Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Chapter 9 What? Why me?!

"Jordan and Drew, I am putting you two in charge of Dakota while I'm gone. I expect you both to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity. As we know, that bastard that dared to enter my home last night is thought to be involved in The Viper gang. You will notify me immediately if anything happens, am I clear?" I ask.

"Yes Boss." They both say.

I am absolutely livid that that man had broken into my home and tried to kill Dakota. I have already commanded some of my best men to spy on all my enemies to help catch whoever it was behind the attack.

I am pretty certain it was The Viper Gang, though, as they are one of the only ones who would dare to attack me and my household.

"Where exactly are you going, Boss?" Drew asks.

"I am going away for a couple days to check on some shipments. Supposedly we are being cheated of our money, so I'm going to investigate." I reply. It isn't the best time to leave Dakota because of the break-in last night, but I have a job to do, I can't just ignore it.

"Won't you need us there with you?" Jordan asks.

"I'd rather have you both personally watch Dakota while I'm gone. My other men don't exactly look friendly." I tell them.

Jordan raises an eyebrow while Drew crosses his arms over his chest. "Are you telling us we look friendly?" Jordan asks.

I smirk. Jordan and Drew don't look friendly. They look the opposite, in fact. Both men are well built and tall, with tattoos crawling down their arms. They look dangerous, but on the inside, they are like the class clowns.

That's why they're perfect to watch Dakota.

When they're working, they are some of the most lethal men I know.

But when they're not working, they can be as immature as a teenage boy; joking around, playing video games, and loudly admiring the racks of the women on TV. They are quite comical, really.

"Do I need to work out more? Maybe my arms aren't muscular enough. If I look like hulk, will I then look intimidating?" Drew asks, as he examines his already large bicep and pokes it.

I chuckle. "It was a joke, Drew. Your appearance alone would cause little Jr. down the street to piss his pants in fright."

Jordan laughs while Drew chuckles and folds his arms across his chest. "That's what I thought."

"But in all seriousness, be gentle to Dakota. She spooks easily, and I trust you both enough to put you in charge of watching her." I tell them. I notice them looking back and forth at each other, and it seems as if they are having a secret conversation with each other in their minds.

"What's got you two all smug?" I ask.

"Hmmm...I don't know. Does 'I will never love again' sound familiar?" Asks Jordan.

Drew laughs and I roll my eyes. "Shut up. I don't care for this girl, I'm simply doing the right thing." I reply.

"Since when do you ever do the right thing? You're a gang leader." Jordan says. "Besides, deny all you want, but your actions prove otherwise."

I angrily fold my arms over my chest. "You two are such a pain in my ass." I say, narrowing my eyes at them.

"I guess that's our job, Boss." Jordan replies, winking.

"Yeah, I guess you're just stuck with us for life." Drew adds, shrugging.

"A bullet between the eyes would fix that real quick." I mumble under my breath.

"What was that, Boss? I didn't quite hear you." Drew asks me, smirking.

I'm about to open my mouth again when we are interrupted.

"H-hello?" A quiet, timid voice questions behind us. We all turn around to meet the cautious eyes of Dakota. She's wearing Katelin's cupcake pajamas, and she looks rather intimidated by all the testosterone in the room.

"Hello, how are you doing?" I ask her in the most gentle voice I can muster. Her eyes dart to Jordan and Drew, in which she timidly backs up a little.

"Uhm...good." She quietly replies.

"I can see you're probably wondering who these men beside me are. I will be gone for a couple days, and these two will be protecting you from any other possible dangers. You are are safe with them, I can assure you they bring no harm." I tell her.

Her eyes look calculating, as if she's trying to decide to believe me or not.

"I should probably introduce them to you. The idiot to the left is Drew-"

"Hello." Drew greets, waving his hand at her.

"-And the imbecile to the right is Jordan." I say.

"Hello. Boss can be a bit cranky sometimes." Jordan says.

Dakota smiles and then laughs a little bit. She looks uncomfortable, that I cannot deny. But hearing her laugh made me smile.

An awkward moment of silence passes, as Dakota and I lock eyes and stare at each other. I'm too lost in her eyes to notice Jordan and Drew snickering.

I snap my gaze away from her, and gain my composure. "Well, would you look at the time, I've got to go." I uncomfortably add, all the while checking the watch on my wrist to try to look convincing.

I send everyone one last glance before leaving my home and setting out for work.

