The phone's loud ring echoed through Alessandro's office.

"Rosario"

"Hello there, how is your day going?" Rosario asked.

There were no warm feelings between both gentlemen but Rosario's voice didn't sound serious, unlike Alessandro, he sounded like he was actually enjoying the chaos.

"It would be going better if my bother hasn't been kidnapped," Alessandro said sternly, there was a clear warning in his voice.

"Oh my, what bad news" Rosario said ironically. "Hopefully nothing bad happens to him" he continued in a sweet but malicious voice.

"I want you to think carefully about your actions right now," Alessandro warned without losing his collected attitude.

"Perhaps, you should be more worried if your own actions are careful enough?" Rosario suggested lightly. "Keeping my sister away from me? Now, what would you feel if someone did that to you I wonder?"

"What are you planning to do now?" Alessandro asked, ignoring his question.

"I want my sister back. And in exchange, you may have your brother back"

"You think I will agree to this?" Alessandro asked with disgust.

"Maybe you will become more agreeable when I will send you old fashioned body part package? He's a football player, right? That would mean he doesn't need hands,"

"Let's talk"

***

Three hours later

"What? What do you mean?!" Sofia looked at both of her brothers as if it was the first time she saw that "Did the kidnappers contact you? Do they have any demands?" Sofia jumped on her feet and started pacing around the room. Suddenly she stopped and pointed at Francesco accusingly "You said he went on a camping trip you fucking lied to me!" She yelled, her eyes teared down.

"Sofia-"

"Tell me not to swear and from now on I will add fuck to every sentence for the rest of my life" she warned.

"That's not helpful and it won't change anything. Now stop throwing a fit because that's exactly what we tried to avoid" Alessandro replied in a less kind voice.

Ok. That hurt. She took a deep breath to get it together.

"Have they contacted you?" Sofia started once again, calmer.

"They did"

"What do they want?"

"Dinner" Alessandro replied.

"I beg your pardon?" Sofia was struck with shock. What the hell did that mean?

"Rosario Denaro invited us for a dinner" he repeated.

"He stands behind the kidnapping?!" Sofia asked incredulously.

"Unfortunately, yes"

"What the hell?" She dropped on the couch breathing with relief. "You scared me. He's my brother he's not going to hurt Valentino, right?" she asked, her voice full of hopeful innocence.

"He's more than capable of hurting him, unfortunately," Alessandro said with a heavy heart.

"Why would he do that if he does that I will never forgive him" Sofia brows furrowed. She didn't understand it.

"We don't know if he cares about that yet" Alessandro replied calmly. That got her nervous. What if he will hurt Valentino? What if?

Sofia pulled uneasy thoughts away and asked.

"What is he trying to achieve by kidnapping Valentino in the first place?"

Francesco and Alessandro exchanged glances when they were contemplating which answer she should receive.

"To understand this, you need to know one thing. We have a rule: we do not engage children with our business and we never harm them. Rosario knows that. What he's doing puts our families on the brink of war. We cannot leave this act of aggression without a response and he knows that"

War. This word sounded so heavy and serious. It meant something heavy and serious.

"You said he wants to have dinner with you, what for?"

"He wants to trade. You for Valentino and for peace. But this is not acceptable to me" Alessandro responded. "I will not let him blackmail me"

Sofia looked at him with shock painted on her face.

"Then I am going with you on that dinner"

"You're staying at home" there was finality in Alessandro's voice.

"No. I'm going too" she said firmly.

"Do you really think it's a good time to argue with me right now?" His eyes were cold and terrifying he was never like that to her. Oh shit, it was his "don't mess with me" face and Sofia really didn't want to get in trouble with him.

But she had to. For Valentino "He's my brother I can convince him to-"

"Enough" Alessandro stood up. His eyes were cold as ice. "I will not be repeating myself. Raul make sure she won't leave the house"

Where did he come from now?!

"Yes sir"

Sofia stared at the door closing behind both of her brothers.

They just left her.

Fuck.

