On His Knees

Chapter 3

I stared at Caden while he drove us to the library. He asked me where I wanted to spend the rest of the day and I answered him the library. He only smiled at me as if he’s already expecting my answer. While driving to the library, his phone kept ringing. Even with the smile on his face, I knew he was getting annoyed by the constant vibration of his phone. He yanked it out of the phone rack attached on the dashboard, and I swore I thought it would crack when he gripped it so tight.

“A-aren’t you busy?” I nervously asked. He turned his phone off and threw it in the back. I gasped. “Hey!” Someone might call him while we’re together and it might be important!

“It’s fine. It’s our day together. You don’t want anyone interrupting us, right?” he asked, flashing me a charming smile.

I turned away. Damn. It’s impossible to say no to that face. “Fine,” I muttered. “Just don’t blame me if you miss anything important.”

I heard Caden scoff. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

It took us ten minutes to arrive at the library. There were only a few cars parked in the lot. It’s not like there’s a lot of people who wanted to spend their free time in the library. They’d rather go to the mall or amusement park or anything else rather than a boring place where you could have fun and get wild. “Are you sure you want to come with me?” I asked. I was worried the library wasn’t a place Caden wanted to stay in. He didn’t like reading books. He wanted rowdy parties and alcohol and whatever stuff wild teenagers do these days.

Caden parked the car in one of the vacant spots and turned the engine off. “I’m fine anywhere,” he said nonchalantly.

I smiled. I’m glad one thing never changed about him. He’s always so considerate of me. He wanted me to come to Kelly’s party. He knew I needed a change of environment. I shouldn’t stay buried in books and coffee shops and libraries. Caden wanted me out of my comfort zone. We’re not going to be teenagers for the rest of our lives. Such experience would only come once in a lifetime. “Thanks,” I shyly said.

We got out of the vehicle and walked to the library. Too bad Yassy wasn’t on duty today. Part of the reason why I’m always in the library was because of her. I didn’t have a lot of friends. Yassy was the only person who treated me like I’m normal. She didn’t mind that I was gloomy or that I’m boring. She just came up and talk to me, interested in the books I was reading.

Going up the stairs leading to the entrance, I was excited to borrow more books I hadn’t read yet. I couldn’t buy lots of it. My brothers kept throwing it out.

As soon as we entered the library, the scent sweet smell of coffee and ink wafted in the air and it got me excited. I forgot Caden was with me, I just went on ahead and searched in one of the many aisles in the town library. There were new books on the shelves, and I wanted to read it all. Anything from fiction to non-fiction, any genre, I wanted it all.

After pulling five books out of its place, I found a table I could sit at. Caden followed me, hands inside his pockets. It’s obvious he wasn’t interested in any of the books displayed and I understand that. I sat on the chair and began browsing through one of the books I chose to dive in. It was a romance book based on the cover and the summary, but I immediately know it wasn’t just a simple rom-com. I could tell.

“You really like reading, huh?” Caden commented. He pulled the chair beside me and sat down.

I only nodded. I was already reading the first page of the book. The words the author wrote weren’t that deep. It was easy to understand, anyone could finish it without even having to look up a single word in the dictionary. Nevertheless, the first sentence had me hooked up already.

Half-way through it, I noticed Caden wasn’t moving beside me. I thought he’d take out his phone and play games, but I remembered he threw it in the back of his car. I glanced at him and was caught off-guard when I realized he was staring at me. His gaze felt like it’s going to burn me. “W-what?” I asked.

He smiled, erasing that scorching stare away. “Nothing,” he replied. He ruffled my hair, his smile getting wider. “I like watching you read.”

“That’s creepy,” I said, rolling my eyes at him.

“There’s nothing interesting here but you.”

I tried hard not to blush. Caden had a habit of teasing me as if I was his lover. If only that can be true. Unfortunately, we’re only friends and I could never cross that line, or it’d be over for us. “Just shut up. I’m trying to read.”

Caden pouted at me. “You were the one who started talking.”

“Because you kept staring.”