* * *

Dakota's POV:

I feel nervous as I am left alone with two unfamiliar, large and muscular men. I study them in hopes to figure out their intentions. I scrunch my eyebrows together as I analyze the duo, trying to find any trace of malice in their features. They both seem like funny, innocent characters, and while I don't trust them completely, it can't hurt to step out of my comfort zone a bit.

"Now what?" The darker man known as Jordan questions.

"I dunno. What do girls like to do?" Asks Drew.

"Beats me." Jordan replies, shrugging.

It's then that I allow my lips to curl into a mischievous smirk, catching the attention of both men.

"We're screwed. Look at that face she's making!" Exclaims Drew.

Both men stare at me for a moment, and before things got too awkward, I decide to say, "Hide and seek! Drew, you're 'it!'"

"What? Why me?!" Drew whines.

Jordan rolls his eyes and chuckles. "I'd never thought I'd see they day when two of some of the most toughest gang leaders play hide and seek with some girl." He says. "Boss would kill us."

Drew just shrugs in response and closes his eyes and begins counting.

"One, two, three...."

"Shit, lets go!" Jordan says, before we quickly dash off into the mansion, looking for places to hide. It's not hard to find a place to hide, as a mansion holds many, many options. I choose to hide behind some furniture in the same room Drew is counting. I squeeze myself between the wall and the furniture, where I spy. Between the cracks of the dense chairs, I peer one eye out and watch Drew as he finishes up counting.

"Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty. If you're not hidden by now, well then sucks for you." He says as he spins around and shoots his eyes open. He's about to jog down the nearby hallway, when his foot hits a wall and he goes colliding with the floor.

I bite my tongue and hold in a laugh as I watch him.

He groans dramatically on the floor before getting up slowly and dusting himself off. He mumbles something along the lines of 'I hate my life and my ego is being ruined' before successfully running off, officially joining the search.

So, the three of us ran around, feeling like kids again. That day, I experienced a glimpse childhood I had never known. Sure, you may say 'hide and seek is for kids' but for me, I've never even played the simple game of hide and seek. I've never eaten dinner at the family table, took vacations, went to school, or even played fun games.

So it just felt good to be a kid, even though I'm a young adult.

And not only that, I let my guard down a little bit.

I didn't feel terrified of Jordan and Drew. For once, I wasn't scared.

For once I got to experience a little bit of fun and freedom.

And so, I smile to myself as I change into my pajamas and walk out of my room with courage. Courage to join Drew, Jordan, and Katelin in a movie night.

I enter the large movie room, and it still amazes me that some people live in such luxury. The room literally looks like a miniature move theater.

"Hello Dakota!" Katelin waves and gestures me over. I smile and quickly make my way to her, and sit down next to her. Jordan and Drew sit on the other side of her and shove popcorn in their mouths.

"Shwant smome?" Drew mumbles with a mouthful of popcorn as he shoves the bowl of popcorn into my face.

"Uhh...no thanks." I say politely. Katelin's face reads disgust and she proceeds to slap Drew's hands away.

Drew just shrugs and continues his feast.

"Ready for our movie?" Katelin asks.

"I don't think I can handle The Notebook again." Drew says with a look of disgust on his face.

"Yeah, only because you cried last time." Jordan teases.

"Crying?" Drew asks, sounding shocked.

"Yeah, crying." Jordan says simply.

"I'm deeply offended. My eyes were simply sweating."

I laugh at their useless banter, before Katelin finally speaks up. "Alright boys, cut it out. Dakota decided on the movie called Priceless so I'm playing it now."

Jordan and Drew mumble as the movie begins to play. Katelin leans back in her seat and tsks. "I swear sometimes it feels like I'm a single mother of two." We both laugh and enjoy the rest of the night.

The night is filled with popcorn, candy, and ice cream, and I can say that I've never had so many sweets in my life. My stomach doesn't take too kindly with the sudden intake of lots of sugar, and I end up wallowing and groaning in my stomach aches.

Katelin insists I drink water, and I do so.

But it only makes my stomach feel worse, and I run to the bathroom where I empty my stomach of the consumed sugar.

Katelin gasps as she holds my hair up for me.

"I-I'm o-okay." I say in between pants.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know water would make it worse!" Katelin exclaims.

I gather the strength and sit up. "It's fine, really. Besides, I don't feel sick at all anymore. Getting it out made me feel better." I say and smile at her.

"Well, if you're better then I'm glad." Katelin responds.

I get up and slowly let the walls I had built around me weaken. Not crumble completely, but weaken.

And the rest of the night is spent on movie marathons, laughter and video games.

While that day was spent with laughter, the coming days were going to be filled with screams strong enough to shatter glass.

And I would be the center of it all.