Pleasurable Pain

Chapter 14 - Separate ways

Maxon's POV

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I roll my eyes as soon as I see Olivia. Remember when I said there were times when I just want to fire her? Yeah right now is one of those times. One out of thousands.

She's hated Sophia since day one, so I guess her instincts are better than mine. Which is going to make these two getting along harder than I want.

This might make me stupid, but I don't think Sophia's my enemy. Yes she may have hurt Lorenzo, but she also saved Andrea.

Listening to what she told me earlier also made me realize that she's just as much of a victim of her father as I am.

I don't want to be a man too blinded by his anger, and irrational thoughts to throw away a good opportunity when I have one. She could be my ticket to finally ending Stefano.

I'm sure plenty of people wonder why I hate Stefano so much. When I was fifteen I started training to be in the army. Technically I wasn't old enough, but my dad was in the army, so he supervised me.

I was the best. Everyone always said that I was a natural. One day word got out, and my dad got in trouble for letting me train at such a young age.

His boss did offer to let me start real training as soon as I turned seventeen just because of how good I was.

Word got out of the kid who never missed a target, and never lost a fight. One day I was approached by a man, I later learned was named Stefano Russo.

He asked me to work for him, and I asked him what he did. That's the day I found out about the mafia. I mean I already knew what it was, but I didn't know that it was real.

I declined. It went against every single one of my moral codes. Later that week I was coming home from a friends house. I found my mother in the bathtub with a bottle of pills, and my dad in their bedroom with a hole in his skull while a gun lay beside him on their bed.

The cops ruled it as a double suicide, but I knew better. It wasn't a coincidence. I wasn't going to let Stefano get away with it.

I betrayed all of my moral codes until I got to the point where I had none. Stefano took everything from me.

I devoted my life to catching him. I became the best at what I did, so that everyone knew my name. It angered Stefano. I knew going after him was an impossible mission, so I waited until the right time.

That time was three years ago when Lorenzo wanted to take him down. I knew with my help Lorenzo could get him, but I was wrong.

The Marino empire suffered, and we never got Stefano. His mafia died off, and no one's heard from him in years except Sophia. He's been after her.

Because of Salvatore's death she's the only heir of the Russo line. The fucker just wants to use her. The same way he's been using her for her entire life.

She couldn't control the fact that she was born a woman, and he still punished her for it. I can only imagine what he did to her all those years she was trapped in that house.

I'm snapped back to reality when Olivia asks the question again.

"I said what is she doing here?!"

I sigh running my hands down my face.

"She's here to help us." I say.

Olivia's eyes widen. I see Sophia look at me with surprise on her face. She's not the only one. I'm shocked as well.

I'm not stupid. I know I can't trust Sophia, and I won't be letting my guard down with her anytime soon. I just think that considering her ties with Stefano she can help me in ways no one else could.

Sophia smirks at Olivia, and I refrain from chuckling at the way Olivia's face goes red.

"How would Andrea feel about this?" Olivia asks with a threatening tone.

I feel my anger rise hitting me like a wave. I walk towards Olivia keeping my face clear of any emotion. I see shock dawn on her when I wrap my hand around her throat backing her into the wall.

She starts to choke as I cut off her airway. Eventually I let go, and she falls back on the wall sliding down.

"You don't say a word to anyone." I whisper, making sure my voice is low enough to scare her.

I have never put my hands on Olivia in a violent way. I trust her with information, and today she practically threatened to use it against me. She of all people should know better than that.

I watch as tears fall down her face, but I don't care. I turn around to see Sophia widely grinning at us, and I just grab her arm leading her to my office. I shut the door behind us.

"Sit down." I tell her as I sit at the chair behind my desk.

"No." She says leaning against the wall.

"Are you always so damn disobedient?" I ask narrowing my eyes at her.

"Yes." She says shrugging.

I know the only reason she won't sit down is because I told her to. It annoys the fuck out of me that she just won't fucking listen.

"Why don't you ever just fucking listen?" I spit the words out at her.

She walks over to me, and places her hands on the desk, leaning over to bring her face close to mine.

"I don't know if I look like Olivia to you, but I'm not going to roll over like a dog and listen to your commands." She tells me.

I clench my jaw staying quiet. Eventually she speaks again breaking the silence.

"Why didn't you hand me over to the Marino empire?" She asks me.

"Because if Stefano is after you then you can help me find him." I tell her, because it's the plain truth. She's an asset.

"No other reason Maxon?"

"No other reason Sophia."

"One more question." She says, and I raise my eyebrows signaling for her to go on.

"What happens to me when this whole thing is over? What are you going to do with me?"

It's a good question, but one I can't answer. I think Sophia is just as much as a victim of Stefano as the rest of us.

I could give her up, but that would make her a dead woman. I'm not one to speak on what people deserve, but I truly don't think she deserves that. I think before answering her.

"We go our separate ways." I state.