Blood thrones

Lilly town high. Six years ago

*****Nikita POV*****

I walk out of the girl’s bathrooms, fuming and ready to tear that Booi pestilent apart. I don’t need any witnesses, Leo is the only one immature and stupid enough to mess with me. The idiot actually thinks I have problems walking out of this place with only my underwear on.

I storm out in my undies with both my fists clenched. I ignore the curious stares and whistles as I march to the his selected corner at the cafeteria.

His cousin, Owen, is the first to spot me. He flashes me with his charming smile. Besides always hanging around his despicable cousin, he has never really done anything to me, but I feel like slapping that smile all the way to kingdom come. He is a Booi too and our rival empire enemy, after all.

“Oh! What do we have here? The Davi princess feels like modelling for us tod…” Leo, the heir of the Booi mafia empire exclaims. I pounce at him before he completes his sentence. I swear that there’s absolutely no one in the entire world who gets into my nerves than this man.

“Shit! You are crazy!” he exclaims, caught off guard as I use all my energy to tear his designer shirt apart. I am definitely not going to be the only one walking naked at school during recess time. The rest of his gang stand aside and watch the show. They have gotten used to the two of us tearing at each other but they are also terrified of my brother, Jake. He will definitely make sure that they never lay their hands on me again. That’s enough to get everyone off my case, except for the stupid Leo.

“Oh! You have not seen crazy. You will bring back my clothes this moment or I will show you what psycho looks like,” I say, ready to gouge his eyes out.

“All this drama just for clothes, princess? Is the Davi empire so bankrupt that they can’t afford to buy you any?” he smirks.

I roll my eyes at his stupidity. The Davi empire he is referring to is my family’s empire. We happen to be filthy rich by a strong margin compared to his and the Siko’s, who are our other rivals in this country.

The fight stops when Mr Tibe, our principal shows up.

“What’s going on here? You two again?” he asks while looking unimpressed at us.

“She started it, Sir,” the idiot accuses. The nerve of this man!

“The idiot took my clothes. He obviously started it, Sir,” I object.

Leo folds his arms around his chest. “Do you perhaps have a witness to that, princess? Because I have many who saw you assault me.”

“Enough! You will leave your DBS wars out of my school. Do you hear me?” Mr Tibe yells. He is a very patient man, but we really do frustrate him. We have basically added refereeing to his full time job.

“Yes, Sir,”we respond in unison as if that’s even possible. The DBS refers to the three dominant mafia families who have ruled this country’s underworld for over fifty years. The Davi’s, rule the south coast, the Booi’s, the north and the Siko’s, the east. The animosity between the three dominant mafia families date back for as long as they have existed. Powerful, filthy rich families lead by blood thirsty, life-daring hotheads with very short lifespans. We are descendants of those hotheads and naturally inclined to clash anywhere and anytime.

“Detention for both of you!” Mr Tibe announces.

“Yes, Sir,” we respond in unison again and march to detention for the fourth time this week.

.

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Six years later

*****Present day*****

A million dollar dress to die for, check.

Shoes I will probably never wear again, check.

Bouquet, check.

Something new, check. Something borrowed, check and something blue, check.

I turn around looking at my reflection on the massive mirror in front of me. Everything looks just right, but I can’t get over the feeling that I am forgetting something.

Many remember and celebrate this day as Valentine’s Day, the day of lovers. I did too but never really found anything special about it. That changes today. As from today, I will remember this day as the day that I successfully walked out of this dark, bloody throne I was born into. I don’t think I have ever been this happy in my life.

I hear a knock before the door knob turns and Jake, my big brother walks in.

“Should you not let a professional handle that on your big day?” he asks, while curiously watching me apply makeup and lipgloss.

“I don’t need a makeup or a professional to make me pretty, brother. Drop-dead gorgeous is my second name,” I say and giggle at his reaction before planting a kiss on his cheek. That is the name I earned the day I walked with my undies at school years back. The truth is I don’t like bringing innocent people to my home. There’s a guaranteed death if they end up where they are not meant to be or see what they are not meant to witness. Unfortunately, there is just too much of that within these walls. This is why I am doing my own makeup and dressing myself on my wedding day.

“You are in a good mood. Do you really love that wimp?” he asks with a frown. I could tell that he thought I was joking when I told him two weeks ago that I was engaged, but here we are.

“Ethan is a good man and sizzling hot. I am sure that I will learn to love him” I don’t have to lie to Jake. I don’t know if I can ever love someone not my own blood, but I will find out soon enough.

“You can always just fuck him, no need to marry him. Better yet, get yourself ten hot guys and ride them until you satisfy this hunger you have. I can even organise them for you,” he suggests with a straight face, meaning every word. I have no doubt that Jake will do anything for me, no matter how dangerous, illegal or ridiculous.

“My big brother is such a good role model!” I tease while sticking my tongue out at him.

