A/N: So Zayn makes his first appearance and for the sake of my sanity (and laziness), let's pretend his nickname for Olive from the start was 'Dimples', kay? (tf was I thinking with bunny?). I'll change it in the first book later when I'm rewriting and editing and stuff.

Tw: violence

....::::**•°✾°•**::::....

╔══ ❀•°❀°•❀ ══╗ 𝑶𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 ╚══ ❀•°❀°•❀ ══╝

"I'm sorry,"

"Small fry, for the last time, you have nothing to be sorry about," Griffin told me.

"Injuries and physical trauma can lead to PTSD, which in turn could cause temporary memory loss. That's how some people cope with traumatic events and you happen to be one of them," Miles explained. "It's completely normal,"

"Come to think of it, you really haven't said anything about that night since you came here," Kai spoke up.

"She hasn't said anything about it since that night. Even while it was just us two in L.A," Miles clarified.

Griffin was the next to speak. "Is there anything else you remember about that night, Olive? Anything helps, no matter how insignificant you may think it is,"

All eyes turned to me. My eyebrows furrowed in the middle of my head as I tried to recall what happened that night.

The day I had lost my mother. My birthday.

The day played in my head, some parts of it still fuzzy. Despite that, I said everything I could remember.

"A masked figure held my mum hostage. Had a gun to her head,"

I watched as Miles handed Griffin a pen and a notebook. Griffin quietly jotted down what I was saying while Miles and Kai turned to me, waiting for me to continue.

"I had seen him somewhere before that; he was at the alliance ball a few weeks earlier. Imani referred to him as Leone Farr? Or something I don't remember."

"Xavier's grandma," Miles explained to Kai, noticing the confusion at the mention of the Imani.

"He called himself my dad but mum and I denied it. Hedeon Ivanov walked into the room a few minutes later, introducing the masked figure as the reaper,"

"He said mum had been keeping a secret from me and handed me a framed photo," My voice shook as the events that happened soon after flooded my mind.

"You okay to keep going, small fry? We can stop here if you want, you've already done more than enough,"

"I'm fine," I assured Griffin.

"Let us know if you can't anymore, okay?" Miles said.

I nodded and continued the conversation. "It was a photo of my mum and dad when they were younger. A man I had never seen before was with them. Their names were behind it but I don't remember the man's."

"Do you mind if I ask a question?" I nodded and turned to Griffin. "You said your parent's names were on the picture as well? Do you remember exactly what was written?"

I nodded again. "Felix Laurent and Elaine Adair. Adair was my mother's maiden name,"

Griffin quickly wrote that down like he'd been doing since I had started talking. "Thank you, if you're okay to, you could continue,"

I let out a deep breath, tears blurring my eyes as I turned to Miles and Griffin. "You guys and Xavier arrived, I think. Hedeon told the reaper and the reaper shot my mum."

Miles was quick to his feet, wrapping his arms around me as I tried my best to fight back the tears.

"Let them out, it's okay," Miles said. "Your conscience locked that entire night away from you so you haven't had time to properly grieve her,"

Miles' soft voice caused the tears I had been desperately fighting back to stream down my face in uncontrollable sobs.

"He shot her in front of me," I cried. "I tried to keep pressure on the wound,"

"That was so smart of you, pumpkin. I'm so proud,"

"But it wasn't enough," I sobbed. "I held her. She was so close to me. I watched the life leave her eyes,"

"I'm so sorry, you went through that, Via." Kai spoke up as Miles arms around me tightened, pulling me deeper into his embrace.

The room was quiet as I cried. After I was physically unable to anymore, I pulled away from Miles only to be met with Griffin, standing right next to me.

He was holding a box of tissues, some Advil and a bottle of water. A blanket was hauled on his shoulder.

He held the tissues out to me and I took a few, wiping at my blotchy face. After that, he placed the Advil and the bottle of water on the table, busying himself with wrapping the blanket around me.

I stared at him in confusion. "Is the Advil for me?"

"It's for later. You're most likely going to get a headache and I don't want you stressing yourself by getting up to look for some," He explained.

Kai walked up to me, handing me a cup of hot chocolate.

"This is the only thing he can do without burning the kitchen," Miles said.

"Like you'd know, you never let me cook." Kai rolled his eyes.

Miles shrugged. "Better safe than sorry,"

A smile crept up my face as I sipped on the hot chocolate. "Thank you guys, really. I appreciate all of this,"

"Thanking us like this isn't our job," Kai cursed when Miles elbowed him in the stomach.

"He meant to say anytime," Griffin smiled.

"I can keep going," I told them. Uncertainty was clear on each of their faces. "I promise, I'm fine to keep talking,"

Griffin nodded, returning to his seat on the couch, in front of the table where he had his notes. Miles and Kai followed suit.

"Before she died, she told me something. That my father was naturally blonde. It explained why I hadn't recognized him in the photo. He had brown hair when I was younger,"

"After that she told me he was in the mafia. She said something about him protecting me from someone else, I don't really remember. Those were her last words,"

My gaze met the ground. "The next thing I remember was Griff bleeding out,"

"Makes sense, you were unconscious when Xavier carried you out of the room that night," Miles explained.

The guys were quiet for a couple minutes as Griffin finished up his notes. Miles pulled me into a hug, placing a kiss on the side of my head.

Meanwhile Kai busied himself with refilling my hot chocolate. I thanked him for the drink, flashing him a grateful smile as he returned to the couch.

