*****Nikita POV*****
The piano is still playing the beautiful tune, the beginning of my new life. I step out of my room with my father on my right and brother on my left. I can tell that they are in no hurry because I literally drag them down the corridor and down the modern victorian spiral stairs while the photographer snaps a multiple photographs of us. Reaching the hall, I can’t help but gasp at the exquisite setup and decorations. Tabitha has really outdone herself with planning my wedding.Besides the breathtaking decorations and flowers, this is the first time our hall is opened like this with windows opened to let the sun and fresh air in. The dull impenetrable walls I designed for my university project are always down, but had to be lifted up today because Tabitha insisted that they were out of place. Looking at the place now, I have to agree that I was very wrong in insisting that they stay down.I am also surprised by the number of guests in attendance. This is the first time in my life I have seen so many people in my home. We never host because of obvious reasons. I am scanning through the faces when my eyes land on the last person I want to see on my wedding day. Looking all handsome and arrogant with an expression I can’t quite figure out is my worst enemy, Leo Booi. Standing next to him is his loyal cousin, Owen. My heart starts pounding like it always does when I meet that despicable bastard, but I won’t let him ruin my day. I really don’t understand why the mafia rivals religiously attend each other’s events. Father and Jake are the same too. Maybe it’s because they don’t get invited to normal people’s events or maybe its a way of assessing the opponents strengths and weaknesses. Whatever the case is, it’s no longer my business.I move my eyes away from Leo to look at my husband to be, who is standing tall at the front, smiling at me. Ethan is not the most handsome man I have ever met, but he is definitely in the top ten and most importantly not a mafia, making him as sexy as hell in my books. If it was not for these heels, I would increase my pace to reach him, say I do and get the hell out of here.I am less than ten steps away when everything changes. From the north side of the hall, moving at an incredible speed, I see it. The bullet coming directly at us and there’s no time to act. In a split second, Jake is hit on the chest and falling down while Ethan’s family is screaming in horror. I grab my brother, easing his landing on the floor. I can instantly tell that he is gone. My only brother and friend. I want to scream my lungs out, but it is not the time. I am not the one to die screaming, you can blame that on my upbringing. Fight or get trampled on is another mafia code. I draw out my gun and scan the room for the shooter because I want blow up the evil bastard. The problem is that everyone is now on the floor. Besides Ethan and his family, everyone has their guns drawn out, ready to shoot. What the hell?I’m still confused when Father lets down the impenetrable wall and I can see the bastard. All the guns are immediately lowed because we can all see the the threat is not inside but out there.There is no satisfaction when the drones shoot and retain the sniper. He will not live long when Father is done with him but just like with Mother, nothing is ever going to fill this void. My brother, my only sibling, is gone.I take a deep breath and command my tears not to dare disobey. The last thing to do is show weakness in a hall full of mafia. Then something else comes to my mind, replacing the shock and grief with fury. I welcome it with open hands. At least now I look like the rest of them, like I’m ready to tear someone apart. That’s because I am. You see, many have tried attacking us like this before but the bullets never came through because we always had the impenetrable wall down. A few months after installation of the wall, I use to find thousands of bullet shells outside. That was proof that someone had tried to ambush us at night but failed. I figured that whoever it was eventually realised how futile of a exercise that was and gave up because there has been nothing for years now. It can’t be a coincidence that it happens again today, that’s why I am fuming. Only one person besides us knew that the wall will be up today. Surprise, surprise, she is not in attendance. I am not walking out of this world until she pays for this betrayal. I know that I sound a lot like the mafia right now but I don’t care. I hate that the idea of revenge gets me so calm. It’s too typical of the world I am trying to leave behind. Thinking of this world and the plan to leave it, I know that I have to get everyone out of here before Father returns. Grief has a way of making him heartless. I would not be surprised if he returns and opens fire on everyone here guilty or innocent.The mafia does not ask questions when I instruct them to leave. I guess they know what’s good for them, but they also know father too well. The hall is almost empty when Ethan comes near me to question my instructions. I notice that his family is also surprised, shaken and uncomfortable but they are law abiding citizens who would rather remain with a dead body in a mafia estate and wait for cops. How innocent!I give them a crash course to the mafia codes. Keep your mouth shut or you die and absolutely no cops is the gist of my message but in a light non scary tone. I see Ethan’s family exchange looks but they don’t look freaked out. Maybe I can make them understand that involving the cops would make them witnesses and witnesses in mafia cases never live to tell the tale.