I heard Casey’s soft footsteps come down the stairs before I saw her walk towards the kitchen pantry.

“Hey, can I talk to you?” Casey asked as she leaned on the kitchen’s doorframe.

I raised my head and looked at her. I observed her body language and took note of how she looked hesitant. She had one foot in and one foot out, as if she hasn’t really made up her mind on whether to confide in me or not.

“Yeah, of course. Do you want some hot chocolate?” I asked, offering her my cup.

She shook her head and wrung her hands together, walking towards the living room.

I followed behind her and sat beside her on the couch, placing my cup down on the coffee table in front of me.

I turned to her and waited for her to start talking. I didn’t rush her, giving her time to gather her thoughts and space to tell me what she wants to at her own time.

“It’s about Dom.” She began, sounding nervous.

“What about him?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He told me he loved me and made it very clear that he means it way more than in a sibling way," Casey rambled without pausing to breathe.

It took me a while to digest what she just said but when it finally dawned on me, I frowned at the idiot in question. He knows Casey doesn't like anyone that way and has never bat an eye for any guy before so why confess his undying love all of a sudden?

He's probably lost his marbles.

“When was this?” I asked Casey. As far as I know, I should be the closest friend Dom has. There’s no way that he would do such a thing, knowing that he’s risking his friendship with Casey, without discussing it with me first.

“A few days ago,” Casey said, raising the cup of hot chocolate from the table and taking a sip.

A few days ago? That would be around the time that Dom asked me to go meet him in the café before we were attacked by the loan sharks.

I shook my head and turned my attention back to my sister.

"Don't worry, I'll deal with him," I assured Casey, reminding myself to pay that guy a visit and knock some sense into that hot headed dumbass.

Casey's face lost its color and she turned to me with a horrified expression as her hand shot out and gripped my arm tightly. What?

"Bry, promise me you won't do anything stupid. No matter what he does, he's family," I shook my head at her.

"I won't hurt him, sis. I'll just talk to him, I swear," I patted her hand that latched onto my arm and she looked into my eyes for a few seconds before letting go of her grip on my arm and nodding.

"I don't even know why he would like me in that way. I'm no one special, just plain old Casey. I don't have the beauty of all those girls in school and I don't have the charm, so why me?" she muttered under her breath. She probably didn't mean say it out loud but she did and I caught her words and I was on my knees in front of her in an instant.

"Hey, what did I tell you about beauty and people?" I asked seriously, not wanting her to continue that train of thought.

She looked at me before casting her eyes away guiltily as if by saying the words she just did was a crime in itself.

"Beauty lies on the inside,"

"-where the heart is," I finished for her and smiled softly while keeping two of my fingers right above where her heart lies. I've been trying to drill this into her thick skull for years and I needed her to feel it, not just memorize it.

Soon, I'll be off abroad to continue my studies and she'll be here to fend for herself against her own demons.

"But do I really have that too? I mean, seriously. I have murderous and such vengeful thoughts about those girls at school. Do I even have purity in my heart then?" She asked me, her unshed tears glistening in her eyes, hinting me at the fact that she was in the brink of tears.

I pursed my lips at that. I have to be careful with what I say next.

"That only proves that you are human because that’s just how we are. We all have our demons but it's our choice to listen to them or fight them. And you, little sis, is the strongest fighter and the most beautiful girl I have ever met," I told her genuinely, trying to make her feel the sincerity in my words.

"You go through every day with a smile on your face even when it's beating you down and that smile reflects the beauty inside you. You have the knack to help people even if they're potential criminals on the run," I paused and frowned at that realization but it was gone as soon as I hear her laugh lightly.

"I don't know if your heart is as pure as it can be, sis, but all I know is that you've got a big one in there. When we're older, I'll be running around like a crazy man pointing at billboards with your face on them screaming 'that's my sister' proudly at by-passers."

Casey gave out a loud laugh and I gave her a crooked smile at the sound of it, imagining myself doing what I just described.

I would do it for real if it made her this happy. I would do anything for my little sister.

“How about we get some ice cream?” I suggested, seeing how my sister’s smile slowly fall as her laughter died.

She looked up at me and smiled, nodding.

I took her out for ice cream to the nearest parlor which was twenty minutes away.

"Hello love, the usual?" Lorraine asked us, noting down our orders after we took a seat at our usual booth. We come here a lot since that time our parents decided we should get a day off and drove us here.

"Yes, please," I answered for the both of us while Casey settled for a smile and a small wave her way. Lorraine's a woman in her early forties that likes to greet us personally.

She mirrored Casey's smile before turning and passing our order to the back before getting back to her usual place behind the counter.

Not even a minute later, Casey snatched her thumb away from the hold I had on it beneath mine at the thumb war we had going on and took the ice cream cups from the young waitress that couldn't have been older than me.

I could feel her gaze burning onto my body but dismissed it. She has eyes and has her rights to see whatever she wants as long as she doesn't try to interrupt my moment with Casey.

Maddison probably wouldn't be pleased by the girl's daring move but I couldn't be bothered by that small fact right now because I’m a big brother on a mission right now and that mission is to cheer my little sister up.

