Chapter 5: The Ball

Serenity's outfit ^^^^

The magnificent ball of the Don O'Sullivans' fourth wife was surely going to be in the headlines the next day. The ball hall was adorned with precious tapestries hanging off the walls. The marble flooring reflected the stars shinning from the crystal dome ceiling. Long tables with delicious starters were lined along the walls. Red carpets and posh foot walks tumbled down the stairs and the entrance welcoming the notorious wealthy clans who were invited for the opulent gathering. The humongous hall itself was separated from the Crystal mansion by 5 minutes walk through a huge lawn along the driveway. It was themed to be glitters and stars.

The Don and the wife in celebration walked around smiling and exchanging pleasantries with the honored guests while the rest of the wives mingled with old friends.

Dawn Pezro Romero, one of the consigliere from the Romero clan approached the pair.

"A very good evening Mr. O'Sullivan. Congratulations on your wedding anniversary. And my Mrs. O'Sullivan, you look lovely as always.'' He shook hands with Conall and placed a light kiss on Victoria's gloved knuckles.

"Its our pleasure to have you here, Dawn." Victoria smiled' "Dear Leila had mentioned that you have attained your seventh badge recently. It was one brave thing to do, everyone is eager to hear your great conquest. Congratulations on that."

''Thank you although it wasn't that great of a conquest." Dawn chuckled

''The Southern invasion was praiseworthy. Don Romero had made an ally of the Spanish mob. I believe it would be worthy of our alliance as long as the third of the Cuban dump goes to us.'' Don O'Sullivan said

Dawn cleared his throat "There isn't a thing you should worry about Don. The Romeros never go against their words. We stand by our ally no matter what."

"That is good. I would hate to point a gun on my dear bestfriend if we go against each other." Victoria smirked coyly.

Dawn stiffened at the mentioned of his wife. Nevertheless he gave a tight smile to Victoria.

"I have heard the Vitali's would be present tonight. Are you sure there won't be any blood shed? They have a reputation if you know what I mean and so far the most invincible clan to ever exist, if anything goes wrong they will target the host the very next minute."

"The South East mafia had been getting on my nerves, especially the Chinese. 3.5 billion pounds of baggage shipped across the Australian ridge disappeared in one of the checkpoints. Our spy had decoded the transaction and we have found the Zhi's responsible for it. It will be a declaration of war if we stepped up. We need the Vitali's to forge alliance with us and for that I am ready to go to any length."

"Consigliere Rooster told me a few days ago that Giovanni Vitali has passed most of his power to his heir Alessandro. The boy is more vicious and smarter than his Father. And he is only 18.''

" I remember that kid. He had made quite a reputation at such a young age. He had even exceeded Killian in the ranks during the wild hunt last year and its more unbelievable that he has no personal trainer."

"Oh please, darling. Killian was shot otherwise he would have easily won." Victoria sneered, defending her son.

"Oh I assure you Mrs. O'Sullivan, Alessandro had more injuries compared to Killian and yet he managed to burnt the entire hall and still come out alive.''

Victoria eyed disdainfully at Dawn. Her anger spiking up at the mention of her son's failure. She hated to admit that there was someone much stronger than her darling son and perhaps more powerful. She hated it.

The wild hunt was organized every 5 years in the depths of one part of the globe to test the apparent heirs of each mafia or mobster around the world. It was lethal and a dangerous sport. Alessandro Vitali was the youngest participant and had beaten Killian clearly with an astounding time difference of 2 hours 39 minutes. It even shamed her more that Killian was 10 years older than the boy and had been trained for over a decade. Now, Victoria's only aim is to push Killian into making an alliance with the Vitali heir to secure his position for the Irish throne. The Don had not make any special mention on who will be the crowned heir and Victoria feared to have it slipped off her hands.

"Hey darling, What are you all talking about?" Leila appeared beside Dawn smiling cheerfully unaware of the tension in the room.

"Oh just old business. Dear" Dawn replied, smiling back at her.

"Right, I forgot to mention, your youngest daughter is very lovely Don O'Sullivan. Such a sweet child, a little shy but quite adorable." Leila gushes.

"Yes, she is" Don O'Sullivan nodded, a sad glint appearing in his eyes before he covered it away. Serenity, she must have grown a lot, he thought. He had secretly dispatched his best security around her to keep her safe. He had watched her grow up through all the pictures and videos he was sent by his men.

