We stayed in the chalet in Switzerland for four months, until we finally visited Greece. A fact I didn't know is that Leon lived from his birth until his 5th year on earth, in Greece, and that his dad was Greek, that's why he inherited a mansion on Mykonos.

Matteo booked a villa right next to it on the hill and it gave me easy access to spend every day with Valentina, or even sometimes Leon.

I sat on their balcony, reading a horror book until Leon joined me. "Good Morning.", he said in a calm manner, yawning and lit a cigarette after he let himself fall into the armchair next to the outdoor table.

"Good Morning, Leon."
He glanced at my book.
"I have a book recommendation for you, after what you and Matteo have done last night."

I got embarrassed and remembered that our houses are really close to each other and from his bedroom balcony, he could make a huge jump onto the one of me and Matteo.

I shifted nervously in my seat, closing the novel.

"Oh, which one?", I forced myself to smile.
He started to laugh and I had to do the same after hearing his. Then he stopped abruptly and said: "The Bible." while staring me dead into my eyes.

I covered my open mouth with my hand and looked far away from him onto the other blue and white houses down the hill.

Leon took a deep drag of his cigarette.
"Oh! I guess...I should pick it up again...", I mumbled, trying not to cackle.

He put his sunglasses on again, which he usually wears, and blew out rings of smoke.
"Sharks are my favorite animals...", he leaned himself into the seat.

"That's an interesting choice!"
"Yes, my mother got eaten by one."

I went quiet and stared at him flabbergasted, still trying to understand his humour after a long time.

"What are you looking at, pal?", he questioned.
"I don't get the joke."

He smiled with his teeth. "Because I wasn't kidding."

"I'm sorry for your loss..."
He shook his head. "My mother is the worst person to ever walk on earth, the same goes for my dad. She deserved it."

I let my gaze drop to the ground, listening to Leon's lore.

"Well, basically I got abused by my parents since birth because they were alcoholics. Why did no police officer believe me when I reported with nine that my father broke my leg? Exactly, they were rich. If your parents are rich, they can do anything with you and nobody will care. I was thirteen when my mother got eaten alive by a shark the time we had a vacation in Australia. The cage's door which protected her from swimming with the sharks wasn't closed properly and well...My mother and three other people died. Three weeks later, I accidentally walked into my Dad's office at home and found him dead on the ground with a knife in his hand and four stab wounds. He killed himself. Maybe by reason of my mother, who knows?"

I stared at him with my mouth open, trying to apprehend that he dropped the craziest life in a couple of sentences with a chuckle.

"And what happened afterward?"
He took another puff, remembering something.

"I switched every couple of years between Italy and Greece since my parents were divorced. At that time I lived in Catania and my Aunt took care of me after my father's death. She lived in America due to her work, that's why I needed to come with her and emigrate."

Leon grinned and stubbed his cigarette in the ashtray. "I loved my aunt, she was one of the few family members who cared about me. In America when I was fifteen she was diagnosed with Carcinoma. It's like when cells, called carcinomas, whatever the fuck they are, divide without control and spread to other parts of your body. I've never touched a biology book, let's just leave it with cancer. The weird part was that it was in the early stage and could've easily been treated. For some reason, she still died two days after the diagnosis."

I patted his hand awkwardly a few times because I have no idea how to properly comfort someone. "In the back of my mind, I still think she was murdered.", he dropped.

"You think it was DAI?", I tried getting behind his thoughts. "No, I was good with DAI in my teens 'til a certain point of time. Then we split and yeah, shit happens. I don't have that much beef with them now, but Matteo does. Grigori's balls are the only ones out of these I want to chop off tho."

I fidgeted with the bracelet Adrián gifted me back then. Still ask myself why I decided to keep it. "Is it because he slept with Valentina?"

Leon silenced next to me and pushed his sunglasses up, he sounded hostile all of a sudden: "Valentina didn't sleep with Grigori."

