Lia POV:

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" I said, with a smirk on my face.

"Get the hell out of my way!" the man yelled.

"Sorry can't do that" I said.

I punched him in the face, grabbed his left and arm and twisted it and turned him so his back was facing me when Elias came running up to me.

"Good job, cous" Elias said, crossing his arms.

"Thank you, now let's get back home" I said, walking with the guy still in my hands.

"Let me go!" he yelled as I tossed him in the back of the car.

"See you back at the warehouse" I said, closing the trunk.

~~~

"Hey dad" I said, tying the guy up to a chair, as my father, Elias, and Uncle Alessandro came walking in the cell.

"How did the mission go?" my father asked.

"Perfect, just as we planned it" I said, with a smirk.

"Good, now go back to the mansion with Elias" my father said.

"What? But I thought I was going to be the one to torture him!" I said.

"Go home Lia" my dad repeated, raising his voice slightly.

"Come on Lia, let's just go. We finished our part of the mission now let our fathers do the rest" he said, taking a step towards me.

"But dad, I thought you said I'll be taking over the mafia?" I asked.

"Yes, when you're twenty-one, you're still twenty" he said.

"Ugh, fine" I said, as I crossed my arms and walked out, and Elias followed me.

"Who's driving?" Elias asked me, as we got to the car.

"I'm not going back to the mansion yet, I need to calm down" I said, walking away before he could say anything to stop me.

I walked down the road, in the cold breeze of the night. It was extremely cold and my short, red dress wasn't making anything better. I walked into the first bar I saw and sat down at the bar.

"One shot of tequila please" I said to the bartender.

"Coming right up" he said.

"You're not from around here, are you?" the bartender asked, handing me my drink.

"Yeah, I am, I just never came here" I said, as I took the shot.

"Want another one?" he asked.

"No, I need to walk it back home" I said.

"Can't you call one of your parents to come and pick you up? It's almost midnight" he said.

"My mum has been dead ever since I was five and my dad is busy with work at the moment" I said.

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss" he said.

"It's okay, it was a long time ago" I said, standing up.

"Get home safely miss" the bartender said as I walked out of the bar.

I walked back out into the coldness of the night, with my hands around my chest trying to keep myself warm as best I could. I had got halfway back home when I heard screams coming from an alley way. I decided to peek my head around and see what it was all about. I saw a man with his back turned from mine, and there were five men with horror all over their faces. Why are they so afraid of this man? And who is he? Suddenly gun shots were heard and in a split second all of the men dropped dead, with a bullet in between their eyes. It's not like I don't see this shit every day, but anyways. The guy looked through the men's pockets and stole their wallets, ID's and phones and turned around. When he turned around, I could feel my cheeks heat up, he was the most beautiful guy I have ever seen. He had black hair, dark as the night sky above us, and hazel eyes. He was wearing a white t-shirt, with black pants and a leather jacket over his white top. I blinked a few times, trying to see if he was even real or if I was dreaming. But he was real, so real that suddenly he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of my hiding spot. When did he realise, I was there? Did he see me blink countless times? Oh my god, he must think I'm crazy now.

"Who are you and why were spying on me?" he asked.

I couldn't even manage to speak.

"Are you mute, girl?" he asked.

"No, no" I said, shaking my head.

"Who are you?" he repeated.

"My dad must be really worried about where I am, I should go" I said, pulling my hand away from him, although I didn't even want to let go of his touch.

"Does it look like a give a fuck about your father!? Who are you!?" he raised his voice.

"Well you should care what my father thinks, after all he is Dante Romano" I said, with a smirk on my face.

"That's impossible, he doesn't even have a wife" he said, with a chuckle.

"That's because my mother died years ago" I said.

"W-what?" he asked.

"What? Are you going to make fun of me now?" I asked.

"No, not really. I lost both my parents as well" he said.

"Oh. Is that why you were stealing?" I asked.

"That isn't any of your business" he said, with a sharp tone.

"Aren't you scared you'll get in trouble?" I questioned.

"You're only in trouble if you get caught" he said, with a smirk.

"Right, anyways, I should get going home" I said, as I took a step back from him.

"What are you even doing out here at this hour, wearing that short dress? Do you know how many assholes are out here and if they see you in that" he said.

"I can defend myself" I said.

"Right" he said, rolling his eyes.

"Well I have to know how to fight, if I'm going to be taking over the mafia in a year" I said.

"So, you're twenty, good to know" he said.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"A leader's heir is to take over the mafia when they're twenty-one, do you not know this? And you said that your father is Dante Romano, sure" he said, crossing his arms, making his muscles show through his clothes.

"Right, I knew that" I said, nodding.

"Mhm" he said, with a chuckle.

"Whatever, I'm really going to go now" I said.

"Till we meet again, Bellissima..."

* * * *

"Dad, who the hell ate the last chocolate bar I was saving to eat today!?" I yelled, running into his office.

"Lia, could you please stop yelling, and what the hell are you wearing!? We have guests!" my dad shouted.

I turned my head to the side, to see the same guy with his arms crossed that I saw yesterday, killing and stealing from those five men. What the hell is he doing here?

"They're called clothes dad, you should try them" I said, walking closer to my dad's office table.

"I swear I don't know where you get your attitude from" my dad said, rolling his eyes.

"It's from you, you just forgot how you used to act when you were younger" I said, resting my hands on the table, as I looked at my dad.

"Right, anyways" my dad said.

"What's he doing here?" I asked, glancing to the guy sitting across from my father.

"Okay, first I need you to answer a question I have for you" my dad said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Why didn't you come back home with Elias yesterday, like I asked you to?" my dad asked.