"How old is she by the way, Vicky?" Leila turned to Victoria

"Uh-" Victoria was taken aback by the sudden question, how in the damn hell was she supposed to know that little brat's age when she can barely tolerate her presence ? "Well, Um- she must be sixte-"

"She is turning sixteen in a month." The Don replied much to Victoria's surprise. Victoria forced a laugh and nodded curtly.

"That is great, Our Castello is 17, we should introduce them to one another."

"Sure thing" Victoria grimaced at her supposedly best friend's enthusiasm.

____________________________________________________________

Igor perched up impatiently checking the entrance. He sighed at the foolish flutter of his heart, ever since he had heard she would be joining the ball, the whole damn zoo in his stomach is causing a ruckus. He shake his head at his own pathetic state, if the Don find out about his little crush on a particular someone, he would be disowned and kicked out of his own house. Why wasn't he informed earlier about it? He could have made an extra effort, mayhap build some more muscles and shit. He only got to know the previous night about this.

"Looking for someone." a deep feminine voice stated.

He turned to the girl who once had exactly the same feature as him but a very different character- his twin. Irina O'Sullivan

"Why do you care? Get lost" he muttered under his breath. Unlike most twins having the fraternal bond, they despised each other. Igor hated Irina's selfish and unreasonable attitude and Irina his reasonable and goody behavior.

"You know the Vitali's are gonna be here. I haven't seen Alessandro in such a long time, he must have missed me so much that he couldn't bare to be apart from me. I heard they are going to be here for a month." Irina squealed excitedly.

Igor stiffened," They are here for a month?"

"Yes, I told you nobody can ignore me for long. He must have realized the precious opportunity he has lost when he denied me last time.''

"You are delusional Irina, Alessandro Vitali never liked you, heck he never even spared you a glance. Get over it already."

"Shut up! What do you know about men? You ain't even one. Aren't you a virg-?"

"Irina!" Igor hissed, he clenched his jaws to stop himself from strangling her to death.

"What? I am only speaking the truth." Irina smirked, satisfied as she watched Igor's reddening face, " Everyone knows Alessandro is playing hard to catch. He is mine and by the end of this month he will court me. Mark my words."

Igor rolled his eyes, waving her off with one hand " Keep dreaming"

Suddenly gasps and awe filled the room, everyone's eyes were fixed on the entrance, some in shock, some wondrously while some in awe. Igor looked around in confusion.

"What's going on?" he heard Irina speak. He stirred towards the entrance to see what happened.

Igor froze as his eyes land on the unearthly ethereal creature by the door. It took him a moment to realize it was his very own sister- Serenity. Her beautiful auburn locks gently lay on her shoulders, her big doe eyes looking around in amazement. She was unaware of the silence she stole just by her appearance, her gaze solemnly focused on the glass dome ceiling and the quartz chandelier, her reddish lips parted in awe.

"Such an attention seeking slut." Irina spoke from behind him.

Igor shut his eyes tightly, willing himself to calm down. Irina wasn't worth his image. Out of all the people in the world why did he had to be the one to share the genes and womb with that stupid bitch.

He faked a smile and turned to her. Irina raised an eyebrow at him

'' I believe you should be telling yourself that." He looked down at her too revealing dress and back to her, ''Don't let the jealousy burn you sis. I can already smell the smoke.''

He turned and left before she could hurl him another comment.

"Seri" Igor called as he strolled towards the girl.

Serenity grinned, '' You look very handsome, Igor."

Igor faked a gasp and placed his hand over his heart "NO! Girls don't give the first compliments! You challenged my masculinity Seri."

''Its the 21st century, Don't be dramatic'' Serenity let out a small laugh. Igor grinned back before taking her hand.

'' You look gorgeous Sis. Come, I'll take you to meet Athair and Mama Vic.''

''Yes, please.''

Serenity locked their arms and let him lead the way. She noticed a lot of people staring at her and whispering to one another. Her stomach dropped as she felt chills run down her spine. She looked down at her dress and couldn't help but feel if there was something wrong with her. The ladies wore beautiful bold makeups and courageous outfits while she had treaded with natural look. Looking at the outfits the other women were wearing, she wondered if she was overdress for the event.

"Igor." She tugged on to his arms, getting his attention "Is my dress okay? Why is everyone looking at me like that? "

Igor felt his lips twitching to smile at her adorable oblivious face, "You look perfect, Seri. Its just that they had only heard of the youngest O'Sullivan and its their first time seeing you in person. Don't worry, you will get use to it."

Serenity doubted she would ever get use to it.

