7. Misunderstanding or a plan?

"Alexandra! What are you doing?!"

Her hand still gripping Elizabeth, Alexandra turned to face her dad and uncle. Shock was clear on their faces, yet there was uncertainty too, after all, this wasn't the first time Alexandra had been pissed off royally.

"What's going on?" George asked slowly, taking slow steps towards her as if any sudden movement would push her on the edge. Alexandra wanted to laugh at him yet she didn't. Instead, the grip on Elizabeth's hand tightened even more, making her wince in pain as she tried to set herself free.

It was finally when Sophia gently grabbed her shoulders, rubbing her arms and asked her to let go that she finally did. "Are you going to tell me?" Alexandra turned to her mom, completely ignoring her dad and uncle who had rushed to Elizabeth.

"It was nothing-"

"Mom."

Sophia gave her one of her stern gazes, silently telling her to let it go. But she wouldn't. Not this time.

"Fine." Alexandra clenched her jaw. She looked at her dad who was watching her with concern. "Who and why did they try to kill my mom?"

"Alexandra!" Jordan called out sharply. "Go to your room."

Her jaw ticked. Wordlessly casting him a dismissive glance, she pressed her dad for the answer. "Tell me dad."

"What lies have you been feeding her?!" Jordan fumed at Sophia, his Steele blue eyes blazing with pure hatred.

"Can you just fucking shut up for once?!" Alexandra snapped at her uncle who looked like he'd been slapped on his face.

She would get like this sometimes. Normally, she'd get annoyed easily but she would try to hold it in, and keep on building it up until she finally snaps. Once that happens, she wouldn't care who she was talking with or how she was conveying her feelings

...it did get a little messy sometimes.

Her aunt gasped. Alexandra ignored her. "Well. Tell me dad."

George, with wariness clouding his eyes, tried to calm her down. "No one tried to kill your mom. It was a misunderstanding."

Sophia too spoke up, gently turning her chin towards her. "I said it in the heat of the moment. You know I didn't mean it. Now honey, calm down. Take a deep breath."

Her mom was also her counselor of sort.

Alexandra felt like she was lying and wanted to demand answers. But knowing her uncle, this would only put her mom in a tight spot. Clenching her jaw, Alexandra fixed her glaring eyes at her uncle. Then she stormed off to her room, pushing aside Olivia who had blocked her way and let out a strangled cry.

Slamming the door shut, she roamed her eyes over her room wildly, her emotions slowly making a mess of her head. Then her eyes found the vase filled with flowers, beckoning her forward, filling her with his thoughts.

And for some strange reason, she found herself relaxing.

____

Xander

-------

"I met aunt Sophia."

Everyone paused eating at Xander's sudden words. Ethan and Amelia had been immersed in teasing Liam about his new painting when Xander entered the dining room.

They were pretty used to it now like they were to his silence. So it would obviously be a shock to suddenly hear him speak up, even more so as it wasn't about his missions or reports or the empire.

"How so?" Amelia asked slowly, the fear of him not answering clawing her heart. He hadn't spoken to her properly for a whole year. She always felt like she had lost him, and now hearing him speak a full sentence, to all of them sparked hope inside her heart.

Xander averted his eyes as if a mere look at her would reopen his wounds. "When I went to pick up...a friend. She's her daughter-"

"Alexandra?" Ethan and Liam asked at the same time. Ethan with curiosity and Liam with eagerness.

Xander nodded.

They couldn't contain their surprise. Liam, meanwhile kicked Xander's leg under the table and gave him a suggestive look with the raise of his brow.

"Wait. So you have a friend? And she's Alexandra?" Ethan asked, a smile threatening to break out on his lips. When Liam answered for Xander, Ethan smiled at Amelia, who had the similar look on her face.

Hope. Relief. Joy.

Also curiosity.

"He has a cru-" Xander kicked Liam's leg, shutting him up with a glare.

"That's amazing." Amelia smiled, "How did you two meet?"

Xander looked at her straight in the eye. "Don't you already know that? I thought you had people following me." He got up and left before anyone could deny it.

