Grace curled up in her new bed, hugging a pillow as she buried her face in it.

  "Grace... are you okay?" Pez asked as he sat on the floor beside the bed, rocking.

  "Physically, yes. Mentally, no," Grace mumbled into her pillow. "I don't even know how long I have to choose—"

  "He set the party date for your announcement in seven days."

  Grace looked up at him, barely peeking over the pillow. "A week? He's setting it up that soon?"

  "Yes."

  Ugh, maybe I should just run away. Pez is here now, but it's not like they'd take it out on him. They're good people for the most part.

  "Why in the world would he do that?"

  "Um, I know I just got here, but I can get you out and hide you away, if you want," Pez offered as he picked at the fuzz on his clothes.

  "Even if I'm not here, Roger will still be after my grandpa for revenge, so disappearing doesn't help."

  "Funny, you're more worried about this new family of yours than you are of being forced to marry one of two mobsters."

  "I..." Grace trailed off as she thought for a moment. Was he right? "Maybe because they both seem like decent men, despite being mobsters. That and I stopped thinking I'd ever get married, anyway. A lost cause and all that."

  "Honestly, I thought you'd end up with Roger."

  "Really? Why's that?"

  "Because you two we like the closest partners in the precinct! Best friends with each other's backs. And you didn't make me feel like a third wheel, instead I was a part of the good work you guys did." Pez pouted as he thought. "You were the only ones who appreciated me." He shook it off, getting too much off topic. "But... I mean... everyone thought you two were a couple."

  "And somehow I never noticed."

  "You were too busy actually working, unlike a lot of these other ones. Besides, Roger always hid his feelings... well, tried to. Most people said it was all over his face that he was crushing on you."

  "More office nonsense." Grace sighed. "And people wondered why I didn't bother with many of them. I wish we had more reliable people working with us." She shook her head and lay back, still hugging the pillow.

  "And you're back to only thinking about work. You're not a cop anymore, Grace."

  "I know, but I'll always be one at heart."

  "How about figuring out what good you can do with this family instead of mourning the loss of your old way of life?"

  "But I'm not in charge of this family, and I'm not going to be, either. He wants one of those two men to be the next head."

  "It really should be you. Think about all those undercover ops you headed. You're awesome at leading, even if you don't always get credit."

  "I don't know how good I was if I was working beside a mobster all this time and I never noticed."

  "I'm a paranoid genius, and I never noticed; don't be so hard on yourself."

  Ring, ring, ring.

  Grace's phone went off. She looked at Pez first, since he's the only one she had been calling, and then pulled her phone out. Her eyes widened at the name on her screen. "It can't be..."

  "Who is it?" Pez crawled over to her bed and looked at his phone. "Damn. Did we say his name too many times and summon him or something?"

  "What do I do?" The phone shook in Grace's hand as she looked at Roger's name.

  "Knowing him, he'll call back soon if you don't answer him, and again, and again. He's annoying like that, but at the same time, it's normally because he gets worried if someone doesn't answer. Knowing about his mafia background now, maybe it makes sense."

  Grace's eyes teared up as she stared at the name.

  "Answer him, please." Pez reached over for her phone, and she pulled it away.

  "Hello," she finally answered.

  "Grace... I hope you're okay. I didn't mess up too much by breaking your glass door, did I?" Roger asked.

  "I'm... okay. Where are you? Are you okay? You jumped from the third floor, you know?" Grace looked at Pez, leaning on the edge of her bed and he waved air towards himself, motioning for her to take deep breaths.

  Roger chuckled. "I learned how to safely jump and fall, among other things, a long time ago. I'm doing okay. Pretty sure I shouldn't tell you where I am, that is unless..." Roger trailed off as he thought.

  "Unless what?"

  Pez inched closer, trying to listen in, and then his eyes lit up. He ran out of the room.

  "Unless you're looking to join me."

  "Roger..."

  "We work well together, Grace, and I'm sure we can do more than work together."

  Pez came running back in with his laptop and opened it up in his lap as he sat on her floor again. He made a circling motion with his hand, telling her to keep it going.

  "You know I can't join you, Roger, not unless you give up on your revenge."

  Roger went silent for a moment. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

  "Probably; you normally understood me without having to explain."

  "Ha... Still not budging on the revenge front, then?"

  "You know how stubborn, and how moral, I am."

  "True enough. But you're serious when you say you'll come to me if I give up on revenge against your grandpa?"

  Grace bit her lip. "Yes..."

  Roger took a deep breath. "I don't think the others will agree."

  "Are you their boss? I thought the boss' decisions were practically law to mafia families? Unless you don't have control over them. I would need some sort of assurance that you wouldn't change your mind and go after him again."

  "I have control over them. And technically, having you would be a form of revenge... But I know you, and you wouldn't let me use you to see him in pain."

