Angelina’s POV
I get out of the bathroom after a long, much needed shower.
April gave me multiple new sets of underwear and bras. In addition to socks, hair ties, a couple of pants, jeans, shirts, and sweaters.
I was surprised when I saw her laying them all on the bed shortly after I went inside my room before I headed into the shower.
“Oh April, I don’t need all of these, you really didn’t have to” I said shyly.
She smiled at me genuinely and said “It’s no big deal, I have tons and tons of clothes. Most of them, I haven’t even worn yet”
“Well, glad you do because… um… your white sweater is kind of ruined. I hope it wasn’t your favorite” I said in a small voice as I chewed on my lower lip.
She shook her head and said without being fazed “No, it wasn’t. Don’t worry about it. Do you need anything else? those were the things that came to my mind. You can tell me or mom if there is anything else you need, and don’t be shy about it. Like my mom said, you’re part of our family, and I kind of like having another sister… if you’ll have me of course”
“Another?” I ask in confusion. I thought she was Diana’s only girl.
She looked nervous all of a sudden as she said hurriedly “Oh, I mean… another sibling”
Something seemed off about her just then, but I didn’t want to linger much on it so I answer her lightly “Of course I’ll have you, are you kidding? I always wanted a sister”
Her nervousness lessened a bit and her smile returned as she said brightly “By the way, you looked so bad ass when you kicked the crap out of my brother! I was so shocked when you landed that first hit on his face. Not many people are able to get the jump on him you know? He’s pretty strong”
I chuckled “You seemed to enjoy that almost as much as I did. Aren’t you a little mad that I hurt him?” I asked amusingly.
She scoffed and said determinedly “Oh he so had it coming! He was such a jerk to you! No wonder you kicked his ass. He could be really intolerable and annoying sometimes. So I totally know the feeling”
I chuckled again and said suggestively “Well, if he annoys you again, please let me know. I’d love any excuse to do that again”
She laughed and nodded her head before she turned a little serious and asked curiously “How did you learn to fight like that?”
“I’ve been training in martial arts for three years now. I almost hit the gym everyday for training” I said casually.
“So, it’s not something you learn online, is it?” she asked with a hint of disappointment.
I sensed her genuine interest in the matter, so I asked her “Do you want to learn self defense?”
“Yeah, but we don’t have that kind of thing here” she said sadly.
“Well, I’m sure Fairbanks has, you can register there. It’s only a two hour drive and you don’t have to go everyday. It could be like three times a week” I said encouragingly.
“Oh… we’re not really supposed to leave the town unless it’s necessary. It’s not really safe for us out there” she said a little sadly.
“Right” I said soberly.
Because of my father.
I tried not to go back into that hole of darkness again as I tried to turn things around and suggested “Well, I can teach you. I’m pretty good at it. But I don’t know how long I’ll be staying here so I’m not promising to turn you into a pro anytime soon. Maybe after the… danger is contained, you’ll be able to move freely out of town, right?”
“I guess” she said, a little unsure.
“Ok, we can start tomorrow. But we’re going to need some space to train in, like an empty room or something” I said determinedly.
She seemed to think about what I said, probably trying to think of an empty place we can go to.
“I can’t believe you guys don’t have a gym in town. I mean five hundred people, and none of them like working out and doing any sports?” I asked incredulously.
She gave me a smile and her eyes sparkled like she just remembered something “Well, most of the town people are kind of old school, they’re not really into that healthy lifestyle stuff. And most of the younger generation move out of town once they graduate high school and move to the city to resume their studies. So there wasn’t really any need. But you just reminded me, we were going to open a huge gym soon. But… the plan got halted after…. Well, after what happened with Alex and Jenny. It is actually kind of Alex’s side project. He is going to surprise Jenny with a gym because she was just accepted into her online exercise science program and she needed space and equipment to start with, and he also hopes that she will be in charge of the place once she graduates. So he started renovating this empty, huge space in the middle of the town that was closed down for a long time and started remodeling it. He wasn’t done with it completely, but the remodeling was finished. It just doesn’t have any sort of equipment”
I looked at her blankly for a few seconds, noticing her slip up. She was talking about Alex and Jenny in the present tense. As if they are still here. Well, it’s only been a month or so, of course she still hasn’t completely processed their deaths yet and I was not about to point out her mistake and hurt her.
I recovered quickly as not to make her aware of anything and said excitedly “Great! Space is all we need. It’s just going to be you and me and our bodies, no special equipment or anything. We might just need some mats, do you think we can find them here?”
Her eyes shined bright as she said enthusiastically “Yeah sure. That’s no problem”
“We’re on for tomorrow then” I nodded my head excitedly.
“Oh, we so are” she said eagerly.
Then she left the room to let me shower.
As I stood in front of the dresser after she left and I finished with my shower, looking myself in the mirror, I couldn’t help that immense pain that I felt for her still unregistered loss over Alex and Jenny.
It really fucking hurt to see and hear that, because it all comes down to one heart breaking realization.
It all happened because of me.
It’s heart breaking because it all fucking happened to get me across their town, and I wanted absolutely nothing to do with that man in the first fucking place.
What the hell did he want from me?
It’s not like I’m going to carry on his legacy to lead the mafia world he is in control of.
I’m not his fucking heir!
And for the life of me, if he really thinks I will step up and take over things, then it will be officially confirmed, the man is sick in the head.