Page 30 of Little Fury

“The Russians were absent even though we know they’re in New York.” I pause, walking through the funeral in my head. I close my eyes and twirl the ring on my finger.“All the families shook Marcus’s hand. All of them gave him a nod. None of that was given to Enzo. The families acknowledged Enzo, but no real respect was given.”

“Very good. Just a little reminder, Ava: you need to be able to do your mental walk-throughs with your eyes open. You need to be able to see what’s around you if you are not someplace safe and secure.” Harry reminds me.“What does all this tell you?”

I take a moment to double-check my observations and what I conclude them to mean.“First off, Harry, I don't need to have my eyes open because I have your old ass watching my back,”I tell him cheekily. Harry guffaws beside me.“Secondly, it all tells me that the families want to see Marcus as the head of the Rossi family. I think that’s because of how much time the Russians have been spending with him. I think that has made the other families realize that the Russians will back the child, not the father.” I pause, gather my thoughts and continue,“Even though historically, the local families have had very little to do with the old-world Russians.”I use air quotes for the old-world distinction.“Marcus's mother changed things. By marrying an American, she essentially opened a pathway between the two worlds.”

Harry smiles slightly, telling me he’s happy with my appraisal of the current situation. I feel a small bit of pride in that. Marcus makes his way over to us, and we climb into the waiting vehicle. We go out for dinner before heading back to the hotel.

Dinner is nice, just the three of us. We talk and laugh.

Back at the hotel, I make my way down to the pool and spa area, looking forward to relaxing. There are a couple of saunas. one dry and one wet.

I’d been in the pool for a little while, just floating and enjoying the quiet, when I hear a couple of voices enter the area. Looking over, I see two men in their early twenties enter. They don't see me right away, so I watch them. Setting their towels on chairs they head to the hot tub. I hear them talking but can’t make out what they’re saying.

Getting out I plan to head to the wet sauna for a few minutes. I make my way to the stairs and the two of them instantly track my movements. I grab my towel, wrap it around myself and head to the sauna. As I walk into the sauna, I put my hair up in a messy bun. Feeling their eyes on me as I open the sauna door. My body is tense, all the relaxation I found in the pool is gone.

I sit close to the sauna door, leaning back and closing my eyes, breathing in the eucalyptus-infused steam. I hear the door open, and I open my eyes. They take seats away from me, both making sure not to sit too close.“Intuition should always be listened to,”I hear Miss Bennett’s voice in my head.

Ava, just leave. You’ve been here long enough.I stand up and move to the door.

“Don’t like our company?”one of them asks.

“Not at all; I’m sure you’re great people, but my brother and father are waiting for me, and I’ve been down here longer than I told them I would be. I don’t want them toworry and have to come down here to find me.”I tell them as I open the door. I’m barely out the door when I hear them exit the sauna behind me.

If only you had been smart and told Marcus or Harry where you were going.

“Don’t run off! My name’s Albert, and this is my cousin Oscar,”the other one says to me.

Don’t do it, Ava. Just ignore the smart-ass comment in your head about their asinine names. Just keep walking.

My inner monologue audibly sighs at me the moment I open my mouth. “Albert? Did your parents want a 70-year-old cab driver for a son?”Iinwardlygroan. While I'm very proud of the funny thing I just put out into the world, I’m also aware that it was stupid of me. I’m a 15-year-old girl alone with 2 men, and I told no one where I was going.

“Wow, someone’s a fucking comedian,”guy number one, who I’m assuming is Oscar says to me.

“Sorry,”I say to them.“I sometimes forget not everyone thinks I’m as funny as I do.”

“Oh, don’t worry. You can make it up to Albert easy enough.”

“I honestly can’t. I need to go meet my dad and brother.” I try one last time.

I grab my key card because I can’t access the elevator without it, which gives them enough time to catch up to me.

“Come on, just tell us your name. We don’t bite.” Albert tells me. I can smell the beer on his breath.

Why do guys think it's reassuring to a girl to tell them they don’t bite? I’ll never understand that logic.

Didn’t they read Little Red Riding Hood when they were little? The wolf tells Red something very similar, and he still eats her.

“Guys, look, I’m sorry if I offended you, but I’m just trying to leave, so please let me pass,”I ask them, doing everything I can to pacify them. I know what’s coming. I cansee it in their eyes, the way they’re tensing up. The thoughts running trough their minds. They have no intention of letting me leave.

I drop my head back and groan out my frustration at this situation.Such a fucking cliché. Young girl alone gets attacked by two guys when they come upon the minor alone in a hotel poolbut honestly, I’m just not having any of it.

I cock my head to the side as I look at both of them.“All right then, guys, let’s do this. I’m tired, and I want to order room service before I go to sleep; there is a bacon cheeseburger here that is to fucking die for. So please, if we’re doing this, can you make your moves so I can be on my way?”

Neither of them had expect the sass, so they have no idea what to say. Oscar, however, has already made up his mind. I can see it the second before he lunges at me; I punch him in the throat, and he drops, gasping for air.

Albert looks at Oscar, clearly shocked that his buddy has just been laid out. He’s faster, and I would bet a thousand dollars has some kind of training. He turns his body to me in a fighter's stance, and I mirror him. I lift an eyebrow at him, tip my head to the side again slightly, and let the barest of a smile show on my lips.

I’ve learned over the last couple of years that because I’m small and pretty, everyone thinks I’m an easy target. When they see the cockiness in me, it makes them second guess what they think they see when they look at me.

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