"I'm pretty sure we have to get ready soon." He voiced softly, feeling her heartbeat against his.

She only hummed in reply but stayed in the same position. He could hear her soft breaths tickle his earlobe as she sighed.

Another smaller person brushed against his arm and purred before drifting back to sleep. Her black fur had an extra sheen as he had made sure to give her a bath earlier that morning.

"We have a visitor." He chuckled lightly, his free hand pushing the beads on Eniola's hair away from her face.

"You spoil her." She mumbled, her voice muffled by his sweater. "And you smell good." He felt her breath him in.

"You smell like ten different perfumes all together." He replied honestly and she giggled then sat up, throwing her leg over his body and completely straddling him.

"Rebecca wanted us to try every single one before she decided on what to buy." She explained, pulling her sweatshirt over her head and tossing it to the side.

He was mildly disappointed that she had a sports bra underneath.

"Which did she get?" He asked, continuing the conversation.

"I don't know, this Yves Saint Laurent fragrance. I didn't really like it." She quickly ran her hand through his hair as she answered. "What are you going to do with this mess on your head?"

Tobias touched his hair too and shrugged. He would have had Luis give him a haircut of some sort but the man had been busy all day with the others.

She playfully rolled her eyes at him and attempted to get up.

"Where are you going?" He asked, holding her legs in place.

She dipped her head to give him a peck that he anxiously anticipated. He was getting too used to the attention and he wasn't sure it was for the best.

"You said we have to get ready." He bit his lip before nodding.

"I guess I did." He frowned at the loss of contact when she finally stood up and dragged him up as well. "Alright alright, I'm up."

"Come on, I'm excited to see what Alvaro got for you!" She said, making a beeline for the shopping bags he had kept on the desk.

He quickly pried them out of her hands before she could see the contents and held it away from her.

"Not until you show me yours." He gestured at the single cream bag that had Loro Piana written with gold letters. He briefly wondered how much she spent on it.

Probably a lot.

She looked at him wordlessly before pouting.

"Not a chance." He laughed at her stubbornness and hid his own bags behind the heap of pillows.

There was nothing special about his outfit. It was just a white low neck shirt that had some buttons missing and a suede dark blue suit. The suit was so dark that it could be mistaken for black obviously a decision made by Varo.

Unlike Tobias, Varo favored just one color; black.

He heard water running in the bathroom and Eniola walked out after the brief noise.

He eyed the plastic bag she had over her head and her small white towel that barely went over her butt.

"I couldn't find a shower cap!" She exclaimed and walked over to the bed, tucking the loose edges back in place.

He had barely finished making the bed as well when she had barged into the room after shopping with her girls and demanded they cuddle because she was stressed.

He chuckled when Cricket meowed and reluctantly hopped off the bed.

"Go fix your hair." She instructed, standing straight to retie her towel while he respectfully looked away.

"So you can look in the bags? Not a chance." Eniola narrowed her eyes at him and threw a pillow at him.

"I don't care. I'll find out anyway." And she was off to the bathroom.

Tobias chuckled before leaving the room with Cricket in his arms. If she wanted to find out that badly, he would let her.

"Afternoon, boss." Diego and Xino were just about to knock when he opened the door. The look on their faces made the smile on his face straighten.

"Is there a problem?"

"Well there is a small issue." Xino started, running a hand through his spiky black hair while Diego scoffed.

Tobias liked that Diego was straightforward. That was the most he knew about the bald man.

"Small? Capo, Varo has lost his shit." The Italian started after eyeing the small cat in Tobias's arms.

Again?

"What is he doing?" He gently shut the door behind him and began to walk towards the stairs. He would be too anxious to just stand in the elevator.

"He's trashing the entire living room." Diego answered as they both walked behind the boss.

"And you let him?" Tobias wondered what would make Varo angry again. He couldn't have crossed paths with Luca. The boy had left for Madrid early in the morning.

"It's Varo we're talking about here. We couldn't have done anything."

He sighed tiredly and handed Cricket to Diego. She did not need to see Alvaro in whatever state he was in.

"There's shredded chicken in the refrigerator and there's a can of cat food in the drawer above one of the sinks." He started. "I had to keep it out of the fridge so one of you wouldn't mistakenly eat it."

"Okay..." Diego trailed off, not knowing how to reply.

"Mix the chicken well. She tends to just pick out the cat food and leave the rest." The bald man simply nodded and left for the kitchen, purposely avoiding the doors of the living room.

"Buena suerte, jefe."

"Oh, Xino?" He called the needle haired man that was just about to follow Romelu who had just left.

"Yes, boss?" The man raised a dark brow at Tobias who rechecked to make sure there was no one in the hall.

"Tell Mateo I want him." He thought for another moment. "And Rebecca too. This has to be good." He muttered the last part while Xino just nodded and prepared to leave.

"Sure, boss."

Tobias drew up his sleeves and exhaled loudly before pushing the door open.

He took in the scene in front of him with caution as he closed the door behind him.

The television was missing its screen as it laid upturned on the sofa that had been pushed away a few inches. Shards of glass littered the floor with foam alongside it.

