Chapter 43:

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Hehe I'm back ;)

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"Always remember the three points of weakness-"

"The eyes, throat and genitals. I got it!" Serenity said with a determined nod.

She stared at the heavy 6 feet tall B.O.D that Alessandro had got her for practice. She had started self defense classes since the last two days. The trainings last a couple of hours and she would be drained at the end. Alessandro didn't go easy on her at all. He was a strict instructor.

"You should consider your stature when you attack an opponent. Your disadvantages will always create a loop hole for a new advantage to appear. As of instance, your short height may make you vulnerable but it can also provide agility. Now take a step back and prepare your position."

Serenity did as she was told. The moment Alessandro swung the BOB, she moved her fist in attack.

He noted the accurate positions but the sloppy approach to her opponent. Apparently Serenity had told him that she felt bad for punching the bag because it looked too much like a human and it had done no harm to her. He knew she was not using her full potential. He shook his head, wondering how to convince his little girlfriend that the fucking thing is non living and won't feel pain.

She ritually apologized to it after every session.

"More force, Serenity!" He grounded, "Punch harder!"

"Stop!" He ordered.

Serenity panted. Her sweats glistened down her pale neck to her drenched sports bra. Her thighs were trembling from the exertion to the strenuous exercise.

Alessandro gently pulled her aside and stood in front of the BOD. With one punch, the head tore off and rolled down. She gasped loudly with a frightened look.

"Oh poor Tobbie! Alessandro!" She screeched.

His eyes narrowed on her, "Tobbie? You fucking named this thing Tobbie." He gestured to the decapitated B.O.D

Serenity grinned and ran to retrieve a jar from her duffle bag. She jogged back to him with a proud look on her sweaty face.

"Oh for fucks sake." Alessandro cursed under his breath.

"I heard it! That makes it two." She smirked, lifting the jar to his face.

"I don't have any cash on me right now, love."

"No can do, Mister. Bring it out quickly."

He relented and grabbed his phone, "I will transfer it to your account. Deal?"

Serenity shook her head quickly, "That's not how swear jar works, Alessandro. You need to cut down on your swearing. It's not good. And you still have pending debts to pay from last night. Don't forget."

"Alright. After this session, you can drop by my study and I will fill up this damn jar."

"That's a three!" Her chin perched up stubbornly. "Alessandro! Hush!"

He pinched his mouth shut at her angry eyes.

"By the way, did you get in touch with my athair?"

She looked at him hopefully. He shrugged with nonchalance, "Yes love. He is doing good. We have set up an appointment for the next month."

"Oh!" Serenity breathe, "I don't know why but I just don't feel good these days, Alessandro. My intuition is telling me that something is wrong and I miss Athair so much unexpectedly."

"You're overthinking, love."

If only she had been attentive then she wouldn't have  missed the edge in his tone.

"Maybe I am. Okay, I am starving Alessandro. Let's go." Her stomach growled along with her whine.

"It is too early for dinner."

"I can snack on something."

"And then you'd skip dinner again." She could hear the disapproval in his words.

"There is always supper to count on." She blinked innocently.

Alessandro sighed exasperated, "Like you can open your eyes after ten."

Serenity had the Chef's special squash soup as it was easy to digest but quick to fill up. She stayed in her room, dealing with her assignments for school. She had been neglecting her school a lot with the changes that she had been thrown into. She wondered if she would have to repeat her grade because of her lack of credits.

'That would be embarrassing.' she hissed at herself.

She was mediocre with her studies. Her report cards weren't straight A's but they weren't also ridiculous enough to shy away from.

But she could see that she was improving a lot with Alessandro's rigorous tutoring sessions.

Her boyfriend was too good to be true. He got the looks, the brains, the muscles and he had his eyes only on her. What else could a girl want?

And not to forget, he has honor and respect. Serenity had heard and seen about relationships and the unsolicited issues of being in one. Butter had dated quite a lot. And she had heard her experiences on how nasty boys can be and how they only want one thing in a relationship 'they just want to shove their sausage into your cherry' quote unquote, that was Butter's exact words.

She grimaced at the memory. She couldn't look at sausages and cherry the same way she did in the past.

But unlike all that, Alessandro never crossed any lines. He hasn't even kissed her yet, aside from the sweet tingling forehead kisses. Serenity blushed at the thought. She wondered how it would feel like to place her lips on his and mold them together like she had seen in movies. She wondered how he would taste like or if their noses will come in between.

She quickly shook her head to dismiss all these naughty images in her mind. But she knew in her heart that she really wanted to kiss Alessandro.

Serenity knocked on the door. Alessandro's swear jar carefully wrapped in her arms.

"Alessandro? May I come in?"

There wasn't an answer. She twisted the knob and allowed herself to enter his office. Serenity could see the en suite was locked. Perhaps, he was taking a break.  She obediently settle herself on his couch and waited for him.

Serenity strode to his table and searched for a plain paper to try some origami while she waits for him. There was one yellowish blank paper with nothing written on it except for an aesthetic seal on the right end corner. She squinted her eyes at the image. She had definitely seen this seal somewhere but she couldn't point out where.

