I stepped into my marble shower and let the blood flow from my skin. I scrubbed my hands and watched my rightful tan skin color appear. I grabbed the soap and scrubbed my whole body making sure I didn't miss a thing. I let the water run through my scalp relieving the stress off my shoulders. 

I'm no closer to finding Guillermo than I was six months ago...

The only lead I had was Julio and you can tell just how well that panned out. I sighed and shut the water off. I grabbed a towel and dried off, then grabbed a blow dryer and combed through my long blonde hair.

I stepped into my bedroom which was as huge as every other room in the house. I had a white canopy bed which was neat because it hadn't been slept in. A mounted TV that I rarely used. A terrace with patio furniture and across the room I had a door that led into my equally huge closet.

Grabbing some shorts and a t-shirt, I looked around to see if I had tracked in any blood. I saw nothing so I grabbed the bag where I stuffed my bloody clothes and headed for the hallway.

Once I stepped out of my bedroom, I shut the door and took a deep breath. All my leads are going cold. It had almost been three months...

"What are you doing?"

Fucking hell...Aiya.

I turned around and saw the same face I always see ready to catch me in the act. My triplet sister Aiya.

"We're not doing this again Aiya. I'm a grown woman and this is the Bratva. If I want to torture and kill someone for information about Mom and Dad, I'm going to do that."

I started to walk away before she grabbed my wrist and I dropped the bag with my bloody clothes falling out.

"Great," I sighed, "That's a nine-grand 18th-century rug Aiya."

I shoved the clothes back into the bag and felt relieved seeing there was no blood on the rug, "What the hell is wrong with you Aleks? You can't just keep coming home with blood all over you and expect me not to want an explanation."

"I'd rather not have a conversation with your naive point of view today," I said, feeling myself get aggravated.

She took a deep breath, "I promise not to get upset, okay? I just want to know what happened."

I rolled my eyes and sighed because I knew I'd cave eventually, "I have been tracking Julio Ramirez after the trail went cold with Victor Santos. Around 2 AM this morning, I killed the men he had protected him and took him to a safe house. He didn't have much to say so I ended up killing him. Two to the head, one to the chest."

She sucked in her breath, "Who was he?"

"He was selling arms to Guillermo's crew," I said tying the bag up, "I thought he'd have some contact information but all he did was plead, which led me to believe he didn't know jack shit."

"Nik knows about this. He's in the study. Burn that bag then go talk to him."

I nodded, relieved she didn't spark up an argument, "Where's Valeria?"

She started laughing, "Aleks it's 9:00 AM on a Monday, Valeria is at school."

I laughed a little, "I forget she's only 17 sometimes," I said then I headed to the basement.

Aiya and I had similar faces but we weren't identical. She had black hair and green eyes like our mother. Her eyes were big and round but mine were thin and almond-shaped. My hair was a light blonde and she kept her black waves shoulder-length and curled.

She wasn't as invested in the "family business" as much as Nik and I. Aiya was the smartest one of us three when it came to academics. She was going to UCLA and studying to become a surgeon.

I was a trained fighter, killer, and spy, while Nik was being groomed to be the next boss of the mafia. We were quite the set of three.

Once I got down the stairs I stuffed the clothes in a bucket and drowned them in bleach, then took the gloves I was wearing out of the bag and torched them in a trash can along with my newly bleached clothes.

As soon as everything was good and singed, I covered the flames with an old blanket and put the fire out, then extinguished it for good measure.

I headed for the stairs again and walked across the family mansion until I finally reached the study.

Ivan was standing in front of the door as he usually does during this time for guard duty. He was a scary large dude with a scar on his eyebrow.

"I'm here to see my brother," I said trying to get this over with as quickly as possible. I was in deep shit.

"Yes, Ms. Petrov," he moved aside and opened the door for me and I headed in.

I saw my brother leaning on the desk with a stack of papers in his hands. His usually messy black hair was combed back, and his stubble was shaved leaving his chiseled jaw and cheekbones exposed enough that he looked exactly like our Dad. He was dressed up in a black suit and was wearing his rings.

"You rang, boss," I said sarcastically.

"Cut the shit Aleksandra," he threw the papers down on the desk and his icy blue eyes locked onto my matching ones, "You were told not to touch Julio, yes?"

"Yeah but-"

"But yet he was found dead today in one of our houses today."

"I'm sorry-"

"Honestly I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation Aleksandra Katya Svetlana Petrov," he walked closer to me and roughly grabbed my jaw, "I could have you killed for this shit. I'm acting boss, you understand this, yes? You don't call the fucking shots, I do and when I say I don't want him fucking dead, you don't fucking kill him!" he screamed.

I felt anger rising in me but I swallowed it as best as I could.

"I apologize Nikolai. It was not my intention to disrespect you or undermine your authority, brother."

He released my jaw and straightened himself out, "Fucking hell, Aleks. This Black Rose shit is gonna be the death of me," he ran a hand through his hair and he started to look a little more like himself, "I understand why you're doing this, I do. Roles reversed and I can't say I wouldn't do the same, but defying me is dangerous."

I looked back at him and felt myself get red hot, he was right.

"If it gets around that the boss of the Bratva is letting his sister undermine him without punishment, then people are gonna start to think I'm weak and if they think I'm weak, they'll coup."

"I'm sorry, I just thought that if I didn't get to Julio I would lose my trail. And I did regardless, he didn't know anything that gets us closer to Guillermo."

He started laughing, "Little sister you are usually not this stupid."

"What are you talking about?"

"Of course, he knew nothing. However, while Alexi was following him he found a location of a meeting where we can find Rafael."

"Rafael? As in Aunt Santana's Rafael? The one mom shot in the back almost 23 years ago."

"That's the one. He'll be there with his putrid cousin Luca, and so will you and Enzo."

"You seriously sending me with a babysitter!"

"Well considering the fact that you can't seem to follow orders, yes Aleksandra, I'm sending you with a babysitter."

The tone of his voice dropped slightly so I decided not to push him further on the subject.

"Have you heard anything from the hospital?"

His face softened and he shook his head, "No, I haven't."

"Tell me more about my mission then, when is it?" I said trying to shift the conversation back.

"It's tonight, but Enzo will have to fill you in, I have a meeting with Aiden in twenty minutes."

I nodded trying not to push him. Nik was acting boss now, which entails a large amount of respect and lines that I can't cross. Even being his sisters, me and Aiya had to watch the way we spoke to him now.

"I'll see you later okay," he kissed my forehead and headed out the door behind me.

I made a mistake in my investigation, clearly. Luckily for me, Nik was thinking rationally. But Julio was no life lost, he was there that night. Now it's onto the next target...

- - End of Chapter - -