14

It's been one week since I last spoke my mother. I was angry, most definitely but also busy. I didn't have time to deal with her recklessness and stubbornness.

She had been trying to contact me but I'd ignore her. Everyday, I had to make sure that her and her family; Ben and Carl, were safe. But for long would I be able to do that?

I even tried to make her understand and told her to go away from that country but she wouldn't listen. And that irritated me. She didn't understand the gravity of the situation. Sh

“I was born here and I will die here,” was what she would always say whenever I'd bring the ‘leave the country’ conversation. How fucking dramatic, right? It wasn't like I was telling her to go die in that other country.

My parents were deeply in love. However, when one day, my mother saw my father kill someone in cold blood, she started acting distant for I don't know what reason. I mean, he was in the mafia, dude, suck it up. You knew that when you decided to fall in love with him.

My father, however, couldn't take that she was behaving like they were strangers so he started getting aggressive towards her which also sucked—until one day, mom couldn't take it anymore so she left the house and left me and Dana behind.

She left me alone with my father but It wasn't like she could take me away with her. Dad was hell bent on making me his killing machine so there was no way he would've allowed her to take me.

I kept doing everything I could to keep my mother safe but she never understood. She was as dumb as Dana.

I stared at my long black dress in the mirror. I was getting ready for that mafia gala. The dress was simple, strapless and slit in the legs so It would make it easy for me to fight

When I was done, I fixed my hair an  went downstairs to find Dana standing beside Liza. Dana was wearing an extremely revealing dress, her hair tied into a messy bun.

Beside Dana, was my step mother, Liza who was wearing something similar to Dana. I couldn't tell which one was worse though.

My eyes darted to my father who was wearing a classic black suit as he stood next to Liza with a hand on her lower back.

"Alexia," Liza flashed me a smile, looking at me from top to bottom, "you're here, you look stunning!" I ignored her as usual, knowing that she didn't mean that compliment. She was only saying so because dad was there.

"Where are your partners?" Dad asked, raising his brows questioningly. I shrugged in response. Ares and I had been in contact for the past week. We would talk almost everyday—he was the one who'd call me. I only replied because it was my mission to get close to him. We'd mostly talk about the upcoming gala or sometimes, some random stuffs.

As few seconds later, my eyes fell on a figure who was now entering my house. It was Ares, looking at hot as always. He was wearing a classic black suit, his black hair styled, a few strands falling on his face. He flashed me a smirk when he noticed me gawking at him. I, in turn, rolled my eyes and pretended like I wasn't even looking at him in the first place. I ignored his intense gaze on me as he made his way towards and stood beside me. 

"Sembri mozzafiato, amore," he spoke up in his deep voice once he was beside me. [you look breathtaking, love.]

"Da quando sono il tuo 'amore'?" I asked back, my brows furrowed as I ignored the butterflies that erupted in my stomach at the nickname. [since when am I your 'love'?]

"Una settimana fa, non hai avuto problemi quando ti ho chiamato in quel modo." He responded, casually placing his hand on the back of my waist. The feeling of his hand on my exposed skin made it burn for some reason. My body straightened on its own. [A week ago, you had no problem when I called you that way.]

"Can you guys stop speaking Italian?!" The annoying voice of Dana interrupted making me snicker. She didn't understand Italian. Dana only knew english and Russian. She didn't bother to learn other languages.

Both Ares and I snapped our heads in her direction and surprisingly said at the same time, "no."

My father and Liza didn't understand the language either. Only I did. My maternal grandfather taught me as he was Italian but my grandmother was a Russian and my mother was born in Russia.

"I'm here!" Came in a very familiar voice as Marcello made his way towards us, "sorry I was late."

His eyes landed on me and he flashed me a friendly smile which I couldn't help but return. 

"Hey, you ready to go?" He approached me and stood in front of me. I furrowed my brows in confusion when he tried to hold my hand. However, before I could do anything, Ares stepped in between us.

"Back the fuck off, stronzo."

"What the fuck, dude?" Marcello frowned making my brows shoot up. He didn't know who he was speaking to as he continued, "she's my date for the Gala." 

"Not Alexia," Ares shook his head, pulling me close to him, "she's mine. Dora’s your date." I snickered at the name.

"Oh," Marcello cleared his throat, knowing who ‘Dora’ was. "Sorry, bro, I didn't know." Ares shot him a look, "I figured."

"Hey Dana," Marcello greeted, looking at Dana who rolled her eyes and looked away.

"What was that?" I asked Ares who shook his head in response, brushing me off with his lips pursed in a thin line as he grabbed my hand as lead me outside with the others following.