THIN ICE |BOOK I |BWWM|

•ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 12•

•OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA•

Julia's POV

"What is that?" I chomped into a thick piece of garlic bread.

"I don't know, I swear they make up half of what they say on the spot- no script." Olivia laughed as she slurped her Angel hair noodles and increased the volume of Morty's voice.

"Probably." I wiped the spots of sauce from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand.

"So heyyy, what you think I should do about Mr. Tampon?"

"Hmmmhhm" -she shrugged- "I've never really had that happen to me-like that exact situation. I mean, I wanna say it's cute, but folks crazy nowadays, so that might end up being a red flag down the line."

"Well, he has a child, so he can't be all bad, right?" I took another bite.

"You know who else had children?-Ted Bundy."

"He's not another Ted Bundy, Liv."

"Was he fine?"

I closed my eyes slowly and nodded yes, my teeth raking lightly across my bottom lip.

"So was Bundy. Better be careful." She gave a curt nod and shoved a forkful of pasta into her mouth.

"Can't be anymore dangerous than what you and your family deal with on a bi-monthly basis."

"Touché." Olivia pointed her fork at me.

"-or even your crush on Andres."

Olivia choked on some pasta before throwing a punch to my arm.

"Shhhh, don't be so loud."

"Oof! Will you stop it! No one's gonna hear me." I grimaced while rubbing my bicep.

"What's his name again?" Olivia's eyes did a 360.

"You know what's crazy, I've seen him twice and still don't know. But he's tall, has really pretty brown eyes, oh, and he had an accent."

"So basically half of California's population."

I sipped some of my wine as my eyes narrowed, thinking about her valid point, and Nicolai and Danny romped through the living room with faces full of paint prepared to leap on the couch.

"Ahh! Don't sit on the couch with all that on your face! Nonno doesn't like paint on his sofa."

"I'll get a towel." I jogged upstairs and snagged two towels from the laundry closet.

"You didn't introduce me to your friend Nicky."

"This is Danny. We're tigers." The boys growled in unison.

I skipped back down the steps and handed Olivia a towel.

"Go to Aunt Liv Nicky while I get Danny's face clean."

"So Danny, how long are you gonna be with us?" Liv engaged the little one.

Danny shrugged, "Until my Daddy picks me up."

"I guess I should have expected that answer."

"Daniel, tell me again, what's your daddy's name?" I asked.

"Matìas." he said through rough wipes over his mouth.

Olivia stopped mid-swipe, "Wait Danny, what did you say?"

"Matìas."

She moved Nicky to the side and leaned on her knees, "Is your Zia's name Catalina?"

"Yeah, but I just call her Zia."

Olivia's hand flew to her mouth as some of the wet paint transferred to her upper lip.

"No. Way. Come here love!"

Daniel glanced to me for reassurance before he reluctantly stepped to Olivia.

"I haven't seen you since you were born! I can't believe you didn't tell me Matías' baby boy was Nicolai's friend."

She flicked her gaze to me as my eyes bugged and I held my hands out.

"Oh, I'm sorry! This is Matías Russo's son. His family used to own the restaurant until about six years ago. He's the son of Don Vincent. They do a lot of business with Giuseppe and...Franco..."

Her face suddenly darkened with realization as my ears rung with alarm.

"This...might be bad."

~~~~~~~~~~

•PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY•

Andres' POV

Click.

The snap of the door's latch slipping in to the lock echoed through the entire house as I cringed.

It didn't help that villa had empty hallways and so much open space for the smallest sound to do somersaults in.

I hurled my duffle bag over my shoulder and wandered into the darkened kitchen. The moonlight cast stray light over the appliances and counter as I washed my hands and cracked open a beer.

As the cool liquid flushed the taste of jet lag from my mind, I caught a glimpse of the familiar wispy white ribbon streaming from a dark figure outside by the pool. 

I dumped my bag on the sofa and slid the back door open to greet the gentle evening breeze and and Russ' low volumed voice.

"Didn't think you'd still be up."

Adrian cocked his head over his shoulder, "Look who decided to show up."

"You waited for me?"

"Just for the report."

I took a swig, "Hmph, well we didn't get the shipment back, but Troy's dead."

Adrian's arms uncrossed as he leaned back, a satisfied puff of smoke passing his lips.

"So are Sal, Micheal, and Leo."

He took in a sharp breath of nicotine and stood up slowly, "Well, that's a shame."

"That they're dead or that we didn't get the shipment back?"

Adrian shrugged and spun around as I noticed his red rimmed eyes.

"That I'm forced to have you as a number two."

"And no one could do my job better."

"Keep thinking that." He flicked his cigarette butt at my feet.

"Planning on getting rid of me too? Who else is gonna put up with you pissing and moaning about everything?"

"I'm Don now. I don't need you to hold my hand Andres and I don't need you to take care of me!"

We fired a volatile cocktail of stares for what felt like like forever, as a cocky smirk stretched across Adrian's face.

"Officially?"

His eyebrows jumped up and down.

"I'm leading the meet with Russo."

Adrian sauntered towards me, leaning his face until it was only a few inches away.

"So count your days baby brother."

A/N: I wrote this chapter after watching like 8 Rick and Morty episodes and couldn't stop reading the dialogue in their voices 😂. send help.