Augustus Agosti was standing in all his six-foot three-inch glory in front of me.
I know he is an Agosti and that should be enough of an introduction, but I have no idea who is he. There are mentions of the Lucifer and the Agosti brothers, but this man standing in front of me must be in his late forties or at best early fifties.
So, not their brother!! And I know Lucifer had killed their father, so who is he?
I mean you can see the similarity in their features somewhat. But he feels more human in many ways. He has kind eyes that wrinkle at the corner, and a broad warm smile that makes me want to smile back.
He looks regal but still warm, to the usual cold & raw vibe I have seen with the two Agosti brothers.
Following others, I too bow my head to pay my respects to him.
“Oh no sweet girl, you don’t have to do that.” He says, shocking me & everyone around me.
“I am just so glad to have you here! Come sit with us. You have nothing to worry about” he says looking directly into my eyes and giving me a kind smile.
“ WOW, avo!! Why the special treatment?” Draco remarks, but the man ignores him.
Avo, that word again. I remember Set referring to someone earlier. I have heard the Avo word before, I think it means ancestral, I think. Is Draco calling this man old?
Sensing my confusion, the man clarifies “Avo means ancestor or grandfather in old Italian. You can call me Avo as well!”
Oh! He does not look like anyone’s grandfather. I mean he is older, and at best might be a grandfather to a toddler or something.
“I suppose my grandsons have not introduced you to everyone properly, have they?” he asks, and I quietly nod.
“That’s what I thought. Never mind let me give you a rundown. Umm… let’s see, you already have met Lucifer & Set right. I hope they at least gave you their names.”
“Oh, Avo! Lucifer gave her more than her name. He gave her a whole showdown!” Set interjects with his sarcastic remark.
“Where are your manners Set” Augustus scolds him
“What did he do?” Draco joins excitedly. I also heard
“Boys!!” Augustus Agosti calls out warning everyone to keep it calm
“So, I know you come from a mafioso family, and you must be aware that Lucifer is the head of Cosa Nostra & of course the Agosti family. He is also my oldest grandchild.”
I am stunned, the man sitting in front of me can’t be that old. No Way!!
“We have great genes, we age well!” he says as if guessing the shock on my face.
“And Set, Draco, and Abaddon are his brothers. You have met Set & Draco, already and this is Abaddon.” He says pointing at the man sitting next to Set.
As I look at the person he is pointing to, my eyes meet a pair of hollow eyes, sitting on an equally emotionless face. He looks like he is in constant pain that he is trying to mask. He is definitely the scariest, after Lucifer.
Augustus continues to introduce me to the rest of the members, but I am only able to pick up Giovanni and Rodolpho’s names. The guys who were there with me in the cabin & through the car ride are the second in command.
After the introductions, Augustus starts serving me food himself.
All this is confusing, I mean I know they have told me that I should not be worried. But I was given to Lucifer as a tribute, literally sold by my father, and Lucifer’s behavior is so scary. And here his grandfather is serving me dinner.
How can I believe all this? I think I am right to be cautious. But I need to go with the flow and see how things shape up? What other option do I have?
“Is the food ok?” Lucifer’s grandfather checks with me, and I offer him a smile & get back to eating. My appetite is quite low, I have become a small eater.
The dinner continues smoothly, everyone seems relaxed unlike earlier in the flight.
All except Abaddon, who still has the same pained expression on his face. Even Set, who I have only seen being very careful & composed seems eased.
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room shifts and the buzz mellows down. The room has worked up some tension, and I can sense Lucifer’s presence.
I look up from my plate and I forget to breathe, he is only wearing his shorts that hang really really low. His chest is washed with sweat this time instead of the smeared blood last time.
Our eyes meet only for a second, and it’s like he is questioning me. I just want to hide under the table, I can’t hold his gaze in front of so many people.
“Don’t stop on my behalf.” he says, “Just make it to the training ground by 5 tomorrow morning.” And with that, a lot of them start scattering, and his grandfather & Set exchange glances.
