When Fate Takes

Dalia Amato

I hear shouting happening in my brothers office. Italian. My father and brother both did a great job to make sure that I never learned the language, to this day I can only understand the curse words.

My brother doesn’t sound too happy in there.

I look at my best friend Colby who is sitting behind the receptionists desk. She’s on her lunch and Colby is snooping.

His glasses are on the edge of his nose as he’s typing away on her computer. I chuckle as I take in his outfit, he’s wearing all black and a black cap. He’s acting like we’re sneaking in here in the middle of the night when it’s the middle of the damn day.

“You look like a spy, what are you doing?”

“Looking up Bailey in your brothers system.” I roll my eyes.

“I think she was very clear that she didn’t want to go out with you, Col.”

“Yeah, and I want to figure out if she has a brain injury that makes me unattractive to her.” I laugh.

“She doesn’t need a brain injury to see through your bullshit.” He pops up from behind the computer and glares at me.

You’d never be able to tell that he’s a soldier for a Capo and can shoot you and order dinner for himself at the same time without giving you a second glance.

Bailey is the new bartender in my brothers club.

We had come by last weekend, managed to sneak in for an hour before being kicked out by my brothers men, and Colby swears he’s fallen in love. And she turned him down everyday since.

“Rude,” he says before closing the laptop and coming to sit next to me.

The door abruptly opens and two men walk out. One I don’t recognize, but the other is my brothers best friend and Capo—Onyx James.

The man is six foot five, muscular, tattooed, dark haired, and has the prettiest face in the mafia. which is something he should be commended for because he takes care of people for my brother—evident by the cuts and bruises on his knuckles.

His dark eyes don’t even glance in my direction as he walks the other man out, who I just noticed has an active bleeding cut on his brow.

“Who here is delusional?” Colby says under his breath, but I can’t even react because my brother calls me into his office.

“Dalia!”

I get up and walk in alone.

Although Colby is my friend, he’s my bodyguard first—courtesy of my brother—so that means I face my brother alone.

“What are you doing here?” He asks me as he cleans up his desk.

I stare at my brother. Even being half siblings, we look so similar. We share the same dark hair and the blue eyes we got from our father. He’s tanner than me, while I am paler than a sheet of paper with freckles. I can thank my French mother for that.

“I am here to tell you that I will be going to Vegas on Sunday.”

My brother stills and looks up from his paperwork.

“No.”

“I think you misheard, I said I was telling you, not that I was asking you for permission. Though I am asking if we can borrow the jet to get there and back.” His eyes narrow on me and I have to hold back a laugh.

To the whole world, he’s the Don. To me, he’s just my annoying brother trying to act like my father.

“No on both.”

“Bash, it’s my birthday.” I didn’t want to sound like a brat, but I’ve already made plans with friends.

“You can do something here at the club.”

“You mean somewhere you can keep an eye on me?”

“Yes.” He’s not even trying to hide it.

“Please, it is one night.”

“Don’t you have class?” I roll my eyes.

Of course now he pays attention to my school schedule.

“I only have one class on Monday nights, I think I’ll live. Please, I only turn twenty one once, and Colby will obviously be there with me.”

My brother leans back and watches me.

“You can take the jet,” he says and I smile. “But we’ll be going with you.”

Smile gone.

“What?”

“I’d feel more comfortable if I was there.”

“Okay, but who is we?” I frown.

“Ian, Onyx, and I. We have work to do out there that we’ve been putting off, so you get to go out, and I’ll be close by if you need me.”

I knew that was bullshit. They’d most likely tag along with us the whole night.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

Something my father taught me to keep my anger at bay.

Can’t rule the world if you’re showing the world everything you’re feeling on your face.

I open my eyes and I nod.

“Fine.” I stand up and make my way to the door, pausing at the exit.

“What is it?” He asks.

I have so much I could say, but I bite my tongue.

“Thank you.” I turn and step into a wall. I bounce back a step and look up to see Onyx looking down at me.

“Sorry,” he mumbles before stepping aside and letting me pass.

I am frozen for a moment before walking out. I look back at Onyx, but he’s already sat where I had been, and talking to my brother in a hush tone.

“So?” Colby starts. “What did big brother Bash say?”

He grabs my school bag and we head towards the stairs.

“They’re coming with.”

“Who is they?”

“Bash, Ian, and Onyx.” Colby gasps.

“Fuck.”

Onyx is Colby’s Capo, which means he’ll have to be on his A game, and we can’t have fun the way we want to.

If it had been just my brother and some soldiers, I wouldn’t be as upset. I hated that he was bringing two of his Capo’s.

Fuck is right.