"I'm hoping, I'm waiting, I'm praying you are the one..."

Delaney was really something else. Crazy. Feisty. Funny. Sexy. A little goofy. I had never found all of that in one woman. It was usually one trait or the other, but they all resided within her. She was like a dream come true. I knew I had to sit some time aside and get to know her better. Right now, I was interested in her but I knew things could quickly change. She could end up being like all the other girls I've tried to be with or maybe things just wouldn't work out. Either way, I was going to try to get to know what she's really about and take things slow. Rushing things never had good results, especially not with me.

I've dated quite a few women and was even engaged once. I was a stupid ass nineteen year old about to elope with a no good b-tch who was sleeping around with half of the crew. She had me hooked and was playing me the whole time. From that point forward, I haven't been trying to rush or look for love. It'd come when it came. My princess was somewhere and she'd be revealed when the time was right. For now, all I could do was focus on the family and whatever sh-t we had going on. At least, that's what I kept telling myself. I kept telling myself to focus on the family when in reality my mind was on Delaney.

Last night while I was with her, I was enjoying myself being wrapped between her legs and kissing those luscious lips of hers, but I got interrupted with a call saying that there was a hit on one of our safe houses. A few of our members died and we weren't sure who the hell did it. They burnt the place down and not too many of our members were able to escape. Within the fire, were a couple of unaccounted for bodies that weren't part of our crew. They were probably girls hooking up with the members or friends of the family. Either way, we lost quite a few of our people. Payback was on the way, but first we had to figure out who actually had the balls to do it. Last night, we had no clues. We decided to get a night's rest and meet up at our headquarters the next day.

It was noon when I got to our headquarters which was in a high class neighborhood where most of the heavy hitters of the family stayed, including myself. I lived in the neighborhood, as well as Leo and Lin. Our houses were only a few doors from each other and headquarters was just a few blocks away from my place. Normal residents didn't live in our neighborhoods. Only the De Palma family members that could afford it and affiliates of our organization such as our self-paid lawyers and doctors.

When I got to headquarters, a count of about fifty people were there. They were all chilling, drinking beers, smoking pot, watching television, f-cking, you know, the normal. I said my hellos, but then quickly made it to the sanctuary. The sanctuary was where we held meetings. Sometimes we all came together and voted on decisions, sometimes we drew on the whiteboard our strategies, sometimes we had debates about what we needed to change; whatever it was, it was usually settled in the sanctuary. When I walked in, Lin, Leo and Rafael were all sitting down and laughing.

Leo, Lin, Rafael and I were pretty big in the family, but we weren't exactly top dogs. We got looked up to and we were very well respected, but really we didn't have much control. We led meetings, produced strategies and held voting for sh-t but that was about it. I guess, in the real world, we'd be called assistant managers, but in our world, we were called chiefs. The person we looked up to and who we went to when we couldn't settle the problem was the head honcho, Jimmy. Anything Jimmy wanted, we did. He treated us more like f-cking assistants than anything. He was probably the worst head honcho in the history of the family, but of course I would never denounce him aloud. I knew most people felt the same way though. After the head honcho was the don. The don was probably the biggest role someone could have.

In our family, we had 50 dons, one for each state. If we kept spreading then I'm sure we'd have more for other cities in other countries but we hadn't grown worldwide just yet. The don of California was Vinny. Very nice guy. He was Jimmy's boss. Whenever we got Vinny involved, it was always for some serious sh-t. He'd always help us with open arms. If we needed more troops in Santa Monica, he'd send some from another city. If we needed anything, he was the one we went to. Very reliable man with a huge ass responsibility on his back. Vinny had to make sure every chapter of our family in California was in good condition and keep his headquarters in Los Angeles contained as well. I don't think I could ever be a don. I didn't see how he did it. Being a don was a precious title and showed how much you were respected, but man was it hard work. I was fine with being a chief. I had just enough say and control. I didn't want the power like my father had. I just wanted the respect and the love he got.

