Gods and Monsters (Mafia Romance)

F O U R

Alicia's P.O.V.

"Shit... Where on earth-" I turned my backpack upside down, trying to find my keys. My wallet, a pack of gums, my sunglasses, and a few other random things that I had in my school bag's small front pocket, fell on the ground of the house's entry. "Oh, here you are..." I murmured to my keys, which turns out had been in my jacket's pocket all this time.

I picked up all the things that I had dropped from my backpack and put them back in, before throwing the bag over my shoulders, standing up and opening the front door. 

I took off my shoes, put them in the shoe rack by the door and made my way to the staircase, to go upstairs, to my room. 

"But we need them John!" Nica's voice, coming from the kitchen, made me stop dead in my tracks. "Not only do they cost us almost nothing, since she  pays for their school and everything else, but we also get an extra 3000€ every month, just to keep them happy!" I furrowed my brows in confusion as I tip-toed to the kitchen, trying to listen in in my foster parents's  conversation. "So the least you can do is stop fighting with them all the time. Unless you don't want the money..." Nica continued.

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped in shock. Is that about what I'm thinking it is?

"Of course I want the money!" John hissed and I heard him pacing around the kitchen. "You're right..." He sighed a few moments later. "They just... irritate me, more than you know! I can't stand them at times."

"I know, but Mother Teresa  wants them to be happy, and that's why she pays us. And I can assure you that she will stop doing so, if they start complaining to her daughters about us!" Nica said, making John sigh again.

That's definitely it! They  stands for my siblings and I, Mother Teresa  is who I think she is, and her daughters  are Cheryl and Kylie! 

Rosie is doing all this for us... 

"What about the necklace? Did you find it?" John asked a short while later.

"Not yet... I've looked everywhere but I can't find it. When she's not wearing it she hides it, and I have yet to figure out where." Nica sighed.

Hearing John's footsteps getting very close to the kitchen's door, I decided that it would be in my best interest to disappear. So I made a step back, and was about to tip-toe back to the entrance and pretend that I had just come, when I tripped on a side table on the hallway, and fell back on my ass, taking a vase down with me.

I started murmuring a remix of spanish and greek profanities, as I heard John and Nica coming out of the kitchen. s**t!   Think quick Alicia, think quick! 

"What are-" 

"Hey! I just came back home and I was about to come to the kitchen but I tripped..." I interrupted her, rubbing my ass, as I got back up.

"Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?" Nica asked acting concerned, but her nervousness was more than obvious.

"No, no I'm fine, thanks! And sorry for the vase." I smiled angelically and Nica nodded.

"Where's your sister?" John asked, avoiding to look at me.

"Still at school. Volleyball practice. Oh and Jason texted me, he's gonna eat at Cole's." I answered unamused.

"I... I've made spaghetti and we have some tomato sauce in the fridge. Do you want to eat now?" Nica asked again. I didn't fail to notice the quick anxious look she gave John.

"Sure." I shrugged. "Let me go change, and I'll be right back. Oh by the way, I'm gonna go buy some school stuff with Cheryl  later, if you're okay with that..." I purposely emphasized on Cheryl's name, trying to get any reaction out of them. 

"Uh-" Nica looked nervously at John, but he wasn't much of a help to her, since he just turned to look the other way. "Yes, it's okay, you can go." She finally said.

Bingo!  Reactions noted...

I tried to hide my satisfied smirk with an excited smile about the fact that I would spend my Friday afternoon shopping with my best friend.  Well in reality, that smile was about much more than that...

"Thanks! Oh and I'm gonna need some money as well. I don't want Cheryl to always pay for me, sooo..." I held out my hand, as they now exchanged some annoyed looks. Testing people's temper is something that I enjoy doing, more than I should.

John pressed his lips in a thin line, sighing and shaking his head, while taking his wallet out of his pocket and handing me 50€. 

I gladly took the money, folded it and put it inside my phone's case. "Thank you!" I said cheerfully and turned around, heading upstairs. 

❦❦❦

After about three hours of shopping-therapy, Cheryl and I were sitting on a bench of the terrace of the Mall, eating our favorite frozen yogurts. 

"My feet hurt!" She complained, stretching one of her legs, then the other.

"Dah, why did you wear high heels for shopping?" I rolled my eyes, laughing.

"They looked good with my outfit, shut up and be sad for my feet." She frowned and I giggled.

I took a spoonful of my frozen yogurt, and so did Cheryl, both of us looking at the beautiful city-view in front of us, without saying anything for a few moments.

"Why did you not tell me that Rosie has been paying for our school and all?" I finally broke our comfortable silence.

"She told me not to." She shrugged, eating some more frozen yogurt. "Did you know that she had tried to adopt the three of you five times, after your parents... you know." She gave me a small smile.

"Well, I couldn't be sure, but I think I knew it deep down... Same about the school. The scholarship story always sounded too good to be true to me. I'm a good student, but not good enough for a scholarship to our  school." I laughed. "But why did she not want us to know?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I think she believed that you would be ashamed or something like that." 

"Why would we?" I ate another spoonful of frozen yogurt and pouted when I noticed that it was almost finished. "I mean, she and my mama loved each other so much... I'm sure my mama would do the same for her. And we would do the same for each other, god forbid... So why would I be ashamed?"

"Pride I guess. Sounds kinda stupid to me, but it wasn't my secret to tell." She shrugged. "Did you tell Cindy and Jason?"