“You can’t blame me for staring at something so beautiful. You need to appreciate stuff like that,” Caden said, teasing me again. The blatant smirk on his face proved he’s enjoying watching me squirm.

“S-shut up.”

I didn’t even notice the time passing by. I was enjoying reading the books I chose for the day. I could write three pages of reports to it and I wouldn’t even be bored. Closing the last book I just finished reading, I sighed in relief. That was a great use of my free time. Reading had always been therapeutic for me. Looking back at Caden, I smiled when I saw he was slumped on the chair, his arms crossed in front of him while he watched the people coming in and out of the library. I’m sure he’s bored out of his mind and it’s about time I end his suffering.

“Let’s go,” I urged. I fixed the books on the table, carrying it with me as I stood up.

Caden blinked at me, confused. “You’re done?”

“Yeah. It’s my turn to go anywhere you want,” I said, smiling at Caden. It felt as if I let him waste his time coming with me, but I appreciate he went with me.

He left his chair to come with me to return the books. “I don’t have anywhere I want to go,” he muttered.

“We can eat at a restaurant,” I suggested. “My treat.”

Caden grinned. “Okay. I’ll take that.”

After I was done putting the books back, I logged out of the library and bid goodbye at the librarian behind the counter. I saw how her stare lingered at Caden’s. We left the library and walked to the parking lot. “Where do you want to eat?”

Caden unlocked the doors. “What about you?”

“Pick anywhere you want,” I said.

He thought for a second. “Okay. I have a place in mind.”

“Where is it?” I inquired.

“You’ll see.”

We hopped inside his car and Caden drove to wherever this place was. We hadn’t been hanging around for a while. I had no idea where he often comes during his free time. “Sorry I bored you,” I said. “I know you’d rather hang out with your friends during the weekends.”

Caden snorted, brushing away my concern. “Not really. I don’t meet them on Saturdays and Sundays.”

I froze. I looked at Caden, asking myself why. Was he busy? “What do you do then?” If he wasn’t going out with his friends, what’s keeping him away from me? Before, he’d call me and invite himself over to my house to spend the rest of his free days with me.

He took a long time before answering my question. “Not much. Just watching movies, playing games, something like that.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Was he telling the truth? I couldn’t even tell. In the past, I could read him like an open book. Caden was very expressive but now…he’s just…far away. I lowered my head and inwardly sighed. I wished we could go back to how we were before. No responsibilities, no other people—just the two of us doing everything together. “Are you really?”

“Why would I lie to you?” he asked, smiling.

Why would he? There’s a lot of reasons.

The place Caden picked where to eat was a bar and restaurant named Seventy Six. There was a live band playing on the stage as patrons flood the restaurant. It was only six in the evening and people were already coming in nonstop. Caden had his arm around my shoulders as he guided me to a vacant table. It was loud and wild, and it wasn’t a typical place I would have my dinner but Caden went with me to the library. This was the least I could do for him.

We sat down at the table. A waiter quickly handed us the menu and when I looked at his face, I noticed he was sweating. He wore a nervous smile while waiting for us to finish selecting what we wanted to eat. Caden lifted his head to look at the waiter and he straightened his back. Was it just me or was this person afraid of Caden?

“We’ll have the pepperoni pizza, grilled cheese, and chicken wings. Plus, two beers please.”

“I-is that all, sir?” the waiter asked, stammering.

“Yeah, that’s all,” Caden replied.

I gaped at him. “Wait, I didn’t even order!” I complained. The waiter ignored me and went away to fix our dinner. I glared at Caden. “Why’d you do that?” I asked.

He looked away, observing the place while brushing my question off. “Do what?”

“You didn’t even let me say what I want,” I retorted.

“I know what you want. Pepperoni pizza and chicken wings, your favorite, right?” Caden asked, returning his attention to me while grinning.

I clenched my fists. Was Caden always this…controlling? He wasn’t like this before. In fact, it’s the other way around. When we were kids, I’m the one always deciding things and he’d just go with whatever I wanted. “I don’t like to drink,” I mumbled.

Caden shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll order you another drink,” he said.