Jake laughs, revealing the breathtaking smile many women have become victims of, but he becomes serious again and I know what is coming. Very predictable this brother of mine.

“He is not one of us, Niki. You are the gorgeous mafia princess and deserve an equally powerful man by your side. That’s not Ethan. I bet he can’t even hold a gun let alone shooting a bird.”

I can’t help but laugh at my brother’s prejudice. Daring and arrogant like our father, even in the mafia circles very few men have his respect. I have long made peace with the fact that my soon to be husband is not on that list.

“I will even give you my blessing to fuck Leo if that will stop you from doing this. He is an arrogant ass but at least he has balls” he continues.

“You can’t be serious!” I exclaim, appalled and disgusted that he would even suggest Leo out of all the men in the world. There is no one in the world I despise than Leo Booi. Just the mention of his name gets me so angry, I can feel my heart pounding.

“I would rather starve to death or stay a virgin forever than fuck that despicable asshole!”

Jake is not deterred by my outburst and the fact that I’m glaring at him. I guess he is used to it by now, we are siblings after all.

“Well, you could blow his head off when you are done with him. Better yet, have his child, blow his head up and take over the Booi empire. You have my double blessings for that” he suggests with a grin. There is nothing he would love more than to have all our rivals wiped out and Leo Booi is on top of that list.

I shake my head frantically. “I don’t want anything to do with the mafia, Jake. You know how much I hate this world. Ethan is perfect the way he is. He is my ticket out”

I don’t really know what’s Ethan’s motives for marrying me because people outside the mafia world usually avoid us like plague, but that’s my motive for marrying him. I can say it out loud because Jake is the only sibling I have and the only person I can speak my mind to without being judged.

“This is who we are, sis. You can’t just up and run from it” he says and I can sense the disappointment in his voice. Jake thrives in this world and has the personality for it.

“Not anymore. I am walking away from all of it. I will live an honest ordinary life with no blood, codes or guns. My kids can’t grow up like we did, Jake” I tell him my dream. This is what drives me and I can finally see it. I explain this to him and hope he understands because I don’t plan on coming back to our home mansion unless I absolutely have to. I will miss him like crazy but twenty-two years of this life is enough for me.

“It was not all bad, Niki” he tries to change my mind.

“Motherless, jumping over dead bodies, dodging bullets, bounty’s on our heads and bodyguards every damn time?” I remind him of our daily routines. It’s been like this from the day we took our first breath. He finds the thrill in it but I don’t.

“You are forgetting the adrenaline, the power, being on top of the world and having everything you want at the snap of your fingers,” he states the privileges we were born into. He is right but we are definitely cut from very different cloths him and I. Every time I see our family splendour and wealth, I wonder which one was through our banks and which came from the illegal businesses. I wonder how many died or suffered. I know the heavy price for all of it. My mother, grandparents and so many more paid it with their lives.

“Those are materialistic things. I want to live a different life, brother.”

Jake laughs at the notion of living an ordinary life. I can tell that he does not believe that it is possible to leave the mafia world behind, but I will prove him wrong.

The piano plays a beautiful tune from the hall, my cue to come out and take a step of fate. That’s when I realise what was missing, my pocket semiautomatic handgun. I never go anywhere without it. I am a dreamer and optimistic but not stupid. Walking to the closet, I take it out, load it and strap it on my thigh. Nice and portable, now I feel safe. Jake picks up mother’s vail from the bed and clips it on my hair before offering me his hand, which I gladly accept. He does not like my decision to marry Ethan but he will always stand by me. Families stand together no matter what what, that’s the Davi family code.

“Let’s get you hitched then, princess,” he says before the door opens and father walks in. Tall, dark, with an aura that commanded respect. Nick Davi, now fifty-five years old is the oldest leader of the mafia. Very few reach that age, males and females alike. The three of us, Nick, Jake and Nikita Davi, we are the only living members of the Davi mafia family. My big brother, Jake is the proud, well trained and mentored heir to our bloody throne and I am so glad because I get to walk away.

“You look just like your mother,” Father says, clenching his fists to stop his hand from shaking or punching something. It has been sixteen years since mother’s murder but father is yet to heal. We all do. Maybe that’s why I hate this world so much. I was only six years old when mother and our body guards were gunned down outside my school right in front of me. My own mother was the first death I ever witnessed, the first copse I held in my arms. She was of course avenged, father made certain of it. Our rivals, the Booi’s and Siko’s buried their queens too and many other family members that month. Blood for blood, that is the mafia code, but it did not bring back my mother. It did not take away the void and the dull aching pain in my heart. I keep asking myself the same question. ‘For what?’ All three families are filthy rich, each has a massive territory and even legitimate businesses. Besides greed, stubbornness and raging testosterone, there is just no need for all this spilled blood. As of today, I will not trouble my mind with any of this anymore because it will no longer define me.

I take a deep breath and hold on to the two powerful men in the mafia world. This is it, the day I leave it all behind.