{ Sworn Enemies... }
THEME: I DARE YOU
By, Dammrare
CHAPTER 15🦋16
★~•★~•★
{ THE INVITATION }
"The Mexico Cartel!" She blurted out, breathing heavily.
"The Mexico Cartel?" Hugo and Hudson repeated.
I balled my fist in anger.
....Those f**kers.
______
Harry slit the throat of the girl with a knife and she dropped dead on the chair immediately.
He tossed the knife aside and turned to face Hugo and Hudson.
"I will be with Father. Get rid of the body." He left the dungeon afterward without saying anything else to them.
As soon as he was gone and out of ears, Hugo faced his twin brother, giving him a scolding look.
"What do you want to say, Hugo?" Hudson breathed out, shoving his hands inside his pants pocket.
"You need to apologize to him."
"Apologize to him? For what?"
"Are you seriously asking me that question? You were rude and disrespectful to him earlier ago in his bedroom. What do you think the boss will say or think if he gets to find out about what transpired between you and the underboss?"
Hudson stayed quiet, feeling a little bit guilty and remorseful for what had actually happened between himself and Harry.
Yes, Harry Is his best friend but before that, he is the underboss of the empire and should be respected.
Hugo continued talking, "I know you were pissed off earlier. And we all know how stupid and brainless you can be when angry."
"Don't insult me, bruh." Hudson groaned.
Hugo threw his hands up in the air in surrender, exhaling deeply.
"Forgive my manners. But joke aside, you should apologize to Harry. He is really pissed off at you."
Hudson heaved out a deep breath.
"Listen, I didn't mean all that I said in his bedroom. I was only mad at the fact that he didn't see anything wrong with what he did. He brought a stranger to the residence. A stranger who happens to be an assassin. You get what I'm trying to say, right?"
"I understand. But do you really think that Harry doesn't feel bad for almost bringing harm to the Empire?" Hugo questioned but Hudson didn't reply. "You know what, both of you should just talk things out and don't keep a grudge. I don't want to be given an option to either hang out with you or him. I can't choose between the both of you."
Hudson chuckled and nodded his head.
"Fine. I will talk to him after we get rid of this b*tch's body. And hey, you should always choose me first. After all, I am your twin brother."
"Harry might not share the same blood with us but he is still a brother to us." Hugo muttered.
"True. Anyway, go and get the car ready, I will package the body and bring it outside."
"Sure." Hugo nodded his head firmly and left the dungeon while Hudson started wrapping the body of the girl with a piece of black fabric and packaged it inside a body bag before throwing it over his shoulders and going out of the dungeon as well.
••••
"The Mexico Cartel?" Mr. Osvaldo repeated, a deep frown appearing on his face. "Are there any enmity between us and them?"
"None that I know of."
"Why then will they want to kill you?" He asked.
Scarlett shrugged. "How would I have an answer to that question, Father? I have also thought of reasons why may want to kill me but nothing seems to come to mind."
"I swear I am going to kill that bastard. How dare he challenge us. Does he have no fear? Does he have a death wish?" He snarled, clenching his fist tight.
The Mexico Cartel and the Italian Mafia Empire have never had any kind of clash or misunderstanding before but that doesn't mean they were allies.
They were neither friends nor enemies.
Both respected each other's boundaries and the least they've ever done together was just business.
The Italian Mafia Empire doesn't go about disrupting people's peace and harmony or creating enemies for themselves and their families.
They are peace-loving people and the only empire they've ever had a clash with was the Russian mafia and everyone knows that already.
And just do you know, they chose to be peaceful not because they are scared of going to war but rather because they love and prefer their peace of mind over anything. And besides, every empire is afraid of them because they know how far the Italian mafia can go to bring another Empire down when provoked. Although, The Russian Empire was the only rivalry the Italian Empire has.
Moreover, cooperation and unity mean a lot to the Italians. Especially to Mr. Osvaldo.
Scarlett poured herself a glass of tequila and let out a deep breath.
"What are we going to do now? The Mexico Cartel has just drawn a war between us and them. We can't sit back and do nothing. They tried to kill me, how about we return the favor?"
Mr. Osvaldo nodded his head in agreement, ruffling his white-gray hair.
"Justus Augustine has just called for war and war they shall get."
"I love this," Scarlett smirked, gulping down the whole alcohol in the glass cup.
There was a knock on the door, interrupting their conversation.
Mr. Osvaldo shot a hard glare at the closed door and then screamed at the top of his voice.
"COME IN!"
There was no immediate response but the door was later pushed open and Mateo stepped inside, keeping his head low.
"Boss," He bowed to Osvaldo. "Underboss," He bowed to Scarlett.
"What is it?" Osvaldo asked in a cold voice.
"This mail came in for you," Mateo answered, stretching forth an envelope.
"Collect it from him, Scarlett."
Scarlett did just that without hesitating and then gave Mateo the 'You can go now' look.
