~~

Regina POV

"Do you think it would be wise to not bring Rayver, Regina?"

"Padre, for the last time, yes. It is for his own good, and you know it." I reply, looking at him pointedly. Finally, he relented and nodded. Silence emerged in the car as we drove to the venue of the event.

At the end of every year, there is a gathering of the Mafia leaders. Basically, the whole point was to brag about new and expensive shit, more successful illegal activities, and to try and not kill one another. The last one had proven to be a feat hard to overcome as the years passed on.

I've been going to these events since I was ten, since I was the only heir of the Italian Mafia. Because I had been a child and a girl, other male heirs tried to pick on me before, but since they saw me breaking the arm of the biggest bully our age, which happened to be Cavillor, they stopped shitting with me. Except for Cavillor.

The car stopping took my attention away from memory lane, along with the bright flashes of cameras. Taking a deep breath, I nodded to Padre, and we then proceeded to get out of the car. More bright flashes went our way, but with the years of practice, we weren't bothered a single bit.

We continued walking on the red carpet to the entrance, and once we walked in, I made sure to keep my cold glare firmly in place. Heads turned our way, as they always did, as my father and I descended the stairs.

Once we reached the even floor, I saw Soren start to walk our way, making me raise my brow at seeing him alone.

"Your second in command absent for one of the most important events in the year?" I muttered to my father under my breath.

"He's here. Just on the sidelines." He murmured back, earning a nod of acknowledgement from me. Then, a middle-aged couple came to him, taking his attention with them.

Soren then stood beside me, whispering under his breath, "The others are ready for us at the VIP lounge." A single nod is what I answered him with.

A tap on my shoulder made me turn my head to the source, and was met with an aspiring young actor, Dominic Jameson.

{A/N: That's a random name, guys. If there's actually someone with the name, I don't know them.}

"Hey, I saw you come in, and to say that you have captured my interest would be a great understatement. Would you accompany me with a dance?" He finished with a smile that showcased his pearly whites.

I raised my brow. He's attractive, I'll give him that. With his wavy, brunette hair and vibrant emerald eyes, he looked like the kind of guy that had everything they wanted to be given to them with only a flash of his 'swoon-worthy' smile. He's hot, yes, however...

"No," I mumble, turning my attention to my phone, eagerly waiting for Padre to finish talking business.

Apparently, newbie here doesn't take lightly being declined and ignored.

He grasped my shoulder, and unlike the tap earlier, this one had some pressure in it. "Hey, who do you think you are? Acting like you own this place and all? What, you think you're too good to interact with other people?" He scoffed. "News flash, you aren't that special, sweetie. I wouldn't even be talking to you if it weren't for a fucking dare."

Shrugging his hand off of my body, I turned to him, with my blank expression still intact. He, however, looked satisfied and smug, as if he thought that I would be all dramatic and cry over his feet.

I tilted my head, asking, "Who'd you have this 'bet' with?"

He proudly gestured over to a group of guys our age at a corner, grinning to themselves as they watched us, probably thinking the same thing as this airhead is.

After getting a good look at those guys, I turned away from them, and the guy behind me, and went back to my phone.

He didn't like that. "Hey, didn't you just hear all that I said?" I continued ignoring him. "Hey! Why, you little--" He was cut off by his own phone's buzzing, making him take it out.

A beat of silence passed before a horrified gasp was heard. Then, he breathed out, "What... What did you do..?"

Turning my head slightly in his direction, I answered him, "Someone as small and unimportant as you couldn't ever, and shouldn't ever afford to anger, or even irritate me." I lightly nodded my chin over to the area his friends were. "Why don't you go check out your posse as well? They seem kind of pale."

He followed my gesture, and seeing the look on his friends' faces, he speed-walked over to them, leaving Soren and me alone again. The auburn beside me chuckled under his breath, making me give out a ghost of a smirk.

"What did you do this time?" He asked, amused.

"Oh, nothing. A few car accidents and 'attempted' murders here and there, maybe?" I answered, looking at the group of immature newcomers. That should teach them.

"Andiamo," Padre stated, leading us to the pace that we had to be. {Let's go.}

~~

Same old, same old. Bragging here and there, sugar-coated threats, not-so-subtle glares towards each other. That is the norm here in this annual meeting.