I met his eyes for a brief moment. He didn't even mourn the loss of his family members but raged after I told him that Valentina had sex with Grigori.

"That's what he said in the opera restroom."
He pinched the bridge of his nose, overthinking what I've just said. "You're telling me, my fiancé cheated on me?"

"No, no, no. It was before you guys even met."
Leon still seemed to be pissed off about what I've just told.
"You're fucking kidding me."

I observed the ocean again, trying to let Leon sort his emotions. "I've just seen my money pass in front of my eyes for a moment.", he laughed it off.
I beamed at his remark, considering Valentina his money. It's a bit strange but cute.

"Wait you knew Ryan when you were a teen?", he nodded.

"Did you know a Gabriel Sequiera?"
He stopped rolling his new cigar in distress for a moment. "Why?"

"Ryan said they were acquainted, maybe you knew-"
"No. No, I didn't.", Leon cut me off.

"Oh, okay, what about an Adrián Rivie-"
"Also no."

I gave up trying to find out more about his past and remembered that I should check up on the dough I put in the fridge earlier.

"I need to go check up on my dough for later, I hope I see you later!"
"Have a nice anal day!"

I was halfway through the door frame and shot back at him, realizing what he said.
"What? He's not even home right now, but I can give you my axolotl to give you some company. He's called Flavio C. Meatball."

I rolled my eyes at his joke and saw an actual fucking axolotl in an aquarium standing in their living room.

"What the fuck does the C. stand for?"
"Cock."

Yeah, whatever, I was leaving their house and grabbed the keys of me and Matteo's to get productive.

The roller shutters were shut due to the unimaginable heat in Greece. The inside was dark and when I turned on the lights, I gasped seeing someone sitting on our couch.

"Ryan?", he grinned at me, done with doing lines of coke on our glass couch table.
Another person came from behind me, resting his hands on my see-through beach jacket.

"Do you need help with taking this off?" A man with a familiar Russian accent asked. Matteo and Ren (online) taught me the last weeks how to defend myself and I was hitting the local gym to get some strength in my arms. I forgot all of these techniques the moment I got in danger, for example now.

Grigori didn't wait until I answered and took my jacket off, throwing it somewhere. "That's not very gentlemen-like.", I commented, trying to be as confident as possible. I turned around eying Grigori. A three-millimeter dirty blond buzzcut, icy blue eyes, a gold chain around his neck, and a white tanktop, showing off his abs and huge biceps, which could crack anyone's neck.

"Why? Do you want me to be gentle with you Miss Sequiera?" He pronounced my last name with another tone as if there would be more to this name than just letters on governmental papers.

"I want both of you to exemplify, what is occurring at this very moment and how you got access into our place." Grigori rested his hands on my hips and I could feel his hot breath on my skin, which was bad, meaning he was leaning down to me since he was much taller than I am.

"That is none of your concern, go make us something nice to drink until Matteo comes to rescue his little slut."

His little slut. Is that what they think of me? If yes, why chase me through the woods, aiming to kill me?

"Gosha, don't insult her, you know what happened to me.", Ryan held his hand up, showing four fingers.

Grigori moved in front of me, staring me down. "I get why he chose you. You don't look too bad. Let me just give you some advice, Matteo always liked pretty things. Pretty diamonds, pretty women, pretty houses, pretty cars...The list goes on forever. Listen, Miss Sequiera, he gets easily tired from all the things he owns. Not trying to break your naive heart, but this man is for the forest."

"You mean the streets", Ryan teased, "Oh you also mean the tons of women he had."
Grigori started cracking up hysterically, grabbing a fist full of his tank top.

"Yeah, Matteo always used to BAGAAHHAHAAHAAAA-", he held his belly from laughing so hard.

I gently pushed Grigori to the left with my fingertips on his shoulder and sauntered to Ryan, taking place on the other couch.

"I don't have time to play with little boys. Let's be real. You are nothing but your boss's little minions who do everything he says. He sounds like a little incompetent bastard who can't meet me in person."