Finally, at the top of the food chain, the top dog, the numero uno, the current leader of the whole family was Pauly De Palma, my uncle. He was still living in New York City and doing pretty damn well at keeping our gang notorious. He was making my father, his older brother, very proud and I was also proud to be his niece. Pauly usually only got involved during really serious occasions or festive events. Any time we got a new head honcho, don or even chief, he would try to show his face at the celebration. He was good man. He cared for us.

"Look who the f-ck finally decided to show their face," Leo screamed when I walked through the door. I shut the door behind me as Lin, Leo and Rafael all looked at me with amusement. I wonder what the hell was going on. They must've had something up their sleeve. "I was just showing Rafael that hot mami you f-cked last night. What was it like being in a Spanish treasure? Did her p-ssy taste like Texas Pete? Did you hit it good, Andy? I see it on your face, man! I bet she was like ooh, mami, ay caliente mucho gusto." Leo, Lin and Rafael were cracking up but I really didn't see anything funny.

"Chill, I didn't hit it," I said as I walked over to Leo. I snatched the phone from her hand and I saw that she had found Delaney on Instagram. Delaney Hershey was her real name? Interesting. F-ck off, you don't stand a chance, loser was her bio with a peace sign emoji. I actually laughed. Most of her pictures were with her friends at clubs, at the beach, on the pier, anywhere having a good time. Leo ended up snatching her phone from me.

"What the hell do you mean you didn't hit it," Leo asked as if she was offended.

"Chill, we just met."

"Chill," Leo mocked, trying to mimic me. "Dude, that's never stopped you before. You have to hit that and then tell us what it's like and if it's good you need to past her to me."

Before I knew it, I snapped and grabbed Leo by her shirt. I pulled her up from the chair as she hysterically laughed at me. "You better not f-cking try to touch her, Leo."

Leo laughed as she pricked my fingers off of her. "Territorial over your p-ssy, I see. Don't worry, Andy. You can have her. She's too mouthy for me anyways."

"If you two are done, can we actually sit and talk about last night," Lin suggested. I exhaled and tried to calm down a little. Why was I being so defensive over Delaney? I had to f-cking chill. I walked away from Leo and took a seat across from her. All four of us sat at the table in silence for a few moments. Right when Rafael was about to say something, my phone buzzed. A text from Delaney.

I picked it up and read the text message that was on the screen. Hey, what's your favorite song? Just asking for a friend...lol. – Delaney. I tried my best to hide my smile as I typed back a response.

Baby – Justin Bieber – Andy

Cute, now tell me the real answer...lmao – Delaney

Seriously, that's my favorite song – Andy

Lmao I don't like liars Andy – Delaney

I know you love me, I know you care – Andy

Delete my number – Delaney

Just shout whenever I'll be there – Andy

Quit – Delaney



Delaney, I know you want my love. You want my heart – Andy

I DON'T want your HEART Andy lmao - Delaney

My first love broke my heart for the first time and I was baby, baby, baby oohhh :( - Andy

Tonta smh – Delaney

Estas loca - Delaney

Sei bella – Andy

Que????????? – Delaney

If you can talk in Spanish, I can talk in Italian – Andy



"Are you even f-cking listening, Andy? Put down your phone for a second, will you," Rafael yelled at me. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Rafael, Leo and Lin. They all looked serious. I think I missed the whole conversation. "Do you agree with what we're doing?"

"Wh-what?"

"She was too busy sexting the muchacha to listen," Leo said.

Rafael rolled his eyes. "We're sending out a few small groups to go sneaking around and find out who set that safehouse on fire. We're having one group trailing the Diablos, another going after Royal Street Gang and a third trailing Shift's entourage. They're just scoping sh-t out. No murdering. We're just trying to see what's going on with everyone and see if we can find info. Is that cool?"

"Yeah, that's cool. We just have to make sure that everyone knows that it's a non-violent mission. We need eyes and ears, reporting and nothing else," I replied as if I was paying attention the whole time.

"Great. I already know who I want in the groups. I'll go let them know." Rafael stood up from his chair. When he walked past me, he patted my shoulder. "And next time, please don't sext during a meeting."

"I wasn't f-cking sexting!"

