Chapter 8 FAMILY DYNAMICS
LISA
I ignored the eyes and greetings of the maids as I matched into dad's study.
As expected, Angel was sitting there with Steff.
And dad too.
"Good evening dad, good evening Steff."
"Good evening daughter, you didn't tell us you'd be home t..."
"You're home."
Dad and Angel said at the same time and I scoffed out loud.
I turned to Steff.
"Steff, please call your wife to order."
His eyes narrowed at my tone and he glanced briefly at his wife who was busy sipping from her coffee as if she did not have a fucking care in this world.
"Do have your seat, Lisa."
"Dad, I'm not here to..."
"Have your seat."
I sat down at his tone. I didn't dare question that.
"If this has to do with the business, then you'd refer to her as your Copa."
I saw Angel snicker and I scoffed.
"It doesn't really have to do with the business and she's not my copa."
"She is."
"She's not, when I said I wasn't interested in positions and titles and agreed that the title that should have been should be given to her, it was on only one condition, that she wasn't going to have any sort of command over me and you agreed."
I waited for him to say something to that but he didn't, which meant he wasn't going to dispute that.
Good!
"I didn't argue when you had guards watching over me even though I had no use for them before we later agreed I was strong enough to protect myself and agreed to call back the guards so now, I need to know what rights Angel have to put a tail on me?"
Steff's eyes widened for a while before he sent a glance his wife's way.
"I knew about it," he lied, obviously to protect the love of his life.
"No, you don't, stop lying to protect her."
"Are you saying your Don is lying."
"That's by the way, Steff and you're not my Don when we're discussing family matters."
"Is it true, Angel?" Dad asked her.
"Yes." She set her cup on the table.
"Why?"
"She's our most valuable asset," she briefly pointed at me, "and she attends the same school with someone as deadly and as sinister as Axel Ivanov."
I drink coffee underneath my breath.
"We can never be so sure about him, we can never be sure he doesn't have something up his sleeve and I love Lisa, she's my sister and also, someone really valuable to the business, I have to protect her."
"Come on, Angel, if someone has to protect someone, that'd be me protecting you."
"Axel is dangerous," she continued talking, completely ignoring me, "and much more than anyone, we know that pass that playful aura and nonchalant playboy that he gives off, that man is as deadly as the world deadly itself, we can't just risk you frolicking around especially when you're already getting all cozy with him."
She pressed the button I hadn't noticed her pick up and that picture of us, I and Axel pressed against the wall.
And with our posture, it looks like well, we were about to fuck the hell out of each other.
"What's the meaning of this picture, Lisa?" Steff growled, "are you sleeping with the enemy?"
"Of course not," I hissed, "if you'd look closer, you'll see I have a gun to his skull."
"And his knife to your neck." Lisa fired back and I fucking felt like flying over the table and slitting her throat.
God! How her nerves disgust and irritate the hell out of me!
"Call back your men, Angel."
Dad's command threw the room into stunned silence and I shrugged casually, resisting the urge to stand and dance at Angel's face.
"But Sir, the picture, Axel Ivanov, we can't risk that..."
"No, we won't be risking anything, I trust Lisa enough to know that she's sensible not to get tangled with the enemy and this picture doesn't prove anything," he looked straight at me and despite him being my father and the man I admired the most in this world, my blood chilled to ice.
"Lisa is way more sensible and smart and useful than her age and I trust that just like I've never had a reason to be angry at her, we're not going to start now."
His words were testament to the fact that I've always been a good girl, I've never given him an excuse to doubt me, to get angry at me, I've always done everything he wanted.
I've always done everything to get his approval.
"Is that clear, Angel?"
"Yes Sir."
"And don't ever do anything to infringe on her privacy again, you don't have the right."
Her lips pressed into a thin line and I gloated at the sight.
"Understood sir."
"Good! Now, if you'll find excuse me."
We bowed as he walked out of the study.
"Angel will call back her men," Steff started immediately Dad was out.
"She had better."
"But I don't want to see you crossing paths with Axel Ivanov, we don't want to risk what'll happen if you should as much piss him off."
I stood to my feet, "I'll worry about myself and take care of myself and please," I turned to Angel, "keep to your words because I can't be so sure whose head I'll put a hole into after killing the men you put on my tail."
Her face remained blank but I couldn't miss the slight quivering of her lips in annoyance.
"When are you two ever going to get along?"
Never.
"We have a party to get to, Angel," I reminded her, knowing fully well that it was only going to fuel her annoyance even more.
Good! Two can always play the game.
And I wasn't the one to lose.
"Hey sis, you're home."
My 19 year old baby lunged herself at me and she wrapped her hands around me so much I felt my blood would stop flowing. "Yes, Tricia, I'm home, how're you doing?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fineeeeeeeeeeeee," she sang as she let go of my body and she moved back so she'd be able to see my face.
"I've been at the spa all day and I'm so relaxed, I should sleep but you know, Sean's birthday, I can't miss it for the world."
"Yeah, of course."
"Don't you like my hair?" she flung her hair so I could see it, "and my nails?" she flashed them at my face, "I did them today, I feel like they're absolutely beautiful." "Yes, they're absolutely beautiful and you look beautiful."
She blushed openly and easily, the color red staining her cheek and neck. She was 19 but she was really like a child, so alive, so carefree, so energetic and so unbothered.
We were just two years apart but it seemed like we were 20 years apart. Tri was the mafia princess, the one who had tens of bodyguards guarding her and watching her, the one who grew up surrounded by violence but has never even witnessed the tiniest bit of violence.
I was sure if she should see as much blood flowing from a person hurt, she'd lose consciousness before the person will even do.
I don't blame her though, she has a weak heart so she couldn't be raised the way I was raised
"Are you sleeping over?" my cherry faced and always smiling sister asked.
"Yeah, why? Do you need me for something?"
"I need you to stay at home more," she tugged at my arm and we started to walk towards the dining room, "Angel is so scary and aloof, I'm afraid she'll hurt me one day."
"She'd never dare to touch a strand of hair on your head."
"I know, I was just saying but I still need you to be around, isn't it funny how I have a sister but we've never had sisters' night where we'd stay up and talk into the night? Where we'd talk about boys and sexy gowns to wear to parties."
I chuckled. We grew up in the same house but we had starkly different upbringings.
At 14, Tricia could afford the luxury of having crushes on boys, on experiencing puberty, on picking the right clothes to wear to a party.
At 14, I was reeling from taking a life, from snatching life away from a man who doesn't deserve to live.
I was getting used to the look of pure terror on their faces when they realized that they were really going to die.
I was getting used to the smell of blood.
"And I'm going to help you wash and blow your hair later, hope you don't mind?"
"Yeah, sure," I allowed her to do everything and anything she wanted to me because despite our differences, she was my baby sister and I loved her to the afternoon and back.
And I'd kill for her.
"Hey dad, good evening." She greeted us immediately we entered the dining room and she kissed his cheeks.
"Princess, you're back?" His eyes were warm with adoration as he stared at her like she was an actual princess. Well, she was an actual princess to Dad considering how much he adores her, "how was your outing?"
"It was fine, so so fine, I've not enjoyed myself like I did today in a while. Hi Steff, hi Angel. Birthday boy," she high fived a beaming Sean as I pulled his cheeks adorably.
He looked so adorable and cute with the huge birthday cap on his head and the toothy beam on his face.
We all settled to eat, after singing happy birthday to Sean and after watching him blow off the candles. It was a fun night with so much laughter and polaroid pictures and anyone watching us would never know the amount of blood we have on our hands.
Well, some of us.