Ciro's Obsession

Raven’s POV

“Ugh!” I let out a pained sound as I emptied my shot glass. The liquor burned its way down my throat because I had drunk it too quickly.

“Isn’t that too much?” Luna, my best friend since childhood, asked with a worried look. “You’re going to get drunk in no time, and you have to work tomorrow morning.”

Yeah, I hadn’t told her yet.

“I got fired today,” I said, swallowing the rest of the liquor. She raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Her confusion deepened. “How? Why?”

“Long story! That racist old witch,” I muttered as I reached to pour myself another drink. Talking about it would only make me angrier. Luna snatched the glass out of my hand.

“No,” I groaned, trying to grab it back.

“Getting drunk won’t solve anything.” She scolded me. “You’re hardworking. I’m sure you’ll find something even better soon.”

That was easy to say for someone who had all the qualifications needed to survive in this crazy world. But me? I’m nothing. The best I can do is wait tables, strip, or just die.

That’s the kind of world this is.

“Let’s go home,” she murmured, and I nodded before hopping off the barstool. I quietly followed after her.

“I’ll talk to some of my coworkers for you. We should be able to get you a job by the end of the week.”

“That won’t be necessary.” I forced a smile. “I’ll figure something out.”

I hated owing her anything. She was so helpful and kind that accepting so much from her felt like I was taking advantage of her.

The shrill ringing of my phone cut through the already tense atmosphere, and my eyes dropped to the bag hanging over my left arm.

“One second, please,” I said as I rummaged through it, frowning slightly.

“It’s Chase,” I murmured.

Chase—my incredibly irresponsible older brother, who had left home nearly a year ago and hadn’t contacted me in ages—was suddenly calling out of nowhere. My heart tightened.

“Yay! Chase!” Luna, on the other hand, looked thrilled, her eyes lighting up. “Ask him when he’s coming to visit us.”

I nodded and put the phone on speaker so Luna could listen too.

“Hey, Chase, I haven’t heard from you in so long—” I started complaining, but I was cut off when I heard sniffling from the other end.

My heart stopped.

Was he crying? My gaze shot to Luna, who looked just as confused as I was.

“Chase...” I called softly, pausing as I waited for him to speak—but there was still no answer, only heavy breathing and choking sounds.

“What’s wrong?” Luna spoke up. “Can you hear us? Are you there, Chase?”

“Chase, please say something,” I begged, and then I heard his sobs—they tore my heart apart. Chase was usually irresponsible, always gambling away everything he had to his own detriment. But there was one thing I had never witnessed.

I had never seen him cry.

Even when our parents died, I cried so much I practically flooded the funeral home. Chase, on the other hand, didn’t shed a single tear because he wanted to stay strong for me.

“I’m so sorry, Raven,” he finally cried into the phone. “I screwed up again, and this time it’s really bad.”

“No.” The word left my mouth as I shook my head, refusing to believe it.

“I didn’t plan for this. That bastard Emilio—” He cursed through his pain. “He promised me I’d win big this time. I was so close.”

His voice trembled.

“I fucking hate this,” he muttered. “I’m ashamed that I have to tell you this again, Tesoro.”

“You can’t just call me and start saying nonsense nobody wants to hear,” I snapped. I had already been in a terrible mood before he called. “Tell me what you’ve done this time, Chase.”

“I-I took some money,” he muttered, and my grip on the phone tightened.

“You stole money?” My chest rose and fell dangerously as my gaze darted to Luna, who looked just as confused. “How could you do that?”

“I didn’t steal it. I just wanted to borrow it,” he argued. “Emilio said the deal was going to work out, so I took it. I was going to pay it back as soon as I won. I just wanted to give us a better life.”

It was ridiculous—everything he was saying was ridiculous.

“You didn’t borrow it if you never told them about it!” I yelled, and Luna placed a hand on my shoulder. “If you’re so worried about giving me a better life, you could’ve just stayed home, helped me out, gotten a real job, and stopped making a spectacle of yourself everywhere you go!”

“I know you’re angry, Tesoro,” he murmured, his voice heavy with regret. “I deserve that, but you have to listen to me. You need to leave your house right now. Just run.”

“Wait—what does that have to do with me? I had nothing to do with the money. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” I snapped at him, feeling my heart clench before finally asking,

“How much did you take?”

A long silence.

“How much did you take, Chase?” I shouted, causing passersby to stop briefly and stare at me in shock.

“It’s seven hundred thousand dollars,” he confessed.

My stomach dropped.

“Chase, you gambled with seven hundred thousand dollars!” It was unbelievable. I felt like I was about to pass out.

“Tesoro, please listen to me,” he pleaded. “The Brotherhood is very dangerous, and they won’t rest until they get their money back. That means you’re in danger.”

“Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you did it,” I shot back.

“You have to run,” he insisted.

“Wait, what did you say about a Brotherhood?” Luna spoke up, taking the phone from my hand as I paced back and forth, rubbing my forehead vigorously. My stomach twisted painfully, and I couldn’t tell whether it was the alcohol or the bad news.

“Luna?” I could still hear Chase. “Thank God you’re there. Please tell Raven she has to leave as soon as possible. If they find out I’ve disappeared, they’ll come after her.”

“Which Brotherhood did you borrow the money from?” she asked again, rephrasing her question, and I leaned forward, desperate to hear the answer—not because I knew anything about any Brotherhood, but because I needed to know just how deep we were in trouble.

“The Moretti Brotherhood,” he answered, and Luna’s eyes widened.

“No way!”