"You had people following him?!" Liam was enraged. He knew they were worried about him doing something reckles but making people follow him could might as well put his life on the risk. It wouldn't take a genius to know if the one following him was intercepted by enemies, it would be extremely risky. Especially since no one really knew his identity except the top leaders and bosses.

"It was last year-" Ethan began before being cut off by Liam.

"No wonder why he feels so restrained." Liam said, his eyes suddenly widening as a thought popped in his head. "Wait. You said last year. How could you do that?!" He was up and pacing beside the table, his hands flying wildly in frustration. "Did you know how many precautions he takes while meeting Zi - some people?! It would've posed a risk to them! How could you be so...intruding and insensitive to your own son's life?!"

Ethan stopped him. "What people?" He asked in suspicion, "Who was he meeting with?"

"Oh my god! Is that all you heard?! I'm saying-"

"Who was he meeting with Liam?" Ethan's voice was strict, demanding for answers like the head of the empire he was. Liam couldn't refuse to answer. Disobedience to your don would be punishable even if you're his own son.

But Liam was ready to take any punishment he would be given. "I can't tell you that."

"Liam-"

"I'm not betraying my brother's trust."

The father and son hadn't noticed Amelia silently slipping off to follow after her son. He had finally spoken a full sentence about something other than work and she wasn't going to let him slip back into his old self again.

She knocked on his door. "Not now Liam." She heard him tell from the other side.

"It's me." She said, hoping desperately for him to open the door and look at her with those loving eyes that weren't a cold emotionless wall, hiding his pain and showing nothing but contempt.

He didn't answer. When she opened the door, he was gone.

"Xander?" She called, peeking in in his walk in closet. When she didn't find him in the bathroom either, she rushed downstairs calling for Ethan and Liam.

"He's gone again! Ethan call him back before he hurts himself again-"

"See?!" Liam glared at Ethan, his hand already going for his phone. "This is why he had to sneak around. You're one of the main reasons he became this way but no! You just don't fucking see that!"

Before Ethan or Amelia could reprehend him, he ran out, dialing Xander's number.

This time, Xander answered his call.

"Where are you?? Mom's going crazy worrying about you-"

"Why? The men she put after me lost sight of me?"

Liam gritted his teeth. "Xander please."

He was silent for a few seconds. "... I'm checking out a personal report. Don't come after me. I'll be back by midnight." He disconnected the call before Liam could ask more.

He let out a groan. 'Why was his family so difficult to deal with?'

Xander had received a report from one of his personal guards about suspicious activity in their territory by the Central part of the city.

"We saw men moving boxes filled with white packages. We suspect they're drugs."

Xander smirked. This would be fun.

The building where they were moving these drugs was actually a big mall belonging to the Donatello family, one of their subordinates. However, Xander and Liam had some suspicions about their loyalties.

Dealing with drugs, normally in a really huge sum was supposed to be reported to the Knights even though they didn't really encourage their sale. Weaponry however, was something else entirely. Xander suspected the things they were moving weren't just drugs.

He casually got out of his car in the underground parking lot, his mask resting in his pocket, readt to be used.

He saw three men dressed as workers pushing up a trolley filled with boxes. He followed them to the elevator used by the staff.

They were probably going to the underlying basement beneath the parking lot.

He waited for a few minutes and then got in the elevator. Putting his mask on, he pulled the hood up. The gun in his hand cocked ready.

The room was empty save for a few empty boxes here and there. Two people stood guard by the door at the side. They immediately aimed their guns at him the moment he stepped in their view.

"Who are you?!"

"You're not supposed to come here!"

Xander tilted his head to the side. "You're new, aren't you?"

The guards looked at eachother and then back at Xander. "Who-"

Before the guard could finish his sentence, Xander ducked suddenly and grabbing his hand that was holding the gun, he jumped and kicked the gun out of the other guard's hands. Then he knocked them both out easily.

The door was locked from the inside.

Taking a few steps back, he ran at full speed and kicked open the door much to the surprise of everyone inside.

"M-master Knight?" Eric Donatello stood up shakily from his chair at the head of the table. Xander roamed his eyes across every single person sitting there until his eyes froze over one particular person.

