Game Of Love Ch. 05

MG: Hey are you running behind at work?

By 7:15 he still wasn't here and I hadn't heard from him and I was getting concerned so I decided to text him again.

MG: Hey is everything okay? Did something happen? Call me!

By 8, I realized he wasn't coming. Disappointment washed over me as I pushed my hair away from my face, kicking my heels off as I walked back to my room. 'I should have known better but, stupid me I sat here and got my hopes up.' I thought plopping on the bed. I decided to send him one last message.

MG: Don't bother showing up. You could have at least called me if you had to cancel or just didn't want to go.

I lay back on the bed, dropping my phone beside me and tried to shake the sadness that was trying to take hold of me. The rational side of me knew better than to be upset over him not showing up because it sounded too good to be true in the first place, but the other half of me, the dreamer romantic side wanted to believe what I felt in his office was real and mutual. 'Oh well. Back to reality I go.' I thought as I stood up to change.

My phone bleeped from it's spot on the bed. 'It's probably that asshole jerk, texting me with some lame ass excuse as to why he stood me up.' I thought as I bent over to pick it up.

Instead of seeing Kaiden's name blinking on my screen, it was Trinity's name that popped up.

TA: Hey boo I just wanted to let you know I'm feeling a little bit better and my nosey ass wanted to know how your date went. Or maybe it isn't over yet ;p Don't do anything I wouldn't do! Text me when you can

I smiled at my best friends antics before answering her.

MG: My date couldn't end because dickface stood me up ☹ No call, no text nothing.

I put the phone down and pulled my dress over my head and walked back to the closet to put it away just as it beeped again.

TA: Aww boo face I'm sorry. How about I come over and we order in and watch movies all night? I need to talk to you about something anyway.

MG: Hellz yeah. We can order from Lucky's and watch that new movie The Perfect Guy or Pitch Perfect 2. And hopefully everything is okay.

TA: Be there in 20

Dropping the phone back on the bed, I finished undoing everything I had spent over an hour to put together hours ago, ending with wiping off the mascara and lipstick that still adorned my face until that point the pulling my long hair into a mess bun on top of my head.

I traded my lacey underthings for a pair of basketball shorts and a tank top and went back to the kitchen to pull out the take out menus for Trinity and I to look over when she got here.

To be honest I was still slightly in my feelings about being stood up by Kaiden, but I refused to dwell on it and let him put me down. And there was no better cure for bruised feelings than a night in with my best friend.



Kaiden-

'Damn it all to hell, I'm late. I already know I'm going to hear it as soon as I make it through the door.' I thought to myself as I pulled my car in the long driveway behind my sisters Mini Coop and put it in park. I slid out of my seat barely taking the time to make sure I had my keys securely in my hand before hitting the locks and jogging to the massive front door.

My last business meeting with Yaris ran over board with me constantly trying to placate the man. 'I knew I should have given that meeting to Luc.' The door opened before I could think about knocking, my families long time housekeeper, Rosita standing there waiting on me.

"Your mother is going to scold your behind for being late. You know how she is about being punctual." She said moving out of the way so I could slide past her, pressing a quick kiss to the older woman's cheek.

"I know, I know but this time it wasn't my fault."

"It's always not your fault. Get in there before she does more than just scold you." Rosita said swatting me with the dishtowel she held in her hand as I made my way down the short hallway to the dinning room.

Even after the business took off and all the money started rolling in, my parents still managed to stay down to earth and true to their roots.

Entering the dining room, I walked directly over to my mother, giving her a sheepish smile. "Hey mama sorry I'm late." I said pressing a kiss to both of her cheeks before moving to my sport at the end of the table across from my father.

"Kaiden why is it you can never be on time for anything? You know how I feel about being punctual and yet you just seem to absolutely refuse to just do this one thing for me." My mother snipped dramatically.

I had to stifle a laugh at my mother's theatrics and from the sounds of it Isabelle was having the same issue. "I'm sorry I was late, mother. I had a meeting with a client that ran over time. I got here as soon as I could."

"Well now that you're here we can finally eat." My father grumbled as he picked up the first dish, scooping up a healthy spoonful of the 4 cheese risotto that my mom and Rosita prepared for dinner tonight.

As we all started loading our plates and passed the dishes my mom started with the inquiry. "So Kaiden, have you finally found a girl you like enough to settle down with and give me a couple of grandbabies?" she asked. I groaned at the dreaded question because when ever she asked it always seemed to set off an argument between my father and I.

"Now Maria you already know the stubborn boy is still in giro a pensare con il suo cazzo. He has a good woman in Brianna but like a cazzo pazzo, he refuses to listen to his parents and settle down." My father said.

"Dad, I don't know how many times I have to tell you I don't want to be you! I don't want to fit into the mold you tried to shove Gio in!"