"Thank you for telling us this, small fry. I know it wasn't easy." Griffin said finally, his eyes softened as he looked at me.

"You don't have to thank me, I'm happy to help,"

He nodded with a small smile. He was about to read out what he had written down when he locked eyes with Kai and hesitated.

Kai noticed this and sighed. "It's been 2 months and you still don't trust me?"

"Griffy," Miles said, staring at his boyfriend.

Said boyfriend's face fell into a frown. "I'm just trying to keep you and Olive safe. He could be working for the enemy,"

'I've known Kai since I was 5. He let my mum and I stay with his family when my dad started overdosing and hitting my mum and I," Miles told him.

"He was there for me during my parents' divorce and again when my step dad started hitting us too. I trust him with my life. I'm not saying you should trust him but at least give him a chance,"

"Aw, Moreno," Kai sniffed, wiping away a non-existent tear. "I didn't know you loved me that much, you never say stuff like that."

"Griff, ignore everything I just said," Miles groaned, rolling his eyes.

I laughed, playfully shoving him while Kai began to panic. "No, I didn't mean that. Don't ignore him,"

Griffin sighed, running a hand over his face.

"The first thing we have here is that Le Faucheur, more commonly known as 'the reaper', was at the Russo's alliance ball. Under the name 'Leone' or something along the lines of that,"

The second Griffin had begun talking, the atmosphere changed from playful to serious. He had captured everyone's attention with just a couple words.

"I texted Jordan and asked him to send a list of the guests at the alliance ball that night. Specifically, the men whose first names started with an 'L' and last names with an 'F'. Only one result came up. Leonardo Fallieres,"

"Yes, that was him." I confirmed. "If I remember correct, Imani said he owned hotels in L.A,"

"So that's our man, then?" Kai asked.

"Yes, Leonardo owned hotels but according to Jordan's intel, Leonardo Fallieres was found dead in one of his hotels the day prior to the alliance ball; burnt to death but the cause of the fire unknown,"

"The reaper," Miles said.

"Aren't events like that supposed to have top notch security? How the hell did the reaper manage to get in, even with Leonardo's identity," Kai questioned.

"Entry was by invitation only and not only was he on the list, he had an invitation. Courtesy of Samuel, one of Xavier's grandparent's bodyguards, who was working with the reaper," Griffin answered.

Kai looked confused. "So what happened to the bodyguard?"

"I killed him. Stabbed him actually," I stated. No remorse. No guilt. No emotion at all. "Over and over and over again. Was fucking laughing as I did so,"

I could only describe the look on Kai's face as fear. There was no other way to put it.

"Should've seen the Ariella girl I tortured before he killed her,"

"Her name was Alyssa. Her and Xavier have this thing about not remembering people's names," Miles informed Kai. "I don't really get it but I find it hilarious,"

"What exactly did Via do to her?"

"Cut off her fingers and toes," Miles smirked. The smirk fell into a frown seconds later. "Griffin wouldn't let me see though,"

"A centipede was involved if I'm not mistaken," I mumbled, sipping on my hot chocolate.

"Remind me never to cross you," The three men mumbled.

I shrugged. "Keep going, Griff,"

Griffin nodded, his eyes darting back to the notepad he had on the table.

"The reaper was at Olive's childhood home and held her mum hostage. Called himself her dad when Olive confronted him,"

"The question is why," I asked. The three men looked at me, the look they all shared unreadable. "What?"

"Olive, have you thought that maybe your dad could be the reaper?" Kai asked me.

"My father is dead," I deadpanned. "Died when I was 10,"

"Pumpkin, I know but what if he isn't? You told me that his body was never found, right?" Miles questioned.

"And the reaper happens to wear a mask. What if it was because of the fire?" It was Griffin's turn to ask questions.

"Even if my father was alive, which I highly doubt, why would he be trying to kill off the people I love just to get to me?"

None of them were able to answer my question, proving my point. "Exactly,"

Griffin sighed before moving on. "The picture of Olive's parents and the random man is the next thing. If we're able to find the picture, we can run a background check on the man seeing as their names were on the back,"

"You might want to ask one of your guys back in L.A to run a check on Olive's mom," Kai suggested.

"As Elaine Adair, that way we can find out if she has any remaining family that can shed light on who Felix was protecting them from. That's genius, Kai." Miles told him.

"Thank you, I try," He smiled.

"I've texted Jordan and Kat the details, they'll get back to us as soon as they find anything on either of your parents, Olive." Griffin notified me.

"Why both of them? We just need to do a check on my mum,"

"I know. But you mentioned that you're dad was brunette when you were younger and we know the reaper is also a brunette. We can't ignore the obvious signs,"

"Griffin-"

"We're better safe than sorry, ViaVia," Kai told me.

"ViaVia?" Griffin asked.

"It's Kai's way of wrapping Olive around his finger. Whenever he uses it, she almost always does whatever he asks,"

Kai spoke up. "It was actually a mistake, courtesy of Vox but I stuck with it,"

"Who's Vox?" Griffin asked again.

"That's a story for another time," I told him before turning to Kai. "I hate you,"

"Am I supposed to be surprised?" He scoffed with a smile.

"We need to get a hand on that photo or a copy of it," Griffin continued. "I doubt it'll still be at the house in Paris so our best bet is waiting to see if Kat can find any family your mother had,"

"A sister," I announced. "I remember going to her house every Christmas. But they stopped talking, so I don't know if she's still alive or anything like that,"

"By some fucking miracle, do you happen to remember her address?" Kai questioned.

