19

I woke up in the morning and fixed breakfast for us. Hopefully to lighten Rio's mood a little. It was rather uncomfortable spending last night with him when he was silent for hours, which made me not want to speak. I'm not normally afraid of him, but the silence seemed deadly. 

"Mornin'." he says, walking out of my bedroom. 

"Good morning." I reply, moving the eggs from the pan to our plates. 

He fixed himself some coffee and sat down at the island, watching me as I finished preparing our plates, "What's all this?" 

"Just breakfast." I place the plate in front of him and begin eating mine on the other side of the island. 

We ate in silence for a few minutes before he spoke up, "Did I scare you last night?"

I hesitate, letting my mouth open a bit before closing again as I stare down at my plate. I want to say 'yes', but I don't want him to think I'm scared of him all the time. 

"Gotta talk to me, Darlin'." he places the fork down on the plate and folds his hands together. 

"Yes." I whisper. 

He doesn't say anything, but I know he's looking at me, observing me. 

"I'm not normally scared of you, Rio. I want you to know that. A lot happened and I know you were thinking, I just didn't know what to say to make it better. I don't see you that angry often. I-I just-" I cut myself off, not knowing what else to say. 

I didn't need to look up to know he got off the stool and walked around to me, pulling me into his embrace, "Thought if I didn't speak, it wouldn't scare you." he chuckles. 

"Your silence is deadly, dude." I laugh. He laughs with me, tilting my head up to kiss me. It was sweet and passionate. 

I took him to get his car back, and he drove off telling me he had to handle business before dealing with Beth, which was something I didn't want to be apart of. Luckily, he wasn't killing her or her family, though. He had this sinister smile when he told me that the Feds now have nothing on him since the DA didn't press charges. Makes me wonder exactly how much power Nick actually has... 

Nat and I were sitting behind the counter of the shop with cups of tea in our hands. 

"I'm so glad you got that Keurig, now we don't have to leave the store to get warm drinks." she smiles. 

"You just didn't like having to walk around the block to the cafe." I tease. 

"True." she laughs. 

Our laughter dies down and I ask, "You hear from that guy from McDonald's?" 

"No, it's weird. He stopped trying to reach out, like right after I told you. But, I'm not complaining." she shrugs. 

I nod, taking another sip of my tea. Normally, I don't condone violence, but he was a creep. 

The bell rings and in walks Nick, looking very unhappy. 

"Nat, can you go on your lunch a bit early?" I ask, placing my mug on the counter. 

She looks at Nick and then back at me, "You sure?"

"Yep." I nod. 

Nick waits until the door to the store shuts before he begins, "My breakfast got interrupted this morning by an officer from 14th precinct." 

"So?" I ask, not really seeing the problem. 

"He wanted to know if I could hook his daughter up with tickets to an MMA fight, because that's the proof Rio gave to him to prove he didn't kill that girl." 

"Why are you coming to me about this?" 

"I thought you would listen and be able to help me come up with a... solution." he smiles. 

"This just seems like something you should talk to Rio about, not me. I don't exactly know how to help. Can't you just give him some tickets?" 

"If I do that, then he's going to know Rio and I are connected." 

"You're family... pretty sure if he wanted to confirm that it wouldn't be that complicated." I retort.

"He's trying to prove that I gave him an alibi. Those tickets are reserved for people who make serious donations." 

"Okay, can't you just say Rio donated money or something..." I shrug. 

"There's no paper trail." 

I sigh, placing my face in my face. 

"We'll figure this out. We can work on it tonight. We'll grab some dinner and-"

I lift my face looking at him like he had grown another head, "Excuse me?" 

"What's wrong?" he smirks, beginning to walk around the counter to me. 

"I think it's time you left, Nick." I state, sliding off the stool. 

He stops in his tracks, staring at me for a brief moment before nodding and quickly walking out  the door.

 What the fuck just happened? 

Rio had texted me an address, telling me to come by after I closed up. When I pull up, it was a small unmarked building. If you didn't know any better you would think it was abandoned. I get out of the car and head towards the door. I hear loud music playing as soon as I swing the metal door open, letting it slam behind me. There are punching bags hanging from the ceiling as I round the corner. 

He was standing shirtless in boxing gloves and shorts, some kind of athletic pants underneath and a light mist of sweat on him. It's a gorgeous sight to see. 

"Well, look at you, my boxer guy." I tease, walking further into the room. 

 His face turns to the side and sends me a smirk. I walk closer and wrap my arms around him, giving a quick kiss before letting him continue. 

"So, this is where you hide out, huh?" I ask, looking around the place. 

"Gotta keep in shape, and I like it." he shrugs, punching one of the bags. 

"Bet I could beat you up." I joke. 

"Wanna try, darlin'." he laughs. 

I give him the biggest smile and nod I could. He laughs again and tries to get the red boxing gloves that were sitting in the ring on my much smaller hands. He tells me that there are smaller ones in the closet in the corner and I go off to fetch them. 