Asian Mafia, Russian Mafia, British Mafia, Spanish Mafia, Middle Eastern Mafia, and Italian Mafia. Six Mafias Kings and Queens, along with their heirs, second in commands, and dates. That's who are in here, in this place where villains wear a smile on their faces.

Each Mafia had their own main color. Us being violet; the British being yellow; Russians having green; the Middle East owning the orange; Asia taking the red; and finally, the Spanish decided on blue.

Once we entered, the first people that got my attention was the Russians, who appeared to have just finished a conversation with the British.

I then lead us in front of the leaders of the Russians, a married couple in their early thirties, who have been trying for children but haven't been lucky.

As they saw us near them, Maxim Volkov smirked, seemingly knowing what we came up here for. "Ah, my wonderful friends, the Italians. How have you been?"

I rolled my eyes. "How about we cut the dirty small talk and get to the point, Volkov? Why'd you order that shooting to our school?"

He made a mocking offended look. "What? Me? How could you even assume such a thing from me?"

I crossed my arms, a deep glare on my face, "Well, who else would disrupt an outdoor party like that so freely?"

"We never disrupted anything at the outdoors, little girl." He scoffed.

I smirked. Caught ya. "So you do admit to disrupting the party, the one indoors?"

My words caused him to flush a deep red, bet regained his composure, this time, the smirk on his face was far bigger than earlier.

"How about I do the questioning, little girl?" He raised a brow. "I've been hearing some very interesting things. About you having a... Oh, what was that?" He grinned maliciously, "Brother."

My heart skipped a beat.

I fought myself from clenching my jaw and fists, instead forcing my body to remain as it was before, and as nonchalant as possible.

"What are you talking about, Volkov? Have you gone too obsessed with finding other people's weaknesses that you're making up weaknesses now?" Padre saved in before I could. I internally thanked him.

Valkov huffed. "You can't fool me, Luciano. I know that you have a son."

This time, I forced myself to say the vilest things that I never thought would come out of my mouth. "Brother?" I scoffed. "I don't have a brother. Even if I did, he'll probably be a useless heap of trash."

Thankfully, Volkov looked like he believed me -he really wasn't that much of a brainer- and laughed boisterously.

Oh, Rayver. The things I do to keep you safe. Even if I had to deny ever being related to you, if it's to keep you safe, I will.

Unfortunately, someone else heard our conversation. And these people weren't much of an idiot as Volkov.

"Well, isn't this some news? An addition to the family, Luciano?" Xavier Flare joined in the conversation. Mafia king of the British Mafia, CEO of Flare Enterprises, and father of Cavillor Flare.

Padre raised a brow, "Have you gone deaf, Flare? We just denied these accusations to Volkov. Do you need me to restate that?"

This time, Cavillor spoke. "Then how would you explain the strange relationship you have with that boy that goes to school? Oh, and if I'm not wrong, doesn't he also have silver eyes?"

Oh, shit. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Gasps and whispers emerged around us from a crowd that I didn't know formed. I glared at anyone that met my eyes, but unlike normal people, only a few people cringed under my glare. These people were also feared people in their places and had their death glares.

This won't fucking end well...

Finally gaining back my composure, I squared up to Cavillor, and said, "Who? Oh, that guy." I said, nonchalantly, "I was just around him to figure out why he had the same eye colour as my family. Turns out he was only wearing contacts. Had a weird fascination with silver, that weirdo. Ever since I first confronted him about it, he won't leave my side like a leach."

"So, if someone here were to hurt, or kill this boy, you wouldn't care?" Cavillor said, smirking like he got what he wanted. Something I didn't know what.

"When have I ever cared?" My words left a bitter taste in my mouth. One that I wished I never had to say.

Once this fucking event is done, I'm going to buy a private island, book a flight there, and hide Rayver in there for, well, forever!

That island is going to have hundreds of bodyguards with machine guns guarding the whole place, along with drones and satellite radars so no one can ever come there unannounced.

Then, I'm going to store him in a safe room that can withstand bombs, wrap him in bubble wrap and pillows, three stacks of helmets, and two bullet-proof vests.

~~

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