"No, but I remember the street, she lived here in Bordeaux,"

"Text me the street name, I'll ask around and see what I can gather," Griffin said.

"You should take someone with you, just in case," I told him.

"Orsetto?"

"Actually, I was thinking Olive and I should head back to L.A for a few days," Miles said, moving towards Griffin. "I've been feeling homesick,"

"How am I supposed to protect you if I'm not with you?" Griffin asked.

Miles cupped Griffin's face. "We'll be fine. It's just for a little while,"

"When are you guys leaving?"

"In a few hours. Our bags are packed and everything,"

Griffin sighed, his hand interlocking with Miles' that rested on his face. "I'm not okay with this but I trust you,"

He brought Miles' palm to his lips, placing a soft kiss there. "But I'm sending all the men with you,"

"That makes sense,"

"Derrick and Zayn as well. They'll meet you at LAX,"

Miles frowned but sighed. "Yeah, that's reasonable as well,"

Griffin moved towards me. "Take care of each other and call me the second anything goes wrong,"

"Griffin," I laughed.

"You're right. Call me the second there's a slight possibility something might go wrong,"

"Okay, I will," He straightened up and was about to head towards Miles when he hesitated. "Something wrong?"

"Can I hug you?" He asked, scratching his head.

A smile crept up my face as I stood up, pulling him into a hug. "I'll see you soon, Griff."

He pulled away and flashed me a smile before heading over to Miles.

"Take care of her, don't do anything stupid, be safe. I know already," Miles told him.

Griffin's smile grew larger as he stared at his boyfriend. "You forgot one important thing,"

"No, I have all her inhalers. Backups, spares-"

Miles trailed off when Griffin cupped his face, planting a light kiss on his lips. "Call me, every single day."

"Okay," Flustered was an understatement yet was the only word that perfectly described how Miles was feeling at that moment.

"And send all the bills my way," He mumbled, pulling away from him.

"Who needs Kai anyways, he's just some side character. Let's pretend we don't see him and do all this shit right in front of him," Kai rolled his eyes as he spoke.

Griffin stopped, his hand on the door handle. "Raven, you're with me."

"What? Why me?"

"Small fry and Orsetto won't let me go on my own and you're the only other person here," Griffin deadpanned.

"And this is a great opportunity for you two to get to know each other better," Miles beamed at the two men.

"Try not to kill him, Griff," I smiled.

"Are you guys sure you want me to go with the armed guy who doesn't like me?" Kai looked at Miles and I, expectantly.

"Again the armed guy. The guy armed with guns who could shoot any person or in this case, handsome person, just because he didn't like them and get away with their murder,"

"You realize I can hear you right?" Griffin asked.

Miles looked at Kai, confused. "What are you talking about? Griffy loves everyone. You guys just need to talk first,"

"Fuck my life," Kai

"Okay, get going now," Miles practically pushed the both of them out the door.

"You owe me, big time," He rolled his eyes as he turned to look at me.

I grinned. "We both know if I had been the one to tell him, he would've never agreed. I had to use his soft spot for you to my advantage somehow,"

"And what better way than to ask me to tell him I'm feeling homesick,"

"It was either that or tell him the actual reason we're going to L.A," My smile grew. "You wouldn't want all those weeks of planning to be in vain, now would you?"

He mumbled incoherent phrases under his breath. "Miles, what's done is done. All we need to worry about now is getting ready to leave,"

The second I stood from the couch, pain flowed through me from my head. Thankfully, Griffin had left Advil out for me.

"Knowing Griffin, he has men downstairs already," Miles agreed after I had taken the Advil.

We both made our way upstairs, to our rooms to get ready. I took a quick shower and picked out an outfit for the day.



I let my hair down and put on the hat before grabbing my suitcase and heading downstairs. Miles was already waiting at the door when I reached the bottom of the stairs.

He was wearing brown sweatpants, a brown hoodie and a beige puffer jacket. Rather than shoes, he wore white socks and beige slides. A black crossbody bag hung on his torso.

"Snacks and two of your inhalers are in my bag, spares in the suitcases. Nothing's plugged in. Kai has his key. Griffin can cook so they won't starve the entirety of the time we're gone. I think we can leave now,"

He took my suitcase from me and only left the apartment after I had, making sure to lock the door behind him before we headed down to the bar, where 6 of the Donato's men were already waiting for us.

Four were stationed on opposite sides of the street, two on each side while the other two in the car that was parked in front of the bar. All of them dressed in normal clothes so as not to give away their identity.

We only entered the car after Miles and I had asked them to show the symbols that proved they were indeed a part of Griffin's mafia.

Our checking inevitably got us some stares seeing as their symbols were on their hip. But it didn't matter anyways because in a matter of seconds, we were in the car on our way to the hangar.

The two men who were in the car accompanied us to the hangar while the other four drove in a different car.

The four men as well as all the others were at the hangar by the time Miles and I got there. I thanked the men who held the door open for Miles and I and also thanked those who helped us with our luggage.

"Of course we're taking his, I'm not surprised," Miles mumbled when he spotted Griffin's initials on the private jet.

"He refunded the money for the tickets too," I told him, looking at my account details on my phone. "And added way too much for us to 'just spend',"

"I mean, if he wants to spoil us during our little trip, who am I to complain?" He smiled. "He might have some sort of condition that requires him to spoil people, you never know,"

"Not people, you. And it's called love," I laughed.

