NoPixel Imagines/Blurbs

The Confrontation

Daphne stood at Chumash pier. She wore clothes that she wouldn't typically be caught in, her distinctly pink hair was covered by a black wig that reminded her of... darker times. She couldn't help but notice some sad form of irony in the situation - when she last saw herself with her naturally black hair, her life had been in danger and it was suddenly in danger once again. A tragic form of coincidence, truly. 

She heard the sound of footsteps behind her, the sound of nice shoes clapping against the wood that made the pier she stood on. She didn't bother to turn around, knowing who it was. He stopped beside her. He was also wearing something he wouldn't often be seen in - a pair of track pants and a t-shirt, with his long and wavy brown hair hidden under a blonde wig.

"Hey, Daph." Luciano greeted her. She tried to remain calm, his very voice made her blood nearly boil. She was furious with him and their family. She'd been friendly to them and respected them when they frankly didn't deserve it, her kindness and respect had been repaid by this? A new member of their company getting kidnapped and tortured, either sending a message to the Cut that they were in for a war or hoping no one would notice it was them. That, to her, was a sign of disrespect to her.

"Don't call me that, Luciano. Talk." Daphne snapped, her light eyes narrowing in anger. The Italian boss couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated by her - she was taller in her heeled boots, wearing all black, a look of distaste and displeasure on her normally soft face. She radiated fury and power as she stood there, not looking at him.

"What do you wanna know?" He asked her, his voice calm as to not show how intimidated he felt.

"Tell me what happened with Pip." She demanded. A thick silence hung between them, the only sound that calmed her own fury was the ocean's waves.

"W-Well, we took him. Questioned him. He didn't tell us much. Just that you hired him recently, hadn't met you personally though." 

"No shit. Why did you take him?" 

"Information. Your man's a double dipper, we gotta know where the loyalties lie."

"We do business, Luciano."

"He's been seen around Chang Gang, CG ain't happy with us. What's his angle? What's your angle, Daphne?" 

"Excuse me?" She couldn't help the pain that reflected on her face.

"How can we trust you?" He asked her, the intimidation leaving him. He knew he'd have to manipulate her into telling him what he wanted, he always did.

For the first time since the DiCenzos came to Los Santos and she'd become friends with them, she looked at him. She looked at him closely as he spoke, which made her privy to something she'd never really noticed before - sometimes when he spoke to her, his eyes narrowed very slightly and his mouth had a small smile on it. His green eyes that narrowed when he sometimes spoke reminded her of her time back home, the way... he looked at her when he spoke to her. She knew that look very well. The look of a man sizing her up, the look of a man attempting to read her, the look of a man trying to see if his tactics worked, the look of a man who thought he was manipulating her.

She felt ice go through her veins. How had she been so... blind? Had she wanted that damn club so badly she'd allowed herself to be manipulated? How long had this been going on? How could she have allowed herself to be manipulated by him? Had she been manipulated by all of them? Had any of the things of affection they'd said to her been real? Did they really care about her, or had she only been useful for the information she would tell them when she was around who she thought were trusted friends and family?

Daphne felt her face go blank, her expression falling in the mix of anger and disbelief she felt for her own actions, sadness and fury for his. She felt like she had back in New York, before... what had happened. She'd sworn to herself that she would never allow herself to be used like that again, yet here she was.

"You okay?" Luciano's voice drew her from her thoughts of blood and fire. 

She thought about it, now that she knew what they were doing, there were only three things she could do. First, she could call him and every single one of their family out. Second, she could pretend this hadn't happened and could still see him like a brother. Or third, she could still pretend she hadn't seen that expression, and could feed them false information while she fed Solomon and The Cut correct information. She was tempted to do all of them, part of her still cared for them after all. She'd made up her mind almost instantly, though.

"I'm fine." She smiled, forcing the same look of innocent naivety in those previously storming blue eyes.