"Sexist men just like you don't see pretty girls like me as a threat..."
L U C I E N
Mornings seemed to be my favourite part of the day despite my love for the dark. There was just something about it that got my blood pumping, heart racing and fingers trigger ready, today especially more so.
I'd been greeted with the sight of a semi naked Aria the instant I'd stepped onto the balcony joint to my room, my intentions being to smoke until another need popped into my head at the sight of her.
With long legs and an ass that looked great I'd verified that my morning was made and the job that I thought would be a drag wasn't, my mood for the day set until I'd been asked about my dad.
The realisation had slapped me in the face and caught me off guard, which meant that I was in a sourer mood than usual considering I'd also received a call from Alex telling me that my father had steadily deteriorated further overnight.
It made my body tense and thoughts dark, my mind trying to a find a distraction that would serve as a veil over what was really happening and obscure my need to kill someone with my bare hands.
So, as I stood at the entrance to the estate changed into fresh clothes and waiting for Aria, I found a distraction and admired the property before me.
With its grand two storey structure and tan bricked exterior, it marvelled in the center of a thirty acre landscape that Giovanni owned. Surrounded by shrubbery it stuck out like a sore thumb, vines covering parts of the front of the house and twisting against the bricks until they reached the roofing and invaded the piping like a disease.
Oddly the comparison made me smile, my fingers pulling the cigarette away from my lips as Aria emerged from the entrance of the house with her suitcase behind her.
"Only one?" I asked, blowing smoke through my slightly parted lips whilst nodding in gesture towards her suitcase, pushing the distraction of her body out of my mind as I looked at her.
"The rest of my things are being shipped over," she said, running a hand through her hair as I nodded and inhaled another drag before retrieving her suitcase and placing it in the back of the car.
As I did Giovanni walked out, stepping behind Aria where she began to talk to him whilst I leaned against the side of the car and took a quick look at my watch.
It was coming up to ten to seven which meant that we had time to spare and we weren't running late, the small gap between our schedule giving me ample time to call Alex quickly.
It was one in the morning in New York taking into account the time difference, so I wasn't surprised when he picked up almost straight away sounding wide awake.
The phone call was short, most of it centred on my dad and me being pissed at the world for everything that was happening, resulting in nothing but an argument between Alex and I when he'd told me to keep my tantrums to a minimum.
It left me strung tight with tension, my focus blurred as we said our goodbyes to Giovanni and made our way to the airport forty minutes away.
It was then, whilst we were in the car, when Aria spoke up. She seemed concerned, something that I was used to since I had an older brother who tended to be overboard with the whole keep your cool shít.
"Are you okay?" Aria asked, sounding a little awkward as I nodded without looking at her. Instead I kept my eyes focused on the view outside, the rural scenery soon turning into city buildings until the airport was in sight.
From there it was straight forward, the both of us getting on the private jet sent for us before enduring the near ten hour flight back to New York.
Throughout it all Aria stayed awake, her now known fear for flying leaving me to do the same since she'd actually gone out of her way to ask me to stay awake with her.
I didn't mind considering I could easily function on a few hours of sleep, my habit for years now coming in handy as Aria sat on the chair opposite me with her legs up to her chest.
She bounced between staring out the window aimlessly and playing a stupid game on her phone, the relentless ping coming from the tiny speaker sounding like a personal echo in my head by the time we'd landed in New York.
When we did it was one in the afternoon, the September chill catching Aria by shock as she shivered and cursed in Italian under her breath.
I wasn't surprised since she was wearing a small top that showcased a strip of her toned stomach, her skin not going unnoticed by me as I led her towards the car Alex was sitting in and prodded the dámn thought of her ass out of my head again.
Gesù Cristo.
"Aria!" he smiled, way too happy for my liking as I took the front seat once Aria was safe in the back, my eyes rolling at Alex's behaviour when he turned to look at her.
"You must be Lucien's older brother judging by the look he just gave you," Aria got out, pulling the leather of her jacket closer together as she kept shivering.
"Yup, that's me," Alex said, pulling out of the parking space as I shrugged off my own jacket and extended it back to Aria.
She thanked me quietly, draping it over her front as she settled into her seat whilst I glared at Alex who was smirking, my actions having prompted him to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively.
