"Tony, do you think that you can question me and get away with it?" Mia was clear about her power here and it made Samantha almost drag her brother inside her room.
She gently squeezed her brother's arm, indicating that it was time to shut his mouth and retreat.
"I am just asking a simple question, Pericolosa. I think as a member of Serpents I must question the absurd decisions that are being made here." Tony gently pushed down his sister's hand from his arm and took a step towards Mia who was still sitting on the couch.
Tony was not remotely apprehensive about the reward that was just pushed away by Mia and Samantha knew this too well.
Samantha has seen the love of his brother for her best friend ever since she was a kid. When they were small Tony had always looked at Mia as if he was looking at the moon on a silent night.
Mia was someone that Tony could die for but right now even a blind person can see how Carys was spoiling and shattering the home that Tony had built ever since he was 10 years old.
It was as if a tornado had hit the hut that Tony was building with his raw hands and now there was nothing left.
This was not about the money that Robert had promised Mia but it was about the love that Mia never promised Tony but he knew that he deserved it.
"What if I give you no explanation?" Mia has nothing to lose. She knew that there was no way that Tony would even set foot outside this apartment without her permission. She was aware of the power that she had over Tony.
"Peri-"
Before Tony could reply to the extremely terse question that Mia had put forward a loud knock on the door got everyone's attention.
"I'll get it." Samantha immediately said and rushed towards the door. She needed an escape and she was praying to have someone on that door who could stop whatever was going on between her brother and her best friend right now.
Samantha's prayers were answered when she saw Leo standing at the door with a white envelope in his hand.
They have not called Leo or anyone from the gang to show up at their apartment. This was strange and Samantha almost regretted asking for a distraction because now this could mean something additionally terrible.
"What?" Samantha whispered as Leo analyzed the heavy air inside the apartment.
Leo just closed the door and stepped inside the apartment before saying anything to Samantha.
"We have got a letter, Pericolosa." Leo had a heavy voice as he took steps towards the couch where Mia sat idle.
Leo acknowledged Tony staring at Mia but did not comment on it. He knew better than to solve any issue between the best friends.
"What letter?" Mia asked and extended her hand towards Leo so that she could quickly go over the letter. Getting letters in the Mafia business was not a good omen.
"Is it bad?" Samantha asked as she came near the area where the three people had gathered. Leo shook his head and everyone stared at Mia slowly tearing apart the envelope to reveal the letter.
It was a single sheet of paper which Mia slowly opened. Nobody could read or understand what was written in the letter apart from Mia.
She held the letter at eye level and spread it open. Then, she scanned the four lines which were written on the letter and took a deep breath.
Everyone in the room knew that when Mia took a deep breath it meant that something was about to go down. She then stood up from the couch and crushed the letter in her right hand before throwing it directly on the floor.
"Your ankle!" Samantha almost yelled at Mia as she stood up balancing herself on both of her angles which didn't look quite good considering her injury.
"Call an emergency meeting right now!" Mia had almost no hint of any pain in her voice as she commanded Leo to call a meeting.
"Yes ma'am," Leo answered and pulled out his phone before walking inside Samantha's room to call a meeting.
Mia walked inside her room and closed the door with a thud. The sound of the bedroom door locking echoed in the apartment.
The pair of siblings looked at each other trying to decipher what was happening inside the apartment.
Tony then slowly crouched down and picked up the crumbled letter that was left behind by Mia before she locked herself inside her bedroom.
Samantha looked at her brother picking up the letter and immediately went ahead so that she could also read what was written on that piece of paper.
Tony opened the letter to see what was written inside. After what felt like ages and numerous attempts to get rid of the creases, the letter was finally in the condition to be read by Tony.
'This is an open threat. Carys will be killed, just not by Pericolosa.'
Tony turned back and looked at Samantha who was equally astounded after reading the words written on the paper. There was no way that someone could threaten Pericolosa. She was not someone that should be messed with.
"What is this?" Tony spoke carefully as if someone was there listening to the conversation right now. It felt like they were being watched.
"It's serious," Samantha whispered in response.
The door on the opposite side of the living room clicked open and Leo emerged from inside.
He looked at Tony reading the letter and Samantha looking like she had seen a ghost and immediately crossed the distance between himself and the siblings.
"This is an actual threat. How did we get this letter?" Samantha asked Leo with scared eyes.
Leo shook his head and dropped his shoulder with regret, "We could not track down the person who dropped this letter."
"Is that what you will be saying to her?" Samantha asked and rested herself on the couch. She ran her fingers through her scalp and tried to calm herself down.
"The people will be here in 5 minutes," Leo informed the people in the room.
"She was already pissed and now there is this letter. I don't know what she will do now." Samantha said to herself but the apartment was quiet enough that the sentence was heard by both Tony and Leo.
"There must be a mouse," said Tony and looked at the crumbled letter again.
"Yes, I think so too and I think I am about to get fired." Leo gave out a light chuckle and looked at his shoes.
"No, you will not get fired. You will be killed. Do you even know how pissed she is and how is it possible that a person dropped the letter into this apartment and none of you noticed?" Tony said and rested both of his hands on his waist.
A knock was heard on the door again and Leo immediately went towards the sound to open the door.
Samantha stood up from the couch and knocked on Mia's bedroom door. "The gang's here, Pericolosa."
"Lord help us," Tony whispered a tiny prayer into the air and took a deep breath.
It took almost five minutes for the gang members to gather inside the living room of the apartment.
Inside this living room now, six people from Serpents are standing in perfect unison. Leo, Samantha and Tony stood right in front of those six people waiting for Mia to come out of her bedroom.
Inside the bedroom, Mia looked at the mirror once again. The blush-pink Mia was now long gone. Now, there stood Pericolosa wearing her leather pants and the black high neck. It looked like home to Mia.
Her gun was in her right hand and she looked at it as if it was the only thing that was her own in this world.
She then turned around and finally opened the bedroom door to everyone's anticipation.
"I think that I have been too forgiving with the people here and everyone has kind of forgotten who I am,'' Mia said and stood at a safe distance from where she could see the nine people inside the room.
"Pericolosa." The six people said in unison and bowed their heads in respect.
Pericolosa had a status and this status was deeply respected in the Mafia world.
"Who got that letter?" The question was direct and it came from a voice of authority.
There was no response but the heavy breathing made it to her ears.
"You guys tell me now or I find it out myself and kill your entire bloodline right now. Just one word and one phone call." Pericolosa pulled one of the stool bars resting by the kitchen island.
The screeching sound of the stool's metal legs dragging on the wooden floor made everyone uncomfortable.
Samantha even covered her ears with the back of her hand.
"It was me, my highness."