Lucien's pov:
I think she's learnt her lesson, judging by how barely conscious she laid in my right-hand man's arms as he gently carried her to the infirmary.
Yes, she definitely got the memo, there'd be no defiance or smashing of things from her for a while now.
"Romano!" I called, just before he stepped out of the gym.
"Yes don?" he turned to face me, with a blank face, although I could see right through him, his worry for the girl that he tries so hard to guise.
He's beginning to develop a soft spot for her, and I don't know how to feel about that, yet.
"When she wakes up, ensure to let her know how lucky she is to still be breathing air, after the stunt she pulled." I stated, earning a nod of acknowledgement from him.
He turned back to leave, completely ignoring my sister who stood beside me, and she ignored him in return. They don't even glance at each other anymore not to talk of being on speaking terms. The tension between them could be cut in two with a sharp knife.
"So, you want to tell me why you just had me beat up one of your whores?" Sofia said, matching my strides out the gym.
Her left shoulder held the weight of her duffel bag, and her right hand, seized her flask.
"She is not my whore" I simply said.
"Who is she then? And what did she do?" she asked, unscrewing the cap of her flask before taking large gulps of water from it.
"Some girl Romano… retained" I responded, remembering his choice of words from yesterday at the basement.
"She smashed a vase on Antonio's head." I added.
As expected, my words halted my sister in her tracks.
"She did what??" she exclaimed.
Her words, an echo of mine, from yesterday's event. Sofia caught herself as she quickened up her pace to catch up with me.
"She's not dead." She stated the obvious.
"Yet." I retorted.
Sofia scoffed.
"Please, you've killed people for far less, you let her live after what she did, you? Who has zero tolerance for any form of disrespect to your men, not to talk of your left-hand man! You don't plan on killing her, do you brother"
Again, she stated the obvious.
Sometimes I hate her smartness, but it's the thing I love the most about her, she is a fast thinker, faster than any of my men.
"I don't." I affirmed, walking into my office.
Sofia rolled her eyes, flopping down on the chair in front of the large dark brown oak desk.
"Stop giving me half answers!" she whined, just as I settled down on my chair, behind the desk.
I reached for my hp PC, I need to get some work done.
"Sofia, devo lavorare." I said.
Giving her a pointed look, hoping she'd get it and just leave me to my peace, but knowing my sister, that will probably never happen, she won't leave until she gets what she wants.
"And I need to have a bath." She replied.
"Good, I'm glad we all have important things to, now if you don't mind…" I suggested again, but she completely ignored me, as she leaned forward, and rested her elbow on my desk, big round blue eyes staring at me expectantly.
Save for our hair which was the same color, we hardly look alike, she is a carbon copy of our mother, as I am our father, but neither of us, had our mother's blonde locks.
I sighed.
"She's going to play a vital role for us, especially in this brewing war."
Sofia looked confused.
"What role could she possibly play that Arianna couldn't?"
I shook my head in irritation.
"Enough with these Arianna talks, why do you have to bring her up in every conversation?"
Lips pursed, she looked up to me with annoyance clearly written all over her face.
"Maybe because she's one of our best assets, who knows every playbook of our system, and has proven herself time and time again, or that she's my best friend and now because of you, I hardly see her around anymore, or that you're about to replace her, with what? a woman-child who knows absolutely nothing and throws temper tantrums here and there?"
My jaw clenched, and my whole demeanor shifted and bacame ice cold.
I let a lot of things slide with her because she's my baby sister, and she might not know it, but she actually is the one thing I loved the most in this world, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't put her in her place whenever she strays too far, and right now, she is dangerously close to doing just that.
Of course, she picks up on my slight change in mood, and swallowed before catching herself.
"I'm sorry… I'm just mad at you." She half apologized, half sassed.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, as I tried to shift from being a mafia don, back to a somewhat normal older brother.
"No one is replacing Arianna, she's our third best sniper, but I don't see how a sniper would win me this war." I responded, after gaining some sort of control over my temper.
I also intentionally ignored the part of Arianna not coming around anymore, and that didn't go unnoticed by my sister, but she didn't comment on it. she knows better.
"Come si chiama?"
"What?"
"The girl, what is her name?" She repeated her question.
"Sylvia Gerrard, why?" I retorted.
"Nothing, just curious."
"What exactly do you plan on doing with her?" She casually asked, as she leaned back on the chair, swiveling it from side to side.
"Turn her into a spy, and an assassin." I casually responded also.
Sofia stopped her swiveling to stare at me, like I had grown two heads.
"Lucien, you're serious." She stated, more like an affirmation to herself.
I merely nodded.
"She might know how to throw vases, but I don't see her being any of the things you plan on using her as!"
"She'll get there, with some training and discipline, that is where you come in."
"Now you want me to train her? I almost took her life today!" She chuckled, before adding, "I don't think she can handle me, it'd be best if you start small, probably with Domenico?"
I stared at her, unamused.
"There is no time for that, and I am dead serious."
She bit her lip, and eventually offered a nod.
"Father's annual gala, is this weekend, Lucien, he wants you there."
Her voice held a pleading tone to it. I was 20, the last time I attend his stupid annual gala, and now I'm 26, and yet, my stance on that man hasn't changed one bit. I still resented him with every fiber of my being.
"I don't give a fuck what he wants." I said in a tone that held no room for argument.
Sofia sighed, she was about to stand up, before something flashed across her face, it was gone before I could decipher what it was.
"You could bring her... the girl." She said, the slight raise in her voice, radiated hope.
"As?" I asked, not fully grasping where she was headed with this absurd idea.
"Think about it, you're trying to ease her into our world, right? Well, what better way to start than to make her learn a few things from the sources themselves."
She has point.
"I have a point and you know it!"
The fuck! is she a mind reader now too?
"You do, but I've made my decision." I said, closing my PC, immediately moving on to the pile of files that awaited my attention.
Sofia scoffed as she stood up and stormed out of my office, leaving a ricochet of frustrated murmurs behind her. I sighed.
I hate to admit it, but Sofia was right, this would make Sylvia get a glimpse of the underworld, and how she responds to the pressure would be the ultimate decider of her fate... and that of her little family. Whether to keep them alive or buried.
I guess we're going to a gala, one that would inevitably end in chaos… as usual.