Chapter 10

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I walked downstairs slowly because my leg hurt less that way. I had gone to the hospital, gotten stitches on my chest and the right side of my waist and a few bandages and Band-Aids here and there, but I was fine.

I finally made it to the ground floor and smiled at myself proudly before I made my way to the kitchen but harsh voices from inside stopped me just before I reached the opening.

"You're giving him special treatment, the other men are going to see it and they are not going to like it, Sir." Ben hissed.

"And I would give a damn about what they like why?" Sergio sounded as calm as always, "Kent, pour me –" I heard what sounded like something being poured into a glass and Sergio chuckled, "Thank you."

Mmm. Usually by the time I woke up Sergio was done eating and was in his office working or already gone.

"Sir, Ben's right. They will begin to disrespect us."

"And you'll just have to take care of that, Calvin. That's why I pay you." Sergio replied. "You're disturbing my meal – great as always by the way, Kent."

"But Sir –" A new voice began but I cut them off by crying out as I jumped into the doorway when someone whispered 'what are you doing?' right into my ear from behind me.

I looked to my side and shot Clyde a glare while he just smirked back as he leaned against the outside of the kitchen wall with his arms crossed, waiting to see how I explained my way out of eavesdropping.

I looked back into the kitchen and realised Ben, Sergio and six guys I did not know were staring at me. Well, glaring – except Sergio, his face was blank, as always. Kent gave me a smile from where he stood in front of the stove.

"I uh – I'm really late – I would just go because Clyde's right here, but you haven't given me anything yet. I mean – if-if you're going to give me anything, I just came to check." I shot another quick glare at Clyde who was laughing silently from where he was hidden behind the wall. I swear he's in his mid-thirties and he's acting like a child. Maybe we should have stuck to hating each other...

"Go?" Sergio scoffed, "You're not going anywhere."

I looked at him. "What?" I asked slowly. I ignored Clyde's viciously shaking head from the corner of my eye, his face had gone serious.

"You heard him." Ben smirked.

"Ben." Sergio frowned before he looked at me, "You're in no condition to leave, I will not put my merch at risk like that, literally anyone could take you down now." He said. I narrowed my eyes.

"Alexan –" Clyde began to hiss.

"You don't tell me what condition I have to be in to go somewhere. I don't know how things work here, and honestly I don't give a fuck but where I go there are rules and I intend not to –" I was cut off when I felt a hard shove to my back causing me to stumble forward but before I could recover, Ben's fist met my abdomen and I felt my stitches rip open – I knew he intended to do that because he knew exactly where they were – before he punched me in my face and slammed me against the wall grabbing my collar. He lifted his hand –

"Stop." Sergio said. Ben stopped his attack but kept me pinned to the wall. I recognised the guy that have shoved me as one of the stalkers or whatever he was. "Thank you, Ben." Ben smirked into my face like a little boy that had just been honoured by his teacher while Kent exited the kitchen quickly as Sergio stood up. "Alexander... when will you learn? Where you're from, or where you go, doesn't matter here. This is my house. Fuck, this is my town, it's my city and you –" I grit my teeth as he nudged my jaw with his forefinger, "You're in it, so I own you. Now, you're going to clean up the mess you just caused us to make," I heard smashing plated and Sergio smirked, "Or I'll have Clyde finish your friend off while Ben finally gets to have at you – along with whoever is in this room that wants to join in."

"I'll join in!" Someone said happily. Sergio chuckled.

"That's Maximus; he likes to punch things when he hasn't had breakfast yet." I glanced at the Maximus guy. He was bulkier than literally everyone in the room.

I honestly couldn't care less about them beating me up. It was the threat to Shiloh that shook me.

"Apologise." Ben said pushing it.

I grit my teeth as they waited. I could feel blood trickling down my waist and probably soaking into the rim of my underwear on my hip.

"Sorry." I hissed.

"Excuse me, what was that?" I glared into Ben's eyes, and he looked right back into mine with a dark glint in them.

"Sorry." I repeated louder.

He laughed as he let me go. They walked out leaving me in the kitchen with Sergio and Clyde standing at the door.

"You insist on having us hurt you." He shook his head at me before he walked out muttering to Clyde to fix my stitch since the blood was visible having soaked through the fabric of my shirt.