"Because I was mad at you" I replied.

"Mad at me for what?" my dad asked.

"About not letting me torture that guy yesterday" I replied, narrowing my eyes at him.

I could see the guy's eyes widen in shock and a smirk appeared on his lips from the corner of my eyes.

"We've been over this, that's my job" my dad said.

"Whatever, now tell me what this guy is doing here!" I snapped.

"He's here because he wants to be your second in command when you become the leader of my mafia" my dad.

"WHAT!?" I yelled.

"Is something wrong?" my dad asked.

"Yes, something is wrong, very wrong dad! You could've asked me before! What if I was going to make Elias my second in command? I've known Elias ever since we were kids" I said.

"Who the fuck is Elias?" the guy said, with his arms still crossed over his chest.

"That isn't any of your business" I said, using his own words against him.

"I heard my name" Elias said, walking into the office, with a bar of chocolate in his hands.

"Oh, petit con!" I said, cocking my head to his direction. (Oh, you little prick!)

"What? I don't know French Lia" Elias said, walking to where we were all standing.

"She called you a prick" the guy said, standing up from his seat.

"You know French?" I asked, looking at the guy.

"A little bit, yeah" he replied.

"Whatever, you fucking stole my chocolate you asshole!" I shouted at Elias.

"Lia language! Now everyone shut the fuck up and let me tell you who this guy is!" my dad yelled.

"Yes, please do" I said.

"This is Matteo Bianchi, he's twenty-two and he's going to be working with Lia from now on, because when Lia takes over, he's going to be her second in command" my dad explained.

"So, basically, he's replacing me. And doesn't Lia get to decide who her second in command is?" Elias asked.

"Yes, well I'm her father and I know what's best for her" my dad replied.

"Right of course you do!" I yelled, storming out of the room.

I ran out of the room and made my way to the garden, my favourite place in the whole mansion. I always like to come here when I'm mad or sad. I used to come here all the time when I was younger, when my mother passed away. I had no one who cared, no one who told me it was going to be okay, no one who showed me sympathy. I was alone throughout my whole childhood. My dad was always either drinking his sorrows away or torturing Marco, Alessandro was taking care of the mafia whilst my dad was losing himself slowly, Elias was too young to understand at the time and Camilla was always taking care of Elias. So I was all alone with no one who showed me kindness and cared for me or loved me. I was so lost in thought that I didn't even hear the footsteps from behind me.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked. I slowly turned around with tears in my eyes as I saw him- Matteo.

"Do I look okay?" I asked.

"Is it this bad that we're going to be working together as partners?" he asked.

"No, it's not that. I was getting memories of my mother again" I said.

"I'm sorry, I know what it's like to lose her, I lost mine at seven years old, and I never even met my father" he said.

"You said that they both died?" I asked.

"Yeah, well that's easier than explaining my fucked up life" he said.

"You're not the only one with a fucked up life trust me. My mum and I had to leave my father when I was just three years old because we were in danger because this guy was trying to kill my mother and I. A little bit than two years later my mother told me that she had a surprise for me, we left and came back to Italy and booked a hotel room for the night. The next morning when she was about to give me my surprise the guy who was trying to kill us showed up at our room, my mum fought him, and we ran as fast as we could, but he ran after us. He was so close to catching us, so my mother threw a knife at his leg to stop him, and she turned to tell me to go get my father for help and he um... shot her. She died a few minutes later in my arms" I said, as tears rolled down my cheeks.

"She d-died in your arms?" he asked.

"Yep, before she died, I asked her what my surprise was, she said that she brought me back to Italy to see my father, because I asked her to the night before. I yelled at her and screamed at her and told her I hated her because she took me away from my father. She died because of my selfishness" I said.

"She didn't die because of you, she was just doing the right thing because she loved you, she died because that asshole shot her" he said.

"And I told her I hated her, I'm the worst daughter ever" I said with a breaking voice as tears ran down my cheeks.

"I'm sure she knew that you loved her" he said, as he put his arm around my neck and pulled me closer to him and hugged me.

"I do love her; I love her so much and I just want her back" I said.

"I know, I miss my mother too" he said.

"How did your mother die?" I asked, pulling away from him and drying my tears.

"Car accident, I was with her but only I survived" he replied.

"That's awful" I said.

"Yeah, I've been living in the streets ever since. When I was thirteen, I started stealing, and at the age of fifteen I killed my first kill" he said.

"You lived in the streets?" I asked, with my mouth agape.

"Yep, well I had no other family other than my mother; I never met my father because my mum got pregnant after a one night stand, because my father and mother met on vacation, they slept together, and my mum got pregnant after their one night stand. My mum told me they fought a lot and he just left her a few seconds after I was born- he left her in the hospital room with me in her arms. I had no other family members, so I had to live in the streets" he said.

"Oh my god- your dad's a complete dick" I said.

"I know trust me" he said.

"Didn't the hospital put you up for adoption after your mother died?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I escaped, the adoption centre was horrible, and no one was ever adopting me, so the better option was to run away from there and then I ended up in the streets, at just seven years old" he said.

"You must have had a rough childhood then" I said.

"Yep, worst childhood ever. I even went to jail at seventeen" he said.

"J-jail?" I asked.

"Mhm, I was caught stealing once and had to go to jail for a year" he said.

"That's awful, I'm so sorry" I said.

"Well, I knew the price that I had to pay" he said, as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you at least know what your father's name was?" I asked.

"Mhm,his name was Marco Rossi" he replied as my eyes widened in shock.