Page 26 of Embrace the Darkness
“That doesn’t explain the clothes.”
“I wanted to give you a little more time to settle in before I approached you with this.” He sighed. “I’d like it if you’d start shadowing me. Sit in on some meetings. See how I interact with those who work for and with the family. This will give you a crash course on how everything works. It’s just for learning purposes. If you find you don’t like something or if you are uncomfortable, we’ll proceed from there. As for the clothes, you’re my daughter and a woman now. You need to dress the part.”
Befuddled, I slumped into the couch. That was not what I'd expected him to say.
“What are your thoughts on that?”
Half of me was intrigued while the other hated that aspect of the family. The business side. The crime. It was the source of everything that was wrong with us. Mine and Stefan’s relationship, the death of Jamie’s father, the difference between our family and everyone else’s. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
“There’s no rush. Why don’t you take a couple of days to think it over?” he suggested and stood to leave.
I nodded. “Thank you for the clothes.”
Stefan touched my shoulder, squeezing it lightly in another small gesture of affection before leaving.
There was a knock at my door as I was changing into something comfy to wear for bed. I'd found an old pair of black yoga pants and a baggy tee. I barely got my shirt on in time before the door swung open.
Both Louie and Jamie walked into the room only to stop in their tracks when they noticed the state of my bedroom. Louie whistled. “What happened here?”
“I opened all the new clothes Stefan got me. I, uh, went a little crazy. Designer shoes and dresses have that effect on some people. I didn’t know I was one of them until it was too late.” As expected, they both looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Would it help if I told you there was some really sexy lingerie in the mix too?”
That brought a smile to Louie’s face. “Now we’re talking. Why don’t you model them for us?”
“As tempting as that sounds, I was thinking about heading downstairs for a snack. What are you two up to?”
“We’re going to watch a movie in the theater. We came to invite you,” Jamie finally spoke. That sounded like fun. It’d been forever since I'd been able to laze around and watch a movie.
“Can we watch a comedy or a horror? I’ll make some popcorn,” I asked over my shoulder as we exited the room.
My room was on the second floor in the east wing, on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen. We debated over what to watch while I was putting the popcorn in the microwave. Louie wanted to watch the new IT movie and Jamie wanted to watch Deadpool. I didn’t care either way because I hadn’t seen either, but when they looked to me to decide I suggested we watch both and for them torock, paper, scissorsto decide whose movie we got to watch first.
I almost peed myself laughing at how serious they played. Two grown mob men facing each other, saying the words to the game at the same time while moving their fists up and down in the air. Louie won.
The theater was on the first floor on the west side of the house near the garage. The large room was dimly lit and filled with pillowy ash colored couches and recliners, all facing the wall with the projection screen. I chose the couch all the way in the back, intending to lie stretchedout. That plan was ruined when Jamie took a seat next to me, just before scooping up the tablet that controlled the projector.
Louie snagged the bowl of popcorn out of my hands before plopping down on the other side of me. He shoved a huge handful into his mouth, making his cheeks puff out like a chipmunk. I bit my lip to hide my smile and reached into the bowl to grab a handful myself.
“You know there’s enough seats in here for twenty asses to perch on. How am I supposed to lay down with you two sitting next to me?” I griped, eating the popcorn one piece at a time.
Louie handed the popcorn over to Jamie, grabbed one of the many decorative throw pillows in the room, and placed it on his lap. He patted the pillow. “Lay down. Jameson can have your legs. This couch is the best place to watch the movie. We’re not moving.” I stared at him, then looked to Jamie, who was munching on popcorn while fiddling with the tablet to get the movie started. He didn’t protest. Instead, he placed the bowl of popcorn on the floor, showing me that he was already expecting me.
I put my legs in Jamie’s lap first, then laid my head on the pillow in Louie’s lap. Ominous music played from the speakers and I could already feel the nervous rush. I jumped and screamed throughout the movie and threw popcorn at the guys when they laughed at me. Every time an anxious moment came up, my body would tense up and I covered my eyes. To console me a little, Jamie rubbed my ankle with his thumb. Louie, on the other hand, kept pulling my hands away from my face to make me watch.
By the end of the movie my cheeks hurt from smiling.
The last thing I remembered was the beginning of Deadpool. I'd made the mistake of letting my eyes close. It only felt like a minute had passed before I was being shaken like a rag doll and yelled at to wake up. I startled, my eyes flying open, finding both Jamie and Louie hovering above me.
“Are you okay?” Louie asked.
I looked around, realizing I was still in the theater. My head was still in Louie’s lap, but Jamie was kneeling on the floor next to me.
“What?”Did something happen?
Without answering me, Jamie gently brushed my cheek with his thumb. That was when I noticed my cheeks were wet. “You were crying in your sleep,” he said, studying me with worried eyes.
Shit!I sat up, wiping at my face.
“Were you having a nightmare?” Louie sounded a little guilty, probably thinking it was due to the movie we'd just watched.