Phoenix Rising: The Veiðimenn Mob, Book Two

Eleven

"Have you ever had one of those “oh s**t” moments when you know you're in trouble, but you do what you set out to do anyway?"

Phoenix raised his head off the desk to glare at Memphis. "Do you mind? I got enough of a lecture Friday night from my parents, my uncle, and both my aunts. I'm already grounded for not notifying my father of my whereabouts, pissing off my mother, and that’s on top of not bringing one of my two Shields with me."

"What the hell were you thinking going to that place alone anyway? Dude, you can’t be putting your life on the line like that. Ken and I were entrusted with your well-being outside of school hours," Memphis snapped quietly, not caring if his friend got ticked off with him.

Phoenix groaned, glancing over at Andromeda's still-empty desk. His heart ached with the knowledge that she now knew he was supposed to be her rival. "My dad was pissed, too. Then he got a call from the Italian Don. Apparently, De Luca wants to set up a deal with my father. He was supposedly impressed with my behaviour and wanted to personally reassure my parents that he had no intention of harming me."

“Say what?” Memphis blinked, unsure if he’d heard correctly or not.

Smirking, Phoenix continued, “No, seriously. He told my father to put the call on speaker, then said he appreciated my kindness considering the history between our families. I have no idea what’s going on, but I really want to get to know her on a personal level.”

"I don't want no baby-mama drama, so I'm not even thinking about chicks until I'm done with school. That way, my dad can't complain that I don't have an education," Memphis said quietly.

Phoenix leaned back in his seat, "I hear you there, man. Everyone’s up in arms about my decision to take the work to her, but it was a completely innocent and friendly gesture."

"Innocent, friendly gesture my ass. I didn't know you were into the curvy girls, though. Admittedly, she does have the aura of someone who needs protecting. I wonder if her daddy dearest ever trained her," Memphis chuckled under his breath. His words were not an attempt to downplay Phoenix’s desires, but he was hopeful that the guy would at least start taking a guard if he was that into the new girl.

"Personality over appearance, dumbass. Anyone can have a pretty face, but a beautiful heart is hard to come by. She’s got both in spades, and I love it. You should have seen Friday night, man. She was a vision in that dress, and the way she came down the stairs? Like she was gliding over them? I swear I’ve never had a heart palpitation before, but she certainly made my blood sing," the blond sighed.

“Oh s**t,” Memphis muttered. “You caught the L-word fever, didn’t you? Ugh.”

Phoenix flicked Memphis's pencil off his fingertip, sending it to the floor. “This coming from the guy who’s head over heels for the most violent girl I know? When are you going to tell my aunt you’re crushing on her?”

“Shut your face!” The other teen yelped, drawing the attention of the teacher.

"Is there a problem, boys?" The man asked as he went over to them.

Memphis shook his head, "No, we're done, Mr. Cole. Was there something else we needed to do, or could we just go ahead and start our free period early?"

Mr. Cole raised a brow, "Hand over your tests. Phoenix, can I bother you with bringing Ms. De Luca’s work from her other classes? I know your father wasn’t happy Friday, but there was no one else I trusted to get the job done. I apologize if my request got you in trouble.”

“Trouble? No, it was no trouble at all, Sir,” the teen replied carefully.

Mr. Cole sighed, “Well, alright. If I give you a hall pass and a list, would you take a friend and go gather the work?"

"Yes, Sir. That's not a problem," Phoenix replied eagerly.

Memphis stared at his leader, dumbstruck by the sudden change in his sullen friend. Yeah, the blond had it really bad if he was willing to risk going back to the De Luca manor after both his parents reamed him over the weekend. As they got to the hall, Memphis caught his arm and jerked him back. "Not a snowball's chance in hell am I letting you go it alone this time."

"There’s minimal traffic at this time of day, so it will only take an hour at best to get there and back. We can be in the cafeteria waiting for the others before lunch if we split the workload." Phoenix replied as he shoved his arms into his leather jacket.

