Page 66 of Origins
Immediately, I felt guilty. Titus was already awake earlier, but Miles had been trying to sleep. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so loud.”
“You weren’t loud at all.” Miles joined me at the counter with a yawn. “Titus woke me up. Now, even without your original documentation, or knowing your name, there are still ways. First and foremost, is getting copies of the information. Thankfully the school has records, so we know they exist.”
“But I already went to the registrar, and they said they can’t give me the documents,” I reminded him. “They won’t even let me look at them, so I can’t get my social security number or my birth certificate.”
“They’ll give out the copies,” Miles sounded so sure. “Don’t worry about that. Do you know who you’d like to assign as your power of attorney? Nothing is going to happen—only a fool would attempt something with the four of us aware. But if it makes you feel better, we should get our ducks in a row.”
“We?” I asked, again marveling at the cryptic statements regarding their importance. Who knew my new friends had such inflated egos? But then again, the Mafia did have ties to many places. Perhaps they were planning on using Titus’ brawn and Maria’s connections.
How did a monk peacefully come to terms with belonging to the Mafia anyway?
“Of course,” Titus returned with the mug refilled, and pushed it in front of me. “Drink.”
So pushy. But even so, I gratefully sipped at it. I had never heard of this homeopathic remedy before, but Titus seemed to believe in it strongly.
“Are you trying to drown her in milk?” Miles raised his brow, eyeing the beverage. “She already had one.”
“She said she can’t sleep,” Titus pointed out, “it will help.”
Miles rolled his eyes. “It will give her a lactose overload.”
“She’s not an infant!” Titus pointed at him. “And not everyone in the world is lactose intolerant.”
“Are you lactose intolerant?” I picked up on Titus’ insinuation and Miles’ slightly jealous demeanor. “But you had creamer in your coffee!”
“We are getting off topic!” Miles shrugged, not answering my question. “Yes, Bianca…we.” He looked pointedly at me. It was almost painful to focus on his words, because he had a terrible case of bedhead and his wavy hair was in all manner of disarray. But his warm eyes held my own, taking my breath away. “Weare on your side—we told you this earlier. One of us, or all of us, will act as your power of attorney if you want. Or you can use someone else. I just want you to be able to relax.”
But… It was one thing to be friends, but could I really give them legal rights to make decisions for me? Granted, I would still be in charge of myself. But what if I couldn’t…
Would my parents have my best interests in mind anymore? Until very recently I’d have thought so, but I guess I was wrong. Sadly, it was a fact that I trusted these four men more than I trusted anyone else in my life—and we had just met.
That reality sounded so very pathetic in my head, and I almost cried all over again. Outside of them, I really was truly and utterly alone.
“Bianca?” Miles’ voice was close to my ear.
I blinked, realizing I had been staring into my half-full mug. My vision blurred, but they weren’t tears of helplessness. Not anymore.
To Be Continued in:
Book Two: Ghost