I took the cup from Casey who murmured a small thank you to the young waitress and scooted back to her seat, apparently oblivious to where the young waitress' attention was focused on.

Casey would've flipped on Maddison's behalf if the ice cream had failed to distract her so thank God the waitress finally moved from her spot and got back to her work before Casey picked up the flirtatious looks.

I finally focused on my ice cream that was practically begging to be devoured. Mine was a green tea ice cream with chocolate swirls and nut crumbs on top while Casey’s was the usual cookie dough with caramel sauce and chocolate chips.

Casey despised nuts with a passion that people started thinking she was allergic to them so my ice cream was safe from her prying hands but I can't say the same for her ice cream though.

Every time she turns away, I would always take a spoonful before she eventually caught me in the act. Her eyes narrowed into slits as my mouth closed in on the ice cream I had scooped from her cup.

I received a good whack before she finally gobbled it all down in a hurry so that I couldn’t steal anymore of her ice cream while I took my sweet time finishing mine because I knew she would never touch my mixed lump of ice cream.

It looked disgusting but ice cream will forever be ice cream.

When we finally finished, we paid for the desert and exited the parlor. I followed Casey but stretched my arm out to open the door for the both of us before unlocking the car and getting in.

We strapped our seatbelts on before I took off to drive us home.

I watched Casey sleep under her covers in the dark and turned around to look at the clock on the wall and even though I couldn't see where the hands were pointing to, my guess was that it was 11 o'clock. I've sat here long enough, it's time to confront an idiot.

I rose to my feet and gave Casey a soft kiss on the forehead.

I made sure to lock the house before heading to the garage, taking my motorcycle out and riding to the one house I have wanted to pay a visit to since Casey told me what was bothering her.

I rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer the door. I remembered my parents telling me that they were on a business trip with Dom’s parents so I doubt anyone was home aside from the guy himself.

Sure enough, the door opened to reveal the kid.

“Bry?” He asked, dumbfounded as he scratched his head.

He left the door open for me and turned around to walk towards his living room.

“Are you okay? I was going to come find you to ask you about what happened the other day.” Dom said, reminding me that I still haven’t prepared an explanation yet to give him yet without giving my plan away.

“That’s not important. I’m here to talk about Casey.” I cut him off, going straight to the point.

Dom’s expression immediately shifted into a more serious one as he sat up on the couch and faced me.

“You know?” Dom asked.

I avoided snorting at the stupid question. He knew how close Casey and I are as siblings. Was that question even necessary?

I nodded wordlessly instead, giving him a chance to explain himself.

“I know I should’ve talked to you about it first and I was about to the other day but those guys came before I had the chance to and I just couldn’t help myself afterwards and ended up accidentally blurting out a confession.” He filled me in.

“You’re putting her in a tough position right now, Dom.” I told him in a low tone.

He should’ve known better than to put this pressure on Casey.

“I’m entitled to feel as a person, Bry.” Dom argued.

“And I’m not saying that you aren’t entitled to feel whatever you want to feel,” I clarified.

I sighed, “Look, you should’ve thought about how Casey would feel after hearing you confess. You’re forcing her into a corner.” I explained.

“How so?” He challenged.

“Casey doesn’t feel the same way but she’s scared of rejecting you and risk losing a friend.” I retorted.

I thought that the problem here was obvious but I guess not.

An hour of unproductive banter between us went by before I’ve finally had enough and gave Dom a hard expression.

"Dom, listen to me. You're a brother to both Casey and I. Hell, I trust you with my life. But we both know that Casey is worth more than my life to me and we both know your problems with commitments," I stressed out, tired of arguing on a conflict that seemed to be going nowhere at all.

"I'm telling you, Bry, I love her and I will fight to have her even if you're going to forbid me from doing so," He looked so determined and I knew I've lost every drop of hope of talking him out of it nicely.

There was no good ending to this conversation or discussion.

"I don't care what you're feeling, Dom. You're making her lose it. She doesn't like you that way so don't force it onto her. You can feel all you want but if she doesn't like it, just don't force your feelings on her, you hear me? I won’t have you pressure Casey just because your pride won’t let you accept getting rejected."

Dom looked the other way with a stubborn expression crossing his face.

I shook my head, this was going nowhere.

"If I catch her crying alone and if the reason behind any of those tears is you, you know what's coming for you," I said emotionlessly before opening the door and closing it with a loud bang, not caring that I've probably waken up the entire neighborhood by my grand exit.

Dom knows better than anyone on what lengths I will go through to keep Casey from getting hurt.

As I was about to get on my bike, my phone dinged with a new text.

I unlocked the screen and read the text from the unknown number, reading the address and time on it.

“1 Highland St. Friday, 0100. Don’t be late. -Jax”

I sighed, tilting my head to look at the sky above me as my heart plunged into my stomach. I can’t believe I’m doing this.

I’ve always tried to stick to my principles and avoided anything that can taint my morals. Knowing that I’m going to start doing the Mafia’s dirty work is sending my conscience into a downward spiral.

You’re doing this to protect Casey.

Do it for Casey.

I exhaled slowly, my breath coming out in a puff of mist; thinking, praying, hoping, that God knows that I don’t want to do this and is witnessing my hesitance.