A chilling smirk overtook his lips, sending shivers down their spines. "Well well well...what a perfect opportunity." He stalked forward taking slow, predatory steps, the hood on his head falling back. His messsy hair looked like the wet soil after the rain, and his eyes, peeking from underneath his mask, the hot blue stars burning with rage.

He was unarmed at the moment, his gun in his waistband. Yet, no one dared to attack him. That was the fear he inspired in people.

He looked relaxed, almost like he just hadn't crashed a top secret meeting that could very well be the proof to send the families present to shambles. Yet no one even had the courage to raise their voice.

It was like these people had accepted their fates, too late to make things right again.

Except the person who spoke up. He was Donatello's oldest son who pointed his gun at Xander. "Come on, we can kill him! He's alone!"

Big mistake.

Probably his last mistake ever.

The moment he fired the shot, Xander's smirk slipped into a blood curling sneer. It would be his last fucking mistake indeed.

_____________

Alexandra

-----------------

After she'd locked herself up in her room, there were some yells and shouts from downstairs. Mostly of her uncle. Then after a few minutes, her mom knocked on her door.

"We're going out."

She blinked. "Huh?"

Sophia gave her a knowing smile. "Don't you want to know what happened?"

Alexandra immediately understood. Her mom was probably not allowed to tell her what exactly happened and if she did, there would probably be another fight. And she's had enough fights for the day.

"Okay."

The living room was empty, save for Cole playing his video game on the TV. Not even their dad was there.

"Cole, would you like to come with us?" Sophia asked.

Cole ignored her, too immersed in his game. Sharing a look with Alexandra, Sophia gently smacked his head. "What?" Cole asked, startled.

"We're going out, will you come?"

Cole glanced back at the TV. "...No?"

Sophia sighed, a tired smile on her face. "Okay. Be careful all right? We'll be back in a few hours." But he had already gone back to his game and was yelling directions at his friends.

After the got in the car, Alexandra dropped the question. "Will you really tell me what happened?"

"Are you calm now?" Sophia asked, amused.

"Yes." Alexandra grumbled, crossing her arms on her chest. As Sophia chuckled, Alexandra eyed her weirdly. "You're awfully cheerful after another one of his useless fights."

Sophia smiled like she knew a secret. "I finally let out a lot of things...and curses."

Alexandra grinned. "You? Curses?"

Sophia nodded, proud of herself. "Don't underestimate me just because I look 'sweet and innocent'." She shook her head, the smile never leaving her lips. Alexandra wondered if she remembered that person.

She would ask about it later. But for now. "Okay now tell me what happened."

"There's honestly a lot." Sophia admitted, stopping at a red light. "A lot of fucked up stuff."

Alexandra waited patiently for her to continue. "Before we left your grandparents, things were really tense between Jordan and George. They had a really bad fight and their father took Jordan's side, even after finding out that he put you in danger. You were just born then... You remember Ethan? Xander's dad?"

Alexandra nodded.

"He and your dad's younger brother-"

"Dad has a younger brother?" She had another uncle and they never told her?

Sophia sighed. "Yes. He, along with Ethan kind of saved you and me that night."

"Saved us from who? Uncle Jordan?" If this was really true...she wouldn't be surprised. She always did think he hated her mom and dad, despite the sickly fake exterior he put on.

"...Yes. But your dad doesn't believe that he's responsible for it." Sophia creased her brows in frustration, "Like I said, it's really complicated. You and Cole, especially you, weren't supposed to know."

Alexandra scowled. "Why?"

"Because you already hate Jordan as it is. If you found out what he did, you won't even want to look at his face. Your dad was afraid of that, even if he didn't really believe that we almost died because of him."

"But why?" Alexandra was confused. "I mean, how did we almost die?"

Sophia was silent for a few seconds. "He had no heir. And George was about to take over the famil- I mean, their company. We were lucky Ethan and Nathan were with us that night, when you were born." There was a nostalgic smile on her face, as if she was reminiscing the past.

"Right after Amelia took Xander and Liam home," Alexandra felt a fluttering of emotions when she thought of Xander and Liam going to the hospital to see her. They were probably a year old, barely old enough to remember her.