A cold breeze had me pulling my jacket tighter around my shoulders. Miles noticed this and draped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side.

"It's getting chilly huh?"

"Miles, it's snowing," I told him as we climbed the stairs into the jet.

The cabin crew showed us to the lounge where a large couch and an even larger tv were waiting for us. Drinks were placed on either side of us as we sat down.

"And you're wearing a crop top," He pointed out. "Are you trying to catch Pneumonia?"

"I have a jacket on, don't I?" I frowned. "Plus, the temperature in the car was regulated, same for the jet and it's hot in L.A."

"The only cold part of today was walking into the jet from the car and we've already done that. You'll be the one complaining when you're sticky with sweat,"

"You think I'm going to spend over 14 hours on the jet, in this?" He motioned to his outfit. "I always knew you wanted me dead,"

I laughed at him as he handed me the burritos he had made before we left.

"How many days do we have left?" Miles told me.

"10 days till their birthday," I replied. "Till their ball,"

"You have your surprise ready yet?"

"I'm still piecing the details together. I don't actually know what I'm going to do yet,"

Miles chuckled. "I can already tell that this trip will be very eventful."

●・○・●・○・●

╔════•●•════╗ 𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒏 ╚════•●•════╝

"Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Kai asked.

"Yes,"

"Are you sure you're sure?"

"Yes,"

"Are you sure you're sure you're sure?"

"Yes,"

"I think we're going the wrong way," He said.

I didn't bother to look at him. "The map says otherwise,"

"I think the map's wrong,"

"What makes you think that?"

"One, I've lived here and I'm pretty sure this road isn't complete yet. Two, there's a sign that says the road isn't complete,"

I said nothing as I stopped walking.

"I'm surprised you listened, that's a good start. Next, you can try actually talking to me or, if that's too much for you, you can show me the address so I can get us there,"

"Olive trusted me with her aunt's address, the only lead we have in trying to figure out why the reaper wants her," I finally turned around, looking at him. "What makes you think I trust you enough to show it to you?"

A smile took form on his lips. "I see what's going on here," His smile grew as he stepped closer to me. "You're jealous. You realized your precious little sister has me to lean on if you fuck up again and you don't like that,"

I attempted to speak but he kept talking. "And it's not just Via, Moreno too. Actually, it's more Moreno than Via. A 60/40 type thing,"

"You hate the fact that they have me now, which is why you're being so cold. 'm sure the only reason you told me to come with you was because you didn't want me going with them,"

"I hardly know you. For all I know, you could be working with the reaper,"

"You've lived with us- with me, for two months. In my apartment. Eating my food- actually Moreno's food. Sleeping under my roof. Via and Moreno mean the world to me and the fact that you think I'd hurt either of them is beginning to piss me off,"

His smile was gone as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Actually, your whole attitude is pissing me off,"

"I'm done trying to be nice to you. If you want to keep wandering around aimlessly because you're too proud and too jealous to ask me for help, be my guest,"

"Why are people always yelling when I arrive?" Wyatt complained as he walked up to us.

He looked at me then at Kai, then back to me before scratching his head. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nope," Kai's carefree self was back as he turned to Wyatt, grinning.

"Mhm, so you weren't just calling Griffin out on his shit?" Wyatt smirked at the look on both our faces. "Kinda been here since the beginning,"

"That's not important. What is though, is why you're here in the first place,"

"Griff texted me the address and asked me to help him find it. Which now that I'm thinking about it, I probably shouldn't have said,"

Kai moved to say something but decided against it, shaking his head. "Helping Olive is my main priority. And if you guys care about her as much as you claim you do, you'd show me the address. Because, surprise, surprise, I've lived here my whole life,"

"Hey, I trust you man. Lead the way," Wyatt didn't even look at me as he gave Kai his phone.

Kai looked at the phone, reading the address before turning to us. "This is in the more dangerous part of town. I know you guys are in the mafia and shit but you should still stick close to me,"

Wyatt nodded and followed behind Kai as he led the way, dragging me along with him.

"Want to tell me what's going on with the both of you?" Wyatt asked.

Kai was a couple feet ahead of us, occasionally looking at the address on Wyatt's phone as we walked.

"There's nothing going on," I deadpanned.

I'm freaking out.

"Of course there isn't. Let me guess, you also aren't doing that shit where you say something but think something completely different," He smiled.

"No," I mumbled.

"Didn't take you for a liar, Griff,"

"I'm not a liar. I just can't tell you,"

"And why not?" Wyatt pressed.

"Because I'm not even sure myself," I admitted. "Everything about Kai just pisses me off,"

"Okay, we're making progress. Do you know when this started?"

"About the first time I saw him talking to Orsetto, why?"

Wyatt sighed, slapping his palm on his forehead. "You're supposed to be the smart one, man."

"I don't know what you're-"

"You're jealous,"

"Kai said that too,"

"Yeah because you are," Wyatt deadpanned. "I honestly don't know how to feel about it. One the one hand, you're getting worked up over nothing at all which could jeopardize this mission,"

"But on the other hand, you've never gotten jealous before. Hell, you hardly show any emotions. Knowing you're able to get jealous like a normal person proves you're not a robot,"

"I have to admit that I hate seeing him with orse- You thought I was a robot?"

"Not exactly. I just didn't think you were a regular human. Maybe some sort of android, or advanced alien," Wyatt laughed.

"Wyatt, be serious for a second," I groaned.