She shrugged and took it back to her seat. Folding it in the way she remembered from the YouTube tutorial, she pulled off a little boat. A small smile made it to her lips as she fix her creation. In the mean time, the sound of the door knob twisting could be heard. She quickly stuffed the origami in her pockets and stood up.

"Love? How long have you been waiting?"

"Just a couple of minutes, here is your swear jar." She chirped, holding it out.

Alessandro muttered something under his breath and pulled out a wad of cash before stuffing it in the jar.

"Happy?"

"Very much." She nodded with a beaming smile, "And remember if this gets full, you will get a punishment."

Alessandro stopped what he was doing and glanced at her. A flicker of amusement covered his eyes with a sly smirk resting on the corner of his mouth.

"Punishment, you say?"

Serenity gave another righteous nod.

"And what does this punishment entail?"

She stilled. Her forehead creased into a deep thinking, her eyes stared seriously on him.

Alessandro hid a smile at her adorable concentration. He wanted to squeeze her face and smash it into a pulp.

Cuteness aggression.

"I...I need to think about it, Alessandro. But when I was in the island, the bad kids who swore were made to scrub the chapels after Sunday classes. Maybe you can do that..?"

Like hell he would ever do such thing but he decided silence himself before she got even more ridiculous ideas.

"We can discuss that later, love. I think I know more punishments suitable unlike those childish decree." She missed the mischievous edge in his tone.

"Oh! You are not thinking of the gas chamber, are you?" She gasped.

"Serenity." He sighed, "What am I to do with you?"

***

Athena had enough of Aaron chaperoning over her littlest of things. She so wanted to bite his head off but Aaron had an incredible amount of patience that made her even more mad.

Under his careful and sharp treatment, she did get better but the grudges against the Vitali got more stranded with the course of time. She would not hold back her wrath against them. Alessandro Vitali had taken enough from her and it's time for him to be taught a memorable lesson.

"Athena, you're not supposed to be out of bed." Aaron, strolled into the room, a cup of tea in his hand. He gently guided her back to the couch.

"I am not handicapped and I am very much capable of standing on my own two feet." Her eyes met his, sharply, with a brooding glimpse of anger.

He pulled a strand of hair back behind her ears. This was the Athena he was familiar with. The fire in her eyes was back. He never wished for the broken and depressed girl on the same bed a few days ago.

He was ready to burn in her fire but never drown in her tears.

"You look beautiful today."

"I look beautiful everyday." She replied without a pause.

Aaron chuckled, "...Can't disagree with that." He reached out to touch her hair again when Athena blocked his approached and threw it off.

"Where are my lenses?"

A sigh of disappointment escaped his lips, "Athena, you shouldn't-"

"Where?" She demanded.

Aaron picked it out and handed it to her. There is nothing as religious as Athena was with her image.

"I am going to the salon and I will drop by the Vitalis. A good tea time with Alessandro is a must."

"Your health comes first, Athena."

"I am not a child!" She glared at him.

"You can't expect me to not treat you as one with your blatant carelessness. How long, Athena! How long before you let go of this madness and start a new life! How long do i have to wait! How long are you taking to leave all these past behind!"

"I never asked you to wait, Aaron! And don't fucking let me remind you that you chose this for yourself. You can leave anytime you wish. I do not and I will never need you."

He took a step back. Indeed her words hurled the most fragile corner of his heart. He could never understand Athena and that was what had been driving him crazy ever since. He had thought and he had so wanted to believe that she might start seeing the future in front of her. Her roots were planted so firmly in the ground that he has no choice but wait till she uproot herself.

"But I want you to know that I need you, Athena. You have become my only reason to breathe, the only reason I will wake up to every morning and the only reason for all my reasonings."

"Then bear it." Her detached voice silenced all the hopes in his heart.

***

The rainy puddles from the short twilight shower were gathered in the small fountain almost overflowing it to the brim. Serenity ran out with her paper boats to set her maiden voyage.

She carefully placed five of her ships on the same line. Out of which she had named- Serenity, Alicia, Simone, Antonio and Alessandro. She had stolen a paper from each of them just like she had stolen a blank piece from Alessandro's study. The race was set to begin and she was hoping on her boat to beat all of them.

Just soon as she set them down, the little current began driving them all. Serenity cheered innocently. Antonio's boat had drowned. Alicia's wasn't strong enough to stay wet. The current leading ship, Simone had just overtaken hers. With all these joy, her attention turned to the  paper boat with Alessandro's name on it.

Her excitement wilted away, the dark brownish shade was slowly changing colors. She quickly reached over to pick it up. A wave of shock stupefied her on spot.

The seal of the O'Sullivans.

She recognized it immediately. Anyone with the blood of O'Sullivans running through their veins would. It was the vindicta seal which presents the omnious dying of the current regime.

The words were written with twist and turns but the seal was enough to present everything and question whatever was on her mind. It was not a seal to be used lightly. It was a code. A very important code that had the core of the O'Sullivans! No wonder the paper was purely blank.

Conall had written the message to Alessandro for this purpose only. Alessandro knew about it already. Her athair was dying.

