}{~Seas of Change~}{
"Baby girl, hand me some more of them chips there." Frank looks over from his spot beside the shelves of chips. I pick up my head from staring at my nails and hop off the table I sat on. I pick up three packs of black chips and walk over, handing them to him one by one, "Thanks."
I smile at Frank and nod, handing him another pack. We had been working for hours on end and now it was somewhere near one. I was tired and hungry and was dying to get a shower. I look around the warehouse and watch what the others were doing. Lawrence was by his computers. Linus was helping Basher with pushing a large cart of money. Yen was stacking things in a shelf. Danny stood beside a table, watching us all as we did the work and Rusty was out of sight.
My gaze falls upon the twins as they rolled over another shelf, wearing matching red jumpsuits. I smile and give a small laugh, looking down at my feet. I thought to earlier at The Bellagio when Turk had touched my cheek and held my hand, remembering the feelings I had gotten.
I recognized the feelings, but for now I had to push them out of my mind. This couldn't happen, it could ruin this job if we got involved and anyway...he'd just leave in the end like Marcello had. My mind slowly drifts away from Turk and over to Paolo. I was dead if Rusty found out and that worried me far beyond anything Marcello and his family could possibly ever do to me.
"You alright? Baby girl?" Frank asks me, breaking me from my thoughts.
"Huh?" I ask, looking back at Frank. He stares down at me, studying me.
"Somethin' wrong?" He asks after a moment. I open my mouth to tell him everything and decide against it. I shake my head slowly and smile instead.
"No, I'm fine. Just really tired." I give a small laugh and hand him the last pack of chips. I walk back over to the table I had been sitting on and hop up, crossing my legs at the ankles and swaying them back and forth. Something catches my eye and I look to my left at Danny. Rusty stands beside him, whispering harshly. I narrow my eyes at them and start to push myself off the table. Rusty spots me and holds a hand out to me, telling me to stay where I am.
I push myself back on the table and watch as Rusty and Danny walk to the open doors of the warehouse. They step outside the door as Rusty starts talking at Danny. I could tell that something was wrong by the look on Rusty's face.
"What're they talking about?" I look back in front of me and shrug at Virgil and Turk.
"Whatever it is it's not good." I respond and look back over my shoulder at Rusty and Danny. Rusty was talking down to Danny. He was pissed.
"Hey I figured out what I could call you." I turn back around and smile at Virgil.
"What?" I ask as he leans against the table beside me.
"Barbie." I laugh out loud at the name. I look at him and then at Turk.
"Did you help him with this one?" I ask through another laugh. Turk moves to the other side of me and leans against the table.
"Nope, the geek came up with it himself." Turk replies, causing me to look back at Virgil.
"Why Barbie?"
"You're blonde and after that display today Barbie seemed perfect." Virgil smiles a little and I shake my head, looking back at the vault behind Turk.
"Fine; Barbie it is." I reply and shake my head again.
"Virgil come here!" The three of us look to Basher. Virgil straightens himself and walks over to him and Linus, leaving Turk and me alone. After a moment I look at Turk and study the jumpsuit he was wearing.
"You are the only one I know who can pull off the red jumpsuit look." I feel a new set of laughs erupt form my throat as he stares at me. Suddenly I feel him start to tickle my sides.
"No, stop!" I laugh and try to swat his hands away. He gets smart and wraps an arm around me, pulling me closer to him as he continues his assault.
"Say uncle!"
"Uncle, uncle, stop!"
"Samantha!" I snap my head to look behind us at the sudden call. Turk stops tickling me as we spot Rusty and Danny walking up to us. Rusty didn't look happy. Actually he looked pissed. I look to Turk and then back at Rusty, unsure of what was wrong. It couldn't have been Turk he was irked with. It had to be me. Something I did only I had no idea what I had done.
"You only call me Samantha when you're really mad at me." I state as Rusty stops in front of us. I was frightened. Rusty was usually a sweet guy, but when he got mad, he got really mad...and scary. I swallow hard and watch Danny continue walking by, giving me a sorrowful look. I become more uneasy and look to Turk beside me. My eyes wander to Saul, who sat in the corner, his back turned to me as though in shame.
I had hoped that he would have kept this 'Paolo' thing a secret, but then again if he had we all would be dead, not just me alone. I look back to Rusty and go to try and say something, but he stops me.
"Come on." Rusty takes my arm and pulls me form the table, nearly making me fall to the ground. He starts dragging me towards the open doors of the warehouse while I tug on his hand gripping my arm.
"Rusty stop." I try to pull my arm from his grip, "You're hurting me."
Suddenly he tugs on my arm hard, swinging me in front of him and under the street light outside the doors, "What the Hell is wrong with you?"
"Me?" Rusty starts as I rub my arm. He places his hands on his hips, pushing his suit jacket out of the way a little, "What about you? Why didn't you tell me?"
I stare at him a moment and then shake my head a little, trying to figure out what to say. He clenches his jaw until his lips a a thin line and then runs a hand over his mouth.
"Why didn't you tell me about Paolo!" He suddenly snaps, making me jump back a little, "Instead I have to hear it from Linus; the Goddamn Rookie! Why didn't you tell me!"
"Linus?" I ask softly. I shake my head and look back into the warehouse to where Linus sat. My eyes widen, understanding now what was going on. I notice several of the guys were watching us or more watching Rusty as he fumed. My eyes land on Turk and quickly I look away, feeling completely embarrassed.