"I will take my leave now." Mateo bowed his head deeper than earlier before leaving the office.
"Who is the mail from?" Her father asked, sitting down on the cream couch set at the center of the enormous office.
Scarlett turned to the back of the envelope and a frown clouded her face when she saw the name of the sender.
"It is from the mafia organization." She answered, tearing the envelope open as fast as possible so she could read the content of the letter.
"The Mafia organization?" He reiterated. "Why is that?"
"Well, there is only one way to find out." She went through the content of the letter. "Do you want me to read out loud? Or should I just summarize it?"
"Summarize it." He replied.
"There is a ball tonight and we are invited."
••••
(A/N: I HOPE YOU HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN THE NAME OF SCARLETT'S JUNIOR BROTHER. BECAUSE I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO BE CONFUSED)
"You are going to listen to me, young man. What's your problem!?" Mrs. Osvaldo snapped.
"What do you want from me, Mom? I have something very important to do right now. You are stressing me."
"I am stressing you?" She repeated. "Simply because I am asking you to pay more attention to your studies? Who in the world wants to become a doctor but hates studying?"
"Me?"
"You are sick." She bellowed. "Your teachers are always calling to tell me about your low grades and troublesome behavior in school. I trained you better than that."
Mr. Osvaldo and Scarlett stepped out of the office at the same time and saw the scene of both mother and son in the living room.
Scarlett just rolled her eyes and went upstairs to her room, ignoring the commotion while Mr. Osvaldo joined the conversation.
"What's going on?" He asked, looking between his wife and son.
"Talk to your son!" Mrs. Osvaldo yelled, going hands on her hip while glaring at Nelson.
"Why? What happened?"
"I don't know. She has been scolding me for no reason." Nelson said.
"You didn't just say that, did you?"
Mr. Osvaldo pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a deep breath.
"Can the both of you just shut up and tell me what's wrong?" He groaned.
"Your son scored the lowest in his class today. Tell me, how can somebody as dumb as him become a doctor? Or am I missing something here?"
Mr. Osvaldo turned to look at his son but Nelson quickly looked away.
"Is that right? Did you score the lowest again?"
"I... I was second to the lowest." He mumbled, still avoiding his father's gaze.
"And you are proud of that achievement. Can you imagine?" Mrs. Osvaldo let out. "Your son is getting on my last nerves. Do you know how embarrassing it is to be called by his teachers to tell me that my son is awful in school?"
"Calm down, honey." Mr. Osvaldo said calmly, letting out a low breath. "And wait a minute, why do you keep referring to him as my son? He is your son too."
"At this point, he is just your son." She said, leaving no room for argument, and then walked away.
Nelson bites his inner cheek, lowering his gaze to the floor.
"Wanna play golf with me?"
"Do I have a choice?"
The man smirked and shook his head.
"Nope. Come on, let's go."
••••
Mr. Maynard was pacing back and forth while Harry sat comfortably on a chair, watching his father.
"Why will the Mexico Cartel attack us? This makes no sense." The elderly man stated.
Harry remained mute.
"What is your take on this, son?" He finally stopped pacing and faced him.
Harry leaned back into his seat and shrugged.
"I honestly don't know. We have no problems at all with them and that's what is even more confusing."
"Justus Augustine has always been a fool and a greedy man but I never expected that one day he would challenge us."
"I'm going to kill him." Harry snarled.
"Of course. He has drawn the battle line."
There was a knock on the door and then the door opened without waiting for permission.
Jesse strolled inside with a husky dog pet, taming it with a leash.
"Oh, sweetheart." Mr. Maynard smiled.
"Hi, Dad." She smiled back at him, letting go of the leash of the dog, and went into her father's arms while the dog ran towards Harry.
"Hey, big man." Harry ruffled the dog's head. "How have you been with Jesse? Did she treat you well? Hope she didn't stress you?"
"Woof!" The dog barked, wagging his tail side by side in excitement.
"I miss you too, boy." Harry replied as if he could hear the language of the dog.
"I can't believe you asked him if I have been treating him well, brother. Last I checked you abandoned him with me."
"What the hell? Have you been telling him that lie?" Harry dramatically stated.
"Oh, please. If I told him that he wouldn't be this happy to see you right now, would he?"
"Dogs don't hold grudges and besides, no matter what happens, Rex will always love me. Right, boy?" He rubbed the chin of the excited dog.
"Woof!" Rex barked, still wagging his tail as he began licking Harry's legs and arms... just any part of Harry's body his tongue could reach.
"Okay, enough of talking about Rex." Mr. Maynard began.
Rex growled at the man.
"I hate that dog." The man pointed out, glaring at Rex. "Why did you even bring him here, sweetheart?"
Jesse handed an envelope to her father.
"I came here to give this to you. I saw the postman dropping it off in the mailbox while I was returning from a long walk with Rex so I took it and brought it here to you."