Grigori was still laughing somewhere, stumbling across the room, barely catching his breath. Embarrassing jerk.

Ryan put one of the fluffy pillows on his lap, toying with the edges. "I guess a meeting of you and Boss in real life wouldn't be very pleasant for you, darlin'. Personal reasons."

Men can sometimes be the most embarrassing creatures to ever walk on earth. A knot tightened in my stomach, remembering the topic Grigori addressed, how Matteo used to have many pretty women. I know he's not the type to cheat, but learning that he was a possible player plays with my feelings.

"Matteo is also really good at fucking around with little sisters, so I decided to fuck his.", Grigori pulled his gun out reloading it, making me flinch.

It took Ryan a while to figure out what Grigori meant and then laughed along with him. "That's evil man."

I tried to act unbothered, grabbing a praline from the bowl on the table and devouring it, observing Ryan meanwhile.

"Why? Did Matteo sleep with your sister, Grigori?", I chuckled and Ryan and Grigori exchanged side eyes.

"You deserve someone better, darlin', really. There are many fish in the sea. Matteo Díaz has a lot of money and influence, but c'mon, you can do better than that. If you need something, our boss is happy to spoil you.", Ryan embroidered, messing with my head.

I dug my fingers into the cushioned seat. "I'm not planning on dating your boss, he can get his little dick sucked somewhere else."

Ryan stood up, walking to the TV cupboard and I remembered how Matteo stored all of his belongings in one drawer.

Grigori got impatient, walking around in the vast room, throwing his gun in the air to catch it again. "Stop planting the thought of Boss trying to date her in her little head, Nine finger Joe. Let her find out what kind of a person Matteo Díaz is and she's running from here back to California."

I got up, trying to pull Ryan from the cupboard away, so he wouldn't rob us, but Grigori grabbed me from behind, grabbing me by my chin, forcing my head up, and held his gun to my temple.

I whimpered, wrapping my hands around his wrists, trying to pull him off me. I knew this wasn't going to work so I went deep into my brain, trying to find a teaching by Ren on how to free yourself out of a grip.

" Whenever someone tries to attack you from behind with a weapon as a way of holding you hostage there is an easy method to free yourself." Ren walked over to the human punching bag. "First, ram your elbow into the person's ribcage, it's a very sensitive spot and your chance to let your attacker let go of you. The pain is very unbearable that's why they are most likely to let you go. If you try to pull their arm away, it won't work at all, except they are very weak, which probably won't be the case."

Ren used his elbow with full force and I grimaced at how fast he acted and how fast the person would go to the ground if it wouldn't be a silly punching bag.

"Next, you have a little moment to act fast, in this little timeframe the attacker will be unfocused and you can use this chance for your next step. Worst case it's a knife, it would make an easy process with you. To avoid cutting yourself, knock the weapon out of their hand, by attacking their arm with a combination of twisting and striking to the inside of their elbow. It stuns the attacker and they would let the knife go."

He demonstrates the said on the punching bag, leaving me stunned. That's how I'm going to react? Oh great.

"Turn around quickly and kick the attacker's knee to let them go to the ground, while you have a chance to escape..."

Back to reality. My problem is that if I hurt Grigori, Ryan will come after me. If I do nothing, I'll get shot either way. That's why I decided to use Ren's teaching on Grigori, ramming my elbow into his ribcage, twisting his arm, and striking his elbow to let the gun hit the ground and finally kick into his knee.

He was surprised by my movement, but to my horror, he didn't fall to the ground. Grigori was still standing. I backed off quickly, misstepping onto the couch. Ryan seemed amused, not even intimidated at all.

"Oh, you know how to fight?", O'Sullivan flashed his teeth. "I do, so leave me alone and explain to me why you're here!", I screamed.

The door swung open and Leon came into our house with his gun aiming at us. Grigori quickly grabbed me from behind again, differently, so I wouldn't pull the same move on him.

