Mafia's girl

Chapter 10

*Aria's P.O.V*

The day after the business conference I was a little panicky. I don't think anyone could blame as it was finally setting in that I was going to work for Emma Garcia as one of her designers. The full realization hit me like a freight train as I stared up at the ceiling.

I was going to work for Emma Garcia, a top fashion designer as well as a model. I was going to work for my childhood idol and that was something that I had always told myself would be a fantasy. Now I was getting to live that fantasy and I felt like I was now on cloud nine. However, that high didn't seem to last long.

I was pulled from my thoughts by Lexi banging on my door and I hurried to get up, opening the door after a moment. She looked quite stressed and I didn't know why. My questions were cleared up when she dragged me to the living room, pointing to the T.V. in absolute silence.

My heart seemed to skip a beat when I saw the photos that were being shown on the news. A photo of me climbing out of Athena and Adonis' car, a photo of Athena and me from behind, her hand very clearly resting on my back, and a photo of me bumping shoulders with Julie when I walked past her.

My breath caught as I crashed down on the couch, staring in shock at the photos. I hadn't even known that someone was watching me after the first photo and now photos were being plastered all over the news. How did the last photo even get taken? I was sure that we were alone in the bathroom and my mind flashed to the moment in the bathroom yesterday. I realized belatedly that one of the stalls had someone in it and so they must have taken the photo.

"God damn it," I whispered as I put my head in my hands. I listened to the news drone on, speaking of my family for the most part. When I first ran off, it was constant news channels wondering what had happened to me. Over time they had waned off especially when I turned 18. All my work of being hidden was for nothing seeing as I was not plastered all over the news.

"Aria, what the fuck are we going to do? This is going to restart a bunch of problems," Lexi said as she sat down next to me, still staring at the T.V.

"I don't know Lexi, I didn't think my face was going to get plastered all over the T.V. No one even knew that I was an Ahn until Julie ran her mouth in the bathroom," I muttered as I massaged my forehead, looking up at the ceiling. I suddenly stood up, starting to pace in small circles with a frown on my lips.

"The Adairs knew you were an Ahn," Lexi pointed out.

"Yeah but they didn't know I was the one who went missing, they probably assumed that I was from a different branch of the family," I said as I paced around the table. Lexi pulled her legs up onto the couch so I wouldn't bump into them while walking. I froze as I stared at the floor when a sudden thought hit me. "What are Athena and Adonis going to think?" I asked with a frown.

"Why do you care? They're still practically strangers," Lexi pointed out.

"Because I'm not like you Lexi. I am not friendly and outgoing and I don't get along with people like you do. It's like I've missed some vital part of how to make friends and for once I thought I was making friends with people that genuinely liked me. They'll probably hate me now," I whispered as I sank to the floor.

"I'm sure they won't care, it's not like they ever asked so if you think about it then it's not like you really kept a secret," Lexi pointed out as she laid across the couch, letting her head hang off of it so she was looking at me from an upside down point of view.

"Maybe," I muttered as I stared at the floor. "Some people do though, they assume I kept a big secret on purpose but they never ask. If they wanted to know why don't they just ask," I said.

"Because most people don't run away when they're fourteen," Lexi pointed out. "Besides, humans are complicated human beings," she said.

"You speak as if you're not one," I said as I narrowed my eyes to look at her.

"I'm not, I'm actually a clone sent by the government to spy on you," Lexi said before she rolled off of the couch, landing on top of me. I burst into laughter as I rolled away from her, squealing when she jabbed me in the ribcage with her ring. "You are a deviant clone," she said with a small smile.

"You would be a terrible clone considering you can't keep a secret," I said. Lexi huffed at my words as she stood up, grabbing me by the arms as she looked down at me.

"Take that back or I'm dragging you down the hall," she said. I shook my head, fighting to get away as she started to drag me.

"I'm going to get carpet burn," I griped playfully as I wriggled to free myself, hitting my head against her leg to cause the both of us pain. I managed to free myself and scrambled back to the living room, pausing when I heard a knock on the door.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Lexi asked as she peered around the corner. I shook my head, stepping back around the corner to stay hidden. Lexi approached the door, checking through the peephole before she turned to look at me.

"It's my maman and umma," she mouthed to me. I froze at her words before I darted to my room, shutting the door and locking it behind me. I packed one of my old laptop bags with my phone and charger, putting my apartment key and money in it in case I needed to go down the fire escape.