"Shut the fück up," I muttered, slapping his hand away from me when he went to grab my shoulder. He smiled further when I did, his mood way too lively for my liking as we drove back towards our house since Aria would be spending a few nights until her location was settled and secured to the highest it could be.
"Are we not going to see my dad?" she asked, my fingers quick as they typed a message to Johnson.
"Not yet, he's currently in Vegas sorting out business with your brothers but he'll be back tonight," I told her, not looking up to see her response but it seemed I didn't need to when she spoke.
"Great," she puffed out quietly, my head turning to Alex as we both looked at each other with narrowed eyes.
He mouthed ask, my eyebrows furrowing when I told him to fück off.
It was bad enough that I was a babysitter. I wasn't about to become a therapist too.
Alex rolled his eyes at me, keeping silent when I gave him a warning look. It worked in my favour since the rest of the journey was quiet, a half hour rolling by quicker than I thought as I picked Aria's suitcase out of the trunk and set it down next to her once we reached my house.
She was looking up, staring at my family house that stood at three storey's high. It looked small from the front, the illusion one of the best parts considering how spacious it was inside.
Typically I had loved how big it was, and even though I now had four others living with me it still felt huge, the loss of two important people felt constantly when I was inside.
"Just a heads up that the others will be waiting for you inside," Alex said to Aria, knocking me out of my thoughts as I shut the trunk and followed after them.
"The others?" Aria asked, turning back to me with a confused look.
"When I'm not there to keep you safe I'll have someone from the rest of the group to do it," I said whilst Alex unlocked the door, the smell of food wafting around us as we walked into the foyer.
When we did and as if we asked, everybody emerged from the kitchen, all four men somewhat gawking at Aria as she stood uneasily in front of me.
"Aria this is Bradley, Johnson, Tevez and Jinx," I said, stepping to the side of her as I gestured towards the each of them. "Bradley, Tevez and Jinx are enforcers and Johnson is in tech so when I'm not around one of them will be with you at all times."
"All times?" Aria questioned.
"Your wish is my command," Jinx proposed, cursing Tevez when he elbowed him in the stomach. "Jesus, I was just being nice."
"Shut up whilst you're at it," Tevez told him, putting him in place which made me roll my eyes.
"Until your dad figures out or decides where you're staying you'll be here with me and the rest of us, if you need anything just ask and if you're going out let one of us know."
"Sure thing," Aria puffed out. "Can you show me where I'm sleeping?" she asked, turning around to me once again.
I nodded, taking her suitcase and telling her to follow me up the stairs and towards the guest room opposite my own.
"Your bathroom and closet are through those two doors," I pointed out, setting her suitcase by the bed as she looked around the room before nodding at my words.
I left her be after that, the security surrounding and inside my house leaving me with enough trust to leave her alone whilst I walked downstairs and towards the kitchen.
"She's fücking hot," I heard Jinx say, a slow breath leaving my lips as I watched him take a sip of his beer.
"Don't go sleeping with her because I'm not going to pick up the pieces if you fück up and Salvatore finds out. Got it?"
Jinx mocked my words, throwing me the finger which made me bite my tongue despite the annoyance I felt and the similar thoughts I also had running through my head.
If it was anyone else I would've put them in their place whilst inflicting some sort of physical damage, yet it seemed I had to deal with the shít Jinx came with considering he'd taken the fall for me once.
Lucky fücking me.
"I have what you wanted," Johnson spoke, dividing himself away from the group as he walked towards me with a USB in his hand. "Turns out you were right-"
"Always am."
"-and Joe's involved," Johnson emphasised, ignoring my words as I pulled a beer out of the fridge and hummed sharply at the name of my uncles ex business partner. "I tracked down his calls and he has international lines going out to Italy, so I investigated and Germany is where I ended up."
"Germany..." I muttered to myself, repeating the words as a way to register them as I inhaled, nodding simply as I took the USB from him and muttered a few words of thanks before exiting back towards my office.
I breathed heavily, feeling the fücking weight of the world on my shoulders as I moved towards the desk on the far side, started my laptop up and then shoved the dámn USB in once I'd slammed the door shut.