I watched him call the jittery waiter again to add an apple juice for me. It annoyed me how he’s treating me like I was a kid, but I really didn’t want to drink any alcohol. When he was done, he faced me properly. “You didn’t borrow any books from the library. I thought you’d bring back one or two.”

I sighed. “My brothers will only burn it again.”

“It’s been a while since I last went to your house,” he commented.

I jolted. So, he’s aware of it too. “D-do you want to come tonight?” I asked, gulping. I hadn’t invited him; he was always busy with whatever he’s doing with his life. I wanted to spend more time with him. More.

Caden grinned. “Sure. I want to see uncle Saverio too.”

I inwardly sighed in relief. I thought he’d say no. “Okay! That’s great!” I said, clapping my hands in glee.

He stared at me, smiling. “You’re so cute, Livi,” he muttered under his breath. “I can’t wait to—” he abruptly stopped.

“What is it?” I asked, confused.

“Nothing,” Caden replied, chuckling.

We were in the middle of eating dinner when a group of guys approached our table. They looked they were the same as us, but the nasty looks on their faces told me they were in some sort of gang. It’s easy to tell these people didn’t have a care in the world. “Brave of you to come here in our turf again, little shit.” I furrowed my brows. Did Caden pick a fight with them? I looked back at him and he was just eating his grilled cheese as if there weren’t people talking to him. The guy in front gritted his teeth. He grabbed Caden’s neck collar, pulling him up from the chair. “I’m talking to you, b***h!”

Caden looked at the guy with a bored gaze. A smile appeared on his face, clearly mocking the people in front of him. “Let’s not get the wrong idea, Jenk. This place is owned by the Vaccarino. You know what that means, right?”

The guy’s glare was enough to kill a person. He was about to punch Caden but he’s quick to evade his attack by moving his head away. People near us got up from their tables, concerned about the sudden ruckus happening in the restaurant. Some whipped their phones out, ready to take a video of the fight brewing near them.

“You—!”

Caden didn’t give the guy the time to say whatever he wanted to say. He swatted the arm holding his shirt, delivering a straight punch on the guy’s face. He wobbled backward, falling on his bottom with blood spurting out of his nose. I gasped, mortified to see what Caden did. “Caden!” I called out, standing up to go near him. I wanted to stop the fight but Caden shot me a glare, making me drop back to the chair out of fear.

The security guards rushed to the scene and quickly took the group of guys who were getting ready to fight Caden. A few minutes later, everything went back to normal. Caden left to take care of things and when he came back, he had this huge smile on his face. “So sorry about that,” he said, sitting in front of me as nothing happened. “Those guys really know how to make a scene, huh?”

“Who the hell are those people?!” I asked, half-screaming, half-whispering. I didn’t want to gather any more attention from the customers.

“They’re the ones who owned this place a week ago. I took their territory and now this is mine.”

The way he answered me nonchalantly made me worried. I almost asked myself who the hell was this person in front of me. He’s not the Caden I knew before! “L-let’s just go,” I said, taking my bag and standing up.

Caden faked a gasp. “Wait, we’re not finished yet.”

“I don’t want to eat anymore.”

Returning to his car, I sat on the passenger’s seat and heaved a sigh. This day certainly took a weird turn. I was so happy to be with Caden, but they just had to ruin our night together.

“I’m really sorry, Livi,” Caden said, apologizing to me for the nth time. He sat beside me, slamming the door closed.

“It’s fine,” I said. I’m still a little bit winded from everything that happened but at least we’re out of that place. “Did you really do that?” I asked.

“Did what?”

“Take this territory,” I continued.

“Yeah,” he replied. “Dad asked me to do it and I did.”

“All by yourself? I asked, staring at him in disbelief.

He nodded, smiling at me in amusement. “Yeah?”

To think that Caden managed to steal a territory from someone, even my brothers couldn’t do that without dad’s help. “Okay. Do you still want to come to my house?” I asked. The day hadn’t ended yet. I didn’t want to waste any time anymore. I wanted to be with Caden a lot longer.

