Advice From A Friend
1551 Words
"Now that is just bullshit!" Ava booed, throwing a piece of popcorn at the large TV screen.
"Absolute bullsh*t," Benji, the only male in the group of four echoed from his spot beside her on the fluffy carpet.
They were gathered in the living room, the lights turned down so the soft glow of the movie was the only light in the dark room.
"Language." Lucia reprimanded without any heat.
"Sorry, mom."
"Sorry."
Lucia made a satisfied sound, then turned to study her niece, who had chosen to sit beside her for their bi-weekly movie night when usually she would be down on the carpet with Ava and August, getting popcorn everywhere and critiquing whatever cheesy movie was on.
Sophie could feel her aunt's eyes boring into her but she was not in the mood for one of their little chats.
Lucia, however, was not a woman to deny herself information, especially one as juicy as Nicholas Blumenthal being involved with her niece.
"So... How long have you two been a thing?"
"We're not a thing," the younger answered, stubbornly keeping her eyes on the movie. She distractedly appreciated the hue of the faded red sports car the protagonist was driving off a cliff.
There was a half-done painting of a rose she had abandoned for two months, and she knew if she could recreate that shade of red, it would be the dash of that extra something she had been searching for.
"I very much doubt that," Lucia pressed. "Men like Nicholas don't personally deliver servers' lost underwear, no less in the middle of a work day just because. Something happened today in the kitchen that you are not telling me."
Sophie's mind flashed back to that moment. The feeling of his hands on her, his tongue tempting her into giving in and a shudder went through her.
"Nothing happened."
Aunt Lucia reached out and pinched Sophie's cheek, her smile softening when Sophie turned to her with fond exasperation.
"When did we start keeping our boyfriends from each other? If I recall correctly you were my little helper when I used to sneak out..."
"...To make out with Danny Smithson at Belview Park in the middle of the goddamn night after swearing to Grandpa that you'd broken up with him."
Lucia broke into soft giggles, reminding Sophie of the teenager who had been her sister, mother, and aunt when the loss of her parents seemed too much to bear.
Lucia sighed, dreamily. "Those were the days. Young and without a care in the world." Her expression turned sober as she stole a glance at her young son. "Now I'm just this."
Sophie frowned and placed a hand on top of Lucia's. "Incredible, elegant, resourceful, and the most wonderful mother and aunt the three of us could ask for. Your 'just this' is more than most can dream of, so don't sell yourself short."
Smiling, Luci placed her head on the headrest and Sophie did the same, resting close as if they were sharing a secret, though little could be hidden from the keen senses of her half-shifter cousin.
"But I want so much more for you, Sophie," Lucia whispered, softly.
Sophie smiled back at her. The gentleness of the moment compelled her to finally confess.
"Nicholas asked me to marry him and I said no."
"No?!" Ava asked, giving away her and Benji eavesdropping on their conversation.
Sophie sat up as Lucia did.
The older woman looked just as shocked as Ava, but she was better at tempering it.
"Why?" Lucia asked, gently.
Because of Stephen. Because of Nicholas and his secrets. Because she had seen what being with a powerful werewolf did to Aunt Lucia in the first few months of her separation from her ex-husband.
They immediately understood her worries without her having to say anything and it was a testament to how well the two women knew her.
"He's all about duty, his legacy, heirs. Nothing about love or getting to know each other, emotionally," she added, remembering how ok he was with knowing her physically.
She thought of his business card tucked away in her music box with the ring because she had enjoyed that touch.
"Truth is, I don't even know him. Our first meeting was on New Year's—"
"The owner of the room?" Ava guessed.
Sophie nodded before continuing, "and it was a mess, so I can't even say I fell in love with him at—"
The chime of the doorbell cut her off
Lucia frowned, "at this time of the night?"
"You didn't secretly order pizza again, did you?" Ava accused with a playful glare at Benji.
The young boy pouted under their accusatory stares and shook his head.
"I'll deal with it," Lucia decided, rising from her seat, fixing her robe, and making her way out of the room to answer the door.
Ava paused the movie, to Benji's chagrin, and slipped onto the armrest with an eager smirk. "Now that I think about it, you never told me what happened that night after I found you in his robe or the kitchen," she wiggled her brows conspiratorially.
Sophie blushed, confirming Ava's perverted imaginings and earning an excited squeal from her friend.
"How did it happen?! What did he do to you?! Did you..." Av paused and turned to Benji, who was watching them with wide, keen eyes.
"Cover your ears or, better yet, off to bed with you."
"But it's not my bedtime yet!"
"You're a child. You need all the sleep you…"
Sophie tuned out of the growing argument and her eyes trailed over to the dark hallway where Lucia had disappeared.
A growl suddenly filled the room and her eyes snapped over to Benji, startled.
He was glaring at the dark hallway, his fangs bared and his grey eyes turning gold.
Nervous, Sophie turned back to the darkness and her heartbeat jumped when she spotted the shadows slowly and silently drawing closer.
A slender figure that she recognized as Lucia led the march, followed by two or three much larger figures, but no one said a word, and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand.
"Aunt Lucia?" She got up from the couch, not knowing if she should be running to her or away.
One of the large figures walked past Aunt Lucia into the living room, and with the flick of the switch, light flooded into the room.
Sophie paled when her eyes met Aunt Lucia's frightened browns as a second man led her into the room with a gun held to the back of her head.
Three more men flooded in and August let out a mix of a growl and a distressed whine as he inched closer to Sophie and tucked himself into her side.
His sudden docility informed her that they were dealing with werewolves. The realization they weren't dealing with human robbers made her so much more afraid.
"All the money's in the safe, along with some gold bars and jewelry. The code is yours, just don't hurt the kids."
Aunt Lucia begged, her voice level and confident despite having a gun pointed at her.
Interested, the apparent leader, who had been the one to turn on the light, moved his gaze from Sophie to Lucia.
"How much would you say is in it?"
"About a million or so."
He nodded and then turned to the three huddled together and watching him with wary eyes. "Tempting," his dark blues met Sophie's browns, and his lips curled in a grin. "But I've been paid much more for little Miss Anguissola over there."
The few bites of popcorn she had eaten threatened to come back up.
Benji's arms tightened around her waist, protectively, as if he could stop the men from hurting her if they really wanted to.
But he would try, Sophie knew that. And so would Aunt Lucia and Ava if she did not act before they did.
"If you're here for me," she began, her voice soft and shaky unlike Aunt Lucia's, "then take me. But please leave them alone. They have nothing to do with whatever you want me for, I swear."
"Be quiet, Sophie!" Lucia snapped, her fury worsened by the fear she was trying to hide from their attackers.
"And they say humans have no loyalty,” the man remarked, looking oddly pleased by Sophie and Lucia. “I would hate having to kill you after that little scene. Lucky for both of us my men and I weren't sent here to do that.”
“You weren't?” She should have been relieved, but the thought of what all five of them with a gun of all things were there for didn't give her the chance.
“No. Our employer wants us to send a message to you.” He made a gesture at his men, and the gun was taken away from Lucia as the four men spread out around the room like obedient little soldiers.
“A little non-verbal advice, if you will.”
The TV shattered underneath the punch of one of the men, and the startled scream that followed was overshadowed by the explosion of glass, wood, and plaster as the men began tearing through the room.
- Writer