"And how do you know that the letter is meant for me?" He asked, collecting the envelope from his daughter.
Jesse pointed down at the envelope where the sender and recipient's name was written.
"You see how I know the letter belongs to you?" She asked rhetorically, walking towards Harry and Rex who were playing.
"The mafia organization?" Mr. Maynard raised a questioning brow.
"What about them?" Harry asked, looking up at his father.
The man waved the envelope in the air. "They sent me a letter. I wonder why..."
"Well, check what's written in the letter." Harry suggested.
"Yeah." Maynard started tearing off the envelope, eager to see the message the organization sent to his empire.
Jesse was still in the office, waiting to hear what the letter entails.
Everyone in the office was curious.
Maynard finished reading the letter and let out a scoff.
"What is it?" Harry asked, rising to his feet.
"It is an invitation letter."
"Invitation letter to what?" Jesse queried.
"There is a ball tonight for every Empire and we have been invited."
"Okay, this is my cue to get out of here." Jesse grabbed the leash of Rex once again and started heading for the door when Harry said.
"Won't you be coming with us for the ball?"
"Never!!" She dashed out of the office afterward.
Jesse hates the mafia world with so much passion.
She has even made plans to leave the country as soon as she graduates from high school. She intends of going to a college far away from home.
Life as a daughter of the boss of a mafia and the sister to the underboss sucks big time!!!
Not like she hates her father and brother... in fact, she loves them so much but she just hates the kind of work they do.
There are sometimes when she would be banned from going outside because it isn't safe. And there are certain people she shouldn't be friends with.
Yes, they have the money, power, and influence but her freedom wasn't there and it's really annoying.
Even on her walk with Rex, she was escorted by a guard. There was no privacy for her at all.
And the killing aspect, the illegal stuff is one reason why she promised herself never to get involved in the mafia world.
••••
Mr. Osvaldo was wearing white shorts, a collared shirt, white socks, and shoes with a white cap. Nelson was looking no different from him. The only difference was that he was wearing a bucket hat instead of a cap like his father.
Mr. Osvaldo positioned himself well as he clutched the golf club tight and calculated the distance from he was standing and the finishing hole, fifteen miles away.
Nelson stood beside him, leaning over his golf club as he watched his father.
A few seconds later, Osvaldo shot the ball and it fell right into the finishing hole.
"Bingo!" He fist-bumped the air, feeling so proud of himself.
"Wow." Nelson exclaimed and started clapping. "That was amazing. I would never have scored that."
"You are already giving up without even trying."
"I suck at golf, Dad." Nelson mumbled.
"But you are good at basketball."
"Yeah, I am."
"Let's go and sit down over there," Osvaldo nodded at a bench and they both walked towards it and sat down.
A young lady approached them with two bottles of water on a tray.
"Here, sirs." She said.
They both collected each one of the bottled water and she left afterward with the tray.
"Do you know why I built this golf course?" Osvaldo began after they both drank from the bottled water.
"Because you love golf?" Nelson answered, questioningly.
"Well...partially. But not entirely."
"Why then?"
"Because I love money. And building this golf course is going I generate more money for me. Look around, this golf course is one of the most famous and used golf course in the whole world."
Nelson nodded his head. "Yeah. My friends and classmates always talk about how much their fathers love coming here to play golf and have fun."
"You see?" Osvaldo smiled. "Do you know what I'm trying to tell you?"
Nelson slowly shook his head as a no.
"Use what you love to generate money for yourself." He advised.
"I...don't understand."
"Your mother has always had a dream for you and that is to become a doctor. Do you know why I never forced you to join the mafia?"
"Because I hate it."
"Exactly. I would never force you or your sister to do something you don't like or want to do. Scarlett is the underboss of the empire because that's what she wants."
"If Scarlett decided to quit the mafia one day, will you hate her for it?"
"Never." Osvaldo answered. "I promised myself that I will always support whatever choices my children make. I want you and your sister to make mistakes and learn from them. Because trust me, mistakes are the best teacher."
Nelson quietly nodded his head, listening to his father's words of wisdom.
"I thought you are disappointed in me," He muttered.
"I am. How can you be scoring the lowest in your class?"
"I am second to the lowest. That's a great achievement for me, you know." Nelson stated.
Osvaldo gave him a blank stare before shaking his head.
"If you don't want to become a doctor then do something else. I will always support you."
"And mother?"
"Don't worry about her. And trust me, your mother also wants your happiness."
Nelson smiled.
"Thanks, Dad."
"So tell me, what do you want to become instead?"
Nelson grinned widely and answered.
"I want to become an FBI." He answered.
Osvaldo's face dropped.
"FBI?"
"Yes. I want to get rid of illegal businesses in the country and_"
"Wait," Osvaldo cut him off, clearing his throat. "You do realize that what I do is illegal, right?"
"Oh..."
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