Celine Elliose Dufort:

The sun has already set when I walk back to my room, after answering all the questions they had, showing them around, and taking all the tests to my lab.

I look at the stack of papers on my desk. They're filled with all the information I could get out of the girls.

Basic stories about their childhood, how many bones they've broken, sexual activity, blood types, and any disorders they might have.

I grab the stack of papers and make my way to Rio's office. He wanted me to fill him in about all the things I discovered.

Without knocking, I open the big wooden doors to his office. The room goes quiet but the tension is still in the air.

Rio isn't even facing me, but I can feel the anger in his eyes.

'Je te dérange?' Both heads turn my way and I know that I for sure interrupted something.

'We talk English, Spanish or Italian, Celine. Not french.' Leon fakes, before letting his tall body drop in one of the chairs.

'What was the tension about?' I ask curiously, as to what could get them so annoyed with each other. 'I'll explain later.' Rio sighs.

He slowly makes his way to the liquor cabinet at his side of the desk. 'Want a drink?' I nod and take a seat next to Leon, who seems a little too curious about the stack of papers in my hands.

'Why are they so terrified?' I ask, looking at the two boys in front of me. They smile at each other before Rio hands me my glass of red wine, and walks towards the other side of the desk. 'What gave it away?'

He plumps down into his chair and grins at me. 'Well, maybe the fact that they complained about you all the time. Oh and the fact that they don't like being called by their last names. And of course, the fact that their backs hurt from being smacked against the wall time and time again?'

Leon sighs and gulps down on his drink, making a nasty face because of the taste. He never really was a drinker, unlike the other Curzio man in the room. One.

'Was that all?' Leon asks, still trying to read what's on the papers. Good thing he can't read french.

'No. They wanted to know a few things in return and I told them the truth.' Both eyes shoot my way. 'You did what?' 'You heard me, I'm not lying to those innocent girls. Not even for you.'

Rio sighs, before filling his glass again. Two.

'Fill me in about their questions after the medical shit.' I sigh and rumble through the papers on my lap. 'Who first?' 'Miss Velez.'

I get how she complained about it. The way he says it is intimidating as hell and she's not even in the room.

'Cataleya Valentina Velez, born on July 23th, 1997, just turned twenty-one.' I look up and notice them not even bothering to look at me. Rio chugs down his glass and indicates me to continue. Three.

'Blood type; AB+. Very good eyesight, healthy hair and teeth, she takes care of her body very well.' I flip over the page and look at Leon for a second. He doesn't seem interested in Cataleya at all, neither of them do, now that I look at them.

'Do you want me to continue or?' 'Yes, continue.' Rio chimes before pouring himself another drink. Four.

'She once broke her arm when she was little, but besides that, she has supremely strong bones.'

I scan the papers, looking for something else to add. 'Oh and she has no menstrual problems, she says she's getting her period every month. She hasn't had sexual intercourse with anyone yet, so she's safe from any STDs.' Rio snorts, almost making him spill his drink.

'You're kidding right?' Leon asks, chuckling a little. 'What?'

'You're telling me that Cataleya is a twenty-one-year-old virgin?' I nod, crossing my arms and looking at them in total disappointment. 'First of all, she just turned twenty-one so calm down. Second, why does it matter? And third, at least she's not sleeping around so let the girl be!'

'Look at you, going all defend mode.' Rio jokes, before looking at me again. I sigh and roll my eyes before scanning the papers again. 'That was about it.'

'Now onto Neveah.' Leon states, taking a different position in his seat. One that shows interest. I knew it.

Rio sighs before filling up his glass again. Five.

'Neveah Aurora North, born on April 14th 1996, turned twenty-two three months ago.' Leon nods as if he knows all of this already.

'Blood type; O+. She used to wear glasses and still has a pair around just in case. Healthy hair and very healthy teeth. Also takes care of her body very well, but she said she can be very lazy sometimes.'

Leon chuckles and looks at Rio for a second, but he's not fazed at all.

'Never broken anything in her life, but she said her right ankle seems to be very weak sometimes.' Neither of them seem to understand what I mean by that, so I try to come up with a way to make it a bit easier for them.

'She sprains her ankle a lot.' 'Aha.' Leon sighs and looks away for a second, storing the information somewhere in his brain.

'She does have menstrual problems. Her cycle is inconsistent, which might lead to fertility problems. I might have to do a scan on her when we get the chance, just to check.'

Leon's eyes fill with dread. He doesn't want her to be infertile and I don't think she is, but there's only one way to find out.

'Neveah has had sexual intercourse, but she doesn't have any STDs.' I scan the last piece of paper. 'And that's about it.'

They both sigh and look at each other for a few seconds.

I wrote a lot more about Cataleya, since she answered all of my questions in detail, than for Neveah. Her papers are almost empty.

