Everything She's Not

Mr. Plump (Part Two)

We return to the moment where Gabe tenses up from Mr. Plump places a hidden threat or insinuation on Lilly.

"What's your name, beautiful?" Mr. Plump leans back in his chair, examining her figure.

"My name is Lilly." She responds.

" No, your real name. Not your nickname." He smiles, but his smile is more of a grimace.

"Uh, Lilliana Torres. I have my mom's last name." She mentally kicks herself for so easily handing over personal information.

"Ezekiel, sir, " Gabe pauses and looks around the room, probably to scope out threats.

"She won't tell anyone. She's just afraid and has never been in the middle of these kinds of interactions."

The plump man thinks for a moment then gestures for one of the men to grab Lilly and lift her from the chair. He then holds a gun to her head. This is when Gabe's voice regains the commanding, dangerous tone.

"Put. Her. Back!"

"Tsk, tsk, Gabriel. We don't talk like that." Mr. Plump rises from his seat and steps towards Lilly. "Mm, she really is something, isn't she?"

Gabe stands, his hand reaching for the pistol under his shirt.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Let's face it, Gabriel, this was never a permanent truce." Mr. Plump reaches out and squeezes Lilly's face.

She moves her head, trying to get his hand off of her. Two other men are now holding her arms. Gabe steps closer, not wanting Lilly to be hurt.

"I can take a beating. Go ahead." Lilly says once Mr. Plump removes his hand.

Her eyes are locked on his, almost antagonizing him. He looks back at Gabe with an amused smile.

"She's feisty. I see why you like her." He studies how Gabe reacts when he punches Lilly in the stomach.

She grunts, but doesn't scream or cry. Gabe clenches his jaw.

"What do you want?!" He raises his voice.

"Oh, Gabriel. I just want you to understand that I don't like your boys hitting on my daughter. They were told to accompany her as extra protection. Frankly, your "business" is known for having a ruthless leader and equally ruthless members. Hell, you've ended more lives than I have. Yet, you stand here, ready to end your own for her." He gestures towards Lilly.

"I don't like to see women hit. That's all. She's just a warm body." The pain in Lilly's eyes when she hears Gabe say that, is evident to everyone except herself.

"Oh, poor thing, you thought you were special?" Mr. Plump fakes empathy towards Lilly.

"I'll tell my men to leave your daughter alone and do their jobs." Gabe responds.

"No. I want you to pick one and kill him. Make the others see that their...misconduct...won't be tolerated. I want to see the others fear their leader when you end one. Either you do this tomorrow night, or I keep her." He brushes a finger against Lilly's cheek. She bites his finger.

"You're pathetic. You want someone to be snuffed out just because your precious daughter was hit on? She's a woman. She should get used to it." Lilly is fuming with rage.

Mr. Plump grabs her hair and yanks her to the ground in front of him. She's staring up at him on her knees, anger still on her face.

"This is where tramps belong. My daughter is no tramp. Your lover's men groped my daughter while helping her into the car after she drank too much. She could've been taken advantage of." He explains.

"Okay. I'll do it. Let her go." Gabe grips the handle of his pistol so hard that his knuckles are white.

"I knew you were smarter than your brother, Gabriel. Now take her and go." He tosses Lilly to the ground so hard that her face slaps the wood floors.

A familiar voice comes from the front of the restaurant, demanding the men to make her a martini and have it ready in the back room.

"Sounds like my wife's back." Mr. Plump says.

He snaps his fingers while Gabe helps Lilly off the floor. She clings to him again while they make their way to the front doors. They pass Mr. Plump's wife, and to Lilly's surprise she recognizes the woman all too well. She stops in her tracks and turns around.

"This is where you ran off to?" She asks.

The woman takes one look at her and ignores her question, entering the back room.

"Let's go. She's not worth it." Gabe urges Lilly, gripping her elbow and pulling her with him.

She rips her arm out of his hand and storms off to the car. Once they're safe inside the car and she can smell the mixture of his cologne and his blood from the many "business meetings" he's had to attend, she calms down a bit.

"Take me to my car." These are the only words she utters to Gabe until they make it to his house and he all but forces her to talk to him.

She's grabs her back pack from his house. She goes into his bathroom and changes into her purple leggings and black cropped hoodie when he knocks on the bathroom door.

"Lil, we need to talk." No response.

The tears she's been holding back begin to flood out of her eyes. She sniffles and he tries the doorknob, wanting to be close to her.

"I don't wanna talk, Gabriel." She's trying to get under his skin.

He grits his teeth and releases. "Lilliana, you were almost killed and then you saw...her. You need to open the door." He bangs on it once, then picks the lock when he hears nothing from the other side for a few minutes.

Lilly is sitting on the closed toilet with her head in her hands.

"How old is his daughter?" Lilly asks, flatly.

"I think she's 22. He has a thirteen year old son too." He hesitantly places a hand on her back.

She swats him away. "I'm just a warm body, remember?" Her words pierce him somewhere deep.

"I said that to protect you." His tone is softer, almost nurturing.

Lilly steps towards him, mere centimeters from his body. She looks in his eyes with something indiscernible. He thinks it may be hatred. Or something darker.

"If you wanted to protect me, you'd burn down the world for me. Not hesitate." She glares at him. "You would've left that restaurant covered in their blood. You wouldn't have stopped me from confronting her."

"You're angry, Lilly." His hands wrap around her upper arms. "Don't pick a fight, you can't win. That's why I didn't start shooting. He has so many alliances, we'd be dead by morning. Yeah, we're ruthless. Yeah, we associate with many other crime families, but he is so much more powerful. Sometimes, I have to recognize that and not act on impulse to protect the people who look to me for leadership or the woman I'm seeing who has a gun to her head. If you're not cut out for this life, you might as well leave while you can."

Lilly presses her head to his chest as if she's given up.

"I don't know, Gabe. How do I go home and deal with my dad every night and then worry about whether we could be found in a ditch somewhere when I'm with you?" She wraps her arms around him and breathes in deeply, taking in his familiar smell.

"I can solve one of those problems, but you're gonna have to live with the other if you wanna be with me. I can do my best to keep you safe, hell I would die if it meant you could live. But, I come with the danger." His large hand runs over her hair, soothing her.