He tried his best to ignore the throw pillow hanging from the very modern chandelier that threatened to fall off its hinges.

In the mass destruction sat him; the man of the moment. He posed with a leg over another, with a blunt between his lips as his head tilted upwards. Almost like he was asleep.

It would seem like he had nothing to do with the entire mess if his hair had not all come out of the band he tied it with and if his knuckles were not bleeding.

Tobias cleared his throat, carefully sidestepping a broken vase.

Alvaro lazily turned to his direction then groaned tiredly.

"Mr Tobias." Tobias's eyes widened when he saw Clara seated on a small table adjacent to him.

She appeared calm to say the least and it was a good thing.

"Clara... Can you call someone to clean this up?" He asked, mainly wanting her to leave the room.

"I— yes, of course." She quietly dropped from the stool and was out of the room in a second.

Tobias merely bent over to pick up the broken vase on the floor. It was right at the entrance and could hurt someone.

"Before you ask, I didn't touch Clara." Alvaro's voice was not as smooth as it would usually be. It was gruff and throaty. Like he had just woken up.

He watched as whatever Varo was smoking returned to his lips and he sat up. Throwing a tantrum must be exhausting.

"I didn't hurt Clara." He said again.

Tobias bit his tongue, forcing the snarky remark to die in his stomach. Varo was a ticking time bomb.

"Okay..." He managed to say, his eyes sweeping over the living room and making an estimate of the replacements he had to make. Correction, estimate of the replacements Alvaro had to make.

Shockingly, his eyes landed on bullet holes on the wall... Right behind the table Clara was sitting on.

"Are you sure?"

Alvaro opened his blood red eyes to see the wall and closed them again.

"It was a mistake. I didn't hurt—'' He paused mid sentence because of a sneeze that made his blunt fly out of his hand. "That fucking cat is going to kill me."

Tobias rolled his eyes at the man, eyeing his ripped long sleeve. Alvaro's eyes followed his gaze and he muttered a curse when he saw his torn shirt.

The only sounds were the ripping of buttons and sniffles coming from the lawyer.

"I may have destroyed the entire place but when I say I did not hurt Clara, I did not hurt Clara." He started as he took off the black satin shirt.

Tobias barely paid attention to the intensity of ink on his back as he walked to the waste bin.

The man had everything tattooed on him. To think he hated them still surprised Tobias. Why go through so much pain if you don't like them?

At least Tobias's own tattoos meant a lot to him. The pain and inability to lie on his back for days were definitely worth it.

"Then why did you let her see you like that?" He knew Alvaro could be a monster when he was that livid. He had seen it several times after Felicio's death and he still had the scars to prove it.

"I couldn't let her just leave. I'm pretty sure I would have lost my mind completely." He replied as he sat down again. "She was not there when I shot at the wall. The woman even fought for the gun and threatened to shoot me in the leg if I didn't sit down." Varo said with a chuckle.

"Can Clara even use a gun?" Varo nodded in reply.

"She's been practising. I've been teaching her."

Varo rubbed his eyes tiredly as he tried to suppress a yawn.

"You do know this is unhealthy, no?" Alvaro's brows furrowed in confusion because of the question.

Tobias just shrugged. He was only stating an obvious fact.

"Your attachment to the woman. I'm uncertain whether you are in love with her or just latching onto her for other reasons."

"Sorry?" Varo asked slowly.

Tobias gauged his reaction, checking if it was safe to continue. The stiffness in the lawyer's posture gave him the right answer.

It was best he shut the hell up.

"What got you so upset?" He asked instead and Varo threw his head back in frustration.

"Fuck, you just had to bring it up." Alvaro retrieved his phone from the floor and frowned when he saw its state. He tossed the phone behind him, muttering about getting a new one.

"I'm waiting..."

"Oh, that. Yes, fuck." Varo said, trying to breathe through his nose in a bid to calm down. "Luca escaped."

Tobias raised an eyebrow at the news. It was the most stupid thing the boy had ever done.

It would have been better if he just faced the council.

"And that's why you proceeded to wreck my living room?" He asked amusingly.

"Well... I guess I lost my temper." The lawyer said quietly. You guess?!

"Tell me the full story." He demanded and Varo sighed but continued.

"So I got a call from Miguel a while ago—"

"I'm telling you, Varo's freakouts are never a good thing!" Rebecca's voice interrupted them as she pushed the door open.

"Oh... wow." Mateo calmly announced as his eyes traveled across the room and landed on the duo that were leisurely seated in all the chaos.

Varo barely acknowledged the two people as he continued his story.

"—he was losing his shit, going on and on about the plan going wrong." Varo rubbed his entire face tiredly as he waited for a reaction from Tobias.

"What went wrong?" He asked coolly, trying to ignore the taunting voice at the back of his mind.

Luca was not going to make things worse for himself, was he?

"Luca jumped the guy." Rebecca's gasp was quite audible as Tobias just leaned into his seat.

"So you're telling me a wounded child attacked a 35 year old martial artist?" Mateo asked, amused and Varo shook his head.

