Chapter 2

Sienna 

The hospital's sterile walls and antiseptic scent enveloped me in a familiar environment. The soft beeps of machines and hushed whispers of patients could be heard everywhere. I rounded the quiet halls to the changing room. I could see the sun setting outside, causing a red light through the windows. Working as a nurse is so hectic many days, but I chose this as my profession so I could help people in some way. I don’t regret it at all. Today was one of those days where my shift ended early as there weren’t many patients here. This hospital, where I worked, was located near the highway, so it got crowded almost everyday due to accidents happening.

      I need to get home before Adrian throws a tantrum. It took a lot of convincing him to even let me work here without constantly being hovered by the guards. So naturally, if I’m late, even by a minute, he acts up. 

    As soon as I enter the room, I spot Ava sleeping on the couch. 

    sh*t.

    Last night I ditched her plans to go out. Today she was occupied the whole day with work so didn’t get to go off on me. 

     I try to change out of scrubs and into my regular clothes quietly so she doesn’t wake up. When I'm done, I close my locker, but I realize my mistake too late. My locker door was jammed before, so when I closed it, the metal creaked loudly. I winced with the sound. 

      I turned just in time to see Ava jerking up from her sleep and frantically looking around until her eyes landed on me. Her eyes narrow; I guess she can see the sorry expression on my face.

       “I see what you’re trying to do here, trying to sneak out before I can catch you,” she openly glares at me.

       “Someone's grumpy today,” I murmured  “I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” I said with a sheepish smile on my face.

       “Oh no, you’re not getting out of this. You ditched me yesterday. I was waiting for you to come, but you never did,” she hissed. 

      “See, that’s where you’re wrong. I said I'd try to come, I didn't say I would.” 

     “D*mn you, Si, okay, let's hear your excuse then,” she asked, rubbing her eyes and crossing her hand over her chest.

     “Uhh, I was watching this art documentary and fell asleep,” I told her, keeping the other part of the information to myself. 

      When I asked Adrian, he downright refused to let me go out. Saying something about his warehouse burning and how it’s not safe, the usual, but I don’t tell her that because I know she’ll definitely have her opinions. I wasn't too worried about her going alone. She's a chatterbox, and she could make friends with anyone she met.

     She squints her eyes at me. “You’re lying, I bet it’s that annoying brother of yours who won’t allow you to go out,” she said, brushing her blonde hair out of her face. 

     I once made the mistake of telling her my brother doesn’t let me take night shifts. Since then, every time I cancel a plan, she blames Adrian. I don't need Adrian's permission for anything, but when he tells me something to do, I know it’s because he wants me safe, so I oblige.

     “My brother doesn’t have to ‘allow me’ or anything, things are tense with his work right now. So I simply listen to him.”

      She knows to some extent about my family situation. The Moretti family’s name is pretty big here in Chicago, so even if I try to hide, everyone knows who I am. It's one of the reasons I only have Ava as my friend. Anyone who finds out about my family, they distance themselves right away. But Ava understands my situation in a way since her uncle is the head of the Russian mafia in New York. 

      Ava sighs, “Fine, I’ll forgive you this time, but don’t you ditch me again.”

     “I won't, I promise,” I said, hoping I can keep this promise.

     Ava’s expression changes right away from grumpy to excited, which would look creepy if I didn’t know how Ava is.

    “You know my birthday is this weekend, and I got the voucher for the newest and most expensive restaurant that opened last month,” she exclaimed excitedly. “And you’re going with me,” she rattled off the name of the restaurant that opened in the area.

     “Or we could stay home and have a nice quiet birthday,” I urged.

     She scrunched up her pretty face. “No, why would I want that, we’re going out, That’s final, you have to make it up to me.”

     “How did you even manage to get the invites to that place?” I asked her because I was curious too how she got them.

      “I simply got them emailed to me.” She said, excitedly.

      “And that didn’t seem odd to you? They’re most probably scam Ava.” I told her.

“No, they’re not. I even called their restaurant to confirm, and they said they sent out random invites to food enthusiasts. They probably saw my i***a account with pics of all the new places we tried.” she beamed.

       A sigh of resignation escaped me. "Alright, I'll go," I said, before suddenly remembering, "Wait, I have shifts this weekend."

      A big smile took over Ava’s face. “Who do you take me for? I already got someone to cover your shifts.” 

      I groaned while she laughed happily.

         ***********************

My family home was picturesque. A red front door with a golden knocker. Black and white checkered flooring. A wooden staircase with a shine and a sparkling chandelier.

        The house is empty when I arrive; Mom and dad are in London. Since dad retired from his position as the head, he’s barely in the city, always off to somewhere else. Mom, needing attention, follows him anywhere he goes.

