Zyphre’s Pov

She keeps looking at me, possibly waiting for me to say something. But I don't.

I want her to feel intimidated by our presence. She should fear us so she’ll be more compliant with the answers.

“What do you wanna talk about?” She asks furrowing her eyebrows.

I share a look with my brothers and they obviously are wondering the same thing as me.

Rather than being an obedient little girl and speaking when spoken to, she's challenging us to say something she doesn't like so she can talk back.

She has the balls to get pissed at us.

It makes me wonder if her dislike towards us is because she knows the truth about us or because she's bratty in general.

“We want to know what exactly happened?” Ares starts the questioning.

“Then I'm not the person for it. I don't know anything. He said he got shot so I got back home and then drove him here but he passed out right after.”

She's so composed now. The fear and panic from earlier is gone. All it took was the words “he’s fine” to calm her down. She must love him so much.

“You drove? Aren't you sixteen?”

“I can drive.” She doesn't elaborate on her answer.

Instead, she folds her arms over her chest, looking at us lazily. She's portraying how she'd rather be anywhere else but here, talking to us.

“That's illegal.” Hades comments with a stern face.

“Seriously?” She gives him a look of disapproval. “Do you have any other questions or can I go?”

She really wants to leave but I can't let her. We have to know any information that she could give us which could help us figure this out fast or if there's any chance of her involvement in the attack.

“Was he shot at home?”

“No. He went out for drinks with our neighbor Oliver. They do it once in a while. He must've gotten shot coming back home.”

“Do you think Oliver might have something to do with it?”

“No.” She says immediately. “We've known him and his family since we started living in the neighborhood right after I was born. He was my elementary school teacher and his family is also very nice. His wife is a social worker and like a mother to me and his son is my best friend.”

She sounds like she trusts people too easily. It doesn't matter if you’ve known them for years, it just takes a few bucks for people to change loyalties.

“When was he supposed to get back home?”

Dad always told us the supposed time which made it easy for us to sneak back in, which I'm pretty sure she planned on doing too.

“He usually gets back around five.” Hades simply nods.

It could only mean that he was shot while with Oliver and not when getting back home alone. I think we know where to start. Even if he and his family sound clean, we have to make sure they actually are trustworthy.

“When did you get the call?” I ask leaning against the wall and crossing my ankles.

“Around… 3:50.”

“And you said you ‘got back home’. What were you doing out at 3:50 at night?”

Her face fell but it wasn't fear of being caught like I had expected, it was anger. She didn't like that I was questioning her. She was offended at something that she shouldn't be at.

We won't let her slide away without answers. If she thinks she's so smart to fool adults then she's wrong. All of us here know that she snuck out to drink and possibly fuc-

I don't even wanna imagine her doing it. She's too young to even consider the idea of it. What's wrong with her?

When we were young, dad didn't get to spend a lot of time with us as he was always busy making the ends meet. And since our mother had died giving birth to us, we rarely had anyone telling us what's right and wrong.

We love our father for doing more than he could’ve for us, he was always there for us when we messed up or when we really needed him but we lacked his presence on a regular basis.

We lacked guidance which led to us being exactly what a teenager shouldn't.

But she had our dad. We sent them a monthly allowance so he wouldn't have to neglect her and they could live comfortably; unlike us.

He opened a small restaurant as a front to justify the money coming in his bank every month. I thought he was bringing her up just fine. I didn't know she'd turn out no better than us.

“That doesn't matter. What matters is that grandpa was shot so investigate that.” She says arrogantly.

If she wasn't who she is, we would never take shit from her. Most of the people either died or were tortured then died. She's lucky we don't plan on harming her but she shouldn't test our limits.

“We'll do what we deem fit. You're here to answer us so tell us what we want to know.” I was fuming now. We've given her enough chances.

“I'll not telling you where I was. It's none of your business.”

I take a step towards her. “Speak. Or we know how to make you.” It was just a threat so she complies.

“What you gonna do?” She raises a questioning brow. “Hit me? I'll tell grandpa!”

She might act all courageous but we saw how she slightly looked back to confirm how far she was from the exit. She's planning to dash out if we try something. That would be funny to witness.

“Do you know who he is to us? He might not even believe your word over ours.” Ares said, taking out his cigarette and placing it between his lips.

“Since you're too old, you might not remember but he chose me over you three.” She smirks at us.

With years in the Mafia, I know how to hurt. I know exactly what to say to emphasize that emotion but I stop myself from saying something my father won't approve of.

