The cat was already out of the bag, Vincent guessed.
“So what’s the job?”
“She’s still seventeen,” Amo answered, figuring it out. If she were a year older, this conversation wouldn’t be happening. The family would have killed her, no questions asked. “That means you’ve got to find out if she actually saw them and, if she did, whether she’ll keep her mouth shut till she turns eighteen.” After that, she’s as good as dead.
When Nero nodded his head, affirming the job, he seemed conflicted or almost sad.
He likes her …
That was going to be difficult since the man who’d pulled the trigger was not only Nero’s father, but was Dante Caruso, the boss of the Caruso mafia family. Then, to make it better, the man who had muzzled him was his brother, Lucca Caruso, the fucking underboss.
Amo went back to leaning against the wall. “If we help, then we get in, too.”
“I’ll make sure of it,” Nero said, going back to staring at the door.
“I’m in,” Vincent agreed.
When Sebastian appeared, looking high and mighty, Amo smiled. “This will be fun.”
Nero was the one to move, and just how Sebastian had tried to lunge for Elle in the cafeteria, Nero lunged for Sebastian; except, he was successful in grabbing his collar to choke the shit out of him.
“I thought you were going to give me some fucking weed and apologize!” Sebastian choked out.
“Yes, and your dumbass believed it.” Nero squeezed his neck harder until choking sounds started coming out of Sebastian’s mouth. “I better not catch you trying to lay your fucking hands on her again.”
Letting him go only for a second, Nero punched him so hard in the face he dropped to the ground, passing out cold.
Amo boomed with laughter that Sebastian could only take one shot to the face. He was pretty sure he had passed out more from fear than the actual hit.
Vincent frowned. “What the fuck, Nero? You took all the fun.”
“Not all of it.” Nero kicked Sebastian’s helpless body before he swept his hair back into place.
Planting his own kick, Vincent kicked him in the ribs, giving him another bruise to wake up to.
Finally, Amo moved from leaning against the wall and went up to the still unconscious Sebastian. Even kicking him with only half his strength, it was still going to be the most painful one yet. Once his shoe made contact with Sebastian’s balls, Sebastian woke up, screaming for just a second before he passed out again.
Amo’s spit landed on the passed out boy’s lifeless face. “Bitch.”
Twenty-Six
He’s Clearly a Psychopath
Chloe wasn’t expecting them to be outside when their class ended. The look on Nero’s face wasn’t happy.
“What did I tell you?”
“You told me, but I decided not to listen.”
Elle flashed a smile then went to take Chloe to her next class. Quickly, it evaporated when he grabbed her hand.
“Do you honestly think I should let you walk Chloe to class and then let you walk all the way by yourself to Art? I’m sure Sebastian is dying to get his hands on you … alone. But how about when they get smart and realize you don’t give a shit what they do to you, and they go for Chloe? Cassandra is only suspended, but she will be back, Elle. And until then, Sebastian will do her dirty work, and so will Stephanie and Stacy.”
“Yeah, you would know about Cassandra and Stephanie; you all are so close. Oh, wait, I forgot, Stacy, too.”
“That is a separate conversation we can talk about later. Right now, I’m asking you, do you want to get Chloe hurt? Because you know I’m right.”
It didn’t matter if they were going to make her walk beside Elle, whether she liked them or not, or anything else. For years, her best friend had been her bodyguard because Chloe was weak, and now, though they scared the piss out of her, to be honest, she had to make Elle do it. Elle deserved better, and if they only did it for a day, then that was one day she wasn’t going to get beaten up.
“He’s right, Elle.”
Sighing, Elle finally agreed. “Fine, let’s go.”
Nero kept Elle from walking. “We’re going to do things my way now. Amo is in Health class with Chloe, so he is going to take her to class and bring her back to you in Art. Got it?”
Slowly, she started regretting her comment.
Elle shook her head. “No freaking way.”
“This isn’t a discussion anymore, Elle. Chloe, is he in your class?”
Looking at the floor, she wished she could lie. “Um, yes.”
“Good. Now, Amo will take you to and from class for now. Only for the last class of the day, and he will sit beside you in class. Are you okay with that?”
No, I’m not.
Elle looked at her. “No, she’s not.”
When she looked back at her, Chloe could see they were both scared deep down of what could happen if they didn’t take their help.