Ever since my 4am talk with Luciano, I have been hyperaware of his presence. I find myself watching his movements a lot more, just being more aware of him when he's in the same room as me. And I find him watching me more too. It's as if that conversation changed the dynamics of our relationship, forcing us to deal and acknowledge with the emergence of these emotions. I hated it, hated feeling so off balance so I tried my best to just deal with it. Right now, I was in his office with Luca and Angelo, showing them the side project that I had been working on.

"Hey guys."

They look up at me, giving me their full attention.

"What's up?" Angelo asks.

"I have something to show you."

Luciano makes space for me to place my laptop on his table and offers me his chair. I mumble a 'thanks', trying to ignore the warmth he emits as he stands behind me, leaning over my shoulder to see my laptop screen. Luca leans against the desk while Angelo perches on the armrest, ignoring Luciano's glare.

"Get of my armrest, fatass. You're gonna break it."

"If the chair can handle your fat ass, I'm good."

I stifle a chuckle at Luciano's expression, clearing my throat before they start arguing or Luciano kills him.

"Can both your fat asses focus please?" Luca says tiredly, probably witnessing this all the time.

Luciano sends Angelo another glare with the latter responding with a cheeky smirk.

"What did you want to show us, dolchezza?"

"Right, so when Liam launched his cyber war on us, I tried to figure out how he could access your servers so easily. I mean, I know he's a hacker and all that, but there was something fishy about the whole thing. So, I did a little digging and realised that he wasn't attacking your main server, he was accessing your backup server and using that as a backdoor to your main server."

"Alessa, I love you and all but English please." Angelo says and I roll my eyes.

"When I first got here, I reinforced your main server making it basically impenetrable. That's why I got suspicious when Liam managed to get in so easily. You hired a security company to set up your server right?" Luciano nods and I continue.

"Every server has a backup server, in case your main server crashes. While the company cannot access either one of your servers, their mainframe does have the data for your backup server. Liam couldn't hack into your main server thanks to my coding but he could hack into the company's mainframe and get the data to access your backup server."

Understanding dawns on their faces as they connect the dots.

"So, I fixed it. I know I should have asked first and I totally understand if you-"

"Alessandra, how did you fix it?" Luciano says, his tone amused.

"I kinda rebuilt your whole system."

"Whole system meaning?"

"Meaning everything. I developed a firewall program a few years ago and it's what CCC uses as well. It's more secure then the CIA and the NSA. I created a separate backup server that is not linked to the security company's mainframe. You shouldn't have any security breaches from now on."

"Wait, what about the server that's linked to the company? What about the data?" Luca asks.

"Oh, I entered some bullshit data in there to fool whoever's hacking to distract them from the fact that my virus is erasing all their data and frying their hard disc."

The boys chuckle at my casual tone, shaking their heads at me.

"Is this what you've been working on into the early hours of the morning?" Luciano asks.

I nod in agreement. He shakes his head at me in amazement, "You're a genius, cara."

"Oh please. I'm just doing my job."

"Your job was to help us with Connor, not rebuild our security system. So, thank you."

"No problem."

Angelo gives me a side hug, "I owe you a beer."

"Make that two." Luca interjects and I laugh,"I'm gonna hold you to that."

Just then, Luciano's phone rings and he picks it up.

"Luciano Moretti. Oh, hi mama. I'm fine, how are you? Yes...yes...I will let her know. I'll see you tonight. Ciao."

He hangs up and turns to us.

"Mama and papa are joining us for dinner tonight."

"Nice, how was their trip to Asia?" Luca asks.

Luciano shrugs,"I'm sure mama will be more than happy to tell us tonight." The boys laugh and I'm assuming that Emilia inherited her love for talking from her mother.

He turns to me and smirks,"I hope you don't have any plans for tonight."

"Uhh, not exactly. Why?" I ask not liking the glint in his eyes.

"Good, cause you're meeting my parents tonight."

My eyes widen at his statement, "You know, they just came back from a long trip and I'm sure they would want to catch up with all of you. I don't want to get in the way of that so maybe I should just grab dinner out."

He rolls his eyes at me and I can hear Luca and Angelo snicker.

"They specifically asked to meet you."

"Oh." Is all I can say, not expecting that answer.

"Yes, oh."