"Get your dirty hands off her!", Leon stepped inside, his finger on the trigger. The rumbling sound behind me revealed that Ryan also pulled out his gun.

"Oh, Leonardo, it has been ages!", Grigori mocked, pressing the cold rifle harder against my temple, making it feel like I was living some sort of fever dream.

"Do I need to explain it in Candy Crush terms? Let her go." Leon neared us.

"Actually yes please.", Ryan mocked, walking around the sofa.

"I'm not afraid to fire this bullet at some DAI member. You know who I am, Ryan."

"Yeah, you are as pleasing to look at as a broken toe."
"You mean your chopped-off finger? Yeah, search for it on the other side of the rainbow, maybe it's in a pot of gold."

Ryan cackled at his remark and moved closer.
"Your company has kidnapped three of our men, I don't think it's peaceful of you, chickenshit."

Leon seemed confused: "Edge Force doesn't have anything to do with the disappearance of your men."

I turned my head to the side, trying my best to see Grigori's face. "Yes, but DAI set a man in a red robe in front of our cabinet in the woods four months ago.", I argued.

He pushed me onto the couch, grabbing both of my legs the moment I tried to kick him. "What do you mean, Matteo's bitch?"

I scowled at this nickname, trying to free my legs out of his hold. Leon answered for me: "Both of you know what she's talking about, so you better be honest and confess before I decide to steer a virtual airplane with your boners."

Grigori leaned closer to me and I started to feel anxious about his next move. "You are nothing but Matteo's little slut, you have no opinion on anything that doesn't suit his worldviews and always believe his suitable lies?"

I saw in the corner of my eye how someone approached Grigori from behind through the garden door.

"I wouldn't advise you to disrespect her any time in your life again, or it will have fatal consequences for you."

Matteo.

Before Grigori could react, Matteo dragged him by the back of his tank top away from me and slammed him on top of the glass table.

It shattered in thousand pieces and I pulled my legs under my maxi skirt to protect them. The next thing I heard was how Matteo shot three times. I covered my eyes, even though I knew I should be attentive and not a little pussy who is hiding from what's happening right now.

I couldn't in such a harsh situation and I truly tried my best to add tough. I hated violence and hated it even more when Matteo was the one to hurt others. It reminded me of Gabriel in the worst way possible.

I opened my eyes again and saw three holes in the ground and a perplexed Grigori trying to think straight. He missed the shots on purpose.

"You are pathetic Grigori, you're messing with the wrong type of man.", Matteo picked him up again by his throat and slammed him into the wall.

"It's time to go beast mode, du du du du...du du du du...", Leon made beats with his fist. Ryan next to him stared at the other two fighting.

Grigori gave Matteo a headbutt, strong enough for him to wince in pain and let him go. I wrapped my arms around myself, clinging to my shoulders, hating the pain that flowed through my body seeing Matteo hurt. It feels like my heart would be torn out of my chest and not my legs or any other body part. I wanted to help him. I was too weak and I hated myself for it. I should've learned more from Ren.

I peered over to Leon and Ryan who awkwardly looked at each other. "Are we supposed to fight now too?", Leon scratched his head and then his ass afterward.

"I don't know mate. Do you need help with scratching that ass?"
"Yes please."

I didn't know what was going on. Seems like Leon and Ryan are not that much of enemies after all.

Leon yelled: "FUCK DON'T PLUG YOUR FINGER INTO MY ASSHOLE YOU LOOK LIKE SOMETHING I WOULD DRAW WITH MY LEFT HAND, AHHH FUCK!"

While Ryan and Leon were bickering and having fun fighting,  Grigori punched Matteo in the face, letting him fall into the vitrine. I jumped onto the other couch, to not get glass splinters into my foot and then off the couch, to help Matteo. I knew I was going to end up hurt, maybe even killed. However, Grigori was way stronger than Matteo is right now, that's for sure.