"Fine, fine. You hate seeing him with Miles because you know they have history together. It's normal to feel this way. What would suck though, is letting your feelings get in the way of the mission,"

"I'll pretend like I didn't hear you guys' entire conversation. Anyways, we're here," Kai said, turning to us.

Wyatt grinned, claiming he had no idea what Kai was talking about while I on the other hand said nothing.

"Where's here exactly?" Wyatt asked, staring at the dark alley in front of us.

"The neighborhood is on the other side but the alley is crawling with delinquents and thugs. Nobody hardly comes through here let alone lives there so I'm confused why Olive's aunt stays here,"

"Be ready for anything. If anyone hits you, hit back 10 times harder and faster, preferably before the others arrive," He warned us.

Wyatt's regular smile had vanished and was replaced by a psychotic one as he slipped on his brass knuckles.

I cursed in Italian, pulling the hair tie out of my hair. I put my hair into a low bun before taking out the two guns I had in my holster.

I looked over at Kai and noticed he had nothing to defend himself with. I moved to offer him a gun when he stopped me.

"We're not killing them. But thanks for the offer. At least I know you don't hate me enough to let me die," He smirked. "Besides, I don't need it,"

"You're either insanely skilled at fist fighting or you're even more insane than I am," Wyatt laughed.

"The first one actually. Plus, if I remember correctly," He stopped talking, moving pieces of cardboard away from the wall. He smiled, grabbing two baseball bats that laid there. "Here,"

I caught the baseball bat he threw my way. "How did you know that was there?" I asked him.

He headed into the alley, the bat resting on his right shoulder. "I told you. I've lived here my whole life,"

I wanted to ask what he meant by that but was interrupted by Wyatt, nudging my shoulders.

"You ready?" He beamed, cracking his neck.

"We just need to get to the other side, don't go overboard," I warned him.

Wyatt gasped, clutching his chest. "When have I ever gone overboard?"

His smile grew as he trailed a finger of the brass knuckles he was wearing. He placed his hands behind his back and closed his eyes, whistling as he followed behind Kai.

"Wyatt, what are you doing?" Kai asked when he noticed about five guys circling Wyatt, who still had his eyes closed.

Kai was unable to wait for a response from Wyatt as three guys circled around him, broken bottles in their hands.

I was occupied with four guys; two in front of me and two that I felt creeping up behind me.

The sound of wood meeting flesh resonated through the empty alley when Kai swung hard at one of the men.

His face was set in stone while the other two laughed. "Is this anyway to treat your childhood friends, Kai?" One of them asked.

"You should have brought Moreno down here. His father would have loved a few words with him," One of the men surrounding me laughed.

"I'm sure his step dad would have liked to talk to him as well. Remind him how he failed his whore of a mother,"

The bat in my hand moved on it's own. The sound of it coming down hard against the skull of the man that had just spoken was the only thing I heard.

Despite me tying it up a few minutes ago, my hair fell into my face. The hair tie, gone.

I lifted my head, anger seeping through every vein in my body as I stared the men down. "What the fuck did you just say?"

Wyatt finally opened his eyes, his hand wrapping around the throat of the man that had lunged at him. He squeezed hard, not enough to kill the man but enough for the sound of his bones breaking to be heard.

Kai, Wyatt and I had somehow found ourselves in the middle of the alley, our backs to each other as more and more men poured into the alley.

The three of us shared an all knowing look. I nodded. Kai smiled. And Wyatt...

Wyatt was laughing his ass off. Before he suddenly stopped, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

Kai ran his tongue over his piercings, repositioning the bat in his hands.

I pulled my hair back, tying it up with a spare hair tie Miles had me wear just in case.

"You guys ready?" Wyatt asked as the men closed in on us.

"Yeah," Kai and I said.

Wyatt moved quickly, the brass knuckles he wore coming in contact with the cheek of the man directly in front of him.

The man's blood splattered across Wyatt's face, tainting his white hair while the man in question fell to the ground with a loud thud.

The other men were quiet for a few seconds as they stared at Wyatt crouched down on the ground, the man's motionless body at his feet.

"Boss?" One of them called out.

Wyatt poked the man with his finger a couple of times, smiling to himself. "I think he's out cold. Which is strange cause I didn't even hit him hard,"

"He knocked out the boss," Another one spoke up.

Wyatt shook his head as he laughed. "No fair. I was expecting more of a fight than that. What a weak little thing,"

Words of rage spewed from their mouths. They grabbed anything they could find, hitting it against the walls and they screamed.

I watched - half disgusted, half surprised - as Wyatt licked the corner of his lips where their boss's blood had been splattered.

"Kill them all," A voice yelled.

Another one followed. "Their blood will run through the streets,"

"We'll hang their heads as a reminder to anyone who dares to cross us,"

"NO SURVIVORS,"

Wyatt groaned, rolling his eyes. "Shut up already, do you know how stupid you all sound?"

"Kill them," He mocked. "Their blood will run through the streets. No sUrViVoRs,"

He laughed to himself, scratching the side of his neck as he rose to his feet. He dusted off his clothes and wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"As much as I would love to stick around, we have a little sister we're trying to help. If we could hurry this up, that would be awesome."

"But remember-" Wyatt laughed, pure insanity dancing in his eyes. "Have fun,"

◑ ━━━━ ▣ ━━━━ ◐

╔════▣◎▣════╗ 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔 ╚════▣◎▣════╝

"Olivia fucking Laurent," Xamira's voice echoed through the empty airport.