The closet had a very dim light which made my task harder. I stopped my search when I hear talking from outside. I take a peak out to see Nick and some other guy. Rio tells Nick to show him some moves and the pair move to the boxing ring. I see Rio take a look in my direction and I could tell his eyes were telling me not to move. 

I watch the pair box and talk about a boxing match. My guess it's the match that Nick was telling me about earlier. Rio was fast, and jabs Nick in the side making the two break apart for a moment.

Rio takes a swing at Nick's face, but Nick blocks the shot. I had to place my hand over my mouth to keep from gasping as Nick backed Rio into a corner. Nick kept hitting Rio, I was about to step out when Rio decked him, sending him straight to the ground. 

Nick sits up and informs Rio, "You weren't at the fight, right? Too busy putting a bullet in that girl's face." 

Lucy...

"Sometimes, I work weekends, bro." Rio replies as he walks around the ring. 

Nick finally stands back up with a long sigh, "So, you were just going to, what, keep it to yourself?" 

"It don't concern you, dude." 

"No, no. It does when a cop ruins my breakfast order."

"I'll buy you some eggs. Let's go." Rio says, putting his gloved hands back up. 

"Did you do it for her? Does that hippie girl work for you too?"

Hippie? Eh, that's fair, actually...

Rio drops his arm to move around the ring once more, "Don't worry about it." 

"Oh, gangster Rio had to whip it out?" Nick mocks.

"I got it covered." he states positioning himself in a corner. 

"Show the flower girl how big it is?" 

A smirk forms on Rio's face, "She knows." 

Yes, I do! You tell him!

Nick chuckles and begins removing the gloves, "Right." 

"Aw, what's up? I wore you out already?"

Nick rolls up his sleeves and I begin to get anxious as I see the other dude making his way closer. 

"No, cousin. Round two." 

The guy grabs Rio's arms holding him in place. Instant panic rushes through my body. 

I should go out there! What am I saying? I should not go out there... What am I going to do? Throw my bag at them? The two fully grown adult men... 

Nick picks up the short blue stool and tosses something on the ground. 

"What's that for?" Rio asks. 

Nick drawls closer and says "A doctor." before slamming the stool in Rio's face. My hand rushes back to my mouth to cover it. 

What the fuck is this family?! 

Nick and the guy leave Rio there and exit the building. I rush out of the closet and climb into the boxing ring to an unconscious Rio. 

"Rio? Rio!" I yell, shaking his shoulders. My eyes begin burning and my cheeks become wet with tears. I reach into my bag and call Mick, not knowing what else to do. 

"Mick, I need you NOW! It's Rio, he's unconscious and he won't wake up." I sob. 

He asks where we're are and I quickly tell him, hoping he knows where the place is located. 

As I wait for Mick, I continue to try and shake him awake. 

Mick bursts in and tells me to get a cold wet cloth and ice. I leave Rio's side to the small locker room grabbing what I was told to before rushing back. 

I gently lift Rio's head in my lap as Mick presses the wet cloth to his forehead and somewhat gently slaps his cheeks as I continue to call out to him. 

What feels like an eternity passes until Rio lets a groan and squeezes his eyes tighter. 

"Oh my god, Rio!" I let out, cupping his face in my hands. 

He slowly opens his eyes, looking at me and Mick. 

"The fuck happened?" he asks, beginning to rise up, but I pull him back down. 

"Nick slammed a stool in your face." I whisper, placing the pack of ice on the eye that was already beginning to swell.

"Feels about right." he mutters before turning to Mick telling him about the officer and how he needed to be 'taken care of.' With that order, Mick leaves the gym. 

"I should've came out." I whisper, the tears flowing once. 

"Nah, wouldn't have done any good." he groans. 

"I'm sorry." 

"Don't be, darlin'. He wants it, he finds a way. Did what I told ya, ya stayed in the closet." he pushes some hair behind my ear. He moved to sit up again and I continue holding the ice to his face. "Not the first black eye I've had, darlin'." he laughs. 

"Why did he do it?" 

"Made his day a little harder." he shrugs. 

I went with Rio to get the box of his 'funny money' from Beth. Luckily, through my persistence, he kept the ice on and swelling wasn't that bad. But, he did get a black eye. We sat on a bench at the park, Rio between Beth and me. This is the first time I've seen her in weeks. 

"So, how'd you get it?" he asks, inspecting the contents of the box.

"Just being myself." she says. 

Rio leans back on the bench, placing his chin into his hand, "Sometimes, it's worth it." 

"What are you going to buy?" 

"Something special for you."

Beth looks at Rio's eye and asks how he got it. 

"Just being myself." he returns her earlier statement. He stands, grabbing the box and motioning me to follow. 

"Why do I get the feeling that 'something special' is code for your next game?" I ask, after we several feet away from her. 

"Cause you're smart, sweetheart." he chuckles.