"No, I'm saying a wounded child, together with a graduate of the Minnesota Defence Academy attacked a 35 year old martial artist."

"Wait, the cop was with him?" The Asian-Mexican asked and Varo kissed his teeth.

"No, Jerry fucking Springer was with him." The lawyer chided with a forced smile. "Shut the fuck up."

Tobias's mind went back to their conversation the previous night. No wonder Foster was with him.

"Did you know about this?" Alvaro asked Rebecca's whose eyes widened with shock.

Tobias knew that look and he knew she was hiding something.

"What? Why would you even say that? Izan do you hear him?" Her brother only watched her with his expressionless face, coyly picking at the different tones in her voice.

"Well, you were supposed to be watching the cop-" Mateo was cut off by her loud voice.

"And? I'm not her fucking shadow!" Her dark curls bounced around her face as she flung her hands in defense. "Don't fucking play with me like that."

Mateo raised an arm in surrender while Alvaro of course pushed the subject.

"Bullshit." He started by with a frown.

"Excuse me?" He scoffed at her reaction as he pushed himself off the seat.

"I said, bullshit." Luckily, he walked past her to pick up a lighter that was on the ground. "I know a fucking liar when I see one."

Of course Alvaro would know.

"I'm done with this." She said conclusively, turning to leave the room when Varo caught her by the arm.

Tobias tensed in his seat.

"You like Luca even more than Gato. Of course you'd want to save his ass. And, everyone sees through your little act. Your lonely depressed self is always trying to impress people and turn them into friends. Friends we both know that you've never had." He said, grinning when she narrowed her eyes at him.

Tobias could already feel a headache brewing.

She may be lying at that moment but she was still his sister.

"Leave her." He was glad his voice was still steady.

Varo hesitated before finally letting go of Rebecca who looked like she had an extremely hard time with restraining herself from hitting the lawyer.

"You can go, Rebecca." He didn't need to tell her twice.

Alvaro groaned loudly once the door shut behind the woman.

"You know she's fucking lying, Gato." He fished out a pack of cigarettes and offered it to Mateo who accepted one.

It was his way of apologizing for the outburst.

"It doesn't give you the right to even touch her, Alvaro." Varo carelessly shrugged as he lit his stick.

"Do you think— Nah..." Mateo shook his head, seemingly in a bid to disperse the idea.

"Just talk..." The man rolled his eyes before continuing.

"Do you think Luca may be working for the cops or something? Maybe he wants to testify against the family?" Alvaro barked out a loud laugh as Mateo finished.

If that was his plan, the entire Nero family would be wiped out before the boy could pronounce his own double syllable nickname.

"I'm sure he's just trying to avoid the council." Tobias replied quietly. "I'll know if he steps foot in Minnesota."

It was only a matter of time until he got a detailed report of his Godson's whereabouts.

"What do we do when we get him?" Mateo asked and Tobias's eyes met Alvaro's.

"I want to talk to him, of course." His unwavering eye contact on the lawyer made the small eyed man uncomfortable.

"And the cop?"

Amalie Foster was as good as dead when he got news about her sneaking around his house.

"Just make her disappear." She never existed anyway.

~~~

His knuckles hovered over the door before he finally knocked. It took a while before his sister opened the door.

"Izan, what's up?" She asked, making way so he could enter.

She usually shared the room with Clara but lately, it was being occupied by Julio who was not there at that moment as he had gone with a few others to retrieve a battered Miguel.

He took in the intensity of the room.

Almost every furniture had a hint of red or dark pink color. It screamed royalty and power.

Titles that she had always wanted to have.

"Your room is nice. Does Clara approve of this?" He knew the English woman preferred mild and bright colors. Almost like he did.

"She doesn't mind. She's hardly here anyways. What's up?" Ah, there it was. The nervous tick.

He exhaled, sitting on the armrest of the lush red couch.

"Hm... She's close to Varo these days." He said and she just shrugged.

"Yeah... I guess they look nice together. When he isn't mentally unstable."

Tobias wanted to defend Alvaro but let it roll off of him. "You're not wrong."

He watched as she went to her dresser, reapplying some lipstick when their eyes met through the mirror.

"What are you hiding, sister?" She froze but quickly composed herself.

He could almost see her brain cells churning for an answer; an excuse, another lie or a diversion would do at that point.

She was desperate.

"So you believe what Mateo and Varo said? I can't believe you'd pick them over me." A diversion.

"So you're not hiding anything?" She was quick to shake her head at the question.

Another lie.

"Well if you say so, Rebecca." His eyes stayed locked on hers. Her gray dilated pupils said all he needed to know.

He stood to his feet and began to walk out of the room.

He had a party to prepare for.

"Would you be coming to the party as well?" He asked, hanging by her door frame.

"Y-yes. I'll be there." And there's a stutter!

"See you later then."

He smirked when he had her exhale loudly as she locked the door.

Rebecca was a horrible liar.

~~~

Ruining* I'm too lazy to redo the meme.



P.S: There's just 10 chapters remaining before I upload the bonus chapters (that I am yet to write).🤩