“You think you can outsmart us, little girl?” Hades asked calmly but I know he's slowly starting to fume.

Before she had a chance to reply, Ares spoke again. “We don't give a fuck about where you were. But it's crucial you tell us so we know who is a potential suspect.”

Her eyebrows furrowed when she realized what he meant. “You think I would hurt my grandpa? Are you out of your mind?”

“We don't trust anyone.” I comment.

“Fine. I thought grandpa won't be back so soon so I snuck out to go to a club. Happy?” She asks sarcastically.

“And what did you do there?”

“What anyone does.” She knows it's not gonna sound right so she's avoiding the question.

“Let me simplify it for you. Did you drink?” She gulps uncomfortably and contemplates for a minute before giving a nod.

“Dance?” Nod.

“Smoke?” An uncertain nod.

“Drugs?”

She stops and her eyes search my face. She's trying to see whether I'll overreact if she tells me the truth. I keep a calm exterior even if my insides flame with each nod from her.

She finally nods again. I grit my teeth before asking the next question. “You were with friends?” She shakes her head. So she was making out or probably doing way worse with a random stranger.

“How old was the guy you were with?” Her lips thin at the question and I can tell she's about to deny. “Don't lie. We can all see the hickeys on you.”

Her eyes widened like she hadn't known she had marks all over her neck. She immediately placed her hands on her neck to cover it from our view.

It's useless since we've already seen it. But I guess the little girl is embarrassed that we’re seeing this. Her cheeks flushed even more and she averted her eyes to the ground.

“What happened? I thought you liked to talk back.” Hades mocked.

“I- Stop asking me irrelevant questions. I'm not obliged to tell you about my personal life.” Her confident demeanor has lessened now.

“We'll ask what we want and unfortunately for you, you have to answer us.”

She looked up again and her eyes showed pure rage. “No. You can't just come back one day and expect answers from me.”

“So you do know who we are?” Ares takes a puff of his cigarette.

She scoffs. “You think I wouldn't?” She's glaring at us now. “I know one of you is my sperm donor.”

None of us know what to say to that. She's right but we didn't want to hear the bitter truth. She's purposely saying this to piss us off.

We know one of us is her father. We never took a DNA test because finding out who she belonged to was unnecessary as we never wanted a kid.

But we know the whore didn't lie when she said we got her pregnant because our father did a test with his blood and it matched a quarter.

“Drop the attitude, little girl.” I grit through my teeth.

“Wait,” I see her face visibly turning into confusion. “You don't even know my name.” She's offended. But I don't understand why.

“How would we? We're meeting for the first time.” Ares tells her the obvious.

“But I thought you'd know...” She says quietly.

A few moments pass and she gulps before looking up at us with weird expressions. “It's okay, I just know your names, I don't know who's who either.”

It sounds like she's saying this more to herself than us. She affirming herself that she hasn't put in more effort than us.

If we were capable of emotions this would've sounded sad. But if we were then we wouldn't have gotten to where we are today. We would’ve spared every bastard who tries to rise against us and would be dead long ago.

I was getting sick of this conversation now and wanted to leave and get a drink but before I could, the door to my father's room opened again.

The whole team of paramedics come out and move to the door getting out of the cottage while Alex comes towards us.

“He's awake.” He informs. He knew we'd want to talk to him alone which is why he had his team leave early.

A wide smile appears on her face. And she's forgotten about the hickeys again as she brings her hands down by her side and rushes towards our dad’s room.

“Were those hickeys or is she hurt?” Alex asks me casually.

My hands fists with the urge to beat the shit out of him. He thinks if we trust him slightly more than others then he has the right to say every bloody thing on his mind. We need to put him in his place.

When he doesn't hear a response, he peels his eyes from her retracting figure and turns towards us. Our glare has his formal relaxed expressions dropping into one of fear.

“I was just asking so she could be treated. I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect.” We didn't reply to him. “I'll be out if you need anything.” He didn't dare to breathe in our presence again and rushed out.

My brothers and I make our way to the room to see our father who we haven't seen for the last six years. The door’s left ajar and the moment we’re near it, we start hearing her voice again.

“....and I'm never talking to you if you do anything like this again. You scared me. If something has happened….”

Is she really blaming my father for what happened?

He wouldn't go and ask to be shot. That’s madness. She's too overwhelmed by emotions that she's saying things that doesn't even make sense.

Her resemblance to us was uncanny but it seems to be limited to physical appearance. She's nothing like us.

