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Chapter 13

** DANTE VINO POV **

There was something about watching the fear gleam in someone's eyes that fascinated me. It's amazing to watch what one would do in order to save their own life, how their spirit decays in the face of death.

In my 24 years of life, I've never seen a reaction to death like Rebels. She was calm, more than willing to end it all and still held onto her brazen attitude and laughed in deaths face... it was... unusual, yet intriguing.

I sat there, watching the puny girl absorb the information that Aunt Gigi just told her. I mentally smiled in anticipation for expected reaction: crying, a mental breakdown, fear... I couldn't wait to see this cocky vixen break.

"Yeah I already figured out that much." She said unamused, a bored expression laced on her face.

This woman is deranged.

"But.. how did you...?" Gigi was as taken aback by her answer as I was.

"Well," The vixen spoke as she took a sip of her coffee. "The fact that I was in an underground cement room with blood stained walls was a give away. As well as the younger man referring to this barbarian as 'boss'," She said nodding towards me. I grit my teeth at her petty nickname for me.

"Historically, mafias are structured in a way that leadership is passed through generations, always remaining in the family. It was obvious that he was the barbarians younger brother due to their subtle similarities. So it would make sense that he is his right hand man regardless if he fucks up, which, I can tell he does frequently by the way he almost overdosed me when he drugged me." She said calmly as she took another sip of her coffee.

What in the actual fuck?

This couldn't be possible. No average girl would have been able to notice every single fucking detail and piece it together. Even worse, she still showed no emotion, no reaction.

Reading people was my speciality. That's why our Mafia has gained so much power since I took over last year. I could tell what a person was thinking, how they acted, how they would react, but with her it's different. I couldn't read her, I couldn't predict her, I didn't know what was going on in that pretty little contraption between her hazel eyes.

"And here I was thinking you couldn't get any smarter." Gigi smiled. "Remind me to smack the daylights out of Angelo for nearly killing the poor girl." She said looking over at me with a look that could kill.

RIP Angelo

"The real question I have is why am I still alive?" Rebel asked curiously, tilting her head slightly to the right?

I looked at Gigi, then Rebel, back to Gigi, and back to Rebel. How does my Aunt know such an unusual, irrational person? She seriously just asked why she's still alive as if she was begging for me to blow her pretty little head off with my glock.

"Let me explain." Gigi said, turning her body in a neutral position so she can face us both.

"6 years ago, our family was under the leadership of my Dante's father, Stefano Vino." My fist clenched at the mention of his name while unwanted memories came flooding to the surface.

"Our Italian Mafia was being attacked by rivals left and right, death threats were sent to our home, always threatening a member of our family. No matter how much security and precautions we took, they were always carried out to completion." Tears started to gather in the corner of her eyes. She quickly wiped them away with her hand.

"We lost many beloved family members, and it was chaotic to say the least. After our father was assassinated, my name was on the next death threat. My brother refused to let another family member die, and sent me and Harry to the United States to lay low for a while." She explained.

"So you went in hiding here and started teaching at Whitman College." Rebel said calmly, finishing Aunt Gigi's explanation. 

"Precisely. We changed our identities and moved here. I didn't mind teaching, in fact, I loved it. It kept me distracted from the turmoil back in Italy." She explained before turning to me.

"I met Rebel my first day at Whitman College." She said before she took a long drink of her coffee.

That makes no sense whatsoever.

I raised my eyebrow at Gigi, waiting patiently for her to continue.

"Rebel's a genius Dante. Perfect scores on every standardized test, read almost every book in our library, and has an IQ of 252. She finished her Bachelors with a dual major in Computer Programming and Computer Engineering when she was 18. She attended Stanford working on her Masters in the same field." She explained to me.

An intelligence quotient of 252...God damn.

I glanced over at Rebel, who was looking down as if she was somewhat embarrassed of her achievements. Her confidence dwindling at the mention of her intelligence. Again, another reaction that I wouldn't expect. Those kinds of accomplishments usually made someone's ego inflate to unstable levels, why was hers perishing?

"That's how you were able to find me. You hacked into their database, didn't you?" I asked in a serious tone.

"Yes." She answered, her hazel eyes meeting mine. Her confidence flowed back to her in an instant as her body language changed from looking down to sitting up straight.

"Why?" I asked curiously. It's not everyday someone would want access to that useless data.

"Due to my charming personality, I got into a few verbal altercations with some professors and students." She said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes, a bad habit I can already tell she has an issue with.

"Still the troublemaker I see!" Gigi laughed. My mind wandered momentarily to what Rebels rebellious side was like before I focused back into the conversation.

"I lost a few of my scholarships and was about to get kicked out of the dorms. They gave me a week to come up with $56,000." She explained with a bored expression on her face.

"So if you needed $56K, why did you end up taking $5 million?" I said with annoyance clear in my tone.

"Because I felt like it." She said seriously, her bored expression made my eye twitch in anger. Gigi looked at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to disclose something. It's obvious she's hiding something. I clenched my fists in an attempt to control my fury and prevent another outburst. This small action did not go unnoticed by Gigi.

"Dante... I taught her everything I know. She surpasses me in every way. She's practically my prodigy." Gigi explained as she looked at Rebel, her blue eyes glowing with pride.

"That's why you were able to break through her algorithm, no?" I said. No wonder it only took her 30 minutes, she taught her how to do it. Aunt Gigi was one of the best, if not the best hacker in the world. Damons knowledge doesn't even touch hers. For her to say that this little vixen was better than her speaks volumes.

"Yes. I taught her the basics of it, but she perfected the algorithm." Gigi said still looking at Rebel with a bright smile across her face. Her smile soon dropped.

"But because you did steal from our family, there are repercussions." She said with a serious look on her face. I smirked at her words.

Thank whatever god is out there for instilling logic in my irrational aunts mind.

"That's why you'll be coming with us to Italy and working for our Mafia for the next year. Then you'll be free to go." Gigi stated.

"FUCK NO!" I screamed as I stood up.

"Deal." Rebel said at the same time.