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The car ride was nothing but tense as Deacon drove them back to the campus dorms. She leaned on her arm and preferred to look outside the window, as the city lights seemed to offer her an escape from the obviously bothered young man in the driver's seat,  if his clenching of the steering wheel was anything to go by.

"What's going on between you and Luka Genovese?" Deacon was the first to break the silence,  his angry eyes fleeting her way for but a second filled with nothing but jealous curiosity. Letting out a sigh,  she said

"Nothing's going on" her tone tired, and her response seemed not enough for the young man as he further clenched the wheel. Scoffing he said

"Oh really? Cause he seems to be all about you lately" his tone accusatory  and she couldn't help but scoff herself

"Well that's on you if you don't believe me" she let out exasperated. Only to add after a small moment of silence

"I don't think this is gonna work,  so might as well put a stop to it" glancing at her clasped hands,  she couldn't help but fidget with her fingers in anticipation of his response

"What do you mean?" his tone was careful, although she had a feeling he already knew what she meant. Alas, she made to explain herself

"I thought I could do it for you but I can't, tonight was just...too much" her eyes seeming torn, yet that had little effect on his as he said

"Huh okay then,  fine" his tone was clipped and she let out a thousandth sigh

"You're mad" she stated a fleeting glance to his hands that seemed almost pale from the lack of blood circulation given how hard he had been clenching the wheel.

"And you don't think I should be mad!? After all I've done For you. This is the thanks I get." he hotly said. 

Her mind was haywire then,  trying to adjust to his new sudden temper that believe it or not,  throughout their friendship, she had had no idea existed. However it seemed it did, he just never blew up around her. She wondered what changed now. Was it Luka or the fact that she had agreed to try and be more with him and somehow that seemed to flip a switch somewhere. In her silence he continued

"I was the only one to befriend you when you first got here. Been there all the way and even stopped Turnner from terrorising you after you had embarrassed him that night. And here we are and you can't do this little thing for me?" he was rather enraged and somehow he felt entitled to her submission for all the time he had spent on her. 

It didn't help that he felt jealous and thought perhaps her reason behind all of a sudden giving up on her attempt or that she didn't feel the same way,  was because she was already involved with Luka despite her denial that nothing was going on. His mind raced like that of a mad jealous man.

"I- I'm sorry Deacon, but I never asked for any of that" she said,  her tone all of a sudden heavy with hurt from his words, his lack of regard for how She felt,  for he seemed intent on getting what he thought she owed him,  and apparently she was to pay with her being. 

That notion was one she really didn't like. She hated that she cared so much for the young man that he could have her in such emotional turmoil atop the ever existing one she tried really hard to keep deep in her depths, hoping for it to never surface.

Yet as she sat silently in the car as he pulled up in the parking lot,  she realised in that moment that she had signed up for none of this. All of it was starting to be quite overwhelming for her and she thought it perhaps about time she packed up and left else where. She got out of the car with the intention of going to her room and making plans to leave.

She spared Deacon one look as he remained seated in his car, with a silent goodbye she turned away. Deacon could only think,  if she thought they were done,  then she had another thing coming. She was his, and it was about time she got that clearly. 

She belonged to him and not Luka Genovese, and if she thought she'd do just fine without him, smirking, he couldn't wait to make her think otherwise. He liked her, or was it mere infatuation, he didn't care, all he knew was that he was now than ever certain,  she would either be his or no one else's.

"Have it your way" he muttered under his breath.

Her sleep became restless with many tosses and turns that she finally gave up and she changed out of her nightwear and into her gym clothes. Earpods blasted her ears off turning her deaf to the world and deaf to the pair of steps that followed not so far behind. The hallways were silent otherwise, as it was still in the early stages of dawn, hence she found the gym unoccupied by a single soul. Most glad for this, she began first with her stretches, aiming to prepare her body for an intense work out.

Her mind was too occupied to feel a pair of eyes that watched her every move intrigued. For she barely gave herself time to breath before jumping onto another equipment only to work herself silly. He found himself impressed by her stamina, her form, her dedication and the fact that she went through all of them like she had been doing it for years and it was child's play. 

She even made lifting seem like child's play. Chuckling wearily to himself,  he couldn't help but think her looks could fool just about anyone. But he also understood why his boss seemed infatuated with her,  why he had stuck with her this long, she was a sight in all her sweaty mess, and the rack she had.

It was when she heaved, her muscles screaming with utter exhaustion and she sprawled herself across the mat trying to get her breath back to a normal pace, that he decided to make his move then. Scare her enough to have her running to him was what his boss said he must do. Turner could feel himself get excited just from look of her vulnerable as she was, as he stalked silently toward her, only to end up right above her. 

The music in her ears and closed eyes had turned her blind to his approach, therefore,  she couldn't help the jolt of her heart when she opened her eyes minute she felt someone looming above her. Turner had either of his long legs on either side of her body, his body leaning in a way his face was above hers and she felt herself get sick from the look of his smirk.

Deacon had mentioned him last night,  and she didn't believe in coincidences as such. Her mind turned and twirled and she wondered if he had sent him here or if he had simply revoked whatever hold he must have had over him, to let him do as he pleased. Her mind turned calculative then, to kill or not to kill,  just which had the most severe of consequences.