Olive's face lit up at the sigh of Xamira running up towards her, her arms stretched out in front of her.

They met in a rather rough hug, both women giggling like crazy as tears streamed down their faces.

"I should kill you," Xamira frowned after they had pulled away from each other.

"Mira-"

"That's Xamira to you," She huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You disappear for 10 months and think everything is going to be fine between us?"

"Kat and I did nothing. Same goes for the Bianchis. The only people you should actually be upset with are Xavier, Griffin and Jordan."

Jordan and Griffin because they knew Nori was alive and Xavier for everything else. And to make matters worse, you've forgiven them. Without telling us anything,"

Olive's face flooded with guilt as Xamira glared at her.

"I'm sorry," She apologized. "I'm really sorry. I don't have any excuse as to why I didn't call to check up on you guys. That was horrible of me and-"

"You're lucky I still have a soft spot for you," Xamira mumbled, before pulling Olive into a hug,

Olive smiled as she crouched down, wrapping her arms around her shorter friend.

"You ready to acknowledge my presence yet? Or should I give you two a few minutes?" I scoffed as they pulled away.

"Aw, Miles. I didn't know you missed me that much," Xamira laughed as she hugged me.

"I wonder what'll happen if I place you on top of the fridge,"

Xamira quickly grabbed my arm, twisting it and pinning it behind my back. She pushed it up a few more inches causing me to cry out in pain.

"What were you saying?"

"That you're a short queen and I respect that," I snapped back with a smile, despite the pain she was causing me.

"Where did she run off to now?" Derrick's voice was heard a few feet away from us.

Zayn's voice followed after his. "Do you see Olive and Miles yet?"

"Xam? Where are you, baby?" Diego called.

"D?" Xamira's whole face lit up as she let go of my hand, turning to look for her husband.

Diego smiled when he spotted her, heading towards the three of us with Preston and Derrick trailing behind him.

"Hi, beautiful," Diego beamed, placing a kiss on his wife's cheek.

He was 6'3, the same as Griffin and Xavier, an inch taller than Wyatt and I and a whole foot taller than Xamira.

His gaze moved to Olive and his smile grew. "Cognata, still as radiant as ever,"

"Diego, still as charming as ever," Olive smiled, giving him a quick hug.

"I'm going to get something to drink. I'll be right back," Xamira told Diego.

She placed a kiss on his cheek before heading to one of the several stores the airport had to offer.

"It's been a while, huh fighter?" Derrick chuckled as Olive hugged him. "Still practicing those moves I taught you?"

"You could say that," She shrugged with a smile.

Zayn smiled as Olive made her way to him, his arms stretched out, waiting for her. "Hey Dimples, what have you been up to?" He asked the second she hugged him.

"Trying to escape the psychopathic serial killer that wants me for some reason.You know, the usual," She smiled.

He pulled away and I returned my attention back to the small group in front of us.

"What are you and Xamira doing here?" I asked Xamira and Diego.

"That was a tad bit rude, Miles," Diego mumbled.

"He didn't have to be rude but he does have a point. Griffin said it would be just Derrick and Zayn meeting us at the airport," Olive said.

"That was the plan. But you know how Xamira gets," Zayn smiled. "The second she found out we were coming to get you guys, she insisted that she'd come along,"

"And Diego honey can't say no to his wife. All she really had to do was pout a little and he was at her beck and call," Derrick laughed.

"In your defense, he said you'd be meeting us at LAX and this is not LAX. Which brings a second question, where exactly are we?" I asked.

"Arlo's airport," Zayn answered.

Olive's mouth dropped open with shock. "Arlo has an airport?"

Derrick nodded. "Yeah, he said he'd rather fly his planes from his own airport rather than LAX or all the other ones so he bought some land and built his own,"

"Since when was Arlo a pilot?" I questioned.

"He started flying the second he finished school," Zayn explained. "He liked the freedom that came with it. Taking over the Bianchi mafia came with a lot of responsibilities, it was his means of escape,"

"He shut it down today because of you guys' arrival," Diego informed Olive and I.

"I knew they were insanely rich but this is ridiculous," I mumbled to Olive. "A whole airport?"

"Right?" She remarked. "I still can't believe Arlo was a pilot and no one said anything,"

Derrick chuckled, noticing the looks of pure surprise on Olive and I's faces. "He still flies too. He's the person who flew Xavier and Jordan to-"

Zayn elbowed Derrick, sharing a look with Diego.

Diego was about to say something when Xamira returned to the group, a small frown on her face.

His face fell immediately as he cupped her face, bringing her gaze to his. "What's wrong, amore mio?" (my love)

"I couldn't make up my mind about the drink I wanted and asked the guy at the cash register to recommend one for me but he just got mad and yelled at me, saying I was wasting his time."

"Which store exactly?"

Xamira turned and pointed over to the fruit punch store, outside the airport, on the street opposite the airport. Something flickered in Diego's eyes as he nodded, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll be right back,"

"Uh oh," Derrick smiled.

"Uh oh?" Olive repeated.

"Why uh oh?" I asked.

"Diego is very... protective about Xamira," Zayn commented.

"D, it's fine-" Xamira started but was cut off by Diego.

"Don't worry about it love, I'll take care of it," He turned to Derrick and Zayn. "Keep an eye on Xam for a few seconds,"

Before Xamira could protest, Diego was already halfway to the store.

"What's he going to do?" I wondered.