"Some men attacked us. Luckily, Nathan, your other uncle and Ethan were with me and you were in the nursery with your dad. After getting back home, Jordan and your dad had a big fight, as Jordan accussed Ethan because the attack happened after Amelia and the kids left."

Alexandra gaped at her mom with her jaw almost on the floor. "Why would dad's best friend try to kill his wife?!"

"Exactly." Sophia agreed, parking the car. "They had a fight, we left. On top of that, Elizabeth never really liked me. Neither did Jordan for that matter. And now they want us to go back to the family, well, you and Cole specifically."

Alexandra slammed the car door shut after getting out. "So that's why dad's really trying to act nice to me, isn't it? He thinks if he pays me more attention I'll listen to him and go with him?"

Sophia shrugged, neither confirming it nor denying it. "And aunt Elizabeth was mad when I talked to Xander because she and her husband hate uncle Ethan?"

"Yup. It's kind of a long running enemiry between the two families."

Alexandra's mind drifted to the diary she'd picked up this afternoon. Should she tell her mom about it? She had so many doubts and questions. She'd even googled the name Villin and came up with something that shocked the hell out of her.

Like she'd expected, the Villin family was a freaking Crime Empire. It was one of the most dangerous ones in the world, ranking third after the Knights and the Fraziers along with the Yakuza.

And there was some supposed enemity between these three, ranging back to generations before them.

What the hell was a diary belonging to such dangerous person doing in her uncle's hands?

"Mom," she started hesitantly as they were about to enter the mall, "I found something weird-"

A loud sound of explosion shook the air, the ground beneath their feet trembled for a few moments just as a nearby building crumbled to the ground.

Panicked screams were heard followed by to more explosions and...the sound of raining bullets.

They ran to take cover, getting pulled alunf with the panicking crowd. Alexandra's hand slipped from her mom's and she fell to the ground as someone pushed her in their hurry.

"Mom!" She yelled, her heart racing with fear. She was nowhere in sight. Running as fast as her legs could carry, Alexandra weaved her way through the crowd trying to find their car. Taking out her phone she texted her mom.

'Going to the car, where you at??"

Another explosion shook the ground, causing her to go tumbling down her kness. Covering her ears with her hands, she stuck close to a car, the fires rising like a snake spitting fumes of poison in the air. A bullet hit the spot beside her on the car, a startled scream rising out if her mouth.

She didn't know what to do. Or how to find their car in the mob without getting hurt.

As she was about to rise and make a run for it, a shadow fell over her, like a shield casting it's protection. She raised her head trembling only to find a hooded figure with a mask covering his face. It looked really familiar, like the one her favourite Villain Adam Taurus wore. But this was designed a bit differently, allowing the wearer to see more clearly.

She couldn't see his eyes properly in the dark. The way he stood over her, with his hands leaned on the car above, looked like he was trying to protect her, to shield her from the rain of bullets.

He extended a gloved hand towards her, his fingertips peeking out. "Come with me."

Alexandra stiffened. That voice...!

Another bullet zipped past his ear. She quickly took his hand and he pulled her up to his level, his other hand gripping her waist. "Are you hurt?"

"N-no." Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper. He raked his eyes over her, stopping briefly at her knees where there was a dark patch of blood.

Then he broke out in a run, pulling her along. They ran through the alleys, taking the narrowest paths possible. His hand never left hers, like a piece of a puzzle fitted perfectly with it's counter piece.

"Where are you?" He asked in his earpiece after they came to a halt behind a truck wedged in the space between two buildings.

Alexandra glanced down at his wrist, her eyes trailing the weaving leather strips forming a band. It looked pretty old, yet it was in perfect condition. Her eyes trailed up to the black tip peeking out from underneath his sleeves. It looked like the tip of an arrow... similar to the one X-

"Come on." He said, gently pulling her with him to the side of the road where a sleek black sports car skidded to a halt. Opening the door, he gestured her to get in.

"I promise it's safe. He'll take you to your mom."

Alexandra narrowed her eyes,"How do you know my mom? And who are you?"