My heartbeat echoed in my head, my temples throbbing against the pressure inside my head as I opened up the software and then cursed out loud at the pin point the map was on.
Munich, Germany.
I could feel my chest tighten, my lungs expanding as I took a deep breath in and slammed my fists to the wood of my desk in a split second impulse. The beer bottle in my hand shattered on impact, breaking in my hand as I threw it to the side and tightened my hands into fists again when I started to bleed around my fingers.
My knuckles popped under the compression, my eyes closing as I clenched my jaw and rubbed my good hand over my face, expelling a heavy sigh as I pieced things together in my head.
The tightness in my chest felt suffocating as I remembered back to when I'd visited Munich years ago. The burns on my arms were still healing then, my anger uncontainable as I went on a murder spree until I'd found Vito Sabella, the one who'd killed my mother, in his home.
I thought I'd burned out the rest of his family along with his accomplices yet the map in front of me told me otherwise, along with the international phone calls that linked Joe into the mess.
I shook my head, feeling suddenly greedy for blood as I gripped the lip of the desk and shoved myself away from it. I stood up, eager to leave the house and satisfy my hunger until my phone rang, vibrating in my pocket loudly.
I licked my lips, intent on keeping my shít together when I read Salvatore's name on the screen and accepted the call.
"Hello."
"You made quite the impression on my father, Lucien."
I inhaled, my fingers gripping around the case of my phone as he spoke, my spine rigid with tension as he kept on speaking and asked how Aria was doing.
I wanted to scream at him, tell him to go fück himself and babysit his own daughter, yet with the lingering rules that I'd sworn to, I bit my tongue instead.
"She's adjusting," I told him, wanting nothing more than the call to end so I could expel my anger.
"Grande," he praised. "We will be back tonight by eight. I'm going to visit with Dean and Blake, be there with the team you arranged and Aria."
With those words he hung up, my irritability turning into confusion when I stared at my phone in my hand and furrowed my eyebrows.
Since when the fück did Salvatore do impromptu calls and speak almost politely?
I sighed bluntly, deciding not to question it as I shoved my phone into my pocket and walked out of my office and up the stairs to my room.
Whilst I did I looked over to where Aria's room door was shut, the faint words of Italian being heard from across the corridor as I carried on walking into my room and shut the door behind me.
I locked it, tightening my fingers into a fist before I flexed them out and eyed the cut that was scratching across the width of all my fingers.
"Fück," I cursed lightly, grunting as I walked over to my bathroom and retrieved the dámn medical kit that Alex stored in every room.
I took out the bandage roll, weaving it in between my fingers before ripping the end off with my teeth and tucking the loose end in. Once I was happy (as much as I could be) I shoved everything back into the cupboard, my fingers feeling a little constricted as I tried to form a fist again whilst walking back out to my room.
It made me scowl, the knock on my door making me do so even more when my plans to gather my thoughts in silence was ruined. I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I unlocked my door and came face to face with Alex who looked down to my hand when I asked him what he wanted.
"Johnson needs to do prints for Aria," he said.
"Okay, and? Go and get her-"
"I came upstairs to tell you to get your girlfriend yourself."
His words made me inhale a slow breath, my tongue pressing to my cheek before I spoke.
"If you weren't my brother and the only fücking family I had, I would've hacked off your head by now," I told him, earning an amused smile. "And also, fück yourself. I gave her my jacket because she was cold. Cazzo."
"So you weren't staring at her ass the entire time she was in front of you when you walked out the airport?" Alex taunted with a smile, his words making me close the door on him before he stopped it with his foot and pushed back until it was open again. "So I'm guessing that's a no to getting Aria?" Alex asked, the deadpan look on my face not going unnoticed before the both of us altered focus when the door to Aria's room opened.
"You guys do realise I can hear you right?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe as she kept her door open with her hand.
I glared at the back of Alex's head, wanting nothing more than to rip it off as he turned back and gave me a wide smile.
"We-"
"You," I corrected.
"-need you to come downstairs so we can get finger prints for the house," Alex said, narrowing his eyes at me when I rolled mine.
"Finger prints for the house?" Aria asked, more so talking to Alex since I closed the door on the both of them and locked it.