"Follow him and see for yourself," Zayn leered. "I think Olive would rather stay here with Xamira,"

I nodded and followed after Diego, catching up with him rather quickly. He turned around, noticing my presence but relaxed when he noticed it was me. However, he said nothing.

We reached the store and he held the door open for me as I walked in, shutting it gently behind us.

What made me uncomfortable was the calm manner in which he walked and the all too polite smile that was on his face.

We made our way to the counter where the cashier Xamira had described was. He was attending to a lady, a sickly smile on his face as his eyes shamelessly roamed her body.

"I can't make up my mind," The lady spoke up. "What do you think I should get?"

"The tropical punch is one of my personal favorites, I can guarantee that you'll love it," He replied.

She smiled and nodded. All the while Diego remained silent, watching the entire interaction.

After he had given her the drink and she had paid, he turned to us. The smile on his face was gone.

"What can I help you with?" His tone was far from friendly.

Despite that, Diego smiled at him.

"Hi, a lady was in here a few minutes ago. Beautiful blonde hair, mesmerizing eyes, a smile that could light up a room and a personality that would make anyone fall in love, remember her?"

The cashier rolled his eyes. "The lady that couldn't make up her mind about what drink to order. She was annoying and asked stupid questions,"

"Yet here you were helping another customer who asked the same stupid question," Diego shook his head a bit. "How much?"

"The price depends on what size of-"

"How much for the store?" Diego asked, catching both me and the cashier off guard.

"Are you stupid? The store isn't for sale," He scoffed. "Even if it was, you'd never be able to afford it. Not even in your dreams,"

"This is the owner's number?" Diego completely disregarded the cashier, dialing the phone number on the flier in front of him.

"What is it?" A gruff voice came from Diego's phone. He had put the call on speaker.

"Gooday sir, my name is Diego Alfonsi and-"

A gasp followed by a series of apologies was heard through the phone. "Mr. Alfonsi, I'm so sorry sir. I didn't realize it was you,"

The color from the cashier's face drained as Diego laughed. "That's no problem at all. I just wanted to know if you could help me with something,"

"Anything sir. Whatever, you name it,"

"How much would it cost to buy this store from you? Would 100 be enough?"

"Yes sir. 100 is more than enough,"

"Alright. I'll send 100 million dollars to your account. I'm guessing it's the one on the flier?"

"Yes, yes. Wait- did you say 100 million? I thought you meant 100 thousand. 100 million is too much sir, I couldn't possibly take that,"

"Don't worry about it. Think of this as an early Christmas present," Diego joked before ending the call.

He was silent for a few minutes as he typed away on his phone, most likely sending the money to the owner.

A notification popped up on his phone, bringing a smile to his face as he showed the cashier.

"As of this moment, I'm the new owner of the store," He stared him dead in the eye. "I don't think I need to tell you that you're fired right?"

"You can't do that,"

"He just did though," I commented, gaining a glare from the cashier. "My bad. I'll stop talking," I smiled causing Diego to laugh.

"First some bitch comes in here now this psychopath-"

Diego calmly removed his glasses from his face, placing them on the counter. In the blink of an eye, his hand was wrapped around the collar of the cashier, their faces inches apart from each other.

"Call me whatever the fuck you want, I don't care. But never, and I mean never, disrespect my wife."

The cashier visibly shook as Diego held him, anger radiating off of him as he spoke. "Do not touch her. Do not speak to her. Do not look at her, do you understand?"

"Y-Yes sir,"

"Perfect," He smiled, letting go of the cashier. The cashier collided hard against the counter while Diego put his glasses back on.

"Before you pack your things, could you please make us a few drinks?" He turned to me. "What do you want, Miles?"

I stood shocked, unable to process what I just witnessed. Diego laughed. "That's okay. We'll just have one of everything,"

Diego and I waited for the cashier as he made the drinks and placed them all on a tray. "I would really appreciate it If you could serve it to my friends back in the airport,"

Diego lowered his voice. "After that, you get on your knees and apologize to my wife, understand?"

The cashier nodded his head rapidly. Diego and I headed back into the airport first, the cashier following behind us.

"We brought drinks," Diego announced with a smile.

The cashier went around handing drinks to each of us, careful to avoid looking at Xamira. Once the tray was empty, he held it under his arm and got on his knees before Xamira, much to everyone's surprise.

"I'm sorry for being rude to you. It w-won't ever happen again," The cashier looked at Diego and only when Diego nodded, did he rush to his feet and run out of the airport.

"Diego. What did you do?" Xamira asked her husband with a sigh.

"Olive and Miles must be tired, they've had a long flight. Why don't we drop them off?" Diego smiled, ignoring Xamira's question.

He wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her into his side, laughing when she looked up at him, confused. Derrick and Zayn laughed.

"Miles, what did Diego do?" Olive asked me as we all headed out the airport.

"We're surrounded by crazy people," I told her.

◑ ━━━━ ▣ ━━━━ ◐

"It feels so weird being back here," Olive said as we walked into the house.

Despite the fact that we hadn't been in here since June, everything was still clean and tidy, exactly as we had left it.

That was one of the many things Griffin did to try to get me to hear him out, when we weren't speaking.

He took it upon himself to clean the house from top to bottom. I had refused but had forgotten that I had given him a spare key to the apartment.

He also bought the entire apartment building to ensure that no one would take Olive and I's home while we were gone because he believed that we might come back someday.

"Where are you going?" Olive asked after we dropped our suitcases in the living room.