"I can't tell you that." He said, stepping back. He took out his gun from his waistband and cocked it. "I'm the most dangerous guy you'll have the displeasure of meeting with."

She looked at the gun in his hand. "You've kept me safe so far...so I think I'd like to take the risk."

The person sitting inside the car cleared their throat. "I hate to interrupt you two but we're kind of running low on time here."

She heard his voice somewhere too. She couldn't remember exactly who but she was sure she knew him.

The one with the Adam Taurus mask bowed his head at her and then disappeared behind the truck.

Alexandra sat in the car and immediately looked at the person in the driver's seat. He was also wearing a mask with the hood covering his face. His mask was completely different, almost shaped like the eyes of a dragon with gold lines curling into different designs on the black surface.

"Hi." He said, turning the car.

"Who are you?"

He smirked. "Like he said, someone really dangerous...but you can call me Draco. And don't worry, you're completely safe with me."

Maybe she was being too naive, trusting two masked strangers, one of which carried a freaking gun. But she felt like she could trust them, especially since one of them had risked his Life to save her. And the other was taking her to her mom.

"How do you even know where my mom is?" She asked.

The boy barely glanced at her. "I kind of took her to safety."

"Why are you helping us if you're so dangerous?"

He got silent, instead he spoke in his ear piece. "Go home?! You go home!"

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "No! I'll face the so called consequences of disobeying your orders instead. Let me come back."

Whatever the other person spoke, his mouth thinned in a line. "Fine...but I'm telling uncle."

He then removed his ear piece and threw it on the dashboard. "Sorry, you were saying?" He asked Alexandra.

They had reached the bus stop a few blocks from her house. Alexandra noticed her mom pacing beside her car.

The moment he stopped the car, Alexandra ran to her mom. Sophia released a breath of relief and wrapped her arms around Alexandra's shoulders. Her cheeks were flushed, wet with tears. "Thank goodness. Are you hurt anywhere?" She broke the hug and looked Alexandra over for injuries, concern lacing her voice.

"I'm fine." Alexandra squeezed her hand. "Just scraped my knee."

Sophia nodded, pulling Alexandra in a side hug. Then she shifted her eyes to the boy who'd reunited them safely.

"Just what the hell happened?" She asked, surprising Alexandra with the familiarity in her tone. "I thought they were safe places."

The boy shook his head. "They were. Not anymore. That's why we went to investigate and the explosions happened. Xa- my brother suspects it's the Villins."

Villins. A shiver passed her spine. What was one of the most dangerous Mafia families doing here?

"You should be really careful. Especially since you're..." He paused, looking at Alexandra's face. "Just be careful. I'll escort you both home."

He got back in his car when Sophia pulled Alexandra into their car. There were so many questions she wanted to ask so many things she wanted to know but judging by the grave look on her mom's face she kept mum.

Instead she looked at the car following them through the rear view mirror, the number of the car etching in her mind.

NY- 19-L-03-K

After they reached home, Draco waved at her and then turned his car around.

"Who were they?" Alexandra asked as her mom applied some rubbing Alcohol on her knee. She seemed to have calmed down now, the worry that had been in her eyes gone.

Sophia's hand froze over Alexandra's knee. "They just happened to see me in need and helped me."

"That's it?"

Sophia put back the bottle of alcohol back in the box and stood up. "You will find out sooner or later. But for now, sleep." She kissed her forehead. "I promise I will explain everything...later. Just trust me, okay?"

She nodded reluctantly. Giving her a small smile, Sophia left the room.

She found George watching the news of tonight's events ok the TV. Cole had gone to his roomz no doubt still playing his games on his phone.

"Do you know who did it?" She asked George.

He gave her a wry look. "Whatever it is you're thinking, it's definitely not it."

Sophia crossed her arms on her chest, staring at him defiantly. "And what am I thinking?"

"You think my brother did it-"

"I know your brother did it." Sophia snapped, her eyes narrowed into slits. "After all, this isn't the first time he tried to kill me and Alexandra. But what else can I expect?" She scoffed, her eyes glaring at George. "It runs in the whole family."