Grigori kicked him in the stomach causing him to wince in pain and roll on his back. He was bleeding from his nostrils and lip.

"Grigori behind you!", Ryan shouted and I used my chance to kick him so hard into his back that he stumbled forward. I kneeled to Matteo, stroking his cheek with my fingertips, accidentally smearing his blood over his cheek. My poor Mat.

He coughed, his eyes closed, not trying to stand up anymore. Before he could take my hand Grigori pulled me by my hair away from him. The stinging pain made me screech in pain and I tried to find something on the ground to grab onto.

"HEY QUIT THAT SHIT HOMIE! WE AIN'T FIGHTING WITH WOMEN NOW!", Leon pushed Ryan away from him but got his feet kicked away beneath him.

"What was that for you human embodiment of a person stepping on Lego?"

Grigori let go of my hair and towered above me.
"Silly naive girl, who is nothing without other people. This is the reality Lara Sequiera your weak self-defense is ridiculous."

Ryan picked his ringing phone up, while Leon tried to approach Grigori, then unexpectedly stopped. Matteo rose from the ground again with a piece of broken glass in his hand. I've never seen him in my life so fulfilled with hate.

I knew what he was about to do. He was going to kill Grigori. I could read him like a book, at the opera, he didn't want to kill Ryan and beat him up as a warning, now...I feel like Grigori is going to be slaughtered in pieces by a shard of glass.

My heart began beating quicker, realizing that he would be dead in the next seconds and the closer Matteo got and the more Grigori tried to tell me how useless I was (at this point it was just a rage bait), Matteo raised his arm aiming at his head with the piece of glass.

"GRIGORI EVADE!", I shouted uncontrollably. He is evil, yet doesn't have an intention to kill me. Matteo was going way too far with this one. Nobody deserves to die.

Grigori moved to the side at the right moment and Matteo stabbed the air, quickly letting the glass fall to the ground. "You sick bastard!", Grigori cussed realizing he almost died. He tried to attack Matteo again, but Matteo pushed him to the wall, choking him way too hard you could hear him gurgling.

"You. Will. Never. Touch. My. Wife. EVER. Again." Matteo let go of his throat and punched him for every word in the face, able to keep him up on his feet by that. Grigori coughed blood, his nose bled and teeth flew out of his mouth.

No no no. That's too far he will die. Grigori deserves a punishment. But not death?!

I surged to Matteo snatching his arm and trying to drag him away from his fainting body. "MATTEO YOU'RE KILLING HIM!"
"I know."

My sanity dropped and I couldn't live with the thought that Matteo was a murder. "Please...I've seen Gabriel and my father dead...I don't want to see anyone die in my life again...Stop!", he finally let go of Grigori and a car parked in front of our house.

I guess Ryan must've called them since he nodded to the driver and carried Grigori to the van. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!, Leon shouted enraged.

"We will talk about the situation tomorrow on the phone, Boss wants us to return.", Ryan brushed past him.

"Your Boss also knows that you've done shit! We have nothing to do with the disappeared people!"

O'Sullivan ignored Leon and left the house with an unconscious Grigori, slamming the door behind him shut.
"Leon, go and check up on Valentina..."

Leon shot a last glimpse at Matteo and remembered that she could be endangered right now. "You're right...I'll check up on you later."

"QUIT TALKING SO FUCKING MUCH FOR ONE TIME AND GO TO HER!", Matteo cussed.

Leon squinted his eyes at him and then decided to leave with a: "I tried to be nice to you man. You know what? Save yourself."

Matteo's gapes followed after his best friend and I knew that he regretted his words.

A piece of shattered glass stuck in his cheek and he was still bleeding.
"Please lay on the couch, Matteo." He wiped Grigori's blood off his hand with his shirt.

"I'm fine." That was all he said before losing consciousness like Grigori and ending up fainting.
I caught him at the right time and covered his chest with my arms.