The Mafia's Angels

24. Karaoke

Josephine's POV:

I washed my hair three times. Shampoo, rinse, conditioner, wait, rinse, shampoo, rinse, conditioner, wait, rinse, shampoo, rinse, conditioner, wait, rinse, building up a methodical rhythm, until I was sure I was clean. I scrubbed at my body until my skin was pink, getting rid of any trace of anything.

When I was finally done, I stepped out of the shower, all sobered up and wrapped a towel around me, before I sat on the edge of my bed, looking at the door. Every step in the corridor outside made me jump, so I decided to blow dry my hair to try and take my mind off the ordeal I'd just been through. But Nick's death kept playing over and over again in my mind, no matter how hard I tried to shut my thoughts up.

Then, when my hair was dry, I sat at the edge of the bed, looking at the door, trying to think about nothing.

After a while, or maybe only a few seconds, I'm not really sure, I suddenly hear a knocking, which makes me jump.

"Come in," I say, trying to hide the shakiness in my voice.

It's just Alex.

"Are you ok?" he asks, glancing at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reply, smiling as best as I can at him.

"You don't have to lie to me Josie," he says, coming into my room, and closing the door behind him.

"I'm not," I say, "Theo said I was just doing what I had to do to survive."

"He's right," Alex says, sitting next to me at the edge of the bed, "for once."

He pulls me into a hug, and wraps his huge arms around me, before he lies down on the bed, positioning me so that my head is lying on his chest.

"Alex-" I sigh frustratedly, as I wiggle out of his grip, and sit back up again.

"I just-"

"You wanna be alone. I get it," he says, sitting up himself. He cups my cheek with his hand and turns my face to look at him.

"I'll see you in the morning, but until then, you always know where you can find me," he smiles at me, his eyes full of kindness.

How many people has he killed?

The way he's looking at me now, makes me believe he wouldn't hurt a fly.

I nod, and smile genuinely at him, watching him as he leaves and closes the door behind him.

I'm left in glorious silence again for a while, until I hear another knock at the door.

"Alex, I said-" I begin, before the door is swung upon, and Theo waltzes in.

"What is it Theo?"

"How are you feeling?" he gets out, as if it took effort to ask.

"Like a murderer."

Theo stands there for a moment.

"Well... you've been through a trauma," he says, gesticulating with his hands.

"Please leave me alone," I beg, falling back onto the bed, Theo being the last person I want to be with right now.

"But I have a present for you," he grins.

"A present?" I ask curiously, sitting up again.

"Yeah!" he exclaims, and I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not.

"What is it?" I ask wearily.

"Come with me and you'll find out," he grins mischievously at me.

"Theo, I'm really not in the mood," I moan.