"What's wrong with wanting you to settle down with a proper girl and have a family eh? Besides I didn't force Gio to do anything. He loved Tiana, and god rest their souls, if he had the chance he would have married her." My father yelled slamming his fist on the table sending plates clattering on the table.

"Kaiden, dad stop... Everyone just calm down" Isabelle said from her spot at the table.

"Fuck this shit I'm out. Mama I'm sorry but I can't stay here with him."

"Why can't we just have one dinner where we all get along, damn it! Kaiden you will stop disrespecting your father in my presence right now! Vincenzo I've already lost one son, I refuse to allow you to run my other one away due you being a stubborn mule. Now everyone sit down." My mother yelled, losing her normally quite demeanor.

"Maria..."

"Mama"

" I said SIT!" My mother yelled.

To everyone's surprise we sat even though we continued to glare. I'm pretty sure that if looks could kill my father and I would both be dead.

"Now we didn't call you kids over here to get into this battle again. We called you because your father got a call this morning from the district attorney's office. Anthony Jackson escaped from prison yesterday." My mom said.

"WHAT!!!" Isabelle and I said at the same time shooting up from our chairs, the words shocking our minds to the fullest.

Anthony Jackson was the man who had killed Gio and his girlfriend, Tianna. They had been out one night, when they had stumbled on Jackson and his pregnant ex-wife in an attempt at robbery situation.

According to the police report, Jackson had a drug problem and when he ran out of money to fund his habit, he went to rob his ex wife of the money he felt she owed him. When it was clear that he wasn't going to get anything of value from her, he decided to try and shoot her, only to be interrupted by Gio.

The two men fought and Tianna was shot in the process. Jackson had gotten the upper hand and shot my brother repeatedly in the chest before taking off. The cops caught up with him a few hours later and he was charged with one count of assault, two counts of attempt at murder, and three counts of voluntary manslaughter, since we later found out Tianna was 6 months pregnant at the time of her death.

Jackson was sentenced to serve 3 life terms in maximum-security prison with no possibility of parole as well as an additional 25 years for the attempt he made on his ex-wife and their unborn child.

For the last 13 years, I had existed peacefully knowing that the animal, who had taken my brother, his girlfriend and my unborn nephew's lives, was locked up behind bars never to see the light of day again and now in one day everything came crashing down around me.

"How could this have happened? Wasn't he locked up in maximum security?" I asked, glancing at my sister. Besides my mother, Isabelle had taken Gio's death harder than anyone because he was her twin.

She said it was as if he was the other half of her soul and they shared a connection and when he passed she felt their connection go dark, like half of herself was gone. She seemed to be holding it together for the moment but that could change at any time.

"Apparently there was a power outage at the prison and a riot broke out. Jackson was one of 5 inmates that managed to escape during the chaos. There is a massive manhunt going on looking for them but in the mean time they have alerted all of the families involved to be on the look out for anything that seems out of place and to constantly be aware of our surroundings. The police isn't concerned that he would be coming to harm any of us but still as a just in case method. They also placed his ex wife Susan and her son Danny in protective custody because they figure that's where Jackson will be heading first." My father informed us.

"How can we be so sure that he won't try and come after us daddy?" Isabelle asked, starting to work herself up "I mean he has to remember us from the trial so how can we be so sure that..."

"Isabelle calm down. I know the thought of the man who killed your brother out walking the streets is disturbing but we can't live our lives in fear. That being said we also can't ignore it hence the warning given to us by the officers in charge of the man hunt. Everything will be fine, Cupcake. Just try and relax." My father said trying to soothe her.

I had remained quite while my dad explained the situation to us, my body filling with tension but as soon as he said the word 'cupcake' it sent a light bulb off in my head. 'My date with Melodi, shit!'

"Fuck!!" I said, pulling my phone out of my pants pocket, remembering that I never turned it back on after my meeting with Yaris.

"What's the matter Kaiden?" my mother asked, startled by my sudden outburst. I didn't answer as I stared at my phone screen waiting for it to finish loading my messages I had received through out the day.



Glancing at the time, I groaned internally noting that her first message after she sent me her address earlier that afternoon, came in at 6:15 and her last one had come in not too long ago at 8.

"Kaiden?" my mother prompted again.

"Sorry mom, I have to go. I have a mess to go clean up." I said standing up. I grabbed my jacket from behind my chair, pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and hustled to the door before my family could ask any more questions. As I got back into my car, I mentally kicked myself.

'How the fuck could I forget about our date?' As I pulled out of my parent's driveway I hoped that I would be able to fix this mess that I created.

'Let's just hope she doesn't answer the door holding a knife ready to stab me for standing her up.'

To be continued...