She didn't seem to like me that much and I don't understand why.

'Did you tell them about me?' I ask, looking at Rio directly. 'Why, did something happen?'

'Not really, it's just-' I notice Rio filling his glass again. Six. The bottle of Hennesy is almost empty by now, 'Neveah doesn't seem to like me very much.'

He stops and looks at his cousin, grinning like crazy. 'I told you!' What?

'She's not jealous!' Leon sighs, before pulling the bottle out of Rio's hands and pouring himself another drink.

'Of course she is! You fingered her, only to kiss another girl on the cheek a few hours later!' My eyes shoot towards Leon, whose cheeks are slowly turning red. 'You did what?'

No wonder she didn't answer the way Cataleya did. She thinks I'm stealing Leon from her. If there even is something going on between them.

Neveah didn't seem very affectionate towards Leon in the first place. It seemed like she hates him, but what do I know.

'It's not like she cared. She said to never talk to anyone about it, so why would she?' I sigh, not knowing how to respond to the idiot in front of me.

'Merde.' I mumble before grabbing the bottle out of his hands. Rio chuckles and looks at the ceiling for a second. 'What else did they ask?'

I sip on the drink and look at the two curious men in front of me. I've never seen them like this before. So intrigued by two girls. Well, Leon always has had his interests in girls, but no one has ever pitched his Neveah.

'Cataleya asked all the questions.' 'What type of questions?' Rio insists.

For a guy who doesn't care about anything but his empire, he seems pretty curious about these two girls.

'About me. Who I am, how old I am, and why the fuck I work for you psychos.' His eyes shoot my way. He hates it when I call them psychos. 'Her words, not mine.' I mumble before taking another sip of my drink

'Did you tell her your whole story on the first day?' Leon asks curiously and I shake my head. 'I only told her some parts, but if they're here for the long run, I'll tell them all of it.'

I move my gaze towards Rio since he's the boss. He's the one who decides if they stay or not and I hope they do. That way I'll finally have girls to hang with.

'I don't think that is a good idea, but it's up to you.' He sighs, before reaching for the bottle again.

'Don't you think you've had enough already?' I ask bluntly and he shrugs, 'It's your, what, seventh glass? Are you trying to get wasted?'

'If I wanted to hear your bitchy attitude, I would've gone to Miss Velez.' He sneers before pouring the liquor down his throat.

I sigh and look at Leon, who simply smiles at his idiot cousin.

'What is his deal?' 'He's trying to drink his problems away.' He whispers, even though the room is totally quiet and Rio can hear us anyway.

'What problems?' I ask, looking at Rio again. He practically throws the glass on the table, making me flinch in fear of it shattering around the room, and gets up quickly.

'Those stupid Steels.' He growls annoyed.

I remember the Steels. They have been our enemies ever since I joined, maybe even before that. Something about an old family feud.

'What about them?' 'They won't let us settle the hotel in New Orleans.'

The Steels own America. It's their territory. Our territory is bigger, since the Curzio's have hotels, clubs, and restaurants all around Europe.

'I still don't get why we need another hotel in America.' The Curzio's already have a resort in Florida, meaning we're already on their grounds.

'We need to get closer, so we can deal with some other stuff.' Weapons, drugs, women...

They got money from that initially. That's how they build this enormous empire in the first place. Dirty money.

'Okay, but why the sudden change? You've been working on this for two years now?' He sighs and looks at Leon for support. He's too tired to explain it all again.

'Marcello is holding the yearly gathering in Los Angeles. If we want to be able to go there, we need to make sure we have enough ground.'

'But we-' 'Florida isn't enough ground, Celine.' Rio interrupts. He knows exactly what I'm thinking of.

'How long do we have?' Leon looks at Rio and back at me, before sighing deeply. 'About two months.'

'Two months, that's-' 'Not enough time, trust me.' Rio interrupts me again. God, he's rude.

'What's your deal?' Leon places his glass on the desk and looks directly at his cousin. 'They already know about the girls and followed them around the mall in Rome.' Shit.

'So they know.' 'Yes, But I don't get how. They were barely with us for twenty-four hours.' He sighs, kind of annoyed by the fact that someone might've snitched.

'Please tell me that you're not taking them into that den?' Rio chuckles, looking at me again. His eyes are still as pretty as always, but they scare me. 'You'll get them killed.'

'To hell if I care.' He states, chucking on the bottle itself. 'You are not risking Neveahs life!' Leon fumed.

'Oh look who's still in love.' The loathing dripped from Rio's voice. Rio never gave in to love. He never felt the aching pain to protect that one person.

'So what if I am? Unlike you, I still feel something!' The tension that vanished into the air, is back within seconds. Leon hit a nerve there.

They stare at each other, killing one another by simply looking.