"There's something I need to show you. Wait here for a second," I replied.

She looked confused but nodded nonetheless. I walked past the living room to the end of the corridor where the door of the basement was.

I let out a series of coughs left as I tried to navigate through the piles of dusty boxes. A particular few caught my eye.

"Here we are," I mumbled, picking them up.

They were rather big boxes, stacked on top of each other with a much smaller one at the very top.

My view was partially obstructed by them as I walked back up the stairs. I let out a sigh when I dropped the box on the table.

"What is all this?" Olive asked.

I patted the spot on the couch next to me and smiled softly when she did. I took the smallest box and handed it to her, watching as she dug through it.

"They're all letters?" She held one up, reading who the sender was.

"They're from Xavier," I explained.

"I don't understand,"

"You remember Valentine's day? Everything that happened, his confessions, all that? Well, the very next day, he tried to talk to you,"

She looked at me as I continued. "He came to the house and knocked on the door, waited out there for about four hours. It was a rainy day too; he was soaked,"

"I finally realized it was him but I didn't let him in. You were in your room, crying your heart out and I thought if you saw him again so soon, you wouldn't be able to handle it. That you would break,"

"He realized that I wasn't going to let him see you and went home. Couple minutes later, I hear the doorbell and go downstairs to find a letter,"

"That was the first one. He sent a letter everyday after that. Even when we moved to Bordeaux, he kept sending them. I had Griffin keep them in the basement with the others,"

"Griff didn't know they were from Xavier and wasn't really in a position to ask about it then so he just did what I asked,"

Tears clouded her eyes as she read the very first one. "He-" A sob racked through her while her eyes moved to the other boxes.

"What about those ones?"

"Those," I started, gesturing to the other for boxes. "Are all your boyfriend's apologies. The gifts he sent these past two months you guys weren't together? He's been doing that since February,"

"Apparently, he knew when you had your periods too. He always came in person and left chocolates and glass flowers at the doorstep, making sure to wait till I opened the door and took them in before he left,"

"Fuck," She choked on a sob as she brought her hands to her mouth, her tears streaming down her face. "He's been apologizing for almost a year now? And I-"

"No. None of this is your fault," I told her, watching as she got off the couch and rummaged through the other boxes. "If anything it's mine for not telling you sooner,"

"I- what am I supposed to do now? What he did was horrible but he's been trying to apologize for so long. Do I forgive him or not? I'm so confused,"

"Pumpkin," I started softly, getting off the couch. "You know you don't have to pretend with me like you do with the others,"

"I'm not pretending," Her voice wavers at the end as she gets to her feet.

I sighed, pulling her into a hug. "I still haven't forgiven him for what he did to you but I have seen the way he looked at you- the way he still looks at you,"

"The way he looks at me?"

"Like he just realized what love is," I trace my hand through her hair, "A reflection of how you look at him,"

"I still hope he gets struck by lightning though," I add, gaining a small laugh from her. "I'll play the SpongeBob theme song a his funeral,"

"Despite that, it's still your decision whether you forgive him or not. And even though I hate him, I think you should. He's learned his lesson; he didn't really have a choice, actually. Griffin made sure of that,"

"Griffin? Did he do something to Xavier?" She asked, peering up at me.

I smiled, brushing away her tears with my fingers. "It's not if he did something but what he didn't do to him. Anyways, that's a story you'll have to hear from Griffin yourself,"

"I love you, pumpkin. And I always will. I'll always be by your side no matter what. And I can promise you that Xavier, Griffin, Xamira, Kat, Jordan and the four Bianchis are too,"

"I love you too, Miles. Thank you," She mumbled.

"Mhm, okay," I pulled away from her, wiping away the last of her tears. "Enough crying,"

"Are you still surprising Xavier? Cause if I'm being honest, I'll be pretty pissed if we flew 14+ and you decided you're not going to anymore,"

She laughed. "I still am. I was thinking we'd go see him tomorrow, after we're settled in,"

A conversation was cut short when Olive's phone rang.

"It's Griffin," She answered the call and put it on speaker phone. "Hey, Griff, what's up?"

"You guys okay?"

"Yeah, we just got to our apartment. Miles sent Derrick, Zayn, Diego and Xamira home but your men are still stationed everywhere around us,"

"Okay, that's good,"

"Please stop. It hurts. Please," A man's screams were heard in Griffin's background.

"Wyatt," Griffin scolded.

"He's being such a baby. My thumb isn't even all the way in his eyes socket yet," Wyatt scoffed. His voice was unrecognizably dark.

"Honestly, ma'am. You're just making this worse for yourself. Tell us the shit we need to know and your husband might just make it out alive," Kai was next to speak.

"Doubt it," Wyatt laughed. "I'm having way too much fun,"

"Griff?" Olive called. "What's going on?"

Griffin sighed. "Your aunt, small fry. We found her but she's working for the reaper,"

◑ ━━━━ ▣ ━━━━ ◐

Duos I can't wait to write fighting together: XAV & OLIVE, Xav & Wyatt, Griff & Kai, OLIVE & WYATT

Trios I can't wait to write fighting together: Olive, Xamira & Kat, Xav, Griffin & Jordan, Wyatt, Preston and Kai.

Word to the wise, the story gets darker from here on out. Detailed violence, detailed torture scenes... idk if I want a couple to fuck over a dead body yet or nah but that's how messed up it's gonna be. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

C.O.D.: What a lovely forest... wait, it's just your nose hairs. Mwah