Chapter 5

Skyler Johnson

"Why is Xavier Black staring at you?" Jane asks just as Xavier goes back to talking to the red headed woman across from him. I didn't even know he was here until Mason pointed him out and now I feel kind of uncomfortable.

"How do you know him?" I ask Jane but she shakes her head.

"No, how do you know him?" She looks worried and I'm not sure why but I tell her about his family coming over for dinner. I don't tell them about the whole getting married thing though, simply because I'm not going to marry him and it's none of their business. "Skyler, Xavier Black is involved in the mafia." She says and I frown at her.

"Mafia? Where did you get that from? The guy is the newly appointed acting CEO of his father's company." I tell her, also leaving out how he's going to be taking over for my father too.

"Yes, and he's involved in the mafia. How do you not know this?" She asks and I shrug.

"I don't make it a point to watch the crime channel and follow cops around, Jane." I tell her and she blushes. Her dream is to be CIA so she goes crazy with keeping up with everything crime.

"Okay, well I'm telling you this guy is involved in the mafia. He's been seen with a lot of the big heads in the game but they can't pinpoint who exactly he is." She says and I look over at Xavier who seems to have forgotten that I was here already. I wonder if my father knows this, well, he couldn't if he wanted me to marry this guys. He wouldn't put my life in danger like that.

This is to keep you safe. My mother's words come back to me but I shrug them of. They can't know. Can they?

"Well, I'm not going to see him again any time soon so I have nothing to worry about. He's my dad's friends son." I tell her and her eyes goes wide.

"Your dad is friends with Zachary Black?" Oliver asks and I sigh and nod.

"Yes, we've been over this. They came over for dinner last night." I tell them again.

"Skyler, you know I love you but sometimes you have to step out of your little bubble. I'm not even into all these crime stuff and I know who Zachary Black is alleged to be." Mason says and I frown at him. "He's supposed to be the right hand man of the biggest mafia boss in the city, they just can't

prove it." He says and I groan and roll my eyes.

"Okay, well to me he's just my father's friend and he's really nice." I tell them but they all look at me like I've gone crazy. I look at Tristan who has the same worried look all my friends are carrying and I sigh. "Can we please just change the subject?" I ask and they all nod.

"I for one want to know when this happened?" Nat asks as she points between me and Tristan. "I could have sworn when I went to sleep last night you were friends but here you are, all in each other's personal space." She says , narrowing her eyes at me.

"Last night, or early this morning as the sun was coming up." Tristan says and I blush remembering his lips on mine.

"Well, it's about time." Mason says and I raise my eyebrow at him.

"You're one to talk." I tell him but he waves me off. I just shake my head and lean further into Tristan. We're not boyfriend and girlfriend yet but we both like each other enough to give it a chance and we agreed to take it slow so if it doesn't work out we don't loose our friendship. The rest of lunch goes by with all of us laughing and just enjoying time together before we have to split up at the end of summer.

"So, Erin invited me to a spa day next week and asked me to ask you guys." Jane says and I bite my lip.

"I have something next week Friday so it can't be then." I tell them and she nods.

"Okay, so I'll just tell her to move it to Saturday and we're all set." She says and I nod. Seeing as we're making plans to go to the spa the boys choose to spend the day playing games all day at Mason's house in his man cave that he somehow convinced his mother he needed. When we leave the restaurant I drive back with Tristan to his house to pick up my car and go home.

"Have fun last night?" My mother asks as I enter the kitchen. She's sitting at the table with her work covering every inch of the surface and the sun warming up the whole room.

"Yes." I reply as I take out a packet of popcorn and place it in the microwave. We stare at each other while the popcorn pops and when the timer beeps I take it out and add another. I dump the popcorn into a big bowl and when both packets are done and in the bowl cooling I pour some lemonade in a huge glass.

"We have to talk about this sometime, you know." My mother says just as I pick up my snack to leave the room. I groan and place the glass and bowl down, so much for movies and me time.

"What do you want to talk about? The fact that you want me to marry someone I don't know? Oh, no let's talk about the fact that this is all just a business deal. No, you know I want to talk about the fact that the people you had in our home last nigh might be involved in the mafia." I tell her and her face goes ashen.

"Who told you?" She asks and I throw my hands in the air.

"Every single one of my friends. We were having lunch and Xavier happened to be there, staring me down and all my friends warned me to stay away from him. Is that what you want for me? To get involved in a life of crime?" I ask her and she sighs.

"We want to keep you safe. As soon as your father steps down from his position you're free game and we just want to keep you alive." She says and I stare at her in confusion.

"What does me marrying Xavier have to do with keeping me alive?" Silence falls between us before she motions for me to take a seat.

"Okay, you have to listen to me. Your dad isn't just the CEO of a his company, he's also a very dangerous man." She says and I laugh.

"Dad might be intimidating but I wouldn't go as far as to say he's dangerous." I tell her but she doesn't laugh with me and I loose my smile.

"Your dad is a mafia boss honey and Zachary is his right hand man. Xavier isn't just taking over for him at the company but he's taking over for him in the mafia too and it's upsetting a lot of people." She says and I stare at her in shock.

"But he's my dad. He's just my dad." I mutter and she shakes her head.

"He's never been just your dad, honey. He's never been just my husband either. This is our life." She explains and I shake my head.

"This might be your life but it's not mine. I don't want this, I don't want any of this." I tell her and he sighs.

"I'm afraid it's not just about what you want anymore. We've given you everything you wanted in life and now I'm asking you, begging you to give us this one thing. I'm not trying to ruin your life, I just want to keep you safe." She says and the tears that's been building in her eyes falls down her cheeks. "I've tried so hard to keep you safe, keep you away from all of this but it was never going to last long. I knew that and still I tried. Your dad wanted to tell you, so many times but you were so pure and I didn't want to taint you." She says and I shake my head.

"You've been lying to me my whole life and now I'm supposed to just be okay with this and marry a man I don't know?" I ask her.

"You don't have to be okay with it. You just have to make the right choice here." She says and I know exactly what she means. Marry Xavier or die.