desk shirtless as michelle stood above him with nothing but her panties on.
"i can't, alex is expecting me, i told him i'd come over." she said. calum sighed as he pulled away from her lips and rested his head against her chest. michelle ran her fingers through his hair as she caught her breath. "don't tell me you're upset papi? i thought you wanted me to fix my relationship with alex?" michelle teased.
"that was before i started fucking you again. all this stress from work and this shit with the disciples, you're my best stress reliever." calum admitted. michelle tilted his head up and pecked his lips lightly. she grabbed her dress from the couch and slid it back on before grabbing her belongings and heading for the door.
"i'm sure your stress is soon going to disappear. i'll call you tomorrow." once calum was finally alone, he went and sat back in his desk chair and closed his eyes, only to open them in a quick second when his computer chimed.
he saw an email with a large file attachment. he used his background check software to make sure there was no hacking involved or virus to be spread once he opened it. when it was clear, he opened said file and felt his anger boil. it was photos of the man he saw a few days prior that threatened him in the street.
he was in a black hood, in the rain, handing off a small package. throughout the file, he was delivering multiple small packages to multiple people. at the bottom was a small message.
emmanuel grande, is the man you're looking for. see you soon my love, sweet dreams
-michelle