“I will eat in my room Avo!” he announces making a plate for himself. And then scowls looking at my plate and bursts out of the room. Did he just size my plate?
“Someone is in a bad mood!” Draco comments after Lucifer leaves the room.
“He is right. You can’t miss training. “his grandfather ordered, with authority dripping in his gaze. And at that moment, I got a glimpse of the firm leader behind all the warmth.
“Omerta! Draco will show you to your room. I did want to have a discussion with you regarding the current circumstances…..” their grandfather says to me
“But it’s too late tonight, we will speak first thing in the morning. I just want you to know that you will be always treated with respect here, like everyone else. And whatever Luciano or his men told you on why you are here is not even close to the truth. We will talk more tomorrow. Sleep Well Sweet Girl!”
Back in my room, I was thinking about the Agosti brothers, it’s so strange that all of them have been named after the devil in some way or the other.
Lucifer the devil himself, Set the Egyptian god of death, Abaddon the destruction, and Draco, the Dracula.
Can’t believe any parent would want to give these names to their child. But my father gave me a such name as well. And with that thought, all my pent-up emotions come back to haunt me.
And as I lay in bed, I can hear a loud howl. What is this place, are we in the middle of a forest?
******
In the morning I am called to Grandfather Agosti’s office. Giovanni comes to take me and brings me to a small elevator.
“Just go to the third floor, his office is right opposite the elevator door. I am running late for a business call, I will have to leave.” He says leaving me at the elevator.
It’s just two floors, we could have taken the stairs.
As the elevator doors open, I wonder if I should take the stairs. It’s a small three-by-three elevator, with Lucifer standing right in the middle. Leaving no space for a second person, well maybe some space if he chooses to move to the side, but he continues to stand there.
“Get in Stray! Let’s not go astray!!” he commands like always, his expression unreadable.
And with that, I obey, squeezing myself in whatever space I can find around him.
They had modern spacious elevators in the car park, could they have not updated this one as well. I was just thinking this when the elevator comes to an abrupt stop. It’s on the third floor
Good, it’s over.
Or Not!!
I wait, and I wait but the elevator doors don’t open. I turn to Lucifer, who still has no reaction
“They are jammed. Again!”
Set’s POV Strangely, Lucifer moved this meeting to Avo’s office instead of his own office. We barely use Avo’s office. All thanks to that unreliable lift, Avo barely uses his office. Not that any of us needs a lift, even Avo at his age, but we need to keep up the pretenses for visitors. “Buon Giorno Avo! Hey Luc…” As I look around his office, it’s only Avo there, sitting on the sofa next to his desk. A smile starts playing on my lips, this is certainly a first. “He’s late!” Avo says smiling, with an extra emphasis on the word late. “Really! is that so,” I say, unable to hide the sarcasm in my voice, I take a seat opposite him. Lucifer doesn’t do late, ever, and everyone knows that. Lucifer always has everything planned, always. Even during his anger spells, he thinks through it all, the repercussions of his irrational actions and
I am awakened to loud grunts, people yelling & screaming. For a second, I panic, but then I remember where I am. I am residing with the Agosti family now, in Enna, far away from New York & my old life. I have been here for the last two weeks now. The noises continue to get louder, honestly, these screeching noises used to bother me in the beginning, freaking me out. But not anymore, I know everyone is just working out, or as they say here training. They are just a loud and rowdy bunch on the training ground. They train a lot, like at least four to five hours a day a type, and they train hard, really hard. It’s not your regular workout session, they do extraneous physical, they spar, and it gets bloody. And almost everyone trains, everyone. I guess it makes sense since they are the biggest mafia in the world. And I am living with them. Which strangely is not bad, not bad at all. It is different, yes,
Lucifer’s POV I hate people who waste time. And that is exactly what I have been doing in Milan for the LAST TWO weeks. Wasting my FUCKING time!! It was necessary to send a strong message so that no one dares to cross a line. NO girls, and NO drugs! Cosa Nostra has always detested all dealings concerning girls and drugs, except for those couple of years when that scumbag of our father was running the mafioso. But they all need to know that things are different now, that the liberties my father had taken don’t hold anymore. They all need to understand that our ideologies can never be compromised, my rule is the law, and the result of disobedience is my wrath. And my beast howls in agreement. &