“It’s called the Omertà…,” the evil bastard says and goes on to highlight my title as the mafia princess. I clearly saw him and his cousin head towards the door when I gave the instruction for everyone to leave, but he had to return and kick me when I am down. I am worried about his statement because I know that it took a lot for Ethan to get his family to accept me because of that very title. I also don’t need my future in-laws knowing too much about omertà, the ultimate code of silence that rules the mafia world. The less they know about this world, the better.With my heart pounding and eyes blazing, I completely lose it and point my gun at Leo who just grins at me because I have just proved his point. I can see Ethan and his family backing off and I can tell that they are scared of me now, but I can’t help it. Leo has a way of igniting this uncontrollable fury inside me. I eventually calm down and lower my gun and hope that I can explain myself out of this one, but Leo’s next sentence collapses all chances of that.I look at Ethan with a blank expression while Leo walks away with a huge grin. I have not thought about the implications of my brother’s death. With Jake gone, I am the only heir to the Davi bloody empire. I don’t know if it is possible to walk away from this now.“I am sorry Niki, but I can’t do this,” Ethan says, crashing my future plans, but I can’t blame him. I would run too if the roles were reversed.I nod my head and watch him and his family leave before walking to my brother’s cold copse and kneeling next to it. My shoulders shake as the gates to my grief open, letting out the flood of tears that I have been suppressing since his death.I am going to kill her, I’m going to freakin kill her. I murmur to my dead brother as if he can hear me. Tabitha, Jake’s fiancé is the only other person who knew about our wall being up today. She is the wedding planner who planned my wedding. I shut her down when she first suggested that the wall be lifted because apparently it was messing up her deco. She had decided to go behind my back and convince Jake and father who overruled me on the issue.Sneaky traitor! I’m going to kill her! I shout my lungs out with tears streaming down my cheeks. I have never killed anyone but I will make an exception with her.“She’s already dead, Angel,” Father’s icy cold voice says.I freeze, afraid to even look at him. His voice alone tells me the state he is in.“Her father and all his gang are dead too,” he continues.That’s when I realise that I have been kneeling and weeping next to Jake’s body for more than two hours. That was more than enough time for my father to avenge Jake.“Did you….?” I ask, finally turning to face the grief that equates mine.“No. They were all cold by the time we arrived,” Father says with a cold, disappointed voice. He never lies to me. That’s how I know about every life lost in this forsaken world.I swallow my saliva. Cold also means someone is way ahead of us and that can’t be good.“Someone got to her to get us to lift the wall,” I say, kicking myself for having the wedding in the first place. Ethan and I could have just gone to the magistrate and signed.“Yes,” Father responds.“Which one of them?” I want to know if it was the Booi’s or the Siko’s, in order for my anger and hatred to have a face. Both Leo and Daniel who are our biggest rivals were in the hall when Jake was shot. They both looked as shocked by the incident but they could have sent their man to do the job.“I don’t know and I don’t care. They will all pay,” Father says, and I know that he means every word. Just like my mother, Jake will not be buried alone.“What did the snipper say?” I ask, still hoping to isolate the culprit and maybe spare the innocent lives.“He killed himself before we got to him,” Father says, and there goes my plan to isolate one individual or empire.“So, we have nothing?” I ask in frustration.“It does not matter, Angel. Blood for blood, my son will be avenged,” Father says his shuttered voice making me shiver.I would rather Jake is avenged by the blood that took his life or gave the order but I don’t bother voicing this out to father because it won’t make any difference now. I leave him with Jake’s body in the hall and head to the study to make the funeral arrangements. The sooner we lay my brother to rest, the better. Besides avoiding too many questions, we also can’t take him to the morgue because the cops might get to him and find the bullet wound, opening up a homicide investigation we can’t afford to have.I work non stop until midnight before going to my room where I finally take off my blood stained wedding dress, crawl to my bed and cry myself to sleep.My brother is really gone. In just few hours everything had changed. Even if I could still walk away because father is still alive to rule this empire, I just can’t leave him so shuttered. Our staff are also going to need me to calm him down because life is about to be hell in the mafia world.*****Leo POV*****“Wake up, you slugabed,” I hear Owen but keep my eyes closed pretending not to hear him. I need just one more hour of sleep but I know the annoying cousin of mine will never just let me be. Maybe I should indeed lock my bedroom door to keep him out. After leaving the Davi estate yesterday, I summoned all my men leaders to find out if none of them were stupid enough to kill Jake. Eighty-five groups of tough, experienced killers with a good sense of self preservation. They would not just freely confess to disobeying my command to stay clear of the Davi’s until we were ready. My advantage is they are all terrified of me even though they should fear Owen more. I can be forgiving if you give me a valid reason for your actions.Owen on the other side does not deal well with stupidity. He is the shoot first ask questions later kind of a guy. That’s why I leave him to keep all of them in check, but this was a matter of life and death. Someone killed the devil’s heir and his