I could hear Alex explain why, his words dissipating from my head as quick as they came whilst I picked up my iPad and formed plans in my head concerning Joe and why the fück he was contacting people overseas.
It all seemed shady seeing that my father's attack commenced the same day all the phone calls had suddenly stopped, the tracks Joe had left me to follow still fresh as day as I scrolled through the software and trailed through the transactions to find a pin point where I could trap him.
Idiot, I thought in my head as I read through the numbers, tracing the phone calls and the times they were made before I came to a sudden blank when nothing seemed to come to a conclusion. When I fell blank despite looking for forty minutes I grew agitated, the frustration making my eyes squint from the throbbing in my head.
"Figlio di puttana," I snapped, shoving the iPad to the bed stand and standing up.
It was safe to say that I was pissed, the last few weeks emphasising everything I felt to the point where it was suffocating and choking all the rational thoughts that entered my head.
I muttered curses under my breath as I unlocked my phone, simultaneously scrolling through to find the number I wanted whilst I reloaded my gun and then tucked it between my pants.
Once I found it I dialled, my feet stepping fast as I walked out of my room and down the stairs, my fingers pressing the phone to my ear when a female voice spoke out through the speaker.
"I'll be back, keep an eye on Aria," I shouted at Alex, not sparing a second glance as I slammed the front door shut behind me and replied to Kasey.
"I'll be over in twenty."
~
"Is everybody a fücking woman in this house?!" I shouted, standing at the bottom of the foyer as I shook my head, puffing out a laboured breath. I stared at my watch, hearing a few replies telling me to wait as the time ticked by, the only person that was actually on time being Aria who was standing in the kitchen eating an apple.
She'd adjusted weirdly quickly, fitting right into the structure of our group in a matter of hours despite being quiet and taking an attitude with her everywhere. Jinx had taken the full brunt of it, exhibiting the strange accuracy Aria had when she'd planted a knife between his fingers and threatened to punch him in the throat if he tried to flirt with her again.
I was curious to how she had such a great aim but didn't question it, my own problems masking everything else in my head as I cracked my knuckles, on edge from the knowledge of the events that were taking place tonight and the amount of things that could go wrong. I was pissed, irritable and impatient, which wasn't far from normal but also meant that the sex that I'd just had hadn't helped either.
Fück.
"You know, you've been scowling for the past..." Aria looked at her phone. "...nearly five minutes."
I inhaled, turning to her as she casually ate the apple she had in her hand. She looked at me, her eyes scanning over what I was wearing, a simple black suit with a white dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the top.
She made an approving sound, nodding to herself before turning to the stairs when one by one, everybody descended to the foyer. Whilst she did I tried to work her out, trying to decipher what her personality was. It was hard considering my eyes travelled back to long legs that were on display, the short skirt that she was wearing making it hard to do anything but stare.
"Stop ogling Aria's ass," Alex pretended to cough loudly, all eyes on me in a matter of seconds.
Aria rolled her eyes from behind her apple, the loud crunch taking more focus than my staring as the sound of the gates being buzzed echoed around the house. She inhaled a deep breath, licking her lips before turning towards the kitchen whilst Tevez made sure it was Salvatore before disabling the security measures.
"Are you guys coming or are you all going to join Lucien in staring at my ass?" Aria asked, not bothering to look back as we all looked at each other and then back at her.
"She's crazy."
"She is."
"Like father, like daughter," she called out, interrupting Jinx's and Alex's conversation. It made me want to laugh but I couldn't, my amusement not reaching my face as I told everyone to get going before Salvatore had all our heads on sticks.
We all entered the kitchen except from Alex, the sound of the door opening being heard as he greeted Salvatore who was alone. I was confused for a moment considering I'd been told Aria's older brothers Dean and Blake would accompany him, but it seemed I was told wrong when Alex closed the door and Salvatore walked over towards the kitchen where we all stood.
"Lighten up you guys, jeez," Aria mumbled, still crunching on her apple as she casually leant onto the work top whilst Salvatore walked into the room.
"Lucien," he spoke, shaking my hand politely before doing the same with everyone else as I introduced them all to him. He looked pleased with the team I'd made, his dull giveaway of what he was thinking leaving a light breath to pass my lips.