***

"You should be sleeping" Alessandro informed. They came back to the house at 2 am.

"Tell me what did take you so long? Where is Valentino?" She tried to see if he was lagging behind. No. There was no one there.

"Go to sleep"

"Tell me why didn't he return him"

Alessandro's lips pursued into a thin line. "Sofia"

Sofia had no intention to back down. She crossed her arms and looked him straight in the eyes. Alessandro sighed.

"We refused to hand you over to them so the negotiations were cut short" Alessandro replied, he looked like he wasn't really sure if he wants to reveal this information.

"He wants to trade me like I am some object?!" she was offended.

"According to him, it is a hostage situation because we don't have the right to keep you away from him" Alessandro replied.

"Okay, so I can meet him from time to time? He doesn't need to do all that" Sofia said desperately.

"Clara, can you prepare us some tea?"

"Naturally, sir" Clara replied dutifully while Sofia was led to the couch.

"You know our family is different"

Sofia nodded. Yeah, they were mafia. But what did it actually mean?

"You need to understand that it's not just what we do for work or how our family is seen. We have our own code of honour, our own principles some of which are outdated. He won't see us as having equal rights to you because in his mind your father was a Denaro and so are you. Not Ianniello. If he has you, we will lose contact with you"

Sofia said taking a sip of tea Clara prepared for her. It had bitter but not from the lack of sugar. Sofia just had a bitter mood.

"That's stupid. You're my brothers just like he is" Sofia said angrily shocked by the injustice. "I just don't get why you can't let me maintain contact with them while living here? Okay, maybe Denaros won't like it at first but don't I have a say?"

"That would make a lot of sense if we weren't enemies. There's no trust between us not enough for us to let them see you or the other way around. Our families are in a constant state of war just because for now we don't fight doesn't mean we won't in the future. You can't be caught in the crossfire because of that. There's a lot of pain in our families past. Lots of unhealed wounds" Alessandro explained.

"You said he wants war. So I am not the only reason why Valentino was kidnapped, right?" Sofia asked quietly.

"Your presence is the perfect opportunity to start a conflict. He will say we started it since we decided to refuse to give you to them. Other families will understand where Denaros come from and we will not have allies in this"

"But why would he risk fighting with a family that is equally important? Why would he take a chance on losing?"

So far quiet Francesco started speaking. "According to our intel, Denaros grew significantly in power in the last years. Ever since Rosario took over. He is capable of fully destroying our family. He just needed an excuse"

"So it's my fault" Sofia started tearing up "If I wasn't here he wouldn't have any excuse"

"Hey" Alessandro took her face in both of his hands and with firmness in his eyes, he forced her to look at him. "Don't you dare say something like that. We're telling you this so you can understand what situation you're in"

Sofia nodded slowly. She made sure to maintain eye contact with Alessandro, she couldn't let him know about her real thoughts, not now when she had to save Valentino.

"What are you planning to do now? Valentino is still held by them, you're not planning to fulfil their orders what's going to happen?"

Alessandro looked at her with zero emotion on his face when he said in a serious, emotionless voice: "We will have to use force to bring Valentino back"

This is when Sofia realized why Rosario's plan was so masterful. He was winning either way. If Alessandro would agree to give her back Rosario would get what he wants. But now that Alessandro is forced to respond with force he gets what he wants anyway because if anything it's the Ianniello family that will be blamed for attacking Denaros first and starting an open conflict. Shit.

Her oldest brother was an absolute dick.

"You should let them take me just so you can avoid all that"

"Over my dead body" Alessandro promised darkly.

"But don't you see that's the point?" She yelled with exasperation and stood up. "You will get hurt or they will get hurt I don't want that. I want to go there and fix it"

"That will be all you can go upstairs," Alessandro said while standing up. "Tomorrow you're not allowed to leave the house"

Sofia was speechless as he addressed her with a dismissive voice and then... he left.

Just like that, he left.

Sofia took a deep breath. It was no time to cry. It was time to act.

****

So.... that's what happened? :)