She's too emotional and fragile.

Dad's sitting up using the backrest as support. His left shoulder is bandaged and a shirt hangs loosely from the other one covering his chest.

Why even bother with a shirt when you can't physically wear it? It's surely because of her.

He always taught us to behave in a certain way in the presence of girls. He wanted us to always be more respectful than a normal person is.

But we went shirtless, cursing or drinking however much we wanted. The girls could leave for all we cared. We weren't doing these things in public or at a place not designated for such activities so we weren't obligated to be gentlemen for them. We wouldn't change our ways for anyone.

She continues her ramble while clinging to his neck like a Koala. He hisses but she doesn't get the signal and carries on her monologue occasionally kissing his cheek and hair like he's a baby.

“... And next time give me a heads-up so I stay home-” I grab her arm and peel her off my father.

It's weird touching her. Feels like I'm doing something I'm not supposed to. My brothers and I had an unspoken rule to never ever see the kid we never wanted.

And standing so close to her, holding her feels like I'm breaking our commitment.

It feels like she isn't just a thought that we had long forgotten about. She isn't just a mistake that changed our lives. Or a fetus that we wanted to kill.

She's a reality.

She looks at me with her eyes wide open in shock and eyebrows slowly pinching together in anger. I look between her face and my hand still on her arm.

My mind starts getting a clearer image of why I'm here and I instantly drop my grip off her. I don't know what I started thinking about but I'm more focused now.

It's just a random meeting with a teenager. Nothing that I need to complicate. We won't ever need to see her again. We just have to tolerate her presence for a few hours.

“Can't you see he’s hurt?” I snap at her.

I lean towards her as she's still sitting on the bed. She moves her face back and looks at me more confused than shocked of my outburst.

Once she's over the initial emotions, she starts glaring at me. “What's your problem? If he was hurt, he would’ve told me.” She's almost shouting and I hate the sound of it.

“He would’ve if you just shut up your bloody monologue.” I match her pitch.

“Zyphre!” Dad warns.

I turn to look at him. He looks ragged. It's different from how he used to scold us when we fought with each other.

It's the type of expression he would bear when we did something horribly wrong, like the first time we brought home Hades passed out from drugs. Or when Ares accidentally put our backyard on fire. Or when he got to know I participated in an illegal boxing tournament.

Or when we knocked up a 26 year old whore.

But however mad he was at us, he always helped us. Always made sure that we were okay. He would cover our mistakes and take it upon himself to make them right.

And even now I know he's happy to see us. He just has to do the right thing and stand up for his granddaughter against us.

“I'm just saying, she should be careful. She might hurt you.” I tell dad calmly.

“You could've said that without manhandling me.” She scoffs.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I know how much this girl means to my father, I can't throw her out of the fucking room.

“Are you okay, dad?” Hades asks, intentionally changing the topic.

While our father prefers to solve the problem, Hades likes to move on from it. He's always the most poised and rational despite being the youngest. While Ares and I prioritize just keeping up appearance, Hades is also sorted in his brain.

He doesn't lose his calm like I do which is why he handles all the business matters. Not to mention he’s smart with numbers and financial decisions.

I on the other hand prefer anything that works up my body physically. It includes torture sessions, boxing, deadly missions, sex and many more. Since I have severe anger issues —that I don't bother doing something about— I’m usually the most unpredictable among us all.

Even if he's the oldest, Ares is the most spoiled one among us. He likes everything that doesn't count in traditional work. He would attend parties, buy the most luxurious painting, go to the fanciest spas and treat himself to the best food.

But there's no denying that he isn't valuable to our business. He comes up with the best ideas for our companies as he's the creative one. And he gets us the craziest of deals as he’s connected with everyone who's a potential profit in some form.

“Oh my god. I'm so sorry, I forgot to ask how you are.” She bites her lip and looks at dad with guilty eyes.

“It's okay, sweetheart. I'm fine.” Dad smiles at her.

“Thank god. I got so scared. You know I literally cried.” She says dramatically.

“I know. I'm sorry I scared you.” He brushes his thumb on her cheek apologizing when it isn't his damn fault.

“It's okay. Just don't do that again.” She mumbles, leaning into his hand.

“I won't, I promise.” Of course dad’s gonna give into her stupid request.

“Did you see who shot you?” Ares asks this time.

We know our father should rest but the sooner we start searching for the bastards, the easier it will be. We want them to pay, we can't let them get away because we were too far behind.