"Out, we had a football match"

"For the whole day?"

"Yup"

Valentino started to dip his finger in a pot of steaming tomato sauce and Clara slapped his hand away.

"Where with that dirty paws?" Clara asked in a motherly way "Sofia wants to go to the beach"

"Are you sure? It's too cold to swim. But you can use our pool"

"You have a private... pool?" Sofia asked confused.

"Yup, it's in the basement"

Sofia's eyes became big, like really, really big right now. They had what in a basement?

"Woah. What?" He looked amused. Sofia paused for a moment to take a breath and continued speaking "I don't have a costume.... And I don't know how to swim"

"Two things can be fixed easily and should be fixed as soon as possible after all you will be living nearby the sea now"

Oh right... that's true.

"We don't need to do this I just wanted to go for a walk, see the views"

Sofia said with beetroot red face

"It's better to stay home until the custody case is sorted out but maybe we can get away with a short trip to the mall" Valentino winked.

Sofia had to stop acting shocked at the sight of her brothers' cars. This time she ended up sitting in an orange Audi R8. It was just as flashy as Valentino's personality.

"You can wait here I will get something quickly and come back," Sofia said when he stopped at the parking lot of the shopping center.

"Alessandro hasn't started looking for a bodyguard for you yet which means I can't leave you out of my sight when we're out"

"Bodyguard? Do you have one?" Sofia asked taken aback and looked around

"No"

"Then why do I need one?" Sofia asked suddenly feeling defensive. What sort of injustice is this?

"Sofia, I've been trained all my life to deal with the potentially threatening situations. I don't have one because I don't need one but you do since now you're a part of the family like ours"

"What do you mean by family like ours?"

"We're rich and influential people try to get our attention," he said evasively.

"Are you sure we are at the right store?" Sofia asked when they entered the fancy interior.

"Yeah, why not? You don't like it?"

"Oh. No, I do like it"

Sofia was just intimidated by the price.

"Get something for yourself then"

Sofia had every intention to do so. And preferably go home as soon as possible.

"Don't pick this one"

"Why not?"

"Too skimpy. I don't need idiots staring at you"

"At the private pool?" Sofia looked at him surprised.

"You do plan to swim at the sea during the summer, right?"

"Should I get a winter coat then? That way no one notices me for sure" Sofia responded drily.

He rolled his eyes. She grabbed the first one-piece suit that caught her eye and handed it to Valentino. After all, he was paying. "This one?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, since I can't have the other one," Sofia said, her head lowered.

Finally, Valentino sighted and took both costumes.

"Why'd you buy two?" Sofia asked really confused.

"The one you wanted you can wear at our private pool"

He said their private pool. Sofia loved all her life as a lower-middle-class girl, money struggles were something she was familiar with but private pools? So far it was something she would see on TV to think it was her real-life now? She wasn't thinking about the costume anymore. She was kinda offended though.

Sofia and Valentino went towards the parking lot, they got in the car and Valentino was about to drive away when I noted a group of boys around Valentino's age started yelling something

"Wait here" Valentino instructed and left Sofia in the car. He started approaching a group of his friends with a smile on his face and they started talking to him about something. Sofia had no idea what they were talking about, she couldn't hear it from the car.

Then her new phone started ringing. She noted that it wasn't her phone but the phone of her brother. He left it in the car.

She looked at the screen to see "Alessandro" on the screen. She picked up "Halo?"

"Sofia?" A quiet Alessandro voice on the other side of the phone.

"Yes"

"Where are you?" He sounded perfectly calm but there was something else in his voice as if a hint of anger?

"We went shopping with Valentino"

"Hand him to the phone"

"He's not with me right now"

"He left you alone?"

Why did she feel as if it was a trick question? What the hell why are they obsessed with this so much?

"No? I'm in the car, he's talking to his friends outside but I can see him"

Alessandro sighted "get out of the car and Give him to the phone then" he requested politely but Sofia could sense he wasn't in the good mood.

"Can I leave the door to the car open? I mean it's an expensive brand someone might steal it"

"Don't worry about it" he dismissed her concern.

"Okay then" Sofia indeed left the car and crossed the road.

"Valentino, Alessandro wants to speak with you" she informed. Her brother jumped as if something just burned him. "Fuck" he cursed under his nose and took his phone from Sofia's hands.

"Alessandro, how is it going?" He said in a light voice. "Yeah I know but I just wanted to cheer her up" Valentino started speaking defensively "She was left only for a second!" He yelled irritated "Okay we're going back home," he said defeated "Yes, I apologize"

"Okay, we need to get out of here, now" Valentino informed as soon as he finished talking over the phone.