I clenched my fist. I hated this situation. I felt helpless. I hated feeling helpless. It brought back so many memories; everything from the moment I found out my parents weren't coming home...

"Why can't you keep your mouth shut, Alex?" Clyde muttered as he pulled his phone out.

I turned to begin cleaning the food and plates they deliberately threw on the floor up. The movement was probably making my wound worse but I didn't really care at that point.

When I was done – well Clyde had actually helped me; I had no idea why, so when WE were done, he told me to go to the living room as the doorbell rang. He had informed me that it was just me and him currently in the house. He said whenever fighting started, Kent went grocery shopping.

I sat on the couch but looked over my shoulder as I heard a woman.

"Stitches, Clyde? What did you do to yourself now? And I'm late for work because of you!"

"Daddy!" I smiled hearing Sasha and watched as she jumped into Clyde's outstretched arms. "Stitches?" she asked. I guess he's been stitched up enough for her to know what they are.

"Not me, him. He's okay though, Sweetheart," He leaned Sasha's head on his shoulder and covered her other ear with his hand, "He got mugged last night and then started a fight in the kitchen this morning, ripped his stitches open." The woman looked at me and I could tell instantly she was Sasha's mother.

Mugged. Oh that reminds me...

"He's young and..." she drifted as she walked over to me.

"Decent-looking? Yeah, Sergio decided to recruit a college student. Sells pretty well, even though he doesn't want to – I'm opening Sasha's ears." Clyde let Sasha back onto the ground after giving her a kiss on her forehead and she gasped seeing me.

"Alex!" She yelled running around the couch before she jumped onto me making me grunt. I was trying not to show how much it had hurt my wound. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Sasha." I said. She gasped noticing the blood on my shirt.

"Mommy, look. He's got a boo-boo. Stitches!" I bit my lip smiling at how cute she sounded as she stared at me concerned.

"Mommy will fix it; you go see if you can find Mr Cuddles upstairs." Sasha ran out and Clyde frowned at the woman before he ran after her.

"Hello, I'm Kiera." She smiled laying a first aid kit on the carpet.

"I'm Alexander." I said awkwardly as she pushed me to lie on my back. I grit my teeth as she began removing the previous stitches.

"So... while I fix you up, mind explaining what Clyde meant when he said you don't want to sell?" I watched her dip some cotton in alcohol and prepared myself for the burn.

"I – Ah!" I shut my eyes and grit my teeth, hissing as it touched my wound, "I did something really bad..." I whispered, "They know about it... It's this, jail or..."

"What?" she frowned, "They're blackmailing you?" she asked outraged as she fixed up a needle.

"Yes – but – but don't say anything. Not to Clyde, I mean, it's all Sergio anyway."

"Everything is." She frowned shaking her head.

"At least I'm alive." I mumbled before I added, "So you and Clyde... You're married?" to change the subject because I was genuinely interested.

"No, definitely not. I mean you actually have to attend the wedding to marry someone." My eyes widened and she nodded, "He was helping Sergio 'deal with something'. Doesn't even have the decency to say what 'something' it was. Funny, since I've never said a word about all of this to anyone." She said.

"He left you at the altar...? Whoa... What an idiot..." She laughed at my reaction. He was though. She seemed nice, and she was really good looking.

Clyde came back and I called his name making him frown at me for no apparent reason. "Those guys last night... they said to say something to you about an... Adam, no... uh... Eth... Erik – That's it, Erik. They said he sends his regards." I saw Clyde's eyes widen before he ran back upstairs not giving me time to ask who Erik was.

Half an hour later I was seated on the couch beside Sasha with a massive bag full of popcorn that she apparently found it in Sergio's closet, weird, very... but tasty, as we ran through a Gumball, Adventure Time and Caillou marathon. Kiera had let her stay after I begged her a few times and then gave her puppy eyes that always made everyone give me what I wanted, Claire had said that was because I had an 'innocent face', whatever that was. Clyde had gone out to do whatever it is criminals do in the daylight so it was just us until Kent joined us bearing 'gifts' – which he probably bought them for himself but had to share because Sasha was there – of ice cream and chocolate sweets while he joined us in being couch potatoes and it was honestly the best day I had had in weeks.

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