Chapter 27

We drove to the park in silence. I had no idea what he was going to confess to me, and to be honest I was scared. I mean, how in the hell did he know Dylan?

I wasn't stupid, I knew it had something to do with the mob; I was getting the feeling that Dylan was in the mafia too. Great, two boyfriends that are in the mob. What the hell were the odds of that blunder?

I parked by the park and got out of the car. Justin followed my lead and when he was out, I locked the car door.

The two of us headed deep into the park, past all the small children running and playing, past the people playing basketball, past everyone and everything until we were alone.

"What's going on, Justin?"

"He's in the mob…"

"I figured that." I replied, annoyed. I put my hands on my hips and stared back at the man I was in love with. The man who kept so many secrets from me.

"Your Uncle is in close with them…he hired them to keep me away from you…"

"What?" I didn't know what to feel, but these words I was hearing didn't make sense. Didn't my Uncle learn his lesson when I got kidnapped? Didn't he see that you shouldn't fuck with these people?

"They stepped to us a few weeks ago. The first night we had sex in New York, Tommy called me because they had begun to step up. They ruined one of Tommy's shipments as a message to us. I was supposed to take out Dylan that night as a message to them…"

"But you turned down the job…JC was supposed to do it?"

"JC took out someone else… and someone really important, Larry Lopez's son. So now we're at war with them." Justin explained and I just rubbed my forehead with the palm of my hand.

"What exactly is a war?"

"We fight each other, trying to take everyone of us out until either one of us gives up and we get there territory or until we take out all the leaders."

"Do I want to know whose winning?" I asked nervously.

"We are… but the Ryan's are much bigger and more powerful than the Lopez's, they stand no chance."

"Justin I don't want you to get hurt…" I walked over to him and hugged him tightly.

"I'll be fine… don't worry. I just need you to be careful…" Justin stated and kissed my forehead. I refused to let go of him, mostly because I was terrified of the thought of him dying.

"They'll come after me?"

"No, especially because you're Uncle is working with them…"

"Wait… my Uncle is working with them or he's paying them?" I questioned, Justin just closed his eyes and looked away from me. "Answer me, Justin."

"Natalia, I wasn't supposed to tell you that…"

"He's working with them."

I was beyond shocked. My Uncle was working for the mob?! What the fuck was going on? I mean my family wasn't like that. We were good people; we didn't kill people for money.

Or so I thought. My world was crumbling down at that point.

"Oh my God…" I covered my mouth with my hand, wanting to just throw up. I was disgusted with my family and with myself for not seeing this sooner.

"I'm sorry…"

"You didn't do anything wrong, don't be." I said, as I regained my composer. I didn't understand how this was possible.

"I love you Natalia… I hate to see you hurting like this…" He leaned over and kissed my cheek.

"It's just I can't believe how stupid I was."

"You weren't stupid… you just didn't know. You never thought your family would do anything like that…" Justin said, soothing me with his words. He cradled me in his arms, and I just didn't want to think anymore. I just let my lips crash down on his.

I figured the best way to forget my pain was to indulge myself. I just wanted Justin and that's what I got. He would never deny me. We headed back to his hotel room where we spent the rest of the night having sex and forgetting the world around us.

**

Savannah and JC had just finished dinner and were going for a walk on the beach. Savannah had been quiet about the fact that JC was in the mob. He seemed so normal, so sweet and so poetic.

They were so similar in everything, in their tastes in music, movies, food, and their pasts. They had both moved to Florida at a young age to start their lives over, but ended up forgetting who they were in the process.

JC just showed her kindness and generosity. He was a sweet man, but she was dying to know more about his profession.

"So what do you do for a living? We never established that basis." Savannah said with a nervous laugh. "I'm a waitress of course, but I'm trying to get into Broadway."

"Oh… uh… I help manage a coffee company…"

"You don't have to lie to me because I already know what you do." Savannah blurted out.

Fear crept into her being as JC just stared at her. She couldn't believe how stupid she was for letting on that she knew the truth. What if he tried to kill her because she knew his secret?!

"I figured you did because your friends with Natalia and Hope… but the lying was worth a shot. I thought you might get scared off if I told you the truth…"

"I'm not easily scared off." She smiled and took hold of his hand.

"I'm glad you're not because I wasn't going to let you get away so easily." JC leaned over and kissed her passionately. It was like sparks were going off for the both of them.

There had always been chemistry between them and their sexual attraction was obvious to the naked eye. But the pure emotion in the kiss had knocked them both back.

Just by that kiss, Savannah knew that this relationship could go somewhere, and she wasn't going to let JC slip away. No matter what his occupation was.

**

Andrew had taken Hope out for a night on the town. He did have an attraction toward her, but the truth was, this relationship was sparked because of his work. The work his Uncle had gotten him into.

He was too, working for the Lopez family. Andrew's job was to protect his sister but to stick it to Tommy by keeping his fiancé from running back to him.

Andrew was doing a good job of crushing Tommy's spirit.

Climbing out of bed, where Hope laid sleeping, Andrew pulled his clothes back on. He looked back at the sleeping figure of his "girlfriend" and smiled. She was gorgeous, and feelings for her had actually begun to grow slightly, but he knew once the Ryan's were out of the way that would be the end of it.

Hearing his cell phone start to ring, Andrew walked to the nightstand and grabbed the phone. He walked into the next room and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Andrew, its Dylan. I saw your sister today."

"And?"

"She was with Justin. He introduced himself as her boyfriend."

Andrew couldn't believe what he was hearing. Justin had to have been doing something to Natalia. He had to have been manipulating her, because he knew his little sister would never want to be with the likes of him.

"Did you kick him to the curb?"

"I tried but he pulled a gun out on me."

"Trigger happy bastard." Andrew hissed, remembering when Justin had shot him. He was soon going to return the favor. "You need to try to steal Natalia away from him. I'm going to keep pretending I don't know anything, but we need Natalia to keep away from him. I don't want her to get caught in the crossfire."

"All right."

"I'll tell Larry what's going on… I need to have a long talk with him anyway. We need to bring the Ryan's down." Andrew said and hung up on Dylan. He looked at his cell phone and dialed his boss, Larry Lopez.

He hoped that he could save his sister and his family.