One of my senior pics!

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As soon as I stepped inside of the luxurious hotel room, I let out a throaty cough. How much had Taco been smoking in there? The stale smoke smell was practically crawling through the walls and carpet.

I must not have realized that I stopped in my tracks to cough because I received a nice shove in the back from RJ, prompting me to step further into the room.

The air was thick with anticipation, the further you walked, the more sweltering it became. Why was there no air conditioning?

Taco turned around slowly, as if it ached his bones to move, and he brought a handkerchief to his sweaty brow and looked me dead in the eyes.

"Aye, Ava Wave. Long time no talk."

His words were slick and slimy. It was like stepping in a pile of snake guts. Hearing his voice was a new experience, a new Wonder in on itself, and it was one I had hoped to never experience again. Yet, there I was, hearing it all, clear as a bell.

"And what of it?" I asked dryly.

Taco rolled his eyes. Behind me, I heard RJ and Sean putting their coats away in one of the closets, and Nate removed his shoes and sat down in a revolving chair. My eyes never left Taco, however.

"Listen, Chica," he began, his speaking mannerisms eerily similar to his son's. "I'm not here to baby sit. And neither are my boys." He gestured to RJ and Sean to my left. I turned my head slightly and lifted my brow to look at them, but promptly brought it back. "If your little bitch ass can't handle what we're dealing with here, I suggest you go walk off that balcony right about now."

Taco stepped to the side and held his hand out as to introduce the balcony's edge to me. Brows lifted and cigarette dangling from his lips, he looked me square in the face. I crinkled my nose and looked at him in disgust. You could've cut the tension in the room with a knife. The boys were holding their breath, and Nate was screaming in his head.

Taco shook his head once and began walking forward. "That's what I thought."

He walked from the balcony over to the table near to where Nate was seated, and he put out the remains of his cigarette in the ash try resting on the table. He pulled a small, silver case from his side coat pocket and lit a new cigarette from inside there. Taking a hit and letting the smoke escape his lips, he cleared his throat and looked to RJ.

"So the mission was a success."

RJ nodded at Taco. "Yeah, everything is set in place. I'm really impressed with how well everything has been going so far. Gomez and Luther are-"

"Antonio," Taco interrupted.

"What?" RJ asked, bewildered.

"My son's name..." Taco began as he inched closer to RJ's face. "Is Antonio."

"Right, Antonio, sorry, and Luther are traveling together. It's a package deal. Soon we'll have your son. And this one..." RJ gripped my arm and yanked me to his side. I let out a yelp at the sudden action. Nate's eyes averted to me quickly, but there was nothing he could do about the situation. "Is gonna help me get that son of a bitch: Luther. And she..." He brought me even closer to his face and started stroking my jawline with his finger. I recoiled my head as much as possible, but it seemed to have no effect on his determination to make me feel as uncomfortable as possible. "Is gonna have the honors of taking that fucking bastard out." He shoved me away from him as quickly as he had pulled me close.

I furrowed my brows as I rubbed the area where he had gripped me, already knowing that that was going to leave one hell of a bruise.

Taco chuckled. "How evil of you, RJ." He pat the young, grinning man on the shoulder. "You're learning well."

RJ cast me a side glance. In that glance alone, I felt completely helpless, hopeless and powerless. It made me realize just how weak I really was. That he owned me, and everything I was. In that moment, I wasn't sure who I despised more. RJ, or Brams. I felt like they might have gotten along.

"So, what's next, then?" Taco asked RJ and Sean.

The two boys looked at each other, then to Nate, and then to me. "Well," Sean started. "We were just gonna take this day and lay low."

Taco raised a brow at him. "Lay low? You've barely gotten started."

Sean gulped at the seemingly disapproving response he had received and looked to RJ for assistance. The brunet boy shrugged and shook his head at Sean. He had gotten himself into that situation, he was going to get himself out of it.

"Um... yeah," he stuttered. "Uh, since we talked with Tick-Tock already today and took the bitch back, we thought we'd take the day to regroup. You know, discuss our next move? And like... relax?"

Taco stared at Sean as he stroked his chin, bobbing his head slightly. He then looked between RJ and I. "Fair enough." Sean let out a sigh of relief. Taco looked to Nate. "You," he said. Nate immediately straightened up in his chair and raised his eyebrows.

"Yessir?"

Taco rolled his eyes. "Alright muchacho, I'm a drug lord, not a military commander." Nate relaxed a bit. Taco chuckled as he looked to RJ, who laughed a bit in turn. He looked back to Nate. "You're her boyfriend, si?" Nate nodded his head quickly. "Alright, well here." Taco reached into his back pocket and pulled out his snake skinned wallet. He pulled a couple of 20s out of the wallet and handed them to Nate crisply. "Go get her some nice clothes. And a short, tight dress to wear."

I looked up at Taco. A short, tight dress? What was I going to be doing, escorting?

"A black one," Taco stated. "Make sure of that." Nate nodded quickly as he got up and put his shoes back on. "You know what she likes, and I trust you'll buy something close to her size."

"Of course," Nate replied as he hurriedly left the room. My eyes followed him all the way out. He was gone. And I was alone in a shark tank.

"As for you," Taco said, pointing at me. "Take a fuckin' shower."

I looked down at myself. Yeah, I was a mess. I rolled my eyes slightly and let out a small sigh as I nodded.

"There's a robe in the bathroom and everything else you'll need is already in the shower." Taco, RJ and Sean all started to head out of the room together. At least they were gonna let me shower alone. "We're going to hit the town; do some sight seeing," Taco announced. "Don't do anything stupid." Once again, I nodded and began trudging towards the bathroom slowly. Taco, Sean and RJ left the room in that order. But before the door closed, RJ stuck his head back in and eyed me intently.

"Oh, and one more thing, Ava Baby," he cooed to me softly.

I closed my eyes and flared my nostrils. "What is it, RJ?"

His lips slowly curled into the most wicked grin I had ever seen on a man. The blood under my skin turned cold at the sight of it.

"Shave your legs."

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Gross

Anyway, sorrrryyyyy for like months between updates. This has been the worst/busiest year of my life annnndddd ya. Senior year. Whoop.

Anyway, for those wondering on the life updates, I have a new boyfriend, his name is Canaan and he treats me better than I could've ever imagined I would ever be treated, and I am just overall in a much better state of mind. I am dying my hair red this week too!! Yeet!

And I'm 18 now, so I will be moving out by September next year, maybe even earlier depending on my financial situation. But ya! Things are looking up! I'm glad I am posting again, keep an eye out for another update really soon, I don't have writer's block anymore😂

Please vote and comment, and maybe follow me if you want?😊thanks guys, I love you all❤️