        Someone looking from the outside might think people who live here are happy, but they don’t know all this stuff is built on blood money. I was miserable here my whole childhood; only Adrian was there for me. Dad was old-fashioned; his thoughts were that girls are useless, so he ignored me most of the time, which I think is great. It was better to be ignored rather than get noticed by him. Mom did whatever dad told her, so that’s what she did, doted on Adrian all day, and ignored me. 

      Adrian tried to fight for me. When he was younger, he didn’t understand why he got to stay home and I was sent to an all-girls school far away or why he got big birthday parties and I got none. But he soon realized how things work in this life. 

       He made a promise to me that I vividly remember.

      “When I become the head, I’ll let you do anything, I won’t stop you from anything.”

        And he held up that promise. He made sure I could study to become a nurse, fighting dad to make that happen. Three years ago, I moved out of this house into my own apartment. But this year Adrian insisted I come back home to live for a while saying he got into a war with some ally. He wouldn’t tell me more about it, saying it’s better I don't know, but he was very distressed about the situation, so I agreed. But one week turned into a month, and a month turned into 6 months. 

        I'm ready to move back to my apartment. I'll talk to Adrian soon, after this weekend, preferably.

        Dropping my bag, I head into the kitchen to make something for myself. I’m in the middle of preparing a sandwich when the door opens. 

        Adrian walked in, his deep brown hair all ruffled up.

        It was the bloody shirt that made me move towards him.

        “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” I asked, concern and fear in my voice.

       “I'm fine, Sienna. The blood is not mine,” Adrian said with a tired smile on his face.

        “You need to stop scaring me like this,” I said, a mix of relief and irritation in my voice.

        “What’s cooking here?” He says, ignoring me and moving towards my sandwich. 

       “Hey! That’s mine," I say with a sigh, seeing he’d already started eating it.

       “Sorry, sis,” he says with his mouth full and a grin on his face.

      “I’m just going to change and head out to Gracie’s. I’ll come back before midnight,” he says distractedly. 

      Gracie is Adrian's girlfriend of one year. Gracie worked as a manager at one of his restaurants. Meaning she was fairly used to this lifestyle as she was the daughter of one of his head bosses. He should have stayed with her more often, but now he comes back because I’m home alone.

      “You don’t need to come back. Stay the night there. I’m going to be okay,” I tried to convince him. 

      He seems to have worn out more than usual because he agrees without any argument. Things must be very serious for him to be so rattled.

     “Are things that bad at work?” I asked with concern.

      He just shakes his head at me, indicating he doesn’t want to share it with me.

     “Who is starting all this? I deserve to know Edie. You’re constantly busy and then showing up like this,” I asked

     I used to call him Edie because I couldn't pronounce his name when I was young, and it annoys him a lot, but he still lets me say it. Though I know better than to call him that in front of others.

      He looks over at me and sighs, “Do you remember my friend Lucian? He’s been up my *ss for the last few months. At first I thought it was because he wanted to play around, so I indulged him. But it seems he’s in no mood to play but wreck havoc,” he said, sadness lacing his voice.

      I remember Lucian. He was Adrian’s closest friend. No, he was like a brother to him. When I was younger, I used to wonder if Adrian liked Lucian better than me.

      “Did you try talking to him?”

      “Believe me, I’ve tried. I can’t get in touch with him anyway. I went to his restaurant, and it turns out I'm banned.” he said.  “I’ve got my pride too now, Sienna I’m not going to run after him after he’s been starting this sh*t,” he says with a grim look.

      I went towards him and gave him a hug. “I don’t understand. Why is he doing all of this? Can't you guys make up over some treaty?” I try to reassure him.

      “Easier said than done.” He said it with a bitter smile on his face.

      “You should get going. Gracie must be waiting,” I said, trying to distract him.

      He patted my head. “You seem in a hurry to kick me out. Are you planning to throw a party?” He wiggled his eyes at me. 

   I laughed out, rolling my eyes, pushing him away. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m planning,” I said, grinning up at him. 

    “Also, it’s Ava’s birthday this weekend, so we’re going out. And no, I’m not asking, I’m telling you,” I gave him a pointed look.

    “Seinna, you know how the situation is,” Adrian said, shaking his head. 

    “I can’t stay inside forever or go everywhere with guards. Also, you promised you wouldn’t ever do something like this.”

     “Alright, I’m sorry. Okay, you can go, but be safe.”

     “Okay dad.” I said playfully.

     “Alright kid, I’m off to get changed. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to give me a call,” he said, giving me a kiss on my forehead and leaving.

      After he left, I looked at my empty plate. Ready to make myself dinner again. I looked around, guess it’s just me again in this big empty house.