The last thing I needed was Salvatore having a fücking go at me.
I put my hands in my pockets when he side stepped Johnson, Aria still casually eating the apple as she stood up a little and came face to face with her dad.
The overwhelming greeting I expected from the both of them was non-existent, the small nod that formed an acknowledgment coming from Aria as Salvatore stared at his daughter.
I bristled, feeling the tension in the room spike when Aria walked around her dad to chuck her apple core in the bin. Her lack of response to him made me want to shake and scream at her, knowing fully well that Salvatore's anger was like a ticking time bomb and she was effectively edging the pin out second by second.
"È meglio se parliamo da soli, venga di qua," Salvatore told her, his tone blunt which made me inhale a breath when she looked at him, her head tilting at the words that told her that he wanted to talk to her in private.
"Vero?" Aria challenged, raising eyebrows up at her father.
"Non mettermi alla prova," Salvatore bit back, making Aria scoff lightly before she looked at the all of us expectedly.
With her dad's words that told her not to test him we didn't think twice, all of us exiting one by one until I stopped at the door and looked back.
"Lucien, you can leave too. I just want to talk to her," Salvatore reassured, the reluctantly in his words making me stifle the need to narrow my eyes.
I did so, abiding by his words before I closed the kitchen door and then stood outside in the foyer with the rest of everyone else.
"Aria has balls," Jinx spoke first, his eyes wide. "Like, big massive balls that rival any of ours. How the hell is she not scared of talking to him like that?"
"Maybe because she's his daughter?" Tevez said, all of them proceeding to wonder about Aria's confidence as they grouped into a circle.
I rolled my eyes, leaning my back against the wall as I focused in on the volume of their words that I could just about hear. It was minimal but I could make out some, a few minutes going by as I listened to something about Italy, Giovanni and death until it all went silent before there was a loud smashing sound.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want to look at me in the eye and ask that question again as if you fücking cared?" Aria shouted, my eyes wide when I heard another smashing sound.
"Bada a come parli, splendore," Salvatore bellowed, taunting Aria with his tone and words that called her sunshine whilst telling her to watch her mouth.
I was surprised when she lost it.
"Or what? Are you going to send me to another country so you can get over your fücking monstrous tantrum?" she snapped, silence following for a few seconds as I pressed my fingers to the grip of my gun.
"Aria-"
"No, I don't want any of your fücking bullshít excuses. You sent me to Italy for nearly a decade! That's an entire ten years of not seeing anybody but Giovanni and Jeremy because you created a façade to keep your calm in front of everybody and lie-"
The loud resonating sound of a slap echoed in my mind, my body turning instantaneously to open the door to the kitchen where I witnessed the shards of glass on the floor and Aria holding her cheek.
"Get out," Aria breathed, her chest rising and falling as she stared at Salvatore who turned to cast a look over his shoulder at me. He didn't say anything, instead buttoning the suit jacket he wore and smoothing over the fabric before walking past me and out the kitchen until there was a loud slam of the front door after he'd muttered words to someone in the foyer.
I tensed, watching Aria rub her hands around her neck before she turned her head towards me. I breathed in a short breath at the redness on her cheek, the ring on Salvatore's hand creating an indented red line that was across the left side of her face.
"Dad and I have a...complicated relationship," she started, inhaling before breathing out deeply and shaking her head.
"I figured," I spoke slowly, hearing the glass crunch under her feet as she stepped over it.
"Do you have any alcohol?" she asked, her head turning to look for it in the open style cupboards as I raised an eyebrow.
"Are you okay?" I asked bluntly.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Aria."
"Lucien," she smiled, "Good, now that we know each other can you give me that bottle of scotch you guys were drinking from earlier?"
"Wow, balls and a gives-no-fück attitude. Where have you been all my life?" Jinx spoke, sighing dreamily as Aria rolled her eyes whilst the rest of the guys walked into the kitchen to exhibit the mess.
"Jinx, shut your mouth before I staple it closed," I told him, giving him a warning glare when he went to speak. "Alex, get a broom so we can clear this shít up and Aria, you're not drinking right now."
"What are you, my dad?"
