6-Grounded.

Hazel POV.

I don't think I have ever seen my brother that angry before, he was ready to kill me, his eyes were on fire, his temper was off the charts, and the whole club was silent and dull when I walked in. I thought the parties lasted all night long, well into sunrise, but the club music was off, the staff was cleaning. Their eyes, all of them, locked on me, it felt like everyone knew what happened, why I'm coming in, Alexander walking behind me, looking like a bodyguard, feeling more like an executioner.

He didn't knock on the door, he opened it, and I froze, too scared to walk in, but I was pushed in by Alexander, the traitor and then met with a scene from my nightmare. I took a step back, trying to hide, wanting to get away from him but the door was closed behind us, I turned to Alexander, and we agreed that he's going to stay, he's not leaving me here alone with him, he might kill me and think of the consequences later.

"Hey, Leo," I say with a tight smile, trying to get him to relax a bit.

"Hey, Hazel, how's your evening?" he asks me, matching my tone, but the anger, I could still see in his eyes, he wasn't trying to hide it, he's just playing along.

"It's been okay," I assure him.

"Really? Because my night was going well too, until I got a call that my sister, you know my little sister, with whom I just had a talk concerning her school, and that new boyfriend of hers, that angel. She decided to take a metal stick to her boyfriend's car," as he talked, with every word he said the harder his tone got.

"Let me explain," I say, although I don't know how much help my explanation would do.

"Yes, go ahead, please explain why you weren't in bed, fucking sleeping?" he asks me between gritted teeth, so he's not going to like this.

"He...he...I caught him cheating on me, and I was filled with a buzz," I say, and then stop myself, stupid Hazel, that grave just got deeper now.

"Buzz? Drinking?" he asks, standing up, pushing his chair backwards, slamming both hands on the table, making me take another step back until my back was fully against the closed door.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" he yelled, his voice echoing through the club.

I flinched, my eyes started to water, I'm not weak, but I don't like being yelled at either, I looked at Alexander with pleading eyes, he's his friend, he should tell him to stop it.

"Leo, take it easy," he says, standing up for me.

"Take it fucking easy! She was drunk, and she went crazy on that shithead car! Do you know what this means to her? Her future?" he asks Alexander, who goes back to being quiet.

"It was just a car," I say, in a low voice. I didn't kill anyone, I didn't deal drugs or weapons like them two, and still I'm being yelled at as if I did the worst crime of all time.

"Just a car? Hazel, you have spent a night in a holding cell, you were arrested, you got a court coming up, and a judge will decide if this will go on your permanent record, is that all just a car, Hazel?" he asks, and I looked down at the ground, I didn't think all of this through, I was just thinking of having revenge nothing farther than that.

"We have a guy, we'll pay the jerk off so he'll drop the charge and it won't get on her record," Alexander says, trying to calm my brother down.

"Yes, do that," Leo says, nodding, so nothing is going on my record, I'm lucky.

"You might be getting lucky with the record, but you're not off the hook yet," my brother says, turning back to me, just when I thought I was clear.

"I'm sorry," I say, if that's what he wants to hear, I'm going to say it.

"Sorry, won't do shit," he scolds, walking around his desk, coming toward me, I whined in fear, I was terrified of what he might do to me.

He stood right in front of me, and my eyes stayed glued to the floor, he was quiet at first, just standing in front of me, thinking about his next move.

"If you were younger, I would have taken you over my knee and spanked the living shit out of you, but you're not a child anymore," he says, and I just nod, good thing I'm not a child anymore.

"But you're not getting out of this without a punishment," he says and I just nod. He's taking away my allowance, I'm going to have to survive on instant ramen, I just know it.

"You're grounded, and you have zero privilege going forward," he says, and I look up at him this time, confused.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"What it means," he says with a chuckle, it was filled with sarcasm, he didn't like my question either.

"I give you a car, let you live out of my home, I let you be a responsible adult, and what you do in return, you get drunk, smash a car and risk your future," he says, citing what I have done.

"So by logic, I'm taking you back under my wing," he says, and I look up at him, just as confused. What the hell does any of this mean?

"No more living in the dorm, you move back home tonight," he says, starting to count on his fingers. One.

"No more car, if you want to go anywhere, one of my men would be taking you," meaning I need permission to move. Two.

"No boys," that was expected. Three.

"No drinking," again, expected. Four.

"Your cards are on hold, you can have some cash on hand, but if you need to buy something, you come to me," he says, he's tying my hands; no more shopping. Five.

"And from this day forward, you're under Alexander's protection, if you can't reach me, then call him, he'll be around, his words go, you obey him the same way you obey me," he finishes.

I didn't expect that, my brother had the rule of keeping his work life away from me, and now he's pushing his best friend, his right hand to be part of my life, I couldn't help but objecting of course.

"I thought I was supposed to stay away from your people," I say.

"My people, the one that are outside, but you Alex," he says, so Alexander is a green light?

"Really?" I say with a raised brow.

"He's a brother to me, which make you his sister, so yes really," he says with much more attitude, so I decided to go quiet again, I just nod my head at him.

"Alex, take her home, get her settled, she got school in the morning," he says.

"You can't expect me to get to uni tomorrow, it's like four am!" I yelled at him, that wasn't fair, it's Sunday night, and everyone knows we hate Monday, especially Monday morning.

"You should have thought twice, now go," he scolds again, Alexander opened the door for me, and I started to walk out back to his car, another kind of walk of shame. Everyone was looking at us, and everyone knew what just happened; they must have heard it all.

Alexander opened her car door for me, and I got in, he drove me back toward my childhood home, our parents' house.

"I don't have any clothes," I whined, thinking of how much uni is going to suck tomorrow.

"I can give you another one of my hoodies, you seem to enjoy them," he says to me, so he noticed I've been wearing his clothes all this time.

"You staying here?" I ask, changing the topic.

"Yes, I moved in after you moved out. It's easier to keep an eye on your brother and be near when needed," he answers me.

"Right, my brother needs a lot of protection," I say with an eye roll, making him chuckle.

"You're just like him, hot-headed, you hit first, think later," he says.

"I think that's a Romano thing," I correct him.

"Next time, think, or call me, I'll help you make it undetectible," he says, parking the car, he opened the door for me since I didn't have a key on me.

I headed toward my room, the same one I had when I was young, thing is I got to update that room before I went to uni, so staying there wasn't the worst, and I do have some clothes leftover here, so I'll be fine staying here, but I had to whine, I'm staying against my will, so whining is a must.

"Goodnight, Hazel," Alexander calls from downstairs as I move up.

"Goodnight," I say, stopping in my spot, this is the most we have talked in years, maybe there's a chance we might end up becoming friends after all.

In my room, I take off my pants and keep the hoodie on, enjoying what's left of Alex's smell on it, finally I drop headfirst on my pillow, I was exhausted, being drunk and taking revenge takes a lot of energy, especially the part where I had a new ass chewed up for me.

In only a second, I was asleep, and snoring even, relaxing, now that I'm home with Alexander and my brother, I can't deny that I'm feeling extra safe.