"Linus saw the whole thing today! Paolo coming up out of nowhere and calling you by your real name. Do you know what this means!" Rusty shouts and turns his back to me, walking a few feet away and shaking his head.
"What does it matter? Just because Paolo is here doesn't mean Marcello is." I speak softly and look back at Rusty, hoping that he wouldn't yell at me anymore and draw more attention to us.
"You should have told me! This could ruin everything, Sam!" I wince at his tone and feel like turning into a puddle to escape. I hated being yelled at, especially when the person was treating me like a child, "You never think Sam! You just do whatever the Hell you want to! That's what got you into the mess with the DeLuca's in the first place!"
"You're blaming all of that on me!" I yell back, the words striking a nerve. Rusty just stares down back as I feel my nostrils flare and my blood boil in my veins, "You have some nerve Robert! Just take a look at your right arm! Look at that tattoo and tell me it was all my fault!"
"I wasn't sleeping with the boss's son!" Rusty screeches out and takes a step towards me.
"Neither was I!" I scream back at the top of my lungs. I feel tears prickle my eyes and I shake my head, gritting my teeth, "I never climbed into bed with him. Yeah, I thought about it, but I didn't. That's why everything went to Hell."
"Whatever. You're done." Rusty replies and runs a hand over his mouth. He shakes his head and starts walking back towards the warehouse doors, "Go home Sam."
I shake my head and watch him continue walking, my anger continuing to build.
"You son of a bitch!" I call after him in a feeble attempt to...well I don't no what exactly I was trying to attempt, but I didn't feel like this conversation was finished. I didn't want it to be. Not yet, "You just wake up and get to go wherever the fuck you feel like whenever you fucking feel like it! I can't do that because you dragged me into all this bullshit!"
"I told you not to get involved with him, Sammy!" Rusty turned on his heels and walked back in front of me. I shake my head slowly and scoff. Out of nowhere I feel my anger receding, leaving me with betrayal and hurt.
"No you didn't! All you said was that he couldn't be trusted! You said you didn't trust him! I did!" I scream out, more pressure building behind my eyes, but my blood ceasing to boil, "Then when I told you I loved him, you left. You just left me all by myself with them! After everything that happened in New York you left because that's what Robert fucking Ryan does best! He disappears when life gets too hard; when he feels like he's in over his head!"
I could feel the hot tears that rolled down my cheeks and gave a small sniff. I quickly wipe the tears away and cross my arms over my chest. I was embarrassed, but more then anything I felt betrayed.
"When you left I became fair game to Marcello and he and his father took his chance. I was an asset to them, something they could use, and I let them because I didn't have anywhere else to go. I was eighteen, alone, and they were all I had." I choke out and look to the sky, hoping to stop my tears from falling anymore, "I asked myself where you were everyday...! Why you weren't there, trying to get me out."
All the emotions I had pent up behind the damn were now breaking through. Years of anger and hurt just flowed from me like a river and I could tell there was no stopping it now until the river ran dry. A few more tears fall from my eyes as I look down at the ground, unable to meet his gaze.
"You promised me after mom had died that..." I choke up and force myself to look up at him as more tears fell from my eyes, "After mom died you promised you would always be there, looking after me. That you wouldn't let anyone hurt us. You promised you'd..."
I look back into the warehouse and see everyone looking at Rusty and me. I look down at the ground and wipe my cheeks, shaking my head.
"Sammy-"
"Don't Sammy me!" I snap and look back at him. I shake my head as I try to hold back more tears, "I thought I'd die there! With those monsters! If it hadn't been for Basher I never would have escaped! I would still be there now if he hadn't rescued me!"
I chew on my bottom lip that had begun to quiver and shake my head again. I feel him staring down at me, but I can't look up at him. I'm torn. I want him to feel how much he hurt me, but then I don't want to hurt him. I turn away from him and head down the sidewalk, not caring where I was going, but that I was going; that for the first time he would be the one to watch me go.
"Sam!" Rusty calls out. I want to turn around, but I ignore him instead and continue on. I start walking a little faster, wanting to get as far away as I can, "Sammy! Sam, come back!"
I sniff back my tears again and continue walking, hanging my head and keeping my arms crossed over my chest. He had left me alone when I needed him the most. He was my brother, my only family and he just up and left one day, leaving me to the dogs, and then to solitude. He had single handedly caused me more confusion and hurt then anyone in my life. He had promised not to leave, to protect me from people like the DeLucas'...but he just woke up one day, packed his things, and left town.
That's when I met Basher. He had been invited to pull a job off with Marcello and Paolo. He was crazy, loved to blow things to ruble. He had found me one day in the DeLuca's mansion crying. He had told me that the DeLucas' were a bad bunch for a girl to get in with, especially a girl like me. I told him I wanted to get out more than anything, but didn't know how. He promised that after the job was said and done that he would take me away. He did. The DeLucas' were pissed and since then Basher has to steer clear of New York. We've been friends ever since.
I continue to walk for hours and finally find myself on Las Vegas Boulevard. I watch as I approach The Bellagio and reach my hand into my jeans pocket, feeling the key to the suite. I keep my head low and get to the room, throwing myself down on my bed. I pull a pillow to my chest and shut my eyes tightly, fighting the urge to cry more.
I didn't trust Rusty anymore; my only brother, my last bit of family. It hurt worse then anything the DeLucas' had done to me. They had beaten me, called me terrible things, made me do terrible things, but Rusty's action of leaving me with them was worse.