13 - Valentinos and Lies

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

― Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan

. . .

OLIVIA WOODS

I knew I was frozen. Maybe I was shaking, too

"Kitten?" Zavier walked closer to me, frowning. I took a step back. Xerxes looked down at me. Ashton walked closer, too.

"Little one?" Ashton took my hand in his, trying to pull me gently. I ripped my hand out of his, taking another step back.

They were friends with the Valentinos. There was doubt in the Creeds being with the mafia but there was no doubt in the Valentinos owning the Italian Mafia.

"I want to go home," I whispered wrapping my hands around myself feeling myself tremble.

"Olivia." Xavier gripped my waist. "Baby, you are shaking." He tried to pull me to his chest. I struggled in his arms.

"Let me go!" I tried to get out of his arms. He cursed repeatedly under his breath. "Guys."

"We're going," I heard an unfamiliar voice say, and then people leaving the room. The door was slammed shut and then Zavier picked me up.

I sniffled, looking up at him as he sat down on a couch with me on his lap. He tucked me to his chest, rubbing my back. I hiccuped.

"Baby." He tucked me closer to his chest.

They were friends with them.

"Y-you know who they are?" I whispered, looking at Xerxes who was sitting beside us.

He looked troubled. "Yes."

"Th-Then why are you friends with them?" I looked at Ashton who was on standing close by.

They didn't say anything.

"Answer me," I whispered, looking at Zavier.

"We..." he sighed. "They are not going to hurt you, kitten."

"I-I don't believe you." I tried to get out of his arms again. His wrapped then tighter around me.

"Listen to me." Ashton crouched down beside me so that he was looking me right in the eyes. He cupped my face, wiping the tears away. "You have heard things about them, I know, little one. But they are not going to hurt you." He brushed his thumbs over my cheekbones.

"You are friends with them." I pushed his hands away from my face. He looked hurt. I got out of Zavier's arms.

I looked at them. Ashton and Xerxes were standing, Zavier was sitting on the couch. They were watching me with dark eyes and I was reminded of how I had felt before I became their friend. Hunted.

"Olivia," Xerxes said, walking closer. I stumbled, my back hitting the wall. He walked closer and stopped a few feet away, his hands clenching and unclenching. "You don't have to be scared." He cupped my face, his thumb brushing over my lower lip. I shivered.

"Are the...are th-the rumors about you three true?" I asked.

. . .

ZAVIER CREED

Were they true? Yes, but they were not accurate. We were in the mafia but we owned it, we were not just a part of it.

I nodded as Xerxes moved away from her. She looked beautiful, she always did. I did not like the terrified expression on her face. I did not like how

vulnerable she looked pressed to that wall and looking at us as if we were going to kill her.

"Some of them-" I said. "-are true."

"Which ones?" She folded her arms against her chest. She was taking deep breaths as if to calm herself down. I wanted to take her in my arms and calm her down myself but doing that right now would only freak her out more.

"That we are involved with the mafia and that Valentinos are friends," Ashton said, his eyes calculating. "It's hard to get out of mafia once you enter. We entered when we were really young. The boss does not let anyone with money go."

She frowned. "I don't understand." She wrapped her arms around herself, looking lost.

"We work under a capo," I said, the lie felt bitter in my mouth. I didn't want to lie to her but if we told her what we really were, she'd run. I didn't want her to run. "Once you get involved with the mafia, death is the only way out." That was true.

She gulped, nodding her head. "What about the Valentinos?"

"They are friends," Xerxes answered, face stoic. "And yes, they are our friends."

"Why?"

I grimaced. "They are friends with our capo."

She watched us with untrusting eyes. "You are hiding something," she mumbled, frowning.

I walked closer and took her in my arms when she didn't try to move away. I picked her up and sat her on the desk.

I felt my brothers come closer.

"We were never let anyone hurt you," I said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Never. Okay? You don't have to be scared of anyone."

She nodded, her cheeks blossoming red. I looked down and saw why she was blushing. I was between her legs and the band of her dainty little panties was visible because the dress had scrunched up around her thin waist.

OLOVIA WOODS

They all saw it. My panties.

After what they had told me, I should have run for the hills, instead, I was on a desk, surrounded by the Creeds who were watching me with hunger in their eyes.

"W-we sh-should..." I bit my lip. Their eyes flickered to my face. They were not touching me. They were just looking and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"Little one..."

"We have to go," Xerxes said. After a moment, Zavier moved away which allowed me to get off the desk and straightened my dress. I was blushing so much I felt lightheaded.

They were in the mafia. Not by choice. It sounded like they wanted to leave but couldn't. I couldn't hold it against him. And they had to be friends with the Valentinos, too.

After I grabbed my clutch from where it had fallen on the ground, feeling their eyes on my butt, we walked out, and this time Ashton and Zavier were on either side of me and Xerxes was behind me.

As soon as we entered the hall, three men walked towards us.

I recognized them instantly. I had seen their pictures multiple times. Italian Mafia. Guns. Bombings. Drugs.

I pressed closer to the Creeds. Ashton and Zavier wrapped their arms around me. I felt Xerxes's chest press to my back.

Dante Valentino smirked at me, he was a blond with dead green eyes. He looked like a music teacher who liked to do illegal fighting. His nose was crooked. There was a scar on his jaw which looked like a thread of silver. Dressed in a dark grey suit and with tattoos crawling up his neck and hands, he looked exactly like he had in the pictures.

Just scarier. A lot scarier. And so did his brothers.

Giovanni Valentino had a knife in his hands which he kept twirling around his tatted fingers, somehow managing to not drop it or hurt himself or hurt someone else with it. His brown hair was up in a bun, his eyes were identical to Dante's. He smiled at me, eyes filled with amusement. I looked away.

Fabiano Valentino was silent, his face neutral. His black hair was up in a quiff, green eyes looking at me as if I was a piece of furniture he had to look at because someone had put it in front of him. He was silent. He didn't bother with a smile.

"Hello, Miss Woods." Dante took a sip of his drink, watching me with a smirk on his face.

"H-Hii," I mumbled, nervous out of my mind. I was scared.

"I have better things to do than to talk to little girls," Fabiano muttered, tilting his head. "Did you pick her up from the streets?"

"Fabi." The warning was clear in Zavier's voice.

Fabiano smirked. I looked away. "What?" He chuckled. "Good choice, guys. She can barely look at me without shaking."

"Say one more fucking word and I will make your regret it." Ashton took my hand in his.

Why were they talking to Fabiano like that? Wasn't he more powerful than them?

"Don't mind him, Miss Woods," Giovanni said, lifting his drink to his lips. "He forgot to take his pills today. Go away, Fabi, don't you have a whore to fuck?"

My eyes widened at that.

Fabi walked away, muttering something in Italian under his breath. "Now," Xerxes said. "Let's go eat something. I'm hungry as fuck."

. . .

Thoughts?