I roll my eyes at his mocking tone.

"I'm guessing you didn't expect to meet his parents this soon." Angelo says beside me, laughing and I furrow my eyebrows.

"I wasn't expecting to meet his parents at all. No offence." I add at the end and Angelo laughs.

"You're gonna love them. Mama is exactly like Emilia." Luca says and I instantly am taken back to the moment I first met Emilia. Luciano and Angelo seem to read my mind and burst out laughing.

"Oh, this is gonna be so fun." Angelo says and I scowl.

This was gonna be fun indeed.

Breathe Alessa. You're gonna be just fine. I stare at myself in the full length mirror, eyes scanning over my outfit of cigarette denim jeans and a deep red slightly oversized sweater that wasn't too dressy but not too casual either.. I definitely could not wear my normal outfit of a baggy T-shirt and daisy dukes. I had to look presentable, not over the top but presentable enough to meet the former Don and Donna. A part of me wanted to change into something more feminine like a flowy dress that would match Emilia's style but that wasn't me. I'm not gonna lie, I did want to make a good first impression but changing my style just to fit in was out of the question. Besides, Luciano would like you better in this. Oh shut up for fucks sake.

I was nervous about meeting Luciano's parents for a few reasons. First, I was meeting the former Don and Donna of the Italian mafia. Luciano's mother sounded pretty nice but it was his father that made me nervous. I had heard stories about Sergio Moretti and he was a no nonsense kind of man. Second of all, I was nervous about this whole family dinner affair. Having never had a family, I didn't have a clue as to what happens or how to fit in. It was bad enough that I would be the only person there who wasn't actually part of the family.

Taking a deep breath, I head downstairs to the dining room. Judging from the voices that fill the house, I assume his parents are already here. Just be yourself and you'll be fine.

Right. I step into the dining room and everyone turns to look at me. My eyes immediately narrow in on Sergio and Giada Moretti. Sergio just stares at me, his expression not giving anything away. Giada on the other hand squeals and rushes over to me. Emilia was definitely her child. Luciano appears out of nowhere, standing beside me.

"Mama." Is all he says in a warning tone. His mother just waves him off like a pesky fly, her attention fully on me.

"You must be Alessandra. Emilia was right, you are beautiful."

"Thank you Signora Moretti. It's a pleasure to meet you." I say, giving her a warm smile.

"Pleasure's all mine dear. Oh, silly me. Meet my husband, Sergio."She motions to her husband to come over and he does, keeping his serious gaze trained on me.

"Don Moretti, it's an honor." I say, holding out my hand.

He takes it, giving me a firm handshake.

"Alessandra Morino, I have heard many a tale about you."

"I'm sure not all of them were good."

He raises an eyebrow at my candidness, "What makes you say that?"

I shrug, sending him a polite smile."I have pissed many people off in my line of work."

He nods,"Including your bosses at CCC."

"Especially my bosses."

Sergio Moretti chuckles, sending me an appraising look.

"Luciano here has told me that you've gone above and beyond to protect my family."

I glance at Luciano quickly before looking back at Sergio.

"He gives me too much credit. I'm just doing my job."

"Hmm. Why did you say no to Thomas Winston when he asked you to get intel on us?"

Damn. Sergio may be retired but he knew everything that was going on.

"I don't do jobs inside of jobs."

"Aren't you worried given what happened the last time you said no?"

I stiffen slightly as I notice everyone look at me in confusion.

"I'm a woman of principles, Don. I don't compromise them just because some bigwig has a personal vendetta."

Sergio remains silent but Luciano speaks up.

"Papa, what are you talking about?"

Sergio looks at me for a second before turning to his son.

"Alessandra said no to a mission a while back and she was..punished for it."

"Punished how?" Luciano asks, his tone dark as he looks at me for an answer.

I smirk humorlessly, "Let's just say the CCC tested some of their latest prototypes on me."

I hear the girls gasp and Giada looks at me with pity on her face. Luciano looks angry, "I'm gonna have a word with Thomas tomorrow."

I raise an eyebrow at him, saying in a firm tone.

"First of all, Thomas was second in command when it happened. He did what he could to lessen the punishment so don't blame this on him. Second of all, you're not going to do anything about this."

"Why the hell not?" Luciano asks angrily.

