Her City of Death | ongoing

chapter five

"You're alive, I see." Achille states, his eyes staying trained on my face.

I roll my eyes in a petty way, "You've been stalking me for weeks, don't play dumb now, Achille." I hiss, pointing in accusing finger at him.

"I figured out you were alive the second they announced the death of the precious heiress to the French Mafia." He scoffs, "Your father isn't the only one who kept tabs on you."

I swallow harshly, opening the door to the pool house, "How did you get past the guards? You could be well on your way to an assasination right now."

"Not worried that you'll go first?" He asks as he follows me into the pool house.

"No," I mutter, "If you wanted to kill me, you would have had years to do so." I remind him with a grimace. "Why are you here, Achille?"

He let out a groan, "Always cutting to the chase," I shoot him a warning look, "I want an alliance." He meets my eyes.

"An alliance? With me?" I ask in disbelief, "You killed my mother."

He falters, "And it was riviting." I've had five years to get over this, the man I gave every piece of myself to in one night, turning around and murdering my mother two days later.

"You must know, Achille, now that I'm back I will spend every waking moment plotting your demise - and it will be every bit as heartbreaking, if not more, than the pain you caused me." I hiss at him, picking up a vase from the table and examining it.

"Ah, there she is, il mio piccolo petardo." He grins, his little firecracker. I drop my vase at the familiar nickname, causing it to vanish. "Here is my deal, I will spare your life in exchange for the merge of our Mafias."

"You want my hand in marriage." I state, picking up a shard of glass and whipping around to press it against his neck. He lets me,

"Here's my counter offer, asshole, you agree to walk away now and I won't kill you on the spot." Our visable height difference wasn't making me any less confident.

"By your hands? What a heavenly way to die." He quotes.

I press the glass further into his neck, "Deal or no deal?"

He gently pushes me away from him, leaning down and pressing a chaste kiss on my cheek, "Oh, how I have missed you, Aurora. I will see you in three days."

"No, you will not. Don't come back here, Achille. Fuck your alliance." I hiss at him, tossing the shard of glass at his perfectly chisled face. It cuts his cheek, barely, but enough to draw blood.

He smirks at me, the little sparkle in his eye shining more than usual. "You weren't thinking like that five years ago. If I would've given you that offer back then, you would have sold your soul to me."

I take a deep breath. He knows how special that night was for me, I thought for both of us. I've never been more wrong.

"I took your innocence, Aurora, by Mafia Omerta, our code, you're required to marry me." He tilts his head, "Or did you forget?"

"Awe, Achille, is your psychotic mind making you think you own me because we fucked, hm?" I mock him, "In case you happened to forget, I'm an heiress, typical Omerta doesn't apply to me."

He scoffs, "I'll see you soon, Aurora, I do hope you change your mind, I always get whatever the fuck I want. It's an advantage of being rich." He turns his back to me and walks out of the pool house.

I close my eyes, trying to compose myself before I have to face my friends again. Achille being so close to me, after so long, really got to me. That's not a feeling I'm used to.

I grab the towels from the linen closet and lock up the pool house. The path back to the pool felt longer and more frightening than it did before, but eventually I made it back to my friends.

It annoys me how calm they're being, without a care in the world, thinking they're living some luxurious life out here. I don't want to have to burst their naive bubbles, but I know realistically, I have to teach them how to fight. How to survive. Just like Papa taught me so very long ago.

He said he wouldn't protect them, not like he would me, he wouldn't risk his life for them. He wouldn't risk my life for them. But I will risk my own life for them, a million times over.

"Rory! What the hell took you so long? We thought those Italian fuckers got you." Drake jokes, almost falling in the pool.

I laugh, rolling my eyes at his antics, "Are you already drunk?"

Roni snorts, "He found wine. Do these rich fucks not have beer?"

"Does your daddy have beer, Ron?" Beth taunts, "These people are like ten times richer than that! I bet that wine is from like the 18th century or something."

Veronica crosses her arms over her chest. "Yeah, whatever. Let's get wasted."

I know realistically, I shouldn't get drunk right now, not with Achille roaming around our property. It makes you more vulnerable. More weak. But if I don't get some alcohol in my system, I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. That makes you even more vulnerable.

"I'll go grab the tequila," I force a smile, "Any other requests?"