His phone rang again, stopping him from answering. We both stared at each other. I tried not to show my irritation. He’s been getting all these calls all day and even if he wasn’t answering any of it, it just proved how busy he was. Playing games all and watching movies, such bullshit. There’s no way he’d do that after all this time. He’d been working under his father to expand their territory. I briefly wondered if dad knew about it. Was he helping the Vaccarino family? Our families had been partners not only in the mob but in other businesses as well.

Caden ignored the call. He smiled at me and said, “of course I’ll come to your house. I already said I will.”

It’s hard to hide my satisfaction. “Okay.”

Driving past the gate, I suddenly uneasy. How long had it been since Caden visited my house? We see each other at school but we never hang out after class. Did I even clean my room? I hoped my brothers weren’t at home or else they’d ruin his visit. They adored Caden, saying it would have been better if he was their brother and not me. What a bunch of assholes. Louis and Hugo never really treated me like I was family. They bully me for staying away from the family business. In their eyes, I was never a part of the Saverio group. I never went through the same training they did. They think the reason why I was exempted from everything was that I was dad’s favorite. Of course, I knew the truth. I was never a choice. I was too weak, too kind, too human. Just like mom.

I shook my head to erase what just popped in my mind. My train of thoughts shifted to mom and it was never a good idea to reminisce any memories about her.

“Something wrong?” Caden asked, seeing how I was twitching on my seat.

“Nothing,” I answered.

He stopped the car in front of our house. Turning the engine off, he got out of the vehicle and so did I. There were guards patrolling the area. They didn’t pay me any attention as I walked the set of stairs that led to the entrance. Caden followed me, hands inside his pockets while looking around the place. “Wow, did your house get even bigger?” he asked.

“It was renovated last year,” I answered. I pushed the door open and let him enter first. Our house was a reflection of how much extra money my father had. It’s too big for four people. Majority of the occupants were the men serving under the Servio group. Every year, he’d add more room like he’s planning on making it a hotel or some sort. Marbled floor and pillars, golden chandeliers, tall windows, expensive paintings, furniture, and statues. My father spared no expense building this house. And this wasn’t even our only house. Dad had a lot of mansion across the country. As I said, he had too much money from operating different businesses in and out of the underground world. What those businesses were? I had no idea and I had no plan of knowing. He had my brothers to take over the family. What I wanted was out of their business and have a normal life. With Caden possibly.

“Where’s your dad?” he asked.

The moment he asked that question, dad emerged from the living room to welcome us. “Caden!” he called out with open arms to embrace my best friend.

Caden grinned upon seeing my father. “Uncle Saverio!”

They hugged for seconds before dad pushed Caden away. He held his shoulders, staring at his face. “It’s been so long, boy! What was your father doing to you, huh?” dad asked, laughing out loud.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Did I forget to mention dad greatly admired Caden? Why does everyone in my family like him? “You know how it is for us heirs. It’s stressful,” Caden replied, laughing with dad.

“Well, I’m Dom is very proud of you. I heard you grabbed another territory from the Jones.”

What dad said perked my interest. So, he knew about Caden’s activities. “It’s nothing big, uncle. They didn’t put up much of a fight.”

Dad’s smile twitch. But he grinned brightly at Caden. “Do you want to eat? I’ll ask them to make you dinner,” he offered.

“We already ate, dad,” I said, pushing Caden away from him. If we got caught up in a conversation with dad, we wouldn’t be able to leave the entrance of the house.

Dad pouted at me. “Oh, come on, Livi. It’s not every day you bring your friend here.”

“And you know exactly why,” I commented, sticking my tongue out at dad. “We’ll be in our room. Don’t disturb us!”

I pulled Caden up the stairs to get to my room. I heard his phone rang again but he quickly turned it off. How many times did it ring while we’re together? “Your dad hasn’t changed, huh. He’s still very cheerful. He’s so different from my dad.” Caden was right. Uncle Dom was far more serious and scarier than dad. Sometimes I ask myself how they became friends.

The hallway was brightly lit, and I reckoned my brothers were out. Good. No one’s going to interrupt us. “We can watch movies again,” I suggested.

“Okay. This time you pick,” Caden said, smiling at me.

I smiled back.