"Because quite frankly, it's none of your business. I refused an assignment and I had to deal with the consequences of that decision. End of story."

Luciano glares at me, "Stop being so goddamn stubborn, Alessandra."

"Stop being such a pain in the ass, Vincenzo." I shoot back, momentarily forgetting that his parents were standing right in front of me.

"You were right, figlio. She's a feisty one." Sergio interrupts our glaring fest with a laugh. I look at him in shock before turning back to Luciano with a you're-so-dead look. Luciano actually looks slightly scared, sending me a sheepish smile.

"I meant that in the nicest way possible."

"Sure you did." I say,my voice oozing with sarcasm.

"Is that sarcasm I detect, dolchezza?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Me, sarcastic? Never." I say, feigning innocence. He rolls his eyes at me, not falling for it.

"Are they always like this?" Giada asks her daughter and Emilia nods, rolling her eyes.

"This is nothing. It's fun watching Alessa put Luciano in his place though."

Luciano glares at his sister, opening his mouth to fire a response but his father cuts in.

"I'm sure it is. He needs it. Don't stop doing it Alessa." he says looking at me.

I laugh lightly, ignoring the incredulous look on Luciano's face.

"Roger that, Don Moretti."

He surprises me by sending me a sincere smile, "Please, call me Sergio."

I widen my eyes slightly, before nodding.

He turns to his son, saying with a smirk."You've designed that necklace perfectly. Glad to see I trained you well." referring to the necklace Luciano gave me that I had not taken off. I blush slightly and Luciano seems lost for words but Sergio doesn't seem to care. Instead, he looks at the table laden with food.

"Now, what's for dinner? I'm starving."

Dinner was...different. In a good way. Having grown up without a family, I was used to microwave dinners in front of the TV. Sure, I lived with Thomas till I turned 18 but we led separate lives. I was busy with school and training and he would come home late at night from work. Here though, it was easy to see how Luciano and Emilia had grown up. Everyone was completely at ease with each other and it almost made me forget that I was having dinner with the Italian mafia. Sergio and Giada treated everyone like their own kids, fussing over them and making sure everyone's plates were filled to the brim, including mine. Frankie was the star of the show, amusing us with his antics and adorable statements.

"I'm glad you're eating your greens without a fuss now, Frankie." Giada says and I duck my head down as everyone else bursts out laughing.

"I don't wanna be like Uncle Luci, nonna. " the little boy replies casually.

Sergio and Giada glance at us in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Sergio asks and I can feel my cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"Uhyessa said that if I don't eat my greens, I'll become grumpy. I don't wanna be grumpy like Uncle Luci." Frankie replies, his eyebrows furrowing adorably.

Everyone bursts out laughing and I bite my lip, sending Luciano a sheepish look when he glares at me.

"I like you even more now,Alessa." Sergio says as Giada echoes his sentiments.

"Papa!" Luciano exclaims and Sergio rolls his eyes.

"You do need to loosen up a bit more, son. You're gonna get white hair by the time you're 30 at this rate."

Luciano mumbles something under his breath, sounding strangely like "Whole damn family is against me."

Magdalene brings out dessert which is Italian cream cake,much to everyone's excitement.

"My favourite. Thank you Magdalene." Sergio says as she places a slice on his plate.

"Don't thank me Sergio. Alessa made this."

I look at her in surprise."I just helped you, you did all the work."

"Nonsense, you basically baked the whole thing while I watched."

Everyone takes a bite and I can hear oohs and aahs around the table.

"This is delicious, Alessa." Sergio says and Giada continues,"You're an amazing cook."

"Thank you, but I'm just okay in the kitchen." I reply, feeling uncomfortable with all the compliments and attention.

"Girl please, you're amazing. The pasta you made the other day was amazing." Emilia says and the rest echo her.

"Pancakes." A deep voice says beside me and I turn to face Luciano.

"What are you talking about? She's never made pancakes." Angelo says in a teasing tone.

"Umm, I did the other night." I say, slightly blushing as I remember that night.

"Pancakes at night?" Emilia asks, raising her eyebrows.

I roll my eyes, motioning to Luciano who's smirking.

"Your brother woke me up at 2 in the morning to make him pancakes."

"Luciano!" Giada exclaims, admonishing him.

