The Mafia's Daughter

3. MOTIVE

~ Zoie’s POV ~

The audacity! Just who the hell that guy thinks he is?!

Watching the guy leave her space, Zoie was bewildered. She couldn’t believe what just happened. This random guy in the bar who she thought was gonna hit on her, ended up calling her bluff and stealing her drink. She couldn’t have seen that one coming.

“Did I see that right? Or did that guy just walk away with your drink?” Brianna squeaked.

“That was totally uncalled for,” Emma huffed. Zoie’s two friends now came back into her periphery once the guy was gone.

“I know, right!” Zoie crossed her arms in annoyance. “What a weirdo,”

Zoie kept watching as the guy disappeared amongst the sea of crowds. Sure, she was new to the club and dating scene, but surely this wasn’t supposed to happen. At least, that’s not what she saw in the movies.

“What was his deal anyway? What did he say to you?” Emma asked

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “Some bullshit about my ID…”

“Hey, there you girls are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you three!”

Suddenly, a voice was heard and the girls quickly turned around. Standing before them was Lucas James Sterling, one of the most, if not the most popular guy in Vanderbilt High School. Lucas had gorgeous blonde eyes, crystal blue eyes, and a smile to match the brightness of the sun. He was in the same grade as Zoie and she’s had a crush on him since forever, but of course, Lucas was out of her reach. He always dated models and actresses. Last she heard, he was dating Millie Bobby Brown.

“Lucas! Hey!” Brianna exclaimed and threw her arms open, pulling him into a hug.

“I was wondering if you’re ever gonna show up!” Emma added, hugging him next.

“This is our grad party, of course I’m gonna show up!” Lucas beamed. He then zeroed in on Zoie, who was trying her hardest not to blush. “Hey, Z,”

Zoie swallowed hard. Lucas freaking Sterling was noticing her!

“Hey,” she replied. Acting all cool and making sure she wasn’t gonna faint.

Emma and Brianna were hugging Lucas in a friendly way. Those three had been friends for a long time, always running around in the same circle. Zoie, however, was new to the scene. Up until a few weeks ago, she didn’t even think this group of people would wanna hang out with her. Feeling rather awkward to hug Lucas, Zoie opted to stand in her spot. Meanwhile, Lucas was eyeing her up and down, finding her rather intriguing.

“So, can I get you girls anything?” he asked.

“Drinks, please!” Brianna squealed.

“Sure thing. Peach Martinis?”

“You know it!” Emma nodded eagerly.

“Be right back,” Lucas gave them one last smile before turning for the bartender.

As if on cue, Emma and Brianna quickly pulled Zoie to the side and stared at her with wide eyes.

“Okay, did you see that?” Emma asked.

“See what?” Zoie looked at the girls in confusion.

“Lucas was totally checking you out!” Brianna hissed as if it was obvious.

“No, he wasn’t,” Zoie scoffed.

“Oh, come on, don’t be so naïve!” Emma groaned.

“Didn’t you have a crush on him freshman year?” Brianna asked.

“Freshman, sophomore, and junior year?” Emma corrected.

“Well, okay, sort of, but—"

“But what?” Brianna cut her off. Then she leaned closer and said, “This is it, Zoe! This is your chance to get with Lucas Sterling! I heard he’s recently single and from the looks of it, he’s totally into you,”

“…Really?” Zoie looked uncertain.

“Yeah! I think you should totally go for it!” Emma reassured her.

“But.. I… I dunno…” Zoie croaked. She glanced up at Lucas who was now smirking at her from the bar.

“What’s not to know?” Brianna pressed. “Lucas is filthy rich and drop-dead gorgeous. Every girl in our school wanted to get with him at some point. Including Emma,”

“That was a long time ago,” Emma rolled her eyes dramatically. “And you totally did too!”

