ALINA'S POV

I'm met with the faces of my parents which are stunned.

"I mean I'm happy to train you myself Alina, but why all of a sudden do you ask this? You haven't mentioned it before" my dad asked me with a curious face after breaking the very awkward silence.

Think fast.

"Well, I understand that we have enemies and I'd like to feel confident in protecting myself. I don't want to be unable to fight back like I was when I was with Emma and Jason" I told them.

It was partly true.

Understanding swirled in their eyes.

"We're happy to train you ourselves Alina, but you can barely walk at the minute! I promise you that as soon as you are healed we will train you in whatever you want" my mother told me with a sad smile as she moved a strand of hair off my face.

As much as I appreciated them willing to do that, it wasn't good enough. I needed someone to teach me the basics, and soon.

I don't want to be pushed around any longer.

I refuse to be.

Plus there's this heavy feeling in my chest that I'm going to need this self defence sooner rather than later.

I'll find someone who's willing to train me even with some of my injuries.

It mainly my foot that the issue, as my shoulder has been healing faster as I've been trying to use it in everyday life.

It hurts using the crutches even though they're adapted solely due to my bad arm.

I won't be pushing myself as I've also been keeping in contact with my gym coach.

I have the big competition in around 6 weeks.

I should be fully healed by then as long as I stick to the basics right now.

I didn't even care if I don't have practice before the competition, I just want to compete.

I wanted to show my family what I could do and make them proud.

I just haven't got around to telling them about it yet.

I doubt they'd even let me think about it whilst I'm still injured

I'll worry about that later, right now I think I'll just stay here for a while.

I settled in with a heavy, tired sigh.

I felt my parents switch off the lights and settle in around me.

As soon as they tucked me between them their bedroom door slammed open.

We all jumped up in shock only to be met with Adrian's face.

My beating heart died down after a little.

Although I'm doing a lot better with my flinching and being scared at every little sound, some things really trigger me.

A worried expression on Adrian's face turned into a happy one as he made eye contact with me.

He bounded towards us.

"Uh, excuse me? You guys could have told me, you know?" He told us before jumping on the bed.

"Move over Dad, I need to be in the middle" he whined as if dad should have known that.

My dad rolled his eyes playfully at him but ultimately moved over for him.

He settled himself beside me between our parents.

He loves cuddles. I'm pretty sure it his favourite thing in the world.

As I thought about our positions I realised I had seen this before.

Mom had a photo of us like this on her wall of photos of when we were babies.

It felt right being like this.

Having the protection of my parents and my twin with the rest of brothers down the hall.

I felt happy.

I felt complete.

This is exactly what I wanted.

A loving and supporting family.

I smiled as I felt my moms arms encase around me.

For the first time in my life I felt safe inside my own home.

I felt asleep contently.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

I awoke to find Adrian was the only one left beside me.

I rubbed my eyes before looking at the bedside clock.

9:45 am.

That's got to be the longest I've ever slept for in my life.

Of course Adrian was still asleep.

He could definitely sleep through an earthquake.

I leave him in peace to start my journey.

I first make a detour to my room in order to get ready.

I needed to find one of my brothers that would be willing to help me.

It couldn't be Marco, because he'd demand all the information on why I want to do this, the same with Adrian if he was awake.

Rocco is a good option but I know that he is quite busy on the weekends.

I don't really want to ask Matheo, as I'm sure he'd knock out the kids himself, which I don't want.

I'm dealing with it.

That just leaves Luca and Romeo.

Now, who's the best option?

It's a hard decision.

I ultimately decide to take Romeo under my wing as he is the first one I come across.

I saunter over to him slowly to not raise suspicion.

"Romeo, my man. Any chance I could grab a favour from you?" I asked him after finding him alone in the living room.

He raised his eyebrow up at me skeptically as he faced me.

"What do you mean? And since when am I your man?" He questioned me.

"I need a little bit of your help, in the form of a favour. And you've always been my man" I tell him.

"You're acting weird Alina" he replies whilst squinting his eyes at me.

As we have a little stare off, of which I loose, I sigh in annoyance.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked him

He stared at me for a moment before answering.

"For you, yes. Why?"

"Do you know the basics of self defence?"

"I do" He drawled out.

"Do you think you could teach me the basics, please?" I ask him.

"And why does one like yourself need to learn the basics of basically fighting?" he questions me with a serious look on his face.

Overprotective brother mode is now officially on.

"I want to feel as though I can protect myself" I tell him.

"And if I did take you on as my padawan how would you do anything? You're injured. And, I'm sure as hell not letting you get hurt even more whilst being under my watch" He tells me whilst raising his eyebrow.