Luciano rolls his eyes,"First of all, I did not wake you up. You were still awake. And I only did that cause you didn't have dinner that night."

I turn to him, sending him a dry look. "Please, don't turn this on me. You were hungry and craving pancakes and I was the only one awake to make them for you."

"Why didn't you just make them yourself?" Luca asks and I look at him confused.

"He doesn't know how to cook."

The whole table bursts out in laughter and I look at them, feeling lost. I turn to Luciano who's half laughing and half terrified.

I groan as my brain connects the dots.

"You lied to me, didn't you?"

He chuckles lightly, "I wasn't up to making pancakes that night."

'I hope you burnt his pancakes." Sofia says and I scowl.

"I wish."

Luciano actually has the nerve to smirk, "They were the fluffiest pancakes I'd ever had."

"Burn the kitchen down my ass." I mumble to myself but he hears and chuckles.

"Son, I think you better sleep with one eye open tonight." Sergio says amusedly and Luciano raises an eyebrow arrogantly.

"You wouldn't dare do anything, would you dolchezza?" I send him my sweetest smile but my eyes are glinting dangerously.

"Is that a threat, Vincenzo?"

He smirks, "I wouldn't dare threaten you. That would be suicide."

"So is lying to me."

His smirk drops a little and I can see a little fear creep into his eyes.

"It was a win-win situation. I mean, you got pancakes out of it."

I raise an eyebrow at him, and he quickly backtracks.

"I'll umm..I'll make you pancakes one day."

I send him a dry look and he quickly amends his statement.

"Pasta. I'll make you pasta."

I nod, satisfied with my favourite dish. "As long as you don't burn the kitchen down."

He sends me a dry look now, "Do you really have that little faith in me, cara?"

"Do you really want the answer to that?"

He chuckles, stealing a piece of my cake. "I'm good."

I glare at him, as he chuckles but his laughter dies down when he looks at his plate and its my turn to chuckle. I had stolen a piece of his cake.

He turns to me and looks a little scared. "I'm definitely sleeping with one eye open tonight."

"Smart move."

That's when we realise that the whole table has grown silent. Everyone's staring at us wide eyed but with these huge goofy smiles on their faces.

"What?" Luciano asks them confused.

Angelo opens his mouth but Giada cuts him off. "Nothing, darling."

I eye her weirdly and so does Luciano. "Uh-huh, if you say so."

She rolls her eyes at him and places another slice of cake on our plates. "Here, you both need to eat more."

"I can't wait to cook with you for Christmas dinner."

I freeze at Giada's words, my hands hovering mid air as I load the dishwasher.

"pardon?" I choke out but she just smiles at me. I see Emilia and Sofia watching me closely.

"Christmas dinner. Us girls always cook together and the men cook dessert."

"Oh,umm..that sounds lovely but I don't think I'd be here for Christmas."

"Why not?" she asks confused.

I look at the girls for help but they just stare at me expectantly.

"Giada, i'm not sure what Luciano has told you but I'm only here to help him with a..problem. Once it's solved, I'll be back at CCC."

"That doesn't mean you can't join us for Christmas. Oh dear, you might already have plans. I wasn't forcing you darling, I just thought it would be nice to have you with us."

"No no, I don't have any plans but I umm. don't know where I would be for Christmas."

"Oh, is your family going on holiday for Christmas this year?"

"Mama" Emilia hisses and Giada looks at her confused.

"It's fine Emilia. I'm an orphan, Giada."

Giada looks mortified and starts apologising profusely. I cut her off, "Please don't apologise. It's no big deal. What I meant was I'm not sure if I would be working then."

She nods in realisation, "Oh, sometimes I forget that you're an assassin. I've always wanted to meet a female assassin, you know."

Emilia was definitely her mother's daughter. We all chuckle at her words, "That's what I said when I first met her." Emilia says and Sofia chimes in with a playful "I can't believe I married into this family."

Giada chuckles and turns to me, taking on a motherly tone.

"Well, if you're in town, please do join us. No one should spend the holidays alone."

I smile at her thankfully, "Thank you Giada."

"Don't thank me, figlia. You're part of the family." She gives me a tight hug and walks out to join everyone else in the living room. Emilia and Sofia nod in agreement as they follow her out, leaving me frozen in the kitchen.