"No, because he just left after he slapped you," I quipped back easily, ignoring the way I took her off guard as I walked towards her and picked her up, settling her on the counter where she was away from the glass. "Stay there, explain what the fück just happened whilst we clear this goddámn mess."
"I'm not going to explain anything to-"
"Listen," I started bluntly, feeling my shoulders tense at the irritableness that was coursing through my blood. I turned to her, meeting her eyes with my harsh stare before opening my mouth to speak. "It is my job to keep you safe, I took a blood oath, signed a contract and all that fücking shít that your dad wanted. In no way was there a clause that said that he could hurt you, or a reason stating any physical damage inflicted by himself would be overlooked so for the sake of my dámn sanity and the fact that I've been degraded to being your babysitter, explain why what just happened just happened."
"...is he always this riled up?" Aria asked whilst turning, her words making my fingers clench as glass crunched under my own feet, scratching the kitchen tiles in the process.
"I think it's because he's not getting laid enough," Alex said with a dramatic sigh, his words making me want to strangle him as he mouthed you're welcome.
"Oh, makes sense," Aria said, rubbing her cheek and scowling at the pain that she felt.
"You should help him out Aria," Alex added quickly, the sudden smile on her lips making me look at her as I ignored the violence that I was aiming at my older brother.
"He wishes," she mumbled, sighing and leaning against the breakfast bar before looking at me when I didn't stop staring since I was still waiting for an explanation and also had a split second image of us fücking.
I stayed silent, ignoring my imagination as I kept looking at her with a poker face that made her crack after a few seconds, her sigh exaggerated as she sat up straighter.
"I'm not going to tell you anything Lucien," she said, turning her head from me as she crossed one leg over the other. "I have more reason to protect myself than to protect you right now, so as of now you can interpret that fight between my dad and I however you'd like."
"He hit you Aria," I bit out, letting my anger show through my tone.
"So?" she asked, shrugging. "You murdered someone three days ago because they owed my dad money despite having three weeks left to pay."
"He was behind on his payments and your dad sent me to cut him off completely," I snapped, suddenly feeling like an idiot for even discussing it. "How the fück do you even know that?"
"Being granddaughter of Giovanni Moretti has a lot more pros than cons," she said, licking her lips as she stood back onto the ground and then looked at me. "Sexist men just like you don't see pretty girls like me as a threat..."
"You're not a threat if I'm protecting you from everybody else," I chuckled humourlessly shaking my head briefly as she smiled and exhaled a light breath, her head hung low for a split second before she tilted it and met her stare with mine.
"Or maybe you just don't read between the lines and realise you're protecting everybody else from me...why else do you think I was sent to Italy?"
"Your dad said it was to protect you," I got out through gritted teeth, feeling the cut on my fingers open from the pressure of my fists, my mind finding it hard to comprehend her authority.
"Wow, pretty and gullible," Aria sighed, laughing half-heartedly. "Maybe you should take my job."
"And what would that be?" I glared, my chest tight with tension.
"Damsel in distress," she said, my lips pressing together as I ignored the wave of hot heat that fuelled my bloodlust and seared my veins, screaming at me to get rid of her.
It was hard since I couldn't, the sound of her heels clicking echoing in my ears as she walked towards me, her body heat radiating off of her as she looked up and then spoke.
"Don't underestimate me Lucien, I can take care of myself," she said, staring intensely as I did the same. "I'm not a light in the dark, I'm just as bad as your reflection. Remember that."
*A/N*
*screams in 92838 different languages*
GIRL POWER FOR THE WIN 🌸
I'm yeLLing
My man lucien is so hot headed and doesn't like the fact that a girl is somewhat in control and the fact that he's so blindsided over why dldjekdmemdm
My poor man 😊
It's okay though cos he'll learn to love it (& her)
ANYWHOOOO
This chapter is super duper long, like it's 5441 words 💀 whoopsie or not idk dkdjksm
did you guys like it?
What do we think of aria?
What do we think of lucien?
Anybody wondering why Salvatore is the way he is and why aria is too??
Sigh, just a heads up to read between the lines with this story (:
I love you all!!
Thank you sm for the feedback on the last two chapters!
My twitter is btwitssurina if you wanna come say hi or fan girl over jaria with me because I do that frequently (:
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See ya next week childrensssss♥️♥️