”Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell.” – Joan Crawford

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Sienna's P.O.V
It was pouring hard outside. The lightening illuminated the room for a brief second before thunder clapped. There was a temporary blackout due to the heavy rains hence Carl had to lit up candles to provide light. Which seemed very odd, when he could just power up his generator.

"This meal is amazing." Carlos complimented with his mouth full. Which had me and Alfredo cringing. But Carl didn't seem to mind. He even laughed at us. "You cooked this yourself?" Carlos inquired.

"Well, I might not exactly be a Maison Troisgros but I do try my best." Carl was just trying to be formal. He amazing when it came to cooking.

"Do you own a restaurant in town? I would love to pass by. To get free food of course." I tuned out their conversation when Carl burst out laughing. I just picked at my food. I wasn't really in the mood to eat anything. There was a million questions running through my mind. I guess I wasn't prepared for this revelation. It has destroyed everything I knew about my family.

A Cartel. Not just any Cartel. The Dark Knights. It seemed so unreal. I shuddered at the thoughts of things they do in the name of power and greed.

Even so, that wasn't what was really bugging me. I was chained to a deal I cannot revoke. I sold my loyalty to my country. I had to make a choice.

"Excuse me." I left the table and went to the balcony. Goosebumps lit my skin as the winds picked up. I just stood there, lost in the sea of my thoughts.

"Here," my thoughts were interrupted by Alfredo. He draped his coat over my shoulders and stood beside me. My eyes wandered to his chest. He was wearing a white shirt. There wasn't much to view as he only left two buttons open but it reminded me of the first day I saw him and a blush crept its way to my cheeks.

"You want to know something?" He tucked a hair behind my ear and turned to look at the sky. Without waiting for my response, he continued talking.

"I don't really like the rain. Its almost as if every bad thing that occurred to me comes with rain. Like, when my grandmother died, it rained heavily that night." I could feel the sadness drip in his voice. It reminded me of my loss. I never liked the rain myself, it reminded me of my dad's death. But I would rather not tell him. He wouldn't care anyway.

"Keeping things inside is more toxic than beneficial. I want to be your friend Sienna. I want to be there for you too. I wish I could I say you can trust me but I leave that to your judgement."

I hadn't realised I was crying until his hands caressed my cheeks. I pushed myself into his arms. Wrapping my hands around him, I enveloped us into a hug. Despite the cold, I was feeling warm and fuzzy inside. When his arms rubbed my back, a tingling feeling lingered in my heart.

"I will be right here Sienna. If you ever want to talk, I will listen and I promise I won't judge. You can kick my ass if I do." Laughter bubbled out of me and for once I felt sated just being in his arms.

"Ever watched anime?"
Alfredo randomly asked as I was still in his arms. My head lay on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

"Yes. Quite a few actually. Kubo and the two strings, hunterxhunter,..."

"You've watched hunterxhunter? That's amazing. Who's your favourite character? Mine is Kiluwa by the way. Gon is quite the catch though. The kid is amazing."

"You have a thing for assassins huh? Mine is Hisoka, only because he is quite a mystery." And that was how my night went. Alfredo and I stayed up all night, talking about anything and everything. It wasn't long before we fell asleep. Right in each others arms.

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"You've taken a liking to Alfredo. That's a bad sign." Carl stated as a matter of fact. We were currently seated at his office. Spending time with Alfredo had cleared up my mind enough for me to think straight. So instead of answering him, I went straight to the point.

"You seem to know everything Carl. I have a question of my own. Are you part of the Dark Knight Cartel?"

"You can't get access to the Cartels information unless you are a member and not just any kind of member. There are ranks for each and every member. And only the top ten ranks have access to the Cartel's classified information." He explained but a simple yes or no could have sufficed. 

"What rank are you?"

"The Silver rank. And that's the second rank."

I was beginning to dread what he had to do to get up to that kind of rank.
"How did you get there?"

He lit up his cigarette, taking a few drag before answering me.

"Its a Cartel. Take a wild guess."

I shook away the thoughts that began to come. From the letter my dad sent me, my mom was the worse kind assassin there is. I could only imagine the horrible ideas that they would come up with.

"Why would you join the Cartel, Carl? As far you and I know, you are head of The Underdogs. We have a service to this country. We have a loyalty to uphold!"

The Underdogs. This name only indicates a group of thugs in shady deals but ironically Carl picked up this name for our organisation. We were handpicked by The Royals. A federation of the government that deals with crime, to seek out a serial killer. Carl was our boss and we all answered to him. We were five in number and we have never failed a mission. Our current mission was to find Alfonso. But it was a dead tail. Until, Alfredo brought me the contract. I was now responsible for finding him. His fate would be decided by The Royals. But I already decided his end. Not that they needed to know anyway. 

"That is a story for another day. For now, you need to make a trip back home. The Cartel awaits your arrival."  With that he just stood up and left.

I was stuck with only one decision. To betray my country or betray my family. I could only choose one. Family comes first of course. But I made a family with both sides. This was going to be tough. A decision between right and wrong. But each side had consequences. Consequences am not quite prepared for.

✏Author's Note.
Things take a twist...who would have thought Sienna would sleep in Alfredo's arms willingly... More to come. Anybody to take a wild guess at what Sienna would do?
Happy Week Folks💕💕

❄Playlist❄
James Arthur -- Say You Won't Let Go