Married Into The Mafia *Undergoing Re-editing*

Cousin

--Naomi--

Cousin...

I blushed at the word...

All the tension in the air seemed to dissipate into light-hearted fondness. I forgot about the situation completely as that one word echoed in my mind.

It's been so long since any of the Truven siblings had addressed me as such...

And, to have Jake, whom I look up to, call me it, sent my heart beating erratically. Cousin... My body warmed in endearment. My face, flushed red, looked over my shoulder to admire him. I want him to call me it ag-

"Naomi," he pressed, voice rumbling in depths only the ocean could reach. It slapped me out of my infatuated state and rationality punched me in the face right after. I jolted, thrusting my body away from his proximity in fright. What...What was I just doing?! Eccentric, blue eyes highlighted in my vision like they were the only thing that stood out right now. They didn't drill into me with any particular anger or hatred for what he had been enlightened of... No... It was just the way he stared at me through those powerful, vibrant eyes of his, that terrified me so much that I couldn't even speak. 

I gulped and hesitantly looked away, scared to hold eye-contact any longer, but also scared to take my eyes off him... He gave off the aura a rabid, dangerous animal would if you were trapped in the same cage as it. If I even blinked, it felt like he had the potential to pounce at me and rip me to shreds... But, in my mind, I knew Jake would never do that... He may not look like the type of guy, but he dotes on his younger family members a lot. Harming one would never come across his thoughts. 

"I-I...I..." The words didn't seem to come out of my mouth. Jake's gaze dug into me, rendering me speechless. "I..." He exhaled a large, hot breath of air whilst lowering his head. Oh, god, was he getting annoyed at me? He remained in that position for a few moments, each second that passed only adding to my anxiety. "J-Jake...I..."

"Sorry..." Huh? He brought his head back up and sheepishly ran his fingers through his hair. "I've lost my cool there for a sec," he chuckled, fixing his suave smirk back onto his face. What? He chucked his phone onto one of the kitchen counter stools and yanked off the already loosened suit tie from his neck. I watched tensely and jolted in surprise when he placed a comforting hold on my shoulder. The hammering of my heart accelerated and I felt a warmth crawl onto my cheeks. "Naomi, I need you to tell me what happened. How did this all happen?" He spoke to me softly to calm my nerves. 

He was referring to the scene that was found when the backup I called for arrived at the location Nicki and her friends had gone to. Admittedly, I had not been expecting such carnage either. From what I had heard, not a single one of them was able to move...just like Miyuki. It shocked me when she suddenly collapsed so, I called for an ambulance to take her to the hospital. And, just an hour later, Jake had come to have a word with me. Frankly, I had no idea what was going on but decided to recount all that I could to him.

With a swallow, I started. "Well, we found out that Elosie had gone missing and that the man that had been watching over her from Ashton had been knocked out. Jessica explained that she had overheard Janette's plan for Eloise tonight and Nicki said that she knew where they would be if that was the case," I explained cautiously as Jake listened attentively. Although, that pointed gaze, those bright, blue eyes that I envied so much also made me so nervous. 

"Why had Miyuki and the others collapsed? Do you have any idea?" He asked before pondering on that question himself. "Actually, no. Why had you not collapsed?" I know he hadn't meant it to sound that way, but his tone had slight hints of accusation.