The only thing ramming her head was betrayal. The injustice of her being forced into the dark by the person she trust the most.

Serenity staggered back with all the blood rush into her brain. Her chest heaved with anxiety. The ground was slipping off her feet. She didn't know what to do anymore. Everything was clouding her senses.

A pat on her shoulder startled her. Her eyes snapped to the person behind frantically.

"Athena.", a heavy breath left her mouth.

The blonde girl raised an eyebrow in question. Her eyes traveled to the piece of paper in her hand. She took in her disheveled state, her brimming eyes with rage and betrayal written on them. She was easy to read and...easy to manipulate

"Oh you found out." Athena threw a blind arrow in the air.

Serenity's eyes narrowed, "You knew about it."

"What is there to not know about? Alessandro never hides anything from me." Her lies were coated with confidence, so striking that it could wonder anyone.

"How long have you known this for?"

"Why do you need to know that?"

"What is your motive behind this, Athena Springton? Why are you acting like you know everything when you don't!"

Athena paused, a small smile hiking up the corner of her lips. The little girl has gotten smarter. Damn! She turned her own words against her.

"Because...there are some big secrets that little girls aren't allowed to peek through." She whispered, "I can help you though. Whatever Alessandro did, I am sure he is in some real deep shit right now."

"Go away. I don't need you." Serenity gasped and pulled herself away.

The moment she stepped back, her back bumped into a hard chest.

The familiarity of his warmth seeped through her skin but then the realization of his deeds knotted her core painfully.

She clenched her eyes shut, unwilling to let him see her tears. He didn't deserve it.

"Love."

She did not answer but silently stepped away.

"What happened."

A silent threat was hanging by his voice, "Athena. What the fuck did you do!"

Athena smirked while raising her hands innocently. She was not surprised.

"You need to shut down this ego of yours, Vitali. Have you ever considered that maybe your asshole self could be the so called 'problem'?"

"Love-"

"Why did you lie to me?"

"Love-"

"Stop it!" She screamed, "Just stop it, Alessandro! What is this!" Serenity threw the wet paper on his face.

His loud silence answered the big doubt she had in mind.

"Athena. Leave."

"No. She won't! And that is not the answer to my question. My father is dying, Alessandro. You knew about it. You were lying to me this whole time!"

Alessandro's heart crumbled, seeing her tears pour down her eyes. She was shaking, breaking down in front of him. His arms unconsiously reached out to comfort her but Serenity slapped it away. The anger in her eyes were raw and it was sparkling ferocity.

"I meant for all of this to protect you, my love. I would never dare to let you put yourself in a situation where you could be exposed to any sort of dangers."

"Protect?" Serenity chuckled, "You were caging me slowly but surely. You wanted to ground me to you, right? You are such a hypocrite, Alessandro. You have been lying to me. I don't know how long you've been playing me like this! I knew it in my heart that something was wrong. I begged you everyday to check up on my family and you've been feeding me false fantasies when my father is dying."

"You have no idea what is going on in the outside world, love. I did not regret any bit of it. I would do this over and over again if it means I can shield you from the dark reality of the world we are forced in.  Your father has never been a father figure to you. He has always been a bastard, a selfish arrogant bastard who didn't even give one fuck about all the shits you've gone through. You were only a pawn in his sick games and he doesn't deserve any ounce of love or affection from you ."

"Alessandro!" Athena warned.

"Take me away, Athena. I can't stay here any longer please-" She pleaded breathlessly, "I am going back to Dublin. And you can't stop me."

"You are not going back." He gritted his words.

"You do not control me."

"Oh I beg to differ." Before Serenity could realized, Alessandro grabbed her and hurled her over his shoulder like a sag of potatoes. Her vision turned upside down. She cried, hitting on his back with her clenched fist.

"Let me down! Alessandro! Why are you doing this! I hate you-" a loud smack on her lower side silenced her immediately.

He just spanked her?

Disbelief drowned her, Serenity started fighting back more to free herself from his captivity but he was too strong for her. He threw her on the bed and stormed out of the room.

She hurriedly chased after him but he had locked the door on her face. She banged on the ivory wood till her hands numbed, tears running down her face as heart wrenching sobs wrecked out of her throat.

"Alessandro! Let me out! I want to see my athair. Please! I will never forgive you! Let me out! You bastard!" She cursed.

But all her screams and begging were swallowed down in the room.

***

Athena had disappeared off like the phantom she is. Alessandro ran his fingers through his hairs. the situation got out of control before he could handle it. Serenity was not supposed to know any of these shit. Yes, he had indeed not planned on letting her meet her athair on his dead bed, the mother fucker didn't deserve any empathy or sympathy. But what he failed to consider was that he was hurting her in the process. Conall might perished in the coming few days but it was Serenity who will lived through the guilt.

Consigliere Keanne from the O'Sullivan household had been getting on his nerves, pestering all the Vitali Capos for an agreement. The piece of shit wouldn't leave without bringing back Serenity back to the Irish soil. A single bullet through his skull would've been a good deed but Keanne was not a man to be easily underestimated. He hold uncountable connections in the underworld that could trigger a breach if anything happened to him.

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