"Hey there doll, surprised to see me?" his tone too sweet, his smile the sinister kind,  she saw nothing but mirth in his eyes. Her muscles still ached and taking him on considering his tendency to be dirty didn't give her much great odds. And her exposing her fighting skills would only raise questions. Narrowing her eyes she said

"You sure took your time" acting as if oblivious to the reason behind why he hadn't advamced onto her earlier. He clicked his tongue amused by her cool facade for that's all he thought her calmness to be

"I had a few things to take care of first" he said,  his hand trailing from her exposed neck down only to drag at the tip of her tank top. To which she lost her calm resolve and snatched at his wrist to keep it from exposing her chest. This only made the young man chuckle and before she could blink,  he gripped the tips of both her tank and track jacket up, and hauled her to her feet as if she were nothing but paper, only to wrap an arm around her waist tightly and  against his body. Chuckling he tutted

"Feisty are we" his other hand now squishing her cheeks and she recoiled at the vile cigarette stench that was laced with alcohol. Resisting the urge to gag, she hated the feel of him on her, his body heat burned her skin ablaze and a memory teased her eyes, escaping the cell she had locked it in in her mind

-Flashback------------------

"Come on Bella, I know you want me,  you think I haven't felt your eyes on me everytime I'm in your sight " Only because she was afraid of him, because for some reason he had turned her into one of his targets, to the point her body was now hypersensitive to his presence that she couldn't stop from keeping her eyes on him just to make sure he remained at a distance she couldn't comprehend how someone so young could be so cruel to find enjoyment in tormenting others by bullying them.  She trembled as he caged her in against the wall in a hallway no student ever used.

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It all but faded as she fought to keep a grip on her mind

"Let go of me" her words sort of muffled for he was yet to release her face. It was when he squeezed her butt and smashed his lips violently against hers only to bite harshly on her bottom lip dragging it out,  that her right eyes twitched and incessantly so.

-Flashback-----------------------------------

"Have you ever been kissed Bella, on the lips?" he asked tauntingly, warning bells went off in her frantic mind. She could only feel the sting in her eyes as she wondered what wrong she ever did to deserve such a life.

"No?"he asked mocking with his eyebrow raised, his eyes held a sinister intent as he leaned his face in from his height, eyes leveling with hers,  she was stock still from fear,  she had no way out, his posey of friends watched from a very short distance. She was nothing but a helpless kitten then, fearful of everything and everyone, incapable of fighting for herself. Her heart ached then, she was tired,  she felt tired of it all. Such young souls aren't meant to be so tired and such young souls aren't meant to be so evil, so what the hell went wrong.

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Her inky dark pools only turning darker for she was done for she'd be damned if she became that frightful little girl again. Even though that same fear creeped up on her, trying to hold her prisoner again. Her mind became nothing but a lethal silence then, as her gaze landed on his and he could only chuckle  amused thinking her coldness nothing but fake bravado. Oblivious to the fact that she now clutched the hilt of the knife he had shoved at the waist of his jeans on his back. A knife that would be all she would need to make a clean swift swipe at his throat.

Perhaps the lucky stars were on his side though, for a group of guys filtered in making sure he would keep his life. Or were they on her side,  for the results of his death would have been nothing but catastrophic. She was quick to carefully let it go when she heard their chatter only to hear them walk through the gym doors. This of course made Turner curse in his mind for their interaction was now interrupted and he couldn't make sure she would remember him for the rest of her years to come,  for her skin seemed like a perfect canvas for his paint brush of a knife.

The group had simply come to a halt at the image before them, wondering whether to intervene or they were the type to like it rough. But when the guy let go of the girl only for her to stumble backwards they couldn't help but cast concerned glances her way

"What's going on here? hey are you okay?" one of their crew members questioned while he walked tentatively toward her and Bella glanced his way. Her mind abuzz again, she blinked at him fixing her track jacket, she offered him a tight-lipped smile

"I'm fine. Thanks" casting Turner one last glance she was out of the gym before anyone else could say or do anything. 

She ran until she was isolated from the rest,  she heaved then,  her breaths were erratic as she leaned against the wall. She felt like she was on the brink of insanity as she tried to keep the control she had perfected over the years. 

Gripping at her hairs,  she groaned sliding to the floor, tears wetting her cheeks,  she silently wept.  The memories flashed in her mind and the events of the past few days seemed they would prove enough to tether the veil of fake sanity she had come to weave so intricately.

Her phone buzzed then,  and it was a message from an unknown number. Clicking on it, it appeared to be a video and her shaky finger pressed play as she slowly calmed down.

The scene on the video was dark, but not enough with the light that shined through the opening of what seemed to be an alley. There were voices, but too muffled for her to hear,  and when it zoomed in, there he stood,  Deacon with a gun in hand aimed at the figure that kneeled before him. It hadn't taken even a minute before the gun went off, startling her in the process. It ended then and self destructed only for a text to come through with an ominous 'Get out when you can.' Warning

She could only let out a cold chuckle, sniffing,  she stood up. She was in not only in Mafia territory now, but she also caught attention of one from each families. She wondered why she had been stupid enough to stick around when she found out about Genovese, and now as she was certain which Torres family Deacon actually belonged to, she resisted the urge to bang her own head against the wall because of her sheer stupidity.