*Leo*
The airport slled of upholstery and stale coffee as we waited out in the lobby. There was this unusual scent looming in the air as the guests rushed past us in a hurry, dragging all kinds of luggage. Even the kids all had it.
Like the fu of gasoline but stronger and more pungent. Bitter. Almost every ti I breathed through my mouth instead of my nose.
Franky didn’t seem to find it any more pleasant than I did.
“Now I know why we always use private planes,” I muttered under my breath, both bitter from how early I had to get up to drive out here and a bit annoyed at how long I’d had to wait here in this shitty airport.
LA did a lot of things right but airports were not one of them.
“Seems like 22 is finally getting off,” Franky muttered as the doors to the aisle we were watching finally opened. Franky and I got to our feet, standing ominously right in sight of the discharging passengers so he’d see us but out of the way enough, they wouldn’t run into us.
At first, as the crowd thinned out, I thought perhaps that it wasn’t his plane after all. That I’d wasted my ti once again and I turned to Franky in anger, ready to retort sothing sarcastic when he elbowed in the ribs.
“Hey!”
“Shh,” Franky just nodded to the airport doors and I barely had ti to look before a rambunctious flash ca running towards us at full speed.
“Yo! How’s it going, Amicis?”
A kid no older than 25 with tanned skin, a cocky wide grin, and carrying nothing more than a backpack slung over his shoulder stopped right in front of before wrapping his arms around .
“I recognize you guys from your pictures. Course my cousin made sure I knew who I was looking for! I’ve been looking forward to this all week! Ready to hit those beaches and find those slutty babes, you know?”
I stiffened horrendously but the kid luckily moved on quickly, chatting as he did the sa to Franky., who pierced him with a livid glare. The kid gulped, laughing nervously as he backed down. Franky looked ready to set him on fire right here in the airport.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” he laughed, rubbing the back of his head, “I can be a little overly friendly at tis but hey, no problem, man. We’re cool, right, Amici?”
I winced at his horrific pronunciation of the Italian word. It’s clear from his very blunt accent that he was not raised in Italy. Nor Arica. Nor anywhere really. His accent was more like a hodgepodge of various languages thrown into a blender and out ca this weirdo fuck boy.
And fuck boy was putting it lightly, I thought as I stared at his outfit.
Designer sunglasses resting on his hair, sparkling grin, and shiny eyes as he dressed in a random tank top with a logo of a brand I’d never seen and jeans skinnier than I’d ever seen it. His hairstyle, bleach blonde curls shaved on either side and then parted to cover his face simply scread how much attention he was trying to draw.
“You’re Darion?” I asked, completely underwheld by my supposed successor. What the fuck has Alessandro gotten into?
“That’s right! My cuz sent over to take over for you, bro! Congrats on whatever you’re doing next. So when do I get to take over officially? I get a card, right? Platinum or Gold, hopefully.” Darion grinned widely, eyes shining as he stared at my pockets like I was about to present him with a golden apple.
“Yeah, that’s not how it works,” I said, as gently as I could despite my growing suspicion that this kid was not the person I wanted in charge. “You’re only here to study under . I decide if you’re the right person to--”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard it all from Cuz.” Darion brushed off casually, “Anyway, either of you got the results for the Juventus match yet?”
His eyes burned eagerly as he looked at us both. But while Franky only scowled, I actually recognized what he was talking about.
“You an the Juventus F.C. match that was played this morning?” I asked, lightening up again.
“That’s the one! Man, I’m a huge fan of them, you know? I was watching the match on my phone before I left but ya know how it is with no phones on the plane. I couldn’t see the end of it. They won, right? There’s no way Milan will take them down in the semi-finals,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes.
“I agree actually,” I smirked, warming up to him a bit. “Juventus actually won by over 10 goals.”
“Yeah!” Darion pumped his fists above his head. “That’s what I’m talking about! Hey, how about we get a drink to celebrate? How are we leaving anyway, you guys got a car in that big jacket of yours?”
He laughed hilariously like he’d just told the funniest joke.
“Right,” I said, feeling a bit mixed on what to think of him. “It’s in the parking lot. I’ll show you around once we get back to the compound.”
“Sweet!”
I frowned as Darion pushed past us to head straight out of the front doors to the parking lot. I took the mont to glance over at Franky and see what he thought of all this.
“So, do you think he’s the best candidate?” I asked, casually, trying not to show how unsure I was about it.