'You haven't told her the truth yet.' Rio states. It seems as if he read it in Leon's eyes. What is he talking about?

'I-' 'You haven't told her about the monster who killed her entire family, even after all the promises you made.' Rio chuckles. He likes annoying others when he's annoyed himself.

'She'll get herself killed.' Rio sighs, slowly walking towards the liquor cabinet to grab another bottle. 'You think so low of her... She's way stronger than you think she is.' Is he really-

'You don't even fucking know her.' Rio turns towards Leon and looks him up and down. 'Oh, because you do?' 'Yes, I-'

'You haven't seen her in six years, fratello. She's not the same anymore.' Leon gets up from his chair and makes his way to Rio. He stops, just far enough to hit him if he has to.

'You're not telling her and you're not getting her killed either.' All Rio does is smirks. He seems to enjoy his cousin's suffering. His cousin's fear of losing the person he loves. 'Guardami.'

'Can you guys stop with all the macho shit and tell me what the plans are for now?' They both look my way and smile.

These two have worse mood-swings than a pregnant lady!

'Well, they're going to work in the hotel for a few days. See how that goes. And I was thinking of Marco teaching them how to shoot.' Rio explains before putting another bottle against his lips.

'Wait, you're flying in Marco?' I ask since he didn't tell me much before their arrival. 'Yes. And Manuela and Brandon.'

He presses the bottle against his lips again and chucks the liquid away. Alcoholic...

'Oh! And I want you to chip them.' What? He drops into his chair again and smiles at me like a little kid. 'Do you have their permission?' He shakes his head and tries to smile even wider.

Smiling won't help you this time Curzio. 'I am not chipping them without their permission.' Leon chuckled and slowly walked my way. 'You know he'll do it anyway.'

I look over Leon's broad shoulders, at his cousin who's smirking at me, and back at him. 'He's an asshole.'

'Isn't he always?' Leon smiles, before pulling me in his arms. He seems to need this. A hug. I take a deep breath and smile against his chest. 'I missed you so much, Elle.'

'I am right here you know?' I raise my middle finger towards Rio, hoping that he'll shut up about any of this.

'Okay, now I understand why Neveah hates you so much.' Leon lets go of me and turns towards Rio. 'She doesn't hate her!' 'But she's jealous! It's basically the same.'

If only he knew. If only Rio fell in love once. Just once. He would feel all the emotions at once and I don't think he'll survive that on his own.

'The chips are for their safety.' Leon says, smiling at me again. 'The safest thing is to send them away, and you know that.'

He sighs deeply. This is his chance. He has been searching for Neveah for six years. All he could talk about was her. And now that he has her, her life is at risk. Again.

'If you can convince them to let me implant those chips, I'll do it. If not. I won't.' He nods before looking at Rio again.

'Fine with me, but better make it quick.' I roll my eyes and look at Rio. I wonder what's on his mind. What has him so annoyed?

'Leon?' Rio turns towards Leon and smiles widely, 'Get one of those french whores for me, will you?' Ugh..

'Didn't Maria teach you any manners?' They both go silent for a second, not knowing how to respond. 'I bet she would be very proud.' I say and they chuckle. 'I bet she is.'

I walk out of the room before these two ask me to do some stupid shit since they're lazy.

'Goodnight Celine!' They yell just before the door slams behind me. 'Idiots.'

I make my way to my room, ready to go to bed. It's all I need after today.

Leon hasn't changed one bit, but Rio has. It has only been a month since the last time I saw them, and Rio has been more annoyed than ever. I just hope he won't behave like a total piece of shit towards those girls because they don't deserve it.

They don't deserve any of the shit that's coming our way, but Rio won't let them go. Because if he does. If he lets Neveah go, Leon will explode.

Rafael isn't like that at all. He seems like a heartless, stone-cold, piece of shit. But he's not. He cares more than he's willing to ever admit.

If it wasn't for those two, I would've been dead by now. I owe them everything even though they don't treat me as such. They treat me as if I'm family. As if I'm a Curzio.

My room is a mess since I literally ran out of the room just to run outside in time. I've missed those idiots more than I'll ever let them know. The stash of papers only grows now that I throw the girl's files on top of the paper mountain. Oh god..

Tomorrow I'll have to sort all of those. The last thing I need right now is to get behind on my work.

My feet hurt from wearing these stupid heels all day. I throw them to the side and walk towards the closet, grabbing something simple to wear to bed.

Even simple is some famous brand. The Curzio's have no problems spending money. Never have. It seems as if the stash never ends.

I climb onto the bed, getting comfortable in the silk sheets from Italy, looking at the pearl-colored ceiling.

I hope Cataleya and Neveah stay for the long run. They seem like very friendly girls, even though Neveah doesn't seem to like me that much. I'll have to talk to her..