When they finished eating dinner Sofia could still feel the tension. The room was surrounded by awkward silence and she didn't dare to start the discussion in fear that he brothers will start arguing again.

When they finished eating and the sound of clinking cutlery stopped, Alessandro said "Thank you for inviting us, we will be heading home now. Sofia-"

"-is staying here" Rosario finished for him.

Everyone looked at Rosario with tiredness. Sofia on the other hand could feel that another storm is coming.

Before they could start arguing she said "I want to stay here tonight. Tomorrow morning I will go back home to pack, right? "

Her brothers looked at her with surprise.

"Why on earth would you want to stay here?" Valentino asked, "Is she having Stockholm syndrome?" he asked Alessandro who didn't dignify his remark with a response.

"Why do you want to stay?" Alessandro asked, clearly unhappy with her request.

"I need to talk to Rosario" she mumbled.

"Oh I'm honoured," Rosario said with satisfaction, it felt like he was mocking everyone at that moment.

"That's fine" Alessandro replied, his dark expression disappearing. "We will see each other tomorrow," Alessandro said with gentleness and kissed her forehead. Then she received hugs from Francesco and Valentino and she was once again alone with Denaro brothers.

The moment Ianniellos left Sofia turned to Rosario and said "We really need to talk. Alone"

"Of course, let me invite you to my office then, ladies first," he said and made an inviting gesture with his hand. Sofia had to stop herself from rolling her eyes in reaction to his grotesque behaviour. Regardless... She felt at peace now. Her family was not fighting anymore. At least temporarily.

When Sofia followed him wordlessly she could take a moment to take a good look at the house. It felt a bit like a modern art gallery with white and black being dominating colours and expensive pop art paintings were hanging on the walls.

It was luxurious, modern and... cold.

She wondered how is their new house going to look like because this house was the opposition to the historical mansions Ianniellos were living in.

"I have a request," Sofia said shyly right after they entered the office.

"Yes?" Rosario asked, he leaned over his desk and looked at her with unhidden interest.

"Allow Cynthia to come back home" Sofia pleaded. This is why she had to stay for tonight. She made a promise and no matter how bad she felt about it she's going to keep it.

There was a pause, silence. Surprise slowly turned into an annoyed expression.

"Why on earth would I do that?" Rosario's eyes hardened. Sofia shivered.

"She told me your address. She's the only reason why I found you and I promised her that she will be able to come back home" she explained, trying to not feel intimidated.

"That's all? Not good enough" he said firmly.

"Good enough for me. She helped me and I promised to help her" Sofia insisted.

"She used your desperation" he scoffed.

"It doesn't matter. I can handle her now. I'm not the person I was when she bullied me, so many things have happened. Be honest would she bully me if she knew I'm her cousin?" Sofia asked.

"No" he replied instantly.

"Would you punish her if she bullied someone else?" Sofia kept questioning.

"Of course not" he replied, he didn't care about anyone outside of his family.

"So you're just doing it for punishment's sake. Please don't"

Rosario looked at Sofia intensively and for a long moment he seemed to be uninterested with her request. However after that long money, a cocky smirk appeared on his lips, because you see - he was a businessman and his eye was trained to see the occasion when it occurred.

"I might let her come back but not for free"

"Really? Is blackmail this family tradition?!" Sofia asked. First Cynthia, now him.

"Cynthia likes to copy me. A little too much. But being mean doesn't suit her, that's my job" he admitted shamelessly. Something told Sofia that he was a bigger bully than Cynthia could ever be. "Now, in regard to that deal. If Alessandro and I have a disagreement about something, you will listen to me. I assumed there might be a little rebellion because of Sandro being such a charismatic individual so I quickly need to gather my supporters"

Sofia's jaw dropped. How petty. He was entirely something else, he tried to establish himself as the head of their family, basically replacing Alessandro. But did she really have a choice?

She crossed her shoulders "At least give some time period like a week of me doing what you ask or something or something like that" she mumbled, trying to make him act more reasonable.

"No, I already stated my condition"

"C'mon you can't do this" Sofia yelled with frustration. She would stomp her foot if she wasn't an adult.

"Aw you're so silly, little sis"'He said in condescending tone and petted her hair. "You want something from me but you come without having any leverage, a pity. When you will get older you will learn to not come here with such requests unprepared"

"Does everything has to be a bargain to you?" Sofia asked flatly.

"Yes," he admitted shamelessly.

"We're family"

"And that's the only reason I may want something in exchange from you. Usually, there's not really much that people can give me, my favours are expensive and are not to be taken lightly" he said with amusement. What a big ego he had.

"I'm going to sleep," Sofia said tiredly. She had no intention to fight him.

"Is that a yes?" Rosario pushed.

"-Y yes. Just get her back home" she said, feeling like she's making a mistake. Well, maybe she was.

***

It was the first night at Denaro's house when she was sleeping normally. When she woke up she felt okay. She got up and opened the freshly stocked wardrobe. She decided to wear a pink top, blue jeans and a white cardigan.

Then Raul took her home. Finally, to what she felt was her real house now.

After greeting Francesco and Valentino she went to her room to start packing.

This is when Alessandro entered her room.

"Are you unhappy?" Alessandro asked directly and Sofia dropped the pile of clothes she was holding.

"What? Why would you ask that?"

He gave her a blank stare. Of course, he was referring to yesterday's dinner where she admitted to her suicidal tendencies...

"Don't get me wrong... I am happy and glad that you took me in. You shouldn't have to lift my mood-" she said, instantly feeling guilty.

"But I want to" Alessandro interrupted her with a stoic voice and sat down on the chair near her desk.

Sofia took a deep breath and decided to just... open up.

"There are many reasons why I am not exactly in a great mood all the time. The main reason is what happened to mom... I feel like I can't talk about it. It's just too much... All that fear and loss I felt back then it's still with me. But it will pass one day, I hope" Sofia explained.

"Why did you tell them you're having a hard time and not us?" Alessandro asked, he didn't seem upset but Sofia knew better.

"Technically, I didn't tell them. I told it to Felice who was invited because I wasn't doing well" Sofia explained.

"Felice... you finally opened up to him," Alessandro said in a bleak voice. "I am sorry but his family became our enemy, he can't remain as your therapist"

"Is he our enemy? He doesn't support Cesare and he protects Anastasio. I don't think he's a bad guy. Can you just rethink this?"

"I... will. I will do what I can, I promise" Alessandro reassured and Sofia smiled in response.

"Is there anything else that you'd like to tell me?"

"You cannot give me what I want," Sofia said looking away.

"Piccola just tell me," he said with a gentle voice.

"It's just that... I'm not used to living like this. I feel.. trapped. Raul is watching my every move and because of that I don't feel comfortable with doing anything. I- I like to be alone. I also like to explore and meet people but I just feel like I was under 24/7 supervision. I want to go on a walk, to the beach, explore libraries without it being a big deal. I just want... I don't know"

"I understand. You should've told me earlier that Raul bothers you"'

"No he's not," Sofia said suddenly worried that Alessandro misunderstood her "Raul is nice and sweet and all. It's jus... I just feel like his presence is too much"

"Then we need to change it. You can't go around without security but it will be done differently" he replied simply.

"But you're not firing Raul, right?" Sofia asked.

"He just got a promotion, don't worry about that," Alessandro said in a calming manner. "How much time do you need to finish packing?" he asked looking at his watch.

"15 minutes"

"I will be waiting downstairs"

Next thing she knew, they were flying to New York.