Grabbing the list that the teacher had given them, Memphis jotted down a few of the classes and handed back the paper. "Fine. We split this, and get back in time to chill before the girls find out and beat our asses blue for us. Deal?"

"Deal," Phoenix replied, not caring that Memphis sneakily called out his mixed heritage. "Thanks for coming with me. I'm not sure if I can handle Kennedy's attitude today."

"That's rich," Memphis laughed.

When they were done gathering everything, they met up at the front desk to sign themselves out. Memphis peeled out of the parking lot, sparks from his tailpipe flashing as he laughed gleefully. Phoenix followed, but the feeling that something was going to go very wrong today ate at him. He took the lead as Memphis dropped back. Being of both white and black descent himself, it never bothered him that his friends came in a variety of colours and attitudes. Yet, deep beneath the surface, he knew that their shared values kept them more tightly knit than blood ever could.

As soon as they pulled up to the manor, Phoenix told Memphis to stay at the gate and wait for him. Not liking the idea, the other teen shook his head. "Not happening, Boss."

"Memphis, come on," Phoenix pleaded. He saw the curtain of the upper window moved to the side and the same man from the night before looked out. "Don Francesco is watching, and he doesn't know you or the rest of the team. I'm not going to let you guys get hurt. This is a simple homework drop, not a raid."

Shaking his head, Memphis wouldn't budge from his stance. "You go, I go. Those are my orders from your father and mine. Sorry, man. Them's the breaks."

The gate creaked open unexpectedly, but the two teens made no move to enter the property. Even though the opportunity presented itself right in front of them, a trap was a trap. They knew better than to let their guard down in unfamiliar territory. It had been drilled into them since they were children.

A guard came out, and Phoenix recognized the man who had hauled him into the manor.

"What's your business with us this time?" The guard asked.

Memphis moved to close the distance, but Phoenix held him back. "I'm dropping off books from the rest of Andromeda's classes. This is one of my friends, Memphis Slade. He offered to help me get everything here in one trip."

"Are we supposed to believe that the heir of the Icelandic Mafia just wants to help a classmate? How do we know that you're not casing us to take us down?" The guard snapped.

Giving Phoenix a dark look, Memphis bit his tongue to avoid causing more issues for his friend.

"Your presentation of your Famiglia leaves something to be desired. I'll talk to Don Francesco now if you wouldn't mind being a good dog and getting him for me." Phoenix said as he pulled rank over the man in front of them.

Laughing, Memphis nodded at the tone of voice the other teen used. "I'd run along if I were you. Nix has a bad temper when tested, and we need to get back to school soon. I ain't got a clue as to when dropping off books and being nice to someone was a crime, but thanks for letting us know all the same."

The man paled as they all heard the booming voice of Francesco calling out to the guard. "What is the hold-up, Bianchi? What do they want?"

"Maestro, that boy from last evening is here again with another. They claim they have more schoolwork for Miss Andie," Bianchi replied smoothly.

Phoenix scowled, "Maestro Francesco, I've come in good faith with my friend here to drop off some more stuff from the teachers at school. Mr. Cole gave me a list of Andromeda's classes, so we collected it for her. She mentioned she was scared of falling behind, and I can absolutely respect that about her. If this is the kind of behaviour my father can expect out of your people, then I don't think we can back your mob even for a day.”

"Behaviour? What do you mean?" Francesco asked as his dark green gaze slid between the two teens and his guard. " Geovanni, go wait inside. I shall deal with this "

"Forget this s**t, Nix. I can buy another bookbag," Memphis said as he took the bag from his back and flung it at the guard. "Let's just go before the school calls your dad to report you as MIA. This was supposed to be a quick in-and-out drop, but this idiota decided to throw his weight around. Che spreco di sperma."

Fighting a laugh as his friend blatantly told Bianchi he was a waste of sperm, Phoenix smirked at the two men watching them. “Not entirely a lie.”