"Pretty please Romeo? I just need the basics and my arm is fine I promise!" I tried to assure him.

He stared at me skeptically.

I gave him my puppy dog eyes hoping they'd make him give in.

I could tell he was trying to stay strong from the look of concentration on his face but I knew that I had ultimately I won when I heard him sigh and shake his head.

"I'm willing to show you the basics right now, ok?" He told me as he playfully rolled his eyes at me as my eyes lit up.

"If you think my arm is good can I try some things?" I asked him in excitement.

"We'll see" he told me before picking me up.

He had the same logic as Dad. I shouldn't have to walk anywhere I don't need to.

Aka if they're around I get to be carried everywhere.

I smiled gleefully as I realised I was going to learn self defence.

I think I'd look pretty badass kicking the assess of bad guys.

And standing my ground against others.

He took me to our gym and set me down on a bench opposite a punching bag.

"Ok, I'll start with demonstrating how to punch and then I'll talk you through the movements, so listen closely padawan" Romeo tells me.

Did I forget to mention; Romeo's a big Star Wars fan.

He watched me as he started wrapping his hands to protect them from the impact of the bag.

"The most basic thing you can learn about self defence, is punching. It is the most commonly used skill and is arguably the most useful" he told me.

"So to start, you want to clench your fist making sure your thumb is on the outside and not on the inside or you'll break your thumb." He told me whilst slowly showing the movements.

I nodded in response doing the same movements myself.

"You're going to hold your fists up next to your face with a wide stance, one front in front of the other so you can get some momentum" he told me as he punched the bag making it move quickly and harshly.

"What the most important detail to remember is to not stay flat footed. It gives people time to retaliate, so you have to keep moving." He told me as he did just that.

"Obviously you can only start doing the footwork when you're healed" he told me as he turned to give me a stern look

I nodded seriously at him in response.

He nodded at me before continuing

"So just remember, arms up, feet moving and swing. Hold hard, and release. If you're only planning on doing one punch hold all the anger you have and let it all rip out" he told me as he continuously moved around the bag punching.

After letting some anger loose he got a hold of the bag to stop it from swinging and came over to me.

He knelt before me as he took my arm in his hand.

"Let me see your arm" he asks.

"Does this hurt?" He asked me as he lifted my arm up.

My wince was a reply enough for him.

I guess it wasn't as strong as I thought.

At least I still had one good arm, which I could still punch with.

Romeo shook his head at me with a sad smile on his face.

"I'm sorry Alina but I couldn't live with myself if I let you try and punch out there whilst your shoulder is in this state. I'm sorry, I know you were looking forward to having a chance at trying" he told me solemnly.

I put my hand on his arm in reassurance.

"Don't work Romeo, you've done enough for me right now. Thank you, truly"

He'd been very helpful.

I saw a smile of relief decorate his face after I said those words.

I will be standing my ground from now on.

I mean, I'll try my best.

Hopefully it will be enough.

SALVATORES POV

After having our little bonding session with my twins last night, I felt as though everything was going back to the way they were.

The way they should have always been.

I was currently reading through an email from the Karlsson family regarding their son Elias and when to schedule the meeting so we could have the talk on why I took Elias.

His father is already very understanding in his email which I appreciate.

The rule is that if anyone from a different mafia, one in which you don't have an alliance with or they don't have an invitation, is in your territory then you have a right to take them to question them.

Sneaking into a different mafias country is a dangerous game to play.

Of course the Russians thought to be above that, then and now.

My men drag a stumbling man through my office.

I raise my eyebrow in question at them bringing in a random man.

"We found him wandering on the outskirts of your estate Don. We searched around for the area for anyone else but he was the only one. He also seems to have the symbol, Don" my men tell me.

I roll my eyes. Speak of the devils.

The Russians think it's smart to all have matching tattoos.

I do not know why as it makes them easily identifiable to others like us.

For the second strongest mafia in the world they sure are stupid.

After hearing that it was the Russians on my territory a while back I've increased the security around my family.

Inside the house and out, as well as when anyone leaves.

I can't risk anything.

When Alina came to me wanting to learn how to fight, I was happy to agree.

It would make me feel a little more at ease knowing she would be able to protect herself a little.

I just need her to be healed before I let her.

I don't want her to be in pain and hurt herself further.

I tell my men to put the unconscious man in the basement.

I go to find Alina to see if she's up for coming with me to see the man in the basement.

It promised her I'd let her do this.

I will always keep my promises with all of my children.

A/N - Sorry for the late update I've had exams so this part ain't the best. Action chapter will be coming so stay tuned! Also let me know your opinion on Theo's chapter!