"Oh my dear Serenity. You look pretty as always." Victoria cried, pulling her into a hug. Serenity awkwardly hug her back ''Y-You too, Mama.''

"Welcome back, Serenity" Conall curtly nodded and turned away. Serenity glanced at him sadly and mumbled a small thank you. Her Athair still haven't changed infact she felt he had grown much more colder than before. She felt the back of her eyes burning but she immediately blinked it away. It was not her day, she shouldn't cry.

She turned to Victoria instead, "congratulations Mama."

She saw Victoria subtly rolling her eyes before replying a diabetic thanks.

"Mama, w-where is Killy- I mean Killian" Serenity asked quietly.

"Oh he must be with Maura, they had been with each other since last two weeks. I think my boy is obsessed with her."

"Maura?" She asked in confusion.

"You don't know Maura Raaperger? She is an Hungarian heiress. Killian's girlfriend."

"Really?" Serenity asked, excited. Killy even got a girlfriend and she wasn't informed. How could Killian not tell her about this? Maybe he was busy, she told herself.

'' I haven't met Killy since I've arrived. I need to go see him" serenity mumbled, looking around

Victoria didn't like the happy gleam in her eyes, she thought Serenity would be sad to know that priorities changed but the dumb girl didn't get it. She forced a sad look on her face and held her hand. Serenity stilled and look down at their hands.

" Sweetie, Killian didn't come to see you because he was spending time with Maura. Now that she is his girlfriend, priorities change. You shouldn't stick yourself in between them. I doubt Killian still remembers you. He didn't even bat an eyelash when it was announced that you'll be home.''

"W-What?"

Victoria smirked, satisfied as she saw Serenity's fallen face and teary eyes. The pained look on her face was a sweet dessert for her. And Victoria was damn determined to see her crying tears of blood and burning in the hell fire she created. after all, it was only the beginning. 10 years ago she wasn't able to finish her off but now she wanted to watch her crumble and fall everyday.

"Its okay Sweetie, you will get used to it. Don't feel bad." Victoria lightly patted her head and walked away with Conall to meet other guests.

Serenity blinked back her tears at the newfound information. Was Mama Vic speaking the truth? Did Killy really forget her? It has been 10 years and she knew 10 years is a long gap but was it enough to forget someone in life?

No, no, Serenity be positive, think happy thoughts. Killian will not forget you. Mama Vic was just pulling your leg.

She chanted it like a mantra in her head, she need to find Killian to figure out the mess in her head. Serenity quickly look around only to realize she was left alone in midst of many unfamiliar face. She groaned quietly. When did Igor ditched her?

A line of sleek black SUVs entered the main gate of the Crystal mansion, in midst of the black army was a blood red Lamborghini Aventador scale driven by one of the most awaited guest in the celebration. The crowned heir to the Italian mafia, Alessandro Vitali.

"The entrance has been secured, Don O'Sullivan is eagerly waiting for your arrival Mr. Vitali." the Italian consigliere informed him through the phone. He cut off the call, sliding it into the insides of his blazer pocket.

"Lets get over with this shit as soon as we can." he muttered under his breath.

"Too bad, we are here for a month. I am not going back without enjoying Ireland." a feminine voice growled from his side pointedly.

Alessandro rolled his eyes at her curt plea "Not we, you're going back tomorrow. Its not safe for you here."

"Fratello! You can't just do that."

"Well, I can. Alicia, grow up" he said, before getting off the car. He rounded to her side, opening the shotgun chivalrously. Alicia Vitali scowled but quickly covered it with a flattering pleasant smile the moment she stepped out. they interlocked their arms and began marching up the stairs gracefully.

The Soldati lined up on all the directions, highly alert for the safety of the two Vitali's. Alessandro and Alicia walked at the front most, followed by some important men in the Vitali clan.

They were welcomed by Don O'Sullivan along with the four Irish Donnas at the door. The ladies curtsied each other while the men greeted with curt nods.

"Good evening Mr. Vitali. Its our pleasure to have you here. I believe we haven't been formally introduced before. I am Conall O'Sullivan, the current leader of the O'Sullivan regime."

" Evening Mr. O'Sullivan. I am Alessandro Vitali."

Alicia secretly rolled her eyes. How boring? Always straight to the point. He should have at least exaggerated his introduction for more effect. But no worries his cold dead eyes and blank face are enough to scare anyone away.

" I believe if we can join hands-" Don O'Sullivan started but Alessandro cut him off.

