Through the bulletproof shutters that were recently installed, Serenity could vaguely see the starry night sky. The clock on her laptop read 1 am, but she was far from finished.All the information José managed to find on Vito and his business associates made for a lot of reading, it reminded her why she was willing to pay two thousand dollars for a single day’s work. The man was thorough.Paging through endless pictures of him with various men she didn’t quite recognise, she was just about ready to fall asleep when a familiar car caught her eye in the background of the picture. The car was partly obscured by a passerby, but the bumper sticker sparked recognition in her.
“Yeah, it’s me.” His voice sounded hoarse, like he hadn’t used it in days.“Teo, where are you, are you okay?” She nearly sobbed through the phone.“I’m… okay. Listen, Ser, I don’t have a lot of time, is Enzo or Xander there?” He whispered on the other end and Serenity scrambled after Enzo.“Enzo! Where are you!” She raced towards his room and stopped short when she threw open the door and found him already facing her.He frowned at her behaviour, “What-?”“Matteo.” Was all she said and put the phone on speaker.
“You did what!” Lorenzo roared when Serenity revealed the findings of their evening out.“I know you’re mad, but we got what we needed. There’s an underground tunnel entrance in the cellar just like the map suggested.” Serenity tried to reason, but Enzo wasn’t having it.“That’s completely beside the point! Where did you even come up with this bogus plan?” He seethed.*ONE DAY EARLIER*“I’ve been looking at some old maps of the city, trying to piece together the things Matteo described to us, but there are so many possible locations.” Serenity unfolded an old map onto the table before Enzo and the Ruiz siblings. 
Stepping out of the closet the clock on her nightstand read past midnight and Serenity felt the exhaustion of the day set in.All she wanted was to cuddle under the covers and forget the world existed, but just as she took another step in that direction she felt a rough hand close around her mouth, muffling the scream that bubbled in her throat. A large body trapped her against the wall and Serenity’s eyes widened in terror.‘This is it, my nine lives have run out.’ The thought invaded her mind as the man’s breath fanned her face, he smelled faintly of whiskey and musk.There was something familiar about it and Serenity chanced a look at his eyes, they were hardly visible in the pitch d
Serenity awoke to the feeling of Xander’s muscular chest pressed firmly to her back, his arms engulfed her as he spooned her tiny body with his large one and as much as she hated to admit it, she loved the feeling of him pressed up against her even if he was sleeping on her hair.Feeling Serenity move, Xander’s eyes propped open and widened at the position they found themselves in.“Xander, wake up. You’re on my hair.” She nudged him lightly with her foot and he quickly moved away, taking his weight off her body.“Sorry, are you okay?” He reached for her hair, but her fingers beat him to it, smoothing down the stray strands that were sticking up.&ldq
“Can you hear what they’re saying?” Julio whispered with a concentrated frown on his face.“Not really, but that voice sounds familiar.” Serenity bit her lip and looked at him, “We have to get closer.” She knew it was a bad idea and so did Julio by the look on his face.“Come on.” He motioned for her to follow him.The two crept around to the front of the house where the voices were more recognisable thanks to the broken window. They were still partially hidden from the road by an overgrown bush and the long grass, but if someone were to step onto the porch they would easily be spotted.“ -Not saying a word, I don’t know how much more he c
A searing pain in her head made Serenity groan.“Serenity!” Lorenzo’s voice called just as she felt his hand grasp hers and her eyes cracked open.“Hey.” She winced at the dryness in her throat.“Hey, are you okay?” He helped her sit up before bringing a glass of water to her lips.“I’m fine, my head hurts. What happened?” She looked around her room with confusion when her eyes suddenly found Xander sitting in the chair across the room.His dark stare was set on her and Serenity felt an involuntary shiver run down her spine.
Serenity hissed as she unwrapped the bandage wrapped around her head, the throbbing in her skull was still as prominent as the moment she woke despite all Olympia’s best efforts at drugging her.Cool wind touched the swollen skin which intensified the throb, the pain almost made Serenity abandon her plan, but she knew she wouldn’t get a moment of shut eye till she knew what was hidden in that house.It was a stupid idea to go back there after the day’s events, that much she knew, but her mind ran a mile per minute. Something was drawing her back there, back to that house.The night sky was littered with stars that under any other circumstance she would take a moment to admire, but given that she was sneaking out of a fortress, she couldn&r