“Unfortunately,” Franky scowled, shooting daggers at the clueless boy’s back as he tried to pick up a girl’s number near the entrance. “With no second place, I have no option but to agree.”
“Oh co on, he’s not that bad.” I rolled my eyes then cringed as I saw him get slapped in the face by the girl he was flirting with. “At least he’s....persistent.”
“Sothing isn’t right about him,” Franky frowned. “Al usually has a good eye for people but he doesn’t seem at all like soone I would follow the orders of.”
“You weren’t that thrilled with either,” I pointed out with a smirk. “He might pleasantly surprise you if you give him a chance.”
“You were different,” Franky retorted coldly. “You never tried to hug .”
“Ah, that’s what this is about? Well, alright, co on, bring it in!” I opened up my arms wide, a cheeky grin on my face as I attempted to enclose him into a hug but Franky all but slamd the heel of his palm into my face.
With a look of absolute disgust, he glared at with the fury of a thousand suns.
“I will shoot you.”
I wasn’t about to tease him any further, not when his hand was hovering over his sidearm like that. I coughed to change the subject.
“Well, even if you hate him, it’s not like we can kick him out without a good reason,” I said, frowning as I told him what Alessandro said. “His parents are high-ups. Big in politics. They work behind the scenes to keep the family from getting into trouble. If we piss him off and he runs crying ho, it’ll be a disaster if they try to pull their support from us.”
“I’m aware,” Franky sighed with a withering glare toward the idiot now waving at us excitedly at the entrance like a golden retriever trying to catch our attention.
“Cheer up, Franky,” I shoved my hands into my pockets, beginning to walk over as Franky followed at a stern pace behind . “You don’t have to like him. We test him out and if he doesn’t prove himself worthy, then he goes back and we find a new guy. Just try not to piss him off while he’s here. At least purposefully. You do that naturally.”
“Jackass,” Franky muttered under his breath, pushing past . As we finally reached the excited twenty-sothing-year-old, he gave one last glare and solemnly nodded. I smirked, knowing that was his agreent to step back on the matter.
At least until the kid did sothing to piss him off.
Darion did not stop chatting on the car ride back to the compound, obviously getting on Franky’s nerves as he looked ready to blow at any second but I just plastered on a fake smile, doing my best to nod and agree with whatever he said.
However, I found my own patience slipped rather quickly as soon as we stepped out of the car and onto the property.
“Whoo, looks like you guys don’t have a proper groundskeeper,” Darion smirked as he glanced at the lawn, “You’ve got all these weeds growing. I can introduce you to a nice guy, who keeps it tidy for a fair price.”
“Those are flowers, not weeds,” I said bluntly, nearing my breaking point before we even stepped foot in the house. I gave him an irritated glare, but Darion was already onto his next nitpick.
“You know this color is tacky as hell. It’s giving playground neutral in the least flattering way,” Darion laughed as he stalked through the house as soon as I opened the door. Franky had disappeared already, glad to be rid of him which left to deal with this bullshit.
“It’s just a paint job,” I snapped back.
“Dude, what the hell is this? You need so dogs playing poker or so shit, not this artsy bull.” Darion tapped his fist on the wall at the painting and I paled as the thousands of dollars of artwork fully split from the wall and dropped onto the floor.
“Whoops,” Darion shrugged, stepping right over the painting like it didn’t matter.
I grit my teeth together, placing the painting back on the wall as I struggle to keep my temper as he fully explored the house uninvitedly, criticizing every little thing as he compared it to his mansion back ho and causing chaos everywhere he goes.
I was ready to blow when from downstairs we heard the door opening.
“Ooh, visitor!” Darion grinned, rushing off downstairs as he fully stopped tilting a priceless vase and letting it fall. I barely managed to catch it before it crashed, putting it back as I rushed after him. I felt like an overworked parent trying to catch a toddler.
But I wasn’t at all prepared for what I saw when I ca down the stairs.
Darion was already there as Bianca stood in the foyer in stunned silence. Darion leaned his arm over her, cornering her with a smirk.
“Hey there, gorgeous,” he purred, tilting his shades off of his eyes. “My na is Darion, but you can just call tomorrow, angel.”
Bianca stared at him open-mouthed and then slowly saw standing up the stairs. She turned sheet white as my hands balled up at my side and I glared at Darion’s back like hell itself had been unleashed in my chest.
All I saw was red.
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