"Nope, I didn't see them. J was out and Cin had just returned from volleyball practice when we left. I'll tell them when I get back." I finished my frozen yogurt and got up to throw it to the trash can.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Cheryl turned her yogurt's cup upside down over her mouth and drank the remaining of her frozen yogurt, making me laugh. "Will you throw mine as well?" She batted her eyelashes at me and I rolled my eyes, laughing, took her cup and threw it along with my own. 

"So, are you not gonna tell me why you're so calm about the Draven thing ?" she asked when I got back, licking some drops of yogurt from one of her fingers. She really loves that thing... We both do!

I sighed, sitting back next to her on the bench. "I'm just trying not to think about it... I'm sick of allowing him to affect my life like that and make me miserable. Everyone can believe what they want about me, I don't give a f**k, as long as I have you and Ky and my siblings, I don't need anything else." I said, playfully elbowing her and smiling.

"Yaaas queen!" She cheered, a little too loud for my likings, making me laugh and shield her mouth with my hands, since some people had turned to look at us. "That's my girl!" She continued, thankfully on a lower tone, after I took my hands off her mouth. "Screw Draven and screw the bitches and screw everyone! We have each other and we have those amazing clothes-" She pointed at the shopping bags all around us, filled with the new clothes we had bought. "-and we're pretty and smart and amazing, and we have each other, and we're soon gonna take my mom's company together, and we're gonna make our cosmetics line as well, and we're gonna travel the world, and-"

"Cheryl, breath!" I said laughing at her excitement.

She laughed too, then went through a loving me  crisis and started attacking me with hugs and kisses, and I did the same, not giving a f**k about all the people watching us like we had grown another head. 

❦❦❦

I returned back home at around 8 p.m., to find Nica freaking out about housework, John yelling at someone from work over the phone, and Jason and Cindy eating spaghetti in the kitchen, each of them on their phones. 

"Why is Nica freaking out?" I asked, taking a sit next to Cindy.

"Don't know. They said they wanted to talk to us." She said, not looking up from her phone.

"That's great..." I said sarcastically. "About what?" None of them paid me any attention. "Hello?" 

"What?" Jason looked at me annoyed. 

"What are you guys doing?" I frowned. Jason was back on his phone, and Cindy hadn't even bothered looking at me in the first place. Okay, that's it, here we go.

"Who's Luis, Cin?" Jason's interest immediately peaked, he turned off his phone, looking at Cindy and I. "You two seem to be very close." I smirked looking at Cindy's confused expression.

"Who are you talking to?" Jason asked her, interrogation mode on. 

"W-What? No one!" Cindy said, still confused, until realization hit her. "What the hell Alicia?" She looked at me and I simply shrugged. This whole thing was amusing. 

"Give me your phone." Jason practically ordered, irritating Cindy.

"f**k off!" She frowned. 

Our brother was about to answer to her, when I decided to finally intervene. "Okay enough, there's no Luis, I just said that to get your f*****g attention." They both looked at me, annoyed, but I paid them no mind. "I wanted to tell you guys something important and you were being huge assholes."

"Oh my god, you really are pregnant?" Cindy gasped, but she wasn't tricking me... I knew damn well why she just did that.

"You what?" Jason's eyes widened in shock and he got up from his seat, hitting his hand on the table. Cindy got me here, I have to give her that. Our brother might be almost perfect in many ways, but every 'perfect guy' has at least one imperfection as well, that being anger issues for Jason, especially when it came to his little sisters... 

"I'm not pregnant!" I yelled in defense. 

"1-1" Cindy whispered in my ear and I lightly pulled a lock of her hair. She gasped and did the same to me, and a whole hair-pulling fight was about to start.

"Oh, I see you are all here. Great, we needed to talk to you." Nica got into the kitchen, and so did John, seconds later. She glanced at Jason, who was now leaning on the kitchen table. "Jason sit down like a civilized person, this is a kitchen!" 

Jason sighed, glancing at her and sat on the chair next to me. 

"Do you remember about that promotion that I've been after lately?" Nica continued and we nodded, uninterested. "I will most likely get it, if I sell a very expensive mansion that I've showed to a famous newlywed couple. The lady is known for really loving children, and some good words from them, would definitely help as well." She paused, looking at John, who had taken a seat on the opposite side of the table.

"Why are you telling us all that?" Cindy asked what I'm sure the three of us had been thinking. Our foster parents rarely talk to us about their jobs –well they rarely talk to us in general, but this is not the point here.

"If you would let her finish..." John glared daggers at her, and Cindy turned her head so that he wouldn't see her rolling her eyes.

"Tomorrow the real estate company is throwing an event for 10 years since it was established, and that couple will be there, since they're friends with the owner. Obviously John and I will be there too, but..." She looked in between Jason, Cindy and I. "It would be a bonus if you came as well. Besides, everyone seems to like you in the office, my boss -the company's owner- included. I would appreciate it." 

"Seriously?" I asked impressed. This was totally unexpected. John gave me a sharp glare and that's when it hit me. "Off course, we'll come." I smiled. My siblings looked at me surprised. "But, one condition; You don't rush Jason to find a job!" I looked at John. "He will find one, but you won't kick him out if he hasn't yet found it after a month, like John said today." I quickly looked at my siblings, Jason smirked and Cindy was grinning. 

Nica exchanged a few looks with John. "Fine!" She sighed. "But all of you will be in your best behavior tomorrow!" She added.

"Deal!" Jason said, and Cindy and I nodded in agreement.