“Whatever, the point is, Lucas is a catch!” Brianna said as she whipped her hair back. “And if you’re serious about getting some experience before college starts, I think you can learn a lot from him,”

Zoie looked at her two friends before turning her eyes to Lucas again. Maybe it was the alcohol in her system or the loud music pumping in her ears, but a part of her was thinking that her friends were right. If she wanted to take risks and experience new things, now was the perfect time to start.

But then again…

Another part of her was scared. Yes, she didn’t like to admit that, but she was. Zoie heard a lot of things about Lucas, especially about how he got with almost half the underclassmen girls in their school. There was a rumor that went around that Lucas had a thing for virgins. Zoie had no intentions of keeping her V-card until college, but was she ready to lose it this way? With this guy?

“I don’t know,” Zoie sighed after a while of silence. “I mean, he’s got quite the reputation, doesn’t he?”

Emma and Brianna exchanged a knowing look.

“Don’t listen to high school gossip, Zoe. People are just jealous because they wanna be in our circle and they can’t,” Emma said.

“Exactly,” Brianna agreed. “Just do whatever makes you happy. We’re behind you one hundred percent,”

The two girls were sending Zoie such positive and supportive vibes. Zoie never knew how much fun it was to have friends like this, especially girl-friends. Growing up, she was always surrounded by her older brothers or male friends. All of them were overprotective like crazy. It felt nice to be reckless every once in a while.

“Aw, thanks, you guys,” Zoie gushed as she pulled Emma and Brianna into a hug.

“Just don’t forget to hit us with all the deets,” Brianna winked.

“Oh, he’s coming back!” Emma said as she quickly turned Zoie around.

Lucas was now standing tall before her, holding four drinks in his hand. He gave the two glasses of martinis in his left hand to Emma and Brianna and he saved the last one for Zoie. He also had a glass of whiskey for himself.

“Thanks, Luke!” Emma said as she took her glass.

“Oh my God, Em, let’s dance!” Brianna squealed as she pulled Emma away, purposefully giving Zoie and Lucas some alone time.

Lucas let out a chuckle as the girls weren’t being exactly smooth. Meanwhile, Zoie couldn’t do anything but stand there. Drowning in embarrassment.

“Here you go, one peach martini, extra peachy,” Lucas said finally, giving her the last drink.

“Thank you,” she said politely, taking the drink from his hand.

“So, where’s your bodyguard tonight?”

“They’re at home,”

“You got rid of ‘em?”

“Yup,”

“Well, it’s about damn time,” he stifled a laugh. “Finally, you’re gonna have some fun,”

“Yeah,” she stifled one too. “About four years late, but better late than never, right?”

Zoie was laughing nervously, trying hard to hide the fact that her heart was beating like a drum. Her body was heating up, her stomach twisting into knots.

Is this what it feels like to flirt with someone?

Zoie swallowed hard and just stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say or do next. Meanwhile, Lucas was also shuffling in his spot. He looked rather nervous and Zoie found it flattering that someone like him would be nervous to talk to her.

“Well, cheers then,” Lucas said finally, lifting his glass up. “To a night of fun and freedom,”

Zoie let out a smile. She liked the sound of that.

“A night of fun and freedom,” she agreed, toasting her glass to his.

The two glasses made a clinking noise and Zoie brought her drink close to her mouth. But before she could even get a sip of her peach martini, someone came into her periphery and swatted the glass across her face. The glass came tumbling down in a frenzy, splashing and shattering on the floor.

* SPLASH! *

Some of the peach martinis ended up splattered across the front of her dress. Yes, her sexiest and prettiest Oscar De La Renta dress that she got specifically for this party.

“What the—!" Zoie looked up to see the strange guy from before standing in front of her. He let out a small smirk before turning around to face Lucas, and before anyone could say peach martini, the guy swung his fist across Lucas’s face.

* SMACK!! *

Lucas came tumbling down in one punch. He was knocked out cold. The people around shrieked and screamed, including Zoie.

“Oh my God! What the hell is your problem?!” Zoie yelled, pushing the strange guy away.

