Camilla went to the front desk immediately she entered the building. The woman at the desk was busy tending to a plant and didn't even notice that she was there.
"Hey Fiona." she said.
The woman looked up immediately and then she squealed and came around the desk to hug her tightly.
"I missed you so much." she told Camilla.
"I missed you too." she replied.
"What are you doing here? Last I heard you were bought by Dante Russo. I am very sorry for the death of your parents and the fall of your family." Fiona told her as she looked at her with sympathy in her eyes.
"It's okay, shit happens. One of the risks of being in a mafia family, I guess."
"That uncle of yours is a real devil. I hope he rots in hell." Fiona said.
"I will make sure he rots in hell by myself." Camilla said with determination.
"I have a surprise for you." Fiona said.
"What is the surprise?" Camilla asked curiously.
Fiona smiled and then she walked towards the staircase.
"Lucy! Come down, I want you to meet someone." she called.
Camilla looked at her, not daring to hope that what she was thinking was true.
A cat bounded down the stairs and then footsteps were heard on the staircase. A few moments later, a young boy came down the stairs, it was her brother!
"Luciano!" she gasped and she ran into his arms.
"Camilla!" he breathed her name as he hugged her tightly.
For some minutes, the siblings hugged each other and wept. It was an emotional reunion. Neither of them had thought that they would ever see the other again in this lifetime.
She pulled away and cleaned his tears.
"What! How is this possible?" she asked.
"that night when I left the house, I ran here and Fiona hid me here." Luciano replied.
"Sebastiano didn't think of checking here. Your father hid this part of the family from people, he was ashamed of this part of his past, not even Sebastiano knew about your family's connection to me." Fiona replied.
Camilla walked up to her, she held her hands."Thank you for everything." she said.
"You are welcome."
Camilla bent down and picked up her cat. She snuggled it close to her chest, "I missed you too." she whispered.
"How come you are here, Fiona kept saying that Dante would never let you out."
"Well he did." Camilla replied.
Fiona and Luciano looked at her in confusion.
"Camilla, he bought you with a lot of money, as a matter of fact, it is one of the most expensive sales ever done in an auction. Why then would he let you move around freely or did you run away?" Fiona asked.
Camilla sighed, "no, I didn't run away. Dante trusts me that I won't run away." she replied.
"Really?" Fiona questioned.
"Really."
"Did you know that I was here? Is that why you came?" Luciano asked.
"no, I had no idea you were hiding out here. I thought you were missing." Camilla told him as she patted his cheek fondly.
"So, you had no idea that I was here?" Luciano asked.
"Not at all." she replied.
"So why did you come here then?" Fiona asked her.
"I told Dante, I need to buy some plants and told him to drop me off here." Camilla replied.
Fiona looked at Luciano, "Hey Lucy, go prepare a meal for your sister, let her see the progress in your cooking skills." she told him.
"Okay Fiona." Luciano replied and left them.
"Now that he is gone, let's talk about this. What's going on between you and Dante?" Fiona asked.
"What do you mean?" Camila asked as she looked away furtively.
"He is a feared head of a mafia family. Yet, he let's you out and allows you do things. How? Has he slept with you yet?" she asked.
Camilla looked away as she blushed. "Not yet." she replied.
Fiona looked at her knowingly. "Yet? That means things are happening already between you two." she told her.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Camilla said.
"Are you in love with him?" Fiona asked.
"No, I am not." Camilla replied almost immediately.
Fiona looked at her suspiciously. "Camilla, he might treat you nicely today but tomorrow he might switch. He is a mafia family head." she told her.
"I am not falling in love with him." Camilla said.
"Okay, I hope so. Now what plants do you want to buy?" she asked.
Camilla told her the plants she wanted. Fiona looked at her even more suspiciously.
"This are very dangerous plants used for poison. Are you trying to poison Dante? That's a foolish move, if he dies, his brother would only inherit you. And let me assure you that Dante is far better than Valerie." Fiona said.
"No, I am not trying to poison Dante, someone else but not him." Camilla replied.
"I hope you know what you are doing." she told her.
"I do."
"Let's go pack the plants then."
They had just finished packing up the plants when Luciano came back with the food.
"hmmm smells nice" she complimented him.
"Thanks sis." he replied.
He put the food on the table and they sat down to eat.
"Sis, how soon are you going to leave that house?" Luciano asked.
"I don't know yet, my love. I want you to keep staying with Fiona. You have to show her respect, okay?"
"Okay."
"Don't worry, he is a sweet boy." Fiona told her.
Camilla noticed that Luciano was frowning his face. She held his hand and squeezed his hand affectionately.
"Just be patient love, things will be okay soon, I promise." she told him.
He nodded, she smiled at him and they continued eating.
Camilla heard a car pulling up. She looked at Luciano in panic.
"Quick! Go hide." she told him.
Luciano stood up and went to hide and Fiona out away all the plates.
They were standing by the front desk when Dante entered.
"Good afternoon Mr Russo." Fiona greeted respectfully.
"Good afternoon to you too." he replied.
He looked at Camilla. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.
"Yes." she replied.
"What about the things you bought?"
Camilla pointed to the corner where the plants were arranged.
Dante gave his ATM card to Fiona. She took it, and inserted it into the POS terminal and then she gave him to enter his pin. A few moments later, she returned the card to him.
"Thank you sir." she told. He nodded and walked past them to carry the potted plants to the car.
"Let me help you sir." Fiona said as she tried to carry the plants too, he shook his head and waved her away.
The two ladies stood and watched as Dante took the plants to his car.
Fiona leaned in to whisper to Camilla.
"Oh Darling, it's going to be hard not to fall for him."
Camilla turned to scold her but Fiona had already disappeared. She rolled her eyes and went to meet Dante at the car and they drove off.
.....
Valerie had been left alone for a while now, Dracaryx hadn't come to meet him since their last interaction. He stayed alone in the room, he ate when food was brought for him, read the books in the room and slept. He was so bored, it had been long he had such free time to himself and he had no idea what to do with it.
This had also given him a lot of time to think.