"Yeah, sure you weren't," Rafael teased before winking at me. I rolled my eyes at him as he walked out. I checked my phone again.

You're bilingual??? – Delaney

The more you know – Andy

Anyways, back to the important...what's your fave song? – Delaney

I'll tell you later, but only if you want to hang out later - Andy

Ugghhh, no fair. I have to babysit Tyra's baby cousin while the girls go out tonight – Delaney

I'll come and keep you entertained – Andy

Well, little Jake and I are going to watch Monsters Inc on repeat sooooo it's your call – Delaney



I told Delaney to text me whenever she wanted me to come over later. I really didn't mind kids. Also, I wasn't going to pass up any quality time that I could get with her. "She's got you whipped," Leo said once I finally put down my phone. "You're over there smiling hell of goofy as you text her."

"Are you jealous," Lin suddenly asked Leo. "Don't you want to find someone you can text like that?"

Leo had the biggest overreaction ever. She scoffed and scrunched up her face as she vigorously shook her head. "I'd rather not have someone nagging at me all the time. I don't see how you're getting married, Lin."

"She's the love of my life, man," Lin responded with shrug. It was hilarious how Leo acted like love didn't exist. I guess she wasn't raised like Lin and I in a way. She grew up with her dad only. Lin and I had parents who loved each other to death, Leo never got to see anything like that. I prayed that maybe one day she would come around and find a girl, but I doubt that she ever would.

"It's just not for me. I'd rather be single for the rest of my life. I don't need constant stress or a constant pain in the ass. I'd rather just f-ck around and live life as a free woman," Leo continued to mope.

"You just have to find the right girl," Lin encouraged with a pat on Leo's back. Leo shrugged her off and I laughed. She always got grumpy when we got too lovey with her. I swear, Leo couldn't stand to be loved by anyone.

"This is gay," she mumbled.

"Well, we're three gay ass motherf-ckers," Lin pointed out.

"You know what I mean. I don't want to fall in love with someone and get f-cked over. My mom ran away from my father and left me with him. She couldn't handle being a mother so she just jetted." I was going to point out that her mom left because her father was a piece of sh-t and always beat her, but I'd rather not strike a nerve. Instead, I kept my lips closed. "I mean, look at Andy. Girl was in love with Fiona just for her to f-ck around on her."

"Fiona and I were young when we had our thing. We weren't built to last anyways. She couldn't be committed and when I think about it, back then, I was always horny. I probably wouldn't be able to be committed as well. We'd get married just to cheat on each other. We were too young to understand reality. I just don't respect how Fiona was cheating on me with a bunch of our guys. I can't shake it off. I still look in the face of some of the guys that boned my fiancée and I have to put a fake ass smile on my face," I voiced. I really didn't like talking about Fiona. It was bad enough that I usually saw her at least once a week at the headquarters with some guy or girl. They passed her around like a bowl of salad at the dinner table.

"Why'd you have to bring it up, Leo," Lin scolded when I suddenly became quiet.

"It's fine, Lin. I'm just happy I'm rid of her, you know? It's been three years. I'm over it. This may sound crazy but I think Delaney and I could go far if I play my cards right," I confessed.

"She's going to take your heart and salsa around with it. Don't let her trap you, man. You've known her for a night. You haven't even hit yet. What if she can't f-ck or something," Leo asked with disgust. I laughed aloud. Out of all the ridiculous things Leo said, I think "What if she can't f-ck or something' was by far the funniest and most ridiculous.

"I'm pretty sure she can f-ck, Leo and if she can't I'll teach her, but I'm not worried about that right now."

"You better be worried about it. She has some nice tits. You better motorboat those f-ckers in the honor of me," Leo protested.

"Is sex all you think about? Jesus Christ," Lin exclaimed.

"Hey, we all have our comforts. Sex is mine so cool it, lovebird. I f-ck and talk sh-t. It's what I do. It's my destiny."

"It's my destiny," I repeated her ridiculous comment as I laughed.

-

Do you guys like Andy's friends?

Are the text message pictures working for you guys? Just testing them out bc I kind of want to use them for something more important later in the story.