“You are late!” Avo gives me a loud shout without glancing at me, while still working on his flower bed. I have never seen him talk so loudly. Worried that I have displeased him I start rambling trying to explain what happened. “Yes, yes, sorry for that. I didn’t mean to… I…” I stop explaining myself midsentence and look back at him. “You are teasing me, aren’t you?” I ask Avo, who has abandoned his flower beds and is now standing in front of me with a telling smile. He continues to stare at me with his warm affectionate smiling eyes for a while before he breaks the silence. “You seem better. And not just look better, but you feel better, stronger…… different even.” And I just give a coy smile in response to that. I know I have gained some weight & I don’t look as frail as I use to. But I am guessing Avo is just politely
Oh god! Giovanni is hurt, there is so much blood. How the hell did this happen? “Omerta Run!! Now” Giovanni shouts and that is when the man first realizes that there is someone else there and almost turns back to look at me. Despite bleeding heavily, Giovani uses this distraction to his advantage by climbing on the man’s back. He has both his legs wrapped around the man’s neck and is trying to strangle the invader with his legs. But the man is fast, he pushes himself back to get rid of Giovanni, falling on the ground on his back. Resulting in all his weight & impact of the fall getting anchored on Giovanni, who takes another hit on his already bleeding back & ribs. Luckily, Giovanni is fast as well, and despite the fall he quickly rolls over changing their positions, now he is sitting on top of the man’s chest. The new position gives him more control of the fight, and without wasting any time he lands some very impactful skull shattering punches on th
My training starts today. I can’t say how I feel about it, I have never been a fan of physical force, but since I am now living with the Agostis, I more than ever need to know how to protect myself. If I am being honest, the ‘protect myself’ bit won’t be happening anytime soon, all I want to do is ensure that I do not put others in danger in any event. I do want to know how to defend myself, but I know it will take a while since I have never been involved with any physical activity before. I am not worried about the training, I will work through it, it is the trainer that concerns me. And speaking of the trainer, I do not want to be late on my first day. I am supposed to train before others, it’s already 3:45 am, good thing I am 15min early. There is no one when I enter the training ground, so I start stretching my body knowing the basics from the gym at school. As I bend down to touch my toes stretching my calves & thighs in the process, I make a note to
I reach out for the water, and just when my fingertips graze the water surface, I hear an earth-shattering howl. And even before I turn to see where it is coming from, I somehow know that it’s Luci, the large wolf-like dog I met the other day. I know that howl. “Omerta, Omerta. Wake up, girl. You are so dead tired, you slept on the ground.” I am barely able to focus on what Giovanni is saying. “I have been looking for you everywhere, you had me worried. Come on sleepyhead get up, it’s already time for dinner soon. Wake up.” I open my eyes reluctantly, trying to adjust to the twilight sun. As I focus my vision, I am a little confused, I was just at Lake Pergusa a few seconds ago, wasn’t I? But here I am still lying on the ground near the forest, on Agosti's estate. Was all that a dream? But it felt so real, it was definitely, real? “Come on get up, Avo has called us for dinner?” Giovanni said while offeri
I should feel great, ecstatic even.I am clad in a piece of art for a dress, embellished with perfect hair and makeup, attending a celebration in my honor. Who wouldn't be happy? I should be delighted. Instead, I feel skittish. A little over a month ago, I would not have even dreamed of this scenario in my dreams. The girl who has worn hand-me-downs all her life, and the only party I ever attended was the one where I was given away, sold off. Life surely has taken a bizarre turn, I think looking at the people Avo is introducing me to. I am grateful for the Agostis to accept me, and to find people who have only showered respect and care in the last month. But right now I am all nerves, and uneasy with all attention. The fact that most people have been looking at me with pure contempt doesn't help either. Being the only girl standing with the Agosti inner circle, which comprises only men, doesn't make you Ms. Congeniality. I can't forget the look on their faces when I walked in wit