  How is this the same Roger I know? He was a big teddy bear... to me, at least. Grace shook her head and pressed on the bridge of her nose.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "Well, it's only a week until I have to announce who I'm going to marry."

  "What?" Roger cursed under his breath. "I don't understand how you can let him do this. You're too strong to be forced to marry someone, especially since they don't have me as a hostage anymore."

  "Maybe I'm just tired, and I've decided to go along with it. It's been nice to have a family again, and—"

  "Am I not good enough? I know we don't share blood, but we can start our own family."

  If I wasn't sure before, I'm sure now. Roger has feelings for me. You wouldn't want to start a family with someone who's just a friend.

  "You know how things work with me, Roger. If you actually wanted me like that, then you'd have to give up your revenge scheme, and no parading me in front of my grandpa either."

  "So you'd just disappear from his life, just like that?"

  "Better that than leaving him for dead."

  "I... need time to think about it." Roger sighed. He didn't like making important decisions without ruminating on it first.

  "We don't have much time. Once I've made my decision at the party, I'll be taken, and I'll be more a part of the Bertolottiss than ever."

  "I understand."

  "I suppose I'll talk to you soon."

  "Take care, Grace..." Roger sighed again and hung up.

  "Well, I traced where he is up north," Pez said after she set her phone down. He pushed his glasses up and looked at her. "But was that a bluff, or are you being serious?"

  "Honestly, I'm still not sure. It would solve this little war he started, wouldn't it?"

  "But at what cost?"

  "It's not like I'd have a bad life with Roger, don't you think?"

  Pez sat up straight as he thought. "That's true. He cares about you too much for that. There is a different issue, though."

  Grace raised an eyebrow.

  "Are you sure they'd let you go? Even if you break out of here, they'd probably track you down again. From what it seems like, they've been keeping an eye on you for most of your life. I don't think Raymond would settle until he found you again and brought you back home. And for what it's worth, I don't think Zain would give up either."

  "I know Zain says he's interested in me and whatnot, but I think he just wants to be the next boss. Without me around, he'd probably be the default choice, so he'd still be happy."

  "You've always been clueless about love, aren't you? Both those men like you in a romantic way. Vincent and Zain would both probably try to find you, thinking you've been kidnapped or something."

  "What if I leave a note explaining things?"

  "Ha... Aren't I supposed to be the socially clueless one?" Pez muttered. "Grace, they're both strong-willed and strong-minded men; do you really think they'll accept it because of a note? From the way things seem around here, they wouldn't accept it if you told them straight to their faces yourself. You'd probably be turned into a locked away princess."

  Grace shuddered. "You might be right. My grandpa had me contained to my room for the first little bit, and Zain was the guard dog keeping me here. On that note, why isn't he here? I thought he'd come barging in by now since it's his job to keep me safe or whatever."

  "Maybe it's because I'm here." Pez smiled. "They want to give you some time away from them. And... you know... you were on the brink of an anxiety attack."

  "What do you think I should do, Pez? Should I stay and be Roger's enemy, or should I go to him and he'll give up his revenge? I feel like no matter what option, there's going to be a big fight."

  "I don't know what to tell you, Grace. If you choose to go, don't worry about me. I'm such a valuable asset they'll take me in, anyway."

  "Wouldn't it be weird to be here without me?"

  "But this way I could be your secret spy friend, and we'll have codes to send each other to say how everyone's doing."

  "You know where he is, right? You tracked his phone, somehow?"

  "Easier than you'd think. And yes, I did. Why?"

  "What if I busted his family? I'm sure there's some dirt lying around where he is."

  Pez rolled his eyes. "I don't think you could do that to Roger."

  "You're right..." Grace's shoulders slouched as she deflated onto the bed.

  "Do you think you could choose between Vincent and Zain? If you stay, that's what you'll have to do. If you go to Roger, you'll probably have them tracking you, so you'll have to be extremely careful about going into hiding."

  Grace ruminated on her time together with both of them. She didn't have enough time with Vincent to get a good feel on him, but she couldn't help but see a multitude of sides from Zain. "I... I think I'd have a meltdown and grandpa would have to choose. Roger, it is, then."

  "Could you spend your life in hiding with Roger?"

  "Stop asking more questions! You keep making me go back and forth on everything. You always do that."

  "I can't help it; I tend to see the argument from both sides of a situation."

  "And I can't answer that any more than I can for spending it with either of the two men."

  "Ouch. You know Roger so well, but he's only on equal footing with those two. Harsh, Grace, real harsh. Ah!" Pez yelped as a pillow flew through the air and hit him in the head.

  "It's hard to see him that way, because I never thought of him like that. We've always been friends, and just that. I never bothered to even think of him in a different way. I'm used to him the way you're used to a brother or best friend."

  "Meaning he's never given you the tingles." Pez hugged himself and wiggled. "Doesn't bode well for him."