"In our Familia, we don't disrespect our women." He placed his hand on Alicia's lower back and gently push her in front so she stood right next to him " I haven't introduce my sister, Alicia Vitali yet."

The Don's eyes slightly widened before he masked it away, he clenched his jaws and smiled tightly at Alicia's direction "My apologies, Ms. Vitali, we welcome you to our humble celebration."

The other four wives looked shocked at what happen, the Don never bothered to introduce them or regard them in front of his guest. Most women in the mafia are meant to be side trophies and dolls. They were not to meddle in the man's business and should only keep up with the posh etiquettes and graceful walks. Their only purpose was to satisfy their man and give birth to healthy heirs. The Don considered his wives to be worthless and not required for such things, it was their first time seeing, somebody cutting off the Don's words and even forcing him to acknowledge a female.

Alessandro Vitali was something else, he even made the great O'Sullivans' Don to bend to his wills.

Suddenly, once again gasps and constant murmurings erupted in the hall as they entered the ball room. All eyes on the young Vitali as they talked about him, girls giggled eyeing him while the men stood astonished. They weren't aware of his arrival. Alessandro Vitali had always been a mystery, he was closed off and didn't participate in gatherings. He doesn't make friends and is basically a one-man army who never needed to be told what to do. He make his own decisions and he follow them, bringing success after success even when the whole world doubted him. His blank face and cold gazes gave his angelic features a daunting menace. It wasn't in anyone's cup of tea to walk up to him, even the strongest of the strongest crime leaders hesitate to look at him in the eye.

" I have already set up a suite for you in one of my estates. Please be my guest, We can discuss about our alliance and treaty the very next morn." Conall stated

" I am grateful for all your special arrangement but we cannot accept it until we signed the alliance and I am not sure if we even..." Alessandro left his sentence hanging to tell the undermined threat.

"Of course, whatever that pleases you." Conall grounded his words, he never thought Alessandro would be heavy on him. But this alliance was very important to him and he wasn't going to let it slip.

The O'Sullivans left them to attend to other things, Alicia slouched on a nearby chair sluggishly

"Can I get a drink?" She pouted at Alessandro who nodded and flicked his hands at the waiter

" What c-can I get for you, Sir?" the poor waiter trembled in fear.

" a tall glass of Mojito!" Alicia squealed excitedly

"Virgin." Alessandro added, making her face drop. The waiter quickly left. Alicia turned to him with squinted eyes.

"Why do you have to be so boring, Fratello? I mean, Diana's brother never stopped her from consuming alcohol or going to club or even having se-"

Alessandro gave her a bored look, "Well her brother also got her engaged to a 50 year old pedophile."

That immediately shut her mouth and she turned away with a huff. Alessandro sighed, rubbing his knuckle over his left eyebrow, It was his fault, he and his father had spoilt her rotten and now she was behaving like a brat. Alessandro knew it was because of her teenage hormones and bad company, he sure was going to put her in check very soon. His eyes stoically stared at one point, analyzing the stupid party. He rather spend time defusing time bombs or experimenting new arms than to just talk nonsense with bald fat bastards in name of business. Sadly his father thought differently, he wanted him to socialize, form alliances and perhaps find a pretty wench from some powerful family.

Women nowadays disgusted him in general, especially the ones from the underground world. They only wanted one thing- power and a good fuck. And Alessandro was definitely not interested in fake women like the one he saw approaching him from his peripheral vision.

"Hello Alessandro..." she giggled, standing right in front of him and coyly looking up from her lashes as if to appear innocent. Alessandro just stared back at her blankly.

"How are you doing?" she reached out for his hands when he held up a palm, signaling her to stop "I don't appreciate being touched by unknown women Ms."

Her poise flattered when he didn't return any reaction even when she tried arching her back to make her figure more apparent. "I don't think you forget me that easily, I am Irina O'Sullivan, we met before at the opening ceremony of the wild hunt and the afterparty at the Connors residence. We even sat together-''

'' I am sorry Ms, but I don't know you. now if you excuse me" He strolled past her.

Irina clenched her fist, she saw some girls mocking at her from the corner of her eyes, they seemed to have heard what he said, her face burned in embarrassment. This wasn't over at least not for her. Blinded by shame and impulse, she quickly turned around and latched onto Alessandro's arm and tried to kiss his lips which fortunately fell on his jaw.

