Mara: I wanted to get the third chapter up sooner rather than later after the second chapter, as to not keep anyone in too much suspense.

Chapter 3: A Pretty Face

"You...want me to help with repossessions?" Tanner felt sick with excitement and dread, all at the same time, as she stepped back to allow herself to fall onto the couch nearby.

"Yes. There are many people who are late on their payments. Nathan can do only so much on his own. He could use the help of someone else with skilled hands."

"Th-thank you sir but...I don't know if I can-"

"Just take tonight to think it over. I'm sure the idea will grow on you." Rotti smiled, but it was devious, something that suggested something deeper than what he was telling her.

Tanner nodded quickly and stood. "Thank you Mr. Largo. I will be back fist thing tomorrow." She hurried back to the elevator and thought through her choices the whole way back to the lower floors. "Nathan won't be happy about the idea. He'll probably be pissed, to say the least. On the other hand, I do really want to help with the repossessions. And this job comes from Rotti. How could I even tell him if I didn't want to do it? I wonder if he'd have me taken out for turning down this job."

Tanner swallowed hard at the thought, stepping off the elevator and back towards her room. A loud crash from the direction she was headed caused Tanner to pick up her pace, only to find the three Largo siblings yelling and fighting and in her room nonetheless!

"Don't you mention that has been singer to me again!" Amber screeched, grabbing the closest thing to her and throwing it at Pavi who was attempting to hide on the other side of Tanner's bed. Luigi had gone into a fit of laughter at Pavi's expense and just as well, was waving his knife around.

There were small things, as well as Tanner's large bedroom mirror, broken and strewn about the room. "Hey, hey! Can we please move this somewhere else?" Tanner dropped her bag then attempted to move them into the hallway and came up against Luigi's knife, as well as Amber continuing her throwing of anything within reach.

"Sister please!" Pavi pleaded, ducking under one of Tanner's syringes that had been sitting on her bedside table that Amber insisted on throwing.

"Get out of my room damn it!"

"Shut your face!" Luigi threatened Tanner with his knife again, forcing her to watch in silence as Amber tore up her room in anger.

"She'll be dead soon and I will take her place on stage!" Amber huffed angrily and stormed out into the hall, flipping her black hair over her shoulder.

"Geneco will belong to me after the geezer croaks!" Luigi added, as if threatening anyone to challenge him and followed after Amber into the hall.

"Not if Pavi gets it first! They all love the Pavi!" Pavi argued with Luigi but not bothering to follow. Pavi had always seemed more afraid of Amber than his older brother, thus would argue with him and not her. Tanner sighed heavily.

"Well, that overreaction seemed unnecessary. What the hell happened?" She began picking up the various glass shards from her broken mirror.

"Amber came home throwing a fit about having to be on the same stage as Mag. Pavi opened his mouth and nearly lost his pretty little tongue!" Pavi lifted his hand to his mouth in a protective way.

"Yeah, how horrible that would have been." Tanner piled the glass on her dresser, continuing to gather the other things Amber had thrown about, including her empty syringe.

"You would have missed Pavi's beautiful voice." He leaned over Tanner, blocking her path back to the other side of the room where she had been placing things.

"I can't say that I wouldn't. Your voice is, by far, one of the most unique I've ever heard and you wouldn't be who you are without it." For that, she received his usual wide grin and his mirror under her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

"Such a pretty face."

"Don't bother, we already went over this and you aren't getting my face." Tanner gave Pavi a smirk.

"I didn't mean for Pavi to steal." Her smile faded and her face paled as Pavi leaned a little too close. "I will leave your face, but only because it is attached to that pretty little body of yours." He brought his index finger up, brushing it up under Tanner's chin and causing her head to tilt up further.

With that, Pavi quickly made his way from Tanner's room, leaving her alone for the first time since she had come home. She couldn't move, unsure of what to think about this, unsure if his words were meant as something wonderful or something horrific. Slowly, Tanner began to regain herself and absentmindedly went back to picking up things around the room.

She finally came to sit on her bed and shook her head. "I'll be fine. They need me here, right? Right. He wouldn't run the risk of killing me...I hope. And what if he doesn't plan to kill me?" She shuddered. "That almost seems worse." Tanner sighed and rolled over, looking at the glowing numbers on her digital alarm clock. 9:00 PM This night had been a long one. She just wanted to fall asleep but that wasn't going to happen.

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Mara: This one wasn't bad but I am more excited about posting chapters 5 & 6 when I get to them. *dreamy sigh* I don't know what it is but I just adore Pavi!