REESE

chapter twenty one.

Reese POV:

"Look for your window of opportunity, and when you see it, attack."

I simply hummed in response as I absentmindedly listened to my father explain different fighting strategies. I was laying down on the soft velvet couch in my dad's underground office at the Vanderbilt Country Club. Today was a very important day, it was a day that was highly anticipated each year by four powerful families. Today, four Heirs would compete in a skill's test that would determine which future Mafia leader was the strongest, the fastest, and ultimately the best.

Today, I defended my crown at the annual Mafia Games.

My eyes were closed as I listened to my dad's semi-nervous pacing. I knew he was equally elated and anxious about this year's Games. Every year, the Games were an event that were held at the utmost level of importance to both my dad and I.

The Games were a tradition that no one in the American, Russian, Japanese, or Spanish Mafias would ever dare to miss. Elijah, Simon, Rafael and I had been competing against each other since I was nine-years-old.

Our childhood competitions always used to get very intense, so our dad's decided to put our energy into good use. They created the Games to finally put a stop to our seemingly never-ending arguments about who was the better Heir. Little did they know, the Games would only pour fuel into the fire. Instead of taming us kids, each dad became obsessed with the idea of having their child win. The Dons were best friends year round but the month the Mafia Games would take place, was a month where rivalry was taken to the next level.

They would argue, they would fight, they would brag, and they would send out empty threats. You would think their constant bickering would cause Eli, Simon, Raf and I to become overwhelmed with pressure but the rivalry between our dad's seemed to do the exact opposite. It added to our excitement, and it fueled our drive. We were just as competitive as our father's and the four of us would gladly take each other down in order to wear the Mafia Games crown.

Although every year held the same excitement, adrenaline and joy of competing, this year was special. This year, I was competing on home soil. Exactly one year ago, I won the Games in Russia. My dad was absolutely ecstatic. The second he watched me take down Simon in the last round, he had already started to boast about how I was going to win the next Games on our territory and become the first Heir to win the Games two years in a row. It was a brave statement to make and I knew that it was a statement that wouldn't come without hard work.

For the past few weeks, Pria and Nico have been helping me train for the Games. Physically I was ready, mentally not so much.

Today was a day that was supposed to be stress-free for me. Today was one of the only days in the year where my mind would usually be focussed on one thing and one thing only, winning. I should be standing beside my dad and discussing throwing techniques and shooting forms. I should be actively focusing on how to beat the other Heirs. I should be thinking about how I can breeze through the courses with the highest level of efficiency. I should be doing a lot of things, but instead I was silently laying down on a couch with my thoughts running haphazardly through my mind.

"Ree."

I snapped my eyes open and turned my head to the side, locking gazes with my father. I hadn't noticed but he stopped pacing at some point and had sat down on the couch directly in front of me. His expression failed to hide the obvious worry in his eyes.

"What's wrong Ree, talk to me."

I sat up and swung my legs off the couch, placing them on the floor. There were a lot of things that were wrong. Too many things were building up at the worst possible time. For starters, there was a series of attacks on one of our weapon transports. These attacks were one of the first threats we had faced in a very long time. My security had been notified the second the assailants neared the transports so our soldiers were fully prepared for the violent assault.