A big mistake

Rage consumed him as he glared back darkly at the stupid girl, no one dares to touch him and no one gets their hands in tact after committing such offense. It was a deep insult to him to be grab without his permission. Before he could retort in worst way possible, Alicia Vitali jumped between them and snatched Irina's wrist, unlatching and wringing it until a certain cracking of bones was heard. Irina howled in pain, screaming frantically at her broken wrist, it gathered the attention of everyone present. The Don rushed to the scene, enraged and confused at what happened

"What is this all about?" he growled at everyone.

Alessandro took out a piece of handkerchief and wiped off the fabric of his Armani suit where she touched "She did a foolish mistake of throwing herself at me when she has been warned.'

"My hand! Oh my God! My hand" Irina cried loudly, Albina ran to her daughter, trying to console the frantic wench.

"Irina!" The Don hissed under his breath, looking down in shame.

Alicia whistled lowly, a smirk appearing on her lovely face as she winked at her " You're lucky its me. If not, you wouldn't even have a hand by now." a dark look crossed her face and then she swung her fist right at Irina's lips with which she tried tainting her precious brother

Irina screeched when she felt blood at her mouth. Her Athair didn't even stopped them when she was this humiliated.

" You shouldn't have messed with a Vitali, stupid girl.'' Someone said from the crowd.

" it might take a couple of months to get your lips back in shape, I must have messed up the fillers pretty bad. Sorry " Alicia pouted and faked a sad face.

"Albina" Conall roared making the ladies flinch " Take that brainless brat to her room and do not let her out under any circumstances. I will personally deal with her again after this ball is over."

Albina quickly ushered Irina and pulled her away from the hall.

Conall then turned, to the two siblings, asking for forgiveness and promising to never let such thing happen again.

''Everyone, the celebration still continues. Please enjoy yourself."

And then it was back, the constant murmurings and talks now with a more interesting topic.

"Did you see my move? Totally James Bondy, I did good, Right?" Alicia turned excitedly to her brother.

Alessandro nodded " Yes, but the position of your arm when you punch your opponent is still sloppy, your speed needs to be monitored again, it was quite slow I had predicted it the moment you took a step. Your body needs to be aligned with the way your force moves, that way you will have more balance-"

Alicia looked at him blankly before throwing her hands up in the air, her mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish but no words came out.

Alessandro raised an eyebrow

" You are freaking impossible! I feel pity for your future wife! Oh Gosh! my head is burning I need a drink! A simple thank you will have suffice-"

"Thank you" he said

Alicia groaned "Whatever!"

On one corner of the hall, a small petite girl was watching the scene with teary eyes, her torso was in firm lock in the arms of her brother who was constantly whispering sweet nothings into her ears.

"Igor, that was brutal. Irina must be in so much pain." she pouted, looking up at him with innocent fear.

''Don't think about it, Seri. She deserved it, nowadays her head was clouding with all these bitchy attitudes, someone need to set her right.''

"But-"

"Listen Seri, you're in luck that I stopped you from running into that war or else you might have gotten punished for defending her. You don't know how Athair gets if anyone mess with his important guest. So, please if anything like this happen stay away from the scene, that way you will be safe."

Serenity sadly nodded before wiping her tears. She shuddered as she watch the two important guest, the man's back was facing her but she got a clear view of the girl, who appeared to be like her age.

"Who is she?" she asked

"She.." Igor hummed before breathing in deeply. Serenity looked up at him in confusion, Igor's eyes were trained on the said girl almost dreamily. A small grin broke on her face as she guess what it must be. Igor is in love

"Her name is Alicia Vitali, the only Vitali princess."

'Oh' Serenity nodded. She craned her neck to see the other person, the guy whose back was still facing her.

"and that is Alessandro Vitali, The Vitali heir. One of the most dangerous man alive."

Just then he turned in her direction, and Serenity's breath hitched when they lock eyes

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Hey guys, that was one long ass chapter and I have an important announcement to make, I may or may not be taking a break from writing.

I don't know but 2021 is bringing a lot of shocking events for us. On New year's day, my grand dad collapsed and he was rushed to emergency, they found out that his regular doctor was prescribing him some medicines that wasn't effective at all. (I am literally constraining myself from killing that doc) So, his health keeps deteriorating everyday and we didn't notice. He had kidney failures and the new doctors had concluded that he could live for a year or so by doing dialysis.

I am very close to my granddad, he is my bestfriend and mentor. It was him who gave me the boost to write and express myself. This year is gonna be very hard, fearing that this might be his last moments with him. i want to give him all my time and held onto the belief that he will live with us for more years.

I promise I will give you updates but not just very frequently. I hope you can understand me.