  "That doesn't mean it can't change. Ugh! This is why I'm so bad with relationships! I have no idea what to do, and I'm not sure I even know my own feelings!"

  "Well, you're good with friendships, and those are a type of relationship. I think you just get in your own head too much about everything and think too much. Although, I should be the last person warning others about that; I live in my head most of the time."

  I think I at least need to meet up with him. "Hey, can I see where you tracked him to?"

  "Sure." Pez brought his laptop over and sat on the edge of the bed beside her. "He's here." Pez zoomed in on the map. "In the northern part of town."

  "What is that, though? A factory?"

  "Yeah. I looked it up already, and it was abandoned long ago." Pez brought up a picture of the factory from outside the gate with a closed sign on it. "It's been sitting there empty for a decade."

  "Well, maybe not so empty if he's there. If it was left abandoned, then it's a good place for him to start his family back up, and it's close enough to work by car."

  "Considering this place, would a mafia family that was once big, settle in a place like that?"

  "It may look like that on the outside, but we don't know what's going on inside."

  "True." Pez eyed her suspiciously. "You're not planning on going there alone without telling anyone, are you?"

  "If I was planning that, would I tell you about it?"

  "Now I'm even more worried."

  "Why are you worried? I thought you agreed I'd be safe with Roger?" I did always beat him in training, too.

  "Yes, if he invited you, but if you go storm the place on your own, it seems pretty dangerous."

  "Storm the place? I'd go to talk to him, not to shoot him."

  "I'm sorry, Grace, but with this situation, I think you should hold off going unless you're not planning on coming back here, or you're ready to shoot your best friend."

  "I wouldn't be alone." She lightly touched his hand resting on his laptop. "I have the best support around."

  "Support I can give with a computer, sure, but that doesn't help when you're getting shot at. You need someone who can fight, and that's not me."

  "I'm not going to tell anyone else."

  "So you've decided?"

  "I have to talk to him, and no, I'm not bringing anyone with me. That would be a recipe for disaster. Especially if I decide to leave the Bertolottiss, and they're right there, they'll definitely fight it. You'll help me get out of the house, right?" She gripped his hand.

  "Shouldn't you be asking me to help you the whole way there?"

  "No." She shook her head. "I can't risk you that much. I want you to be safe here, even if I choose to go, which means I need to meet him alone."

  Pez frowned and looked away as he rifled through his pockets.

  "Pez? What's wrong?"

  He set his laptop aside and lunged at her for a hug. "If you decide to stay with Roger, this'll be the last time I see you." He teared up, and his hand slid down to her pocket.

  "Oh! You're right." She patted him on the back. "I'm sorry, Pez, and right after you got here. If I choose to stay there, I'll eventually find a way to meet up with you in person."

  "You better." Pez sniffled and pulled away.

  "I don't know how long it'll take, but I will. Please try to get along with the others here. I haven't had a chance to hang out with the other members, but if my grandpa, Zain, and Mary are any indication, there should be some good people here."

  "But the rat makes me wonder how much I have to keep an eye out for baddies under the roof."

  "Fair enough."

  "So, when are you planning to meet up with Roger?"

  "We know where he is, so how about now? Or do you need some time to figure out how to get me out of here?"

  "No..." Pez scratched the back of his head as he looked around. "From what I can tell with this system, I can hack in and take the power out, or just the cameras, with only my laptop. This place is pretty advanced, technologically wise, which bodes well for me."

  "Say it clearly, Pez. Can you help me run away?"

  "If you really want to, yes." He fiddled with his thumbs, both wanting to help and not wanting her to go.

  "Seeing as I'm on foot, it'll take me a while to get there, but I should find something easy to move in that can also let me hide in plain sight. I'll be right back." She headed into her walk-in closet and rummaged around.

  When she came out a moment later, she had jeans and a dark blouse on, along with a baseball hat and jacket in her hand. She set her gun in the back of her pants.

  "Won't they find that? They'll probably pat you down before letting you in." Pez pointed at her gun.

  "Maybe, but I don't want to go without it. It's not like I have somewhere else I can hide it."

  "You're flexible, right?"

  "Yes."

  "And people don't generally check right between the shoulder blades, right?"

  "They might take my jacket off."

  "Oh... Hmm... It's not practical, but the only place I can think of is in your bra."

  "That sounds... uncomfortable." Grace cringed. "But this gun is tiny, and they're not going to check there. Even if they tried, I'd break their hand." Grace cracked her knuckles.

  "I believe you..." Pez shuddered.

  Grace turned around, undid her top button, and slid the gun in. "Definitely not for quick use, but it'll work, I guess." She turned back to Pez after fixing herself. "So, can you tell it's there?"

  "Nope, you're good to go."

  "I guess this is it, then." Grace took a deep breath and shook out her hands.

  "Are you going to be okay?"

  "I hope so."