Chapter 9:


When, later that night, an ominous knock woke Tony from his sleep, he groaned. There were keyboard indent welt marks on his face from where he had face-planted his cheek on it while dozing.

The knock sounded again, echoing through the silence.

A feeling of dread passed over him as he pulled open the drapes to reveal a single lone black SUV in front of his house.

He rushed downstairs, taking the stairs two at a time and nearly falling on his face. His hand shot out to open the door, twisting the lock open and sliding the deadbolt out of the way. He flung the door open, revealing two men, who waited patiently.

"Domenico, Nico, come in," he exclaimed breathlessly, pasting a smile on his face. "What can I do for you gentlemen?"

"Ah, Tony," Domenico addressed him with false friendliness. "We just wanted to have a quick word with you, yes?"

Tony was ready to piss himself. If Domenico had decided to fly all the way from his little hideout just to visit Tony… well, things certainly did not look pretty.

"Yes, of course," he replied, voice cracking. He led them into the house, Nico closing the door behind him. He smiled at Tony as he locked the door, sliding the deadbolt back into place.

"Nice," Domenico remarked at the framed art hanging in the hallway. "If I remember correctly, some stolen masterpieces from the Louvre?" Tony nodded, beads of sweat running down his neck. "Ah, those were the days. Petty crime, nowadays, yes?" he said with a laugh.

"So…" Tony began nervously, as the three men took a seat in the living room. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, gentlemen?"

"Getting straight to business, as usual, Tony. I like that." Domenico leaned back into the leather sofa, waving a hand. "We just had a few questions for you."

"Ask away."

"First. Do you have any idea who the boy your stepdaughter was with?"

"No. Never seen 'im before in my life. I'll give you a description if you'd like."

"That would be lovely," Domenico said. "Nico, take it down, will you?"

Nico took notes as Tony described the blond boy.

"Next, and most important." Domenico leaned forward, putting his face close to Tony's. Tony nearly choked with fear. "Why is your stepdaughter so important to you?"

His heart nearly stopped.

"What?" he asked, feigning confusion.

"Considering how abusive you are to her, I find it awfully strange that you went through so much trouble to reclaim her, yes? Pulling out all those favours I owe you. Sticking a tracker in her pretty little head."

"She works for me at the store," he said lamely. Nico picked up a novel off the coffee table, flipping through it interestedly. He tucked it into his suitcase a moment later, making an amused face at Tony.

"Tony, Tony…" Domenico crooned, pulling out one of the many curved blades out of the inside of his suit jacket. Nico was suddenly at his side, pinning him down. "We need to be honest, here, yes?"

"Yes, yes…" he whispered hoarsely. A warmth spread through his pants. Great, he was so scared that he had actually pissed himself.

"C'mon, Tony, tell us," Domenico sang, pressing the tip of the blade into his neck.

"Her blood!" he gasped finally. "She has her father's blood."

"Who's the father?" Nico asked.

"Royal… royal blood," Tony cried.

"Who's the father?" Domenico repeated, interested.

"The older sister was illegitimate…" he gulped.

"The dead one?" Nico asked. Tony nodded.

"Who's the father?" Domenico asked again, growing impatient. He pressed the knife harder, drawing ruby drops of blood.

"Some king of some small insignificant country. But the wealth of the king is so enormous that it parallels that of Italy itself… and the girl's the heiress. The family's kept it hidden for centuries," Tony gasped.

"But you mentioned that the father and older sister taught her to fight, no? And her surname is her mother's, yes? Holloway." Domenico pursed his lips, deep in thought.

"It's complicated, really complicated," Tony whispered. "The father sent her away to live with another family, to keep her existence under wraps. She lived with the family, never knew the difference."

"Ah, and that's where you come in. I suppose you planned to somehow acquire the wealth by announcing yourself as your guardian or such."

"Yes…"

"Hah! This is quite hilarious. She's a princess!" Domenico exclaimed, laughing. His face suddenly turned very dark and serious. "Thank you, Tony. But some very unfortunate things happened to my ranks while they were chasing your 'stepdaughter'. At least thirty casualties. That's far too many for me to let pass." Domenico began pulling out other knives.

"Please…" he begged. Domenico paused, giving him a rather pitying look.

"Alright, fine, I'm a nice guy. Nico, shoot him."

Nico didn't even blink.

The two men left the house later that night, getting into the dark SUV parked in front of the house, driving off with a squeal of tires.


AN: Thank you everyone for all the support. Apologies for the short chapter. It was originally supposed to be 2,000 words or so, but the ending was a bit awkward so I decided to cut it.

A few things- first, I've had a few requests for either faster updates and/or longer chapters. I'm afraid I can't manage to do both, so as readers, what would you prefer? Longer chapters or faster updates?

And also, I would like to give a special thank you to iPage, who has constantly reviewed. Cheers, mate.

I'm absolutely astounded by the response to this story, and it has been a huge motivation and confidence boost for my writing. I decided to skip all my homework this weekend to write, so I got another 6,000 words of the story in. But it will require some further editing, so please be patient. Again, thank you to all the readers!

-agent galahad