*****Leo POV*****I finally drag myself downstairs to face our despicable uncle. “My favourite nephew,” Wesley beams with stuffed mouth the moment I walk into the sitting room while Owen gives me the ‘I told you so’ look and rolls his eyes at our uncle’s obvious way of sucking up to me. He really can’t stand our Wesley. If it was not for me stopping him every time, we would have buried him a long time ago. I ignore my uncle and kiss Mariah’s cheeks. The grey haired old woman has been in our family for as long as I can remember. She started off as a our family maid but she dotted over Owen and I even before we became orphans. After that she made it her life mission to keep us alive. Her job extended to keeping us out of trouble and from being manipulated by our opportunistic uncle. The fifty-year old basically runs our home and still cares for us like we are still five-year olds. “Blood over matter, that’s the mafia law. Such traitors you two are,” Wesley grumbles while stuffing him
*****Nikita POV*****I wake up the following morning feeling numb and my body heavy like lead. It takes me forever to get dressed. I really hate the colour black. It’s too resembling of my heart and future right now. I am just starring at the mirror when I hear a knock and Father walks in. “It’s time, Angel,” he says with a voice that breaks my heart. To many, he is cold- blooded vengeful monster, but to me, he is family, the only one I have left now.I nod my head and quietly follow him outside where Jake’s coffin is already mounted on a trailer. Over one hundred of our man stood on each side of the trailer, all in black. They all slightly bow their heads to acknowledge us before Hunter, father’s most trusted man an friend, opens the door to the car behind the trailer for us to get in. Knowing him, he has probably scanned the bullet proof vehicle several times to make sure that no bombs are on it. It’s ridiculous I know, but paranoia is part of the mafia’s way of life. I blankly s
*****Nikita POV*****At the mafia cemetery We are heading to our cars when Leo and Daniel approach us. Some people really have a death wish. “Mr and Miss Davi. Condolences for your loss. Jake was a tough and worthy opponent,” Leo says.I glare at him, he really has the nerve!He ignores me and focuses his attention on my father, who is starring at him, not showing any expression. “We are aware of the long enormity between us, but we, the Booi’s and the Siko’s want to categorically distance our involvement in Jake’s assassination. We did not give the order and none of our men have gone rogue,”Leo continues. “We want to pledge our support into investigating and bringing the culprits to account for their actions,” Daniel adds. Father continues looking at them with his creepy poker face while I look at them in disbelief. They have obviously met and discussed this between their two empires. One of them did it, I am certain, but maybe I can use this to avoid mass killings. “Do that
*****Nikita POV*****I break the eye contact with Leo and get into the car next to my father. “Shag that Booi boy and get over it, Nikita. After that get out of my fuckin’ way,” Father says sharply the moment I close the car door. “Father!” I expected his anger but I can’t believe he just said that. This is such a Jake thing to say and it sounds so wrong coming from him. “This is not the first time you have saved him, but it’s the last. Do you hear me?” he yells at me while Hunter hits the accelerator and keeps his head and eyes on the road as if he did not hear a thing. His strategy is obvious to me, that is to get us home fast and disappear until Father cools down. When Nick Davi is mad, no one dares to look at him in the eyes or responds, except me. I am his blood and his princess, I get away with a lot. I am not sure about today though. “I was twelve years old and he was only fourteen. Children are off limit, Father. That is the mafia law!” I yell back while glaring at him. I
*****Nikita POV*****Evening after Jake’s funeral Three hours later, I’m on my bed, turning and tossing, unable to fall asleep. Alcohol, drugs, excessive shopping, junk food and sex. Thats just the top five on the list of many, people have used to either drown their sorrows, dull the pain or try to mend a broken heart. I need something like that tonight. Just a few minutes of letting go. Just to forget that my brother is gone and I am now the heiress of the Davi bloody empire. I hate everything on that list but the last one. I have never really tried it to make any conclusion on it. My reasons are not really deep and definitely not religious. No one has ever been worthy of that, but nothing is stopping me from trying it on my own. With that in mind, I start touching my breasts like I have seen in the movies. Besides my nipples getting hard, I really don’t feel anything exciting. I am starting to wonder what the whole fuss is about sex. I remove my panties and start stroking my clit.
*****Nikita POV*****I wake up the following morning feeling revived and push away last night’s explosive insanity. Sports bra, shorts and my hair tied into a ponytail, I am ready for my morning run. I leave my bedroom and hear excited giggles from the lounge. It seems our maids are busy chitchatting very early this morning. I hide at the corner and listen in, I’m curious to know what is all the excitement about. Maids tend to know all the gossip in the mafia world before we do because they interact with other maids when they leave. It’s always wise to keep tabs on them now and then. With Father on the urge and bloodthirsty, I can do with all the information to keep up with anything he may be planning. As I get closer to the lounge, I can make out three elated voices going back and forth in-between giggles. “Yummy!” “Oh Dear! he’s so hot! Look ,Andy, it’s the majestic, sizzling Lion of the Booi kingdom.”My heart race at the mention of his name. I really need to set my head straigh
*****Nikita POV*****“Good morning, Ma’am” the men outside greet in unison while bowing their heads. I greet back and start sprinting. I notice that all ten of them are also sprinting behind me. I’m in my running gear while they are in all black, mafia-style attire with long coats and dark shades. Add big machine guns to that and them trying to keep up with my speed, the scene looks really ridiculous. I stop abruptly, forcing them to do the same and bump into each other. “What’s this?” I ask sharply. I have been running around our home estate for years, this is the first time they have decide to follow me. “It’s Hunter’s orders, Ma’am,”one answers. “Orders to do what?”“We are to follow you everywhere from now on.” I frown, giving each one of them my cold ‘don’t mess with me stare’. They shift uncomfortable, that was my intention. These big, capable, ruthless men have been around me all my life. I have learned to stand my ground and discovered that I can be pretty intimidating.“