Chapter 21

**Skyler Johnson**

"Hey, did you know Gabe was on the football team in high school. He just doesn't look like the type." Nat says as she swirls her straw around in her glass. I look at her through my sun glasses, choosing not to reply to her as she gushes about Gabriel. "He looks more like the bad boy who keeps to himself." She says and I roll my eyes.

"Do you really think it's a good idea hanging out with Gabe all the time?" I ask her, hoping she doesn't take this the wrong way.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, is this going to be a thing now? You know, like the Mason thing?" I ask and watch as her cheeks turn red, something they've never done when I mentioned Mason around her. "You can't be serious." I say and she gives me a confused look. "You can't like him, Nat. I'm not joking with you." I tell her and her face goes blank.

"What, only you're supposed to find happiness with a drug lord and the rest of us are supposed to go for upstanding men of the law?" She asks and I shake my head.

"No, that's not what I'm saying." She's taking this wrong and I don't think I have the energy to argue with another person in my life. Not when I'm already there with Cecil and for some reason Xavier's ignoring me and Tristan hates my guts. I don't think I can handle Natalie being mad at me too.

"That's exactly what you're saying. Look, I love you, you know I do but I'm about sick and tired of you always running my life." She says and I look at her with wide eyes.

"When have I ever tried to run your life?" I ask and my voice comes out more hysterical than I would like but I can't do anything about that now.

"You do it all the time. My hair isn't right for you or my dresses is to short. You don't like the way I drink a lot and you don't like the type of guy I like. I'm not you, Sky. You can't keep wanting people to change because they don't fit into your boxes and guess what? The reason Tristan doesn't want to talk to you isn't because of Xavier, it's because you were selfish in starting this whole thing with him when you knew you would just end up leaving him." She's heaving by the end of her little speech and although her words hurt I can't show her it does because I'm almost sure she's going to blow a fuse if I start crying now.

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. I wasn't trying to make you fit into a box, I just wanted to look out for you." I say and she scoffs.

"Well, stop it alright? I've been looking after myself all my life, I don't need you to be my mother." She sneers before leaving me alone in the backyard. I stare at the back of her head, wondering how it all went to shit and knowing that I'm mostly the reason my whole life is going to shit. I should have just agreed to marry Xavier in the first place but some brilliant part of me wanted to object and drag all my friends into this and now two of them hate me while the rest thinks I'm being an idiot, witch I probably am being but not for the reasons they think I am.

"We have dinner tonight with the Black's." My mother says as I walk into the kitchen, after sitting outside for what seems like hours and coming to the conclusion that something has got to give.

"Why?" I ask, mostly because we've been together this whole week and all it's been doing is driving me insane.

"I don't know. Cecil really wanted to and I think it would be nice to have a nice quite dinner with them where the two of you aren't arguing about the wedding." She says and although I want to tell her that it's her friend being a complete bitch I don't do that. Mostly because I'm tired and I don't want to get into it with another person today and also because she's my mother and she would probably kill me for talking to her like I don't have any sense left in my body. Witch, sometimes I don't think I have but that's another thing I'm just going to have to deal with.

"Okay." With that I leave the room and head up to my room, because I don't want to talk to anyone for a few more hours and if I stay any longer my mother's going to pry. It's what she does and if she does that today I might just end up in the hospital. Up in my room I notice the small light in the corner of my phone blinking and my stomach turns like it has been all week when my phone notifies me that I have a message. I know I can't avoid it and so that's why I'm staring at myself alone in the back yard on my phones screen with shivers running up my spine.

**All alone, are we?**

The message comes through and I look around my room, like I'm going to magically see the person that's been sending me these messages all of a sudden.

**I see you.**

I freeze in place, noticing the balcony doors are open so I rush to close them.

**Aww, it's been such a nice view.**

My fingers start to tremble as I stare at the double doors that's been standing open for anyone to peek into this past week. I've never closed them because I always thought I've been safe, so much for that theory. Just as I'm about to put the phone down another picture comes through and I wait what feels like hours for it to download when it's really only been seconds.

**Such a nice body, does Xavier know about what you've been holding out on him?**

I want to scream at the image on my phone but my voice gets stuck in my throat. I take in the image of my body, covered in a small towel as I'm making my way out of the bathroom and I feel the bile rising in my throat. I barely make it to the bathroom and opt for the sink because it's much closer than the toilet as I spill the lunch I had hours ago. It's a disgusting thought that someone's been watching me to this extent. I always thought this person was just following me around town, because that's the only pictures there ever was and now I feel kind of foolish to think that was all there was to it.

As the last of my lunch leaves my stomach and I'm staring in my own fearful eyes in the mirror I know I'm going to have to tell Xavier what's been going on this past week. I know I should have told him when the first pictures were sent but for some reason I was scared. Not of the person behind the text but of what Xavier is going to do when he finds them. Till now I've only seen the slightly cold and distant side of him and I know I can handle that. I can even handle him trying to be sweet on me but what I can't handle is the part I know he's been hiding from me.

Arranged Marriage To The Mafia Boss
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