“Woah, call 911!” Zoie heard the crowd behind her say.

The guy didn’t budge no matter how hard Zoie punched and pushed. He simply bent down and reached for something inside Lucas’s suit pocket. And to her absolute surprise, he pulled out a small bag with white pills inside.

“Roofies,” the stranger explained, tossing the bag at Zoie.

Zoie grabbed the bag of pills and horror filled her face. She glanced at the broken glass on the floor and a pit grew in her stomach. The realization was sinking in. Those rumors were true. Lucas almost drugged her.

And God only knows what will happen after that.

“Oh my God! What an asshole!”

Zoie whipped her head up as she heard a familiar voice. Her two friends, Emma and Brianna, were amongst the gasping crowd.

“Zoe, babe, are you alright?” Emma asked as she lent a hand out.

Zoie stared at Emma’s hand suspiciously and looked up. There was something off about her vibe.

“You guys knew, didn’t you?” she deduced.

“What?” Emma gaped.

“Zoie, we didn’t know!" Brianna added quickly.

“Save it,” Zoie cut her off and tossed the bag of pills at her face. The bag hit Brianna in the nose and she squeaked angrily. The crowd around them was gasping and whispering again, some even pulled out their phones to record the drama.

“Oh, come on! You wanted to get laid anyway!” Emma groaned, defending her friend.

* SMACK! *

Zoie’s hand flew across the air and hit Emma straight in the face. She didn’t know what she was even doing. It just happened.

“Ouw!” Emma flinched in pain. “What a b***h!”

Emma was about to go ape-s**t crazy on Zoie, but Brianna pulled her back. Brianna saw the security guards closing in and she knew they had to run.

“Leave her, Em, let’s go!” Brianna flipped Zoie off angrily and turned away. “You and your perfect family can suck a d**k!”

Ah. So there it is. The motive.

Just like Zoie’s family, Brianna’s family was also in politics. But while Damon Van Zandt was a democratic governor, Brianna’s dad was a stout conservative who probably saw Damon as an enemy. Now it all made sense to Zoie why Brianna was doing this. If rumors got out that Damon’s daughter was a wild party animal, her dad’s reputation might be tarnished.

I should’ve known…

The pit in Zoie’s stomach was sinking lower as she staggered to get away from the nearing guards. Tears were brimming in her eyes as people around whispered and pointed their fingers at her. Zoie kept her head down, looking for ways to escape while recognizing the trouble that she was in. How could she be so dumb? Of course, the popular kids were never interested in becoming her friends. This was why Emma and Brianna suddenly became close to her the past few weeks. She should’ve known that they were only nice to her because they wanted something.

Dang! Where's the bodyguard when you need one?

“Hey,”

In the midst of the chaos, suddenly Zoie heard a voice and saw a hand being stretched out. She looked up to see the handsome stranger that punched Lucas in the face. He was standing tall in front of her, only inches away.

“You okay?” he asked.

Zoie didn’t have much of a choice. In her position right now, this stranger was her only friend.

“Can you get me out of here?” she croaked. A single tear fell off her cheek involuntarily. “Please?”

Without wasting any more time, the Stranger nodded his head and grabbed her by the hand. They raced out of the club as fast as humanely possible as he led her through the back door. They were moving so fast, Zoie didn’t have a chance to stop to think or even breathe.

With the guards chasing after them, Zoie and the Stranger went out through the back alley and into the parking lot. The next thing she knew, she was being led to a black motorcycle parked on the side of the road. The Stranger got onto the bike swiftly as Zoie stood there like a statue. He secured his helmet over his head before giving the spare one to her. Zoie took the helmet, but she didn’t know what to do. She had never ridden a motorcycle before. Or got chased by club security guards.

“What are you waiting for?!” the Stranger pressed.

Zoie looked back to see the guards clamoring out of the back door. Before she could change her mind, she haphazardly put the helmet on her head, jumped onto the back of that motorcycle, and held on for dear life.

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- - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -