Chapter 6

• Luciano
• I stopped in my tracks when I saw the interesting woman I had met a few weeks ago. The apprentices seemed to be having an intelligence test of some sort. Consequently, I was noticed by the trainers who were proctoring the current test.
• “Don Luciano,” they bowed their heads when they noticed my presence.
• “Insorgere,” I said, making them raise their heads.
• “Shall I introduce you to the new apprentices, Don?” Andrea asked, about to call for their attention.
• “No,” I shook my head. “It’s alright. I just came to visit.”
• She nodded her head and took a step back.
• “Apprentice#16, first!” Reese shouted, capturing my attention. I raised one of my eyebrows.
• Someone’s already finished with the test? Apprentices usually take a much longer time during this test because of its high caliber.
• The apprentices looked her way, and I, too, couldn’t help but observe the oblivious little woman. She stood up from her seat and calmly walked to the back of the training grounds. There was a small smile on her face, and I could tell that she was suppressing a much wider smile.
• I scoffed to myself as I saw this.
• “Interesting,” I muttered under my breath while looking at her.
• “Hmm?” Reese turned towards my way. “What’s interesting, Don?”
• I quickly shook my head. “Nothing, nothing. It’s just interesting that someone finished the test so quickly.”
• A proud smile appeared on his face, and I suddenly recalled that the two of them were siblings. I found out about this when I looked into Thalia’s background on the database.
• “Yeah,” Reese said. “She even beat my record.”
• “Interesting, indeed,” I agreed, catching a glimpse of her once more.
• ***
• “You, again?” she exclaimed as soon as we ran into each other. I was on my way back to the office after observing the test, and I somehow bumped into Thalia along the way.
• “It’s only the second time that we met, princess,” I smirked.
• She clicked her tongue. “Thalia. My name’s Thalia. Stop calling me princess. And meeting you once is already enough.”
• I shook my head at her snarky remark. “Alright, princess.”
• She let out a sigh of frustration. I bit my lips to contain my smile. It’s certainly different—how I interact with this girl. Usually, I wouldn’t bat an eye at someone I had just met, especially an apprentice. But, she gives off the kind of vibe that I want to tease—to taint.
• “Whatever,” she said. “I’m going now. I’m not even going to waste my time on you.”
• She walked away, but I didn’t want to end our conversation just yet, so I held onto her wrist and pulled her back.
• “What?” she snapped. “What is it with you and grabbing my wrist?” she glared at me.
• I opened my mouth, and for the first time, I felt speechless. It seems like my instincts just kicked in when I pulled her back. I actually don't know why I did so.
• I cleared my throat and took a step back. “So, you completed the intelligence test first, huh?”
• She smirked and proudly nodded her head. “I broke the highest record for that test, actually,” she boasted.
• I scoffed and shook my head. “No, you did not, princess. There’s one record that you didn’t beat.”
• “Whose record?” she frowned.
• I smirked and walked closer to her. She took a step back, but I persisted.
• “What are you doing?” she spluttered, her eyes wandering around—as if nervous.
• “Mine. You didn’t beat me, princess.”
• Her eyes widened in surprise, and she looked at me with her mouth agape. For the first time, I rendered her speechless.
• “Shut up,” she quickly recovered from her shock. “You’re not in the records.”
• That’s because I’m the very first one to take the test, I wanted to say, but decided not to in the end.
• It’s not time for me to tell her about my identity.
• Not yet.
• ***
• Thalia
• I plopped down on the bed with a long sigh.
• Daisy turned towards my way and chuckled. “What’s gotten you so down again? Shouldn’t you be jumping in joy since you’re the very first one to complete the test earlier?”
• I shook my head. “Nothing. I just met that annoying guy once again.”
• She smiled. “That annoyingly hot guy that you hate with your guts?”
• I nodded my head.
• “What happened?”
• “He’s still annoying.”
• “And hot?”
• “Daisy,” I snapped. “I told you—that doesn’t matter. My day is ruined because of him now.”
• I placed my hand over my chest and felt that my heart was still beating out of my chest. When he advanced toward me without saying anything, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
• “Then let’s not talk about him! Let’s talk about Don Luciano!” she excitedly chattered.
• “Don Luciano?” I sat up from the bed. “The boss of this place?”
• She nodded her head.
• I’ve heard of Don Luciano from my father’s and brothers’ conversations, but I actually haven’t seen him in real life. Actually, I don’t know much about their family. My father never really divulged any of the secrets of the Luciano family since I still wasn’t part of the caporegime.
• “You’ve seen him?” I asked.
• She clicked her tongue. “You haven’t? He was there a while ago during the intelligence test!”
• I frowned. Damn. I just missed my chance to finally meet the Mafia boss. “I didn’t notice.”
• “It’s because you were so focused on that damn test. No wonder you placed first.”
• I rolled my eyes. “At least I placed first,” I smirked.
• “And at least I saw Don Luciano. You should have seen him, Thalia! I thought I was going to pass out because of his handsomeness. How is it possible that someone so cruel could have such a face?” she dramatically said.
• “Do you know a lot about him?”
• She nodded her head. “Of course! My father told me a lot about him.”
• I frowned. Looks like Daisy has a good relationship with her father.
• Couldn’t be me.
• “I think he’s only around my age,” she said. “About 23-24. And I heard that he’s really good at his job—like extremely good. However, ever since he became the Don of the Cosa Nostra, more and more threats have been coming their way. I think it’s because other clans are afraid of his potential. It’s only been four years since he took over the Mafia, but he already got rid of so many corrupt clans around the area—those who kill innocent civilians without any valid reason.”
• “Sounds like an impressive man,” I said.
• Very different from a certain man—my mind strayed back to that high-ranking guard that I met earlier in the morning.
• “He is!” she said. “And you just missed the chance to meet him.”
• “It’s alright,” I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m sure I’ll get plenty of time to meet him once we graduate from the training system.”
• “You’re not wrong. I just hope I get assigned to be one of his guards. I don’t want to end up with the scumbags in this organization.”
• “We don’t get to choose?” I asked.
• “Are you clueless about everything?” she asked. “We don’t get to choose, dummy!”
• “Well, that’s the first time I’ve heard of that.”
• “What if you end up in the same team with that annoying guard that you’re talking about?” she suddenly asked.
• I shivered in disgust. “No way in hell! I’d rather guard the scumbags in the organization than be on the same team with that bastard.”