Chapter Text
Prologue
Derek pulled Laura away from the blazing house. They could hear the screams of all those inside. A shot rang through the woods, and Derek watched, wide-eyed as his sister fell to the ground, drowning in her own blood. The heir to the Alleto family had just been killed in front of him. He was the last one. So he ran, as fast as he could, not looking back at the female that walked towards the body of his sister, knowing who it was from the start. He could hear his father scolding him, blaming him for all those deaths and many more that would come. He ran for hours, lost, and scared without the warm embrace of his mother, soothing him to sleep. He ended up sleeping in the cold ground, next to a river, praying that she wouldn’t catch him, that the murderess of his family wouldn’t have followed him.
Chapter 1 – Sixteen Years Later
The room was dark. Derek leaned over the desk, his back turned to the door, and his face to the window. It had taken him years to be able to trust his men enough for him to turn his back to the door. But, no matter how silent Isaac was, Derek would always hear him and recognize his footsteps.
“Boss, Consigliere Martini is outside waiting for you I the Camaro.” Isaac announced. “She said something about lunch, her treat.”
Derek could hear a tentative smile on Isaac’s face.
“I’m not in the mood for socialization, and Lydia should know that.” Derek growled, closing his eyes tightly for a few seconds.
“Derek.” Isaac said, this time on his friend voice, not his subordinate one. “You should really get distracted, you know? I’ve seen you kill yourself over and over again for the past ten years, every year… It’s not healthy to blame yourself for their deaths. You said it to me yourself once, in this life, people die either by the bullet or other unnatural thing, but always ahead of time.”
Derek sighed, looking at the pair of blue eyes that returned his gaze.
“Lydia is waiting for you. You know how she can be. Sometimes I think she’s the one that runs the family, not you…”
“That’s because I let her live in her fantasy…” Derek deadpanned.
“Did you ever think that maybe it’s the other way around?” Isaac joked.
Derek couldn’t help but chuckle at the comment, as he put his black blazer over his dark shirt.
~*~*~
Lydia parked the Camaro in front of one of the cheapest diners in New York, with a cheeky smile tugging on her lips.
“I thought you were going to get me to a more luxurious place…” Derek commented, looking around.
She shrugged, opening the door and getting out of the car, her dark scarlet dress waving with her movements in a seductive flow of color. Derek followed her closely, his instincts highly alert. Lydia seemed to notice his distress.
“Derek, caro, don’t worry, will you?” She said, patting his shoulder gently. “There are soldati everywhere. Do you think I would take you here without putting one of our men in every corner? You underestimate me…”
Derek rolled his eyes at the fakes offense in her tone, and relaxed a little into her hand. Lydia felt the stress seeping out of him, and took her hand off of his shoulder, as she signaled him to open the door. Derek opened it, waving a hand inside, so Lydia would go through the threshold. He followed closely. His caporegimi were all sitting at a table. Erica had her fingers laced around Boyd’s, her red-painted lips brushing against his ear. Jackson was smirking at Scott, but he stopped suddenly at the sight of Lydia.
“Isaac should be here in no time. He went to get Danny.” Lydia explained.
“So, an afternoon spent with the family, that’s what you were planning?” Derek grunted at her.
She winked, and shrugged.
“Yeah. I can’t take too long, though. I have a package to take to one of the associates. The P.D. has been sniffing around too much. We need a distraction.” She explained, sitting down gracefully next to Jackson.
“Lydia, your boyfriend has been molesting me for the past half hour. I hope this is worth it. Hey, Boss.” Scott said.
“Jack and I will have a small talk when we get home, don’t worry.” Lydia smiled menacingly.
Derek had to hold a shiver back. She was one of the most valuable people under his command, and she was deadly. As the consigliere, Lydia took care of the money of the family, advised Derek on his decisions, and also made sure that the police wasn’t on their toes. But she was deadly with a blade, and she could even kill with her fists, though she didn’t like to fight. Derek had seen her in action once. He thanked the skies she was on his side and not the Argento’s, or else, his family would be doomed. Again. She didn’t show that she could be that deadly. In fact, not even Jackson knew what she was really capable of.
They ate slowly. Derek smiled at the fact that there were at least three different conversations going on at the same time, most of them about things of the daily life, nothing to do with their criminal activities, which made Derek feel warm inside. After an hour, Lydia excused herself, and Derek watched her as she turned heads towards there walking out of the diner. The Camaro roared to life under her polished nails, and he drove his attention back to the conversation he was having with Isaac and Danny at the time, who had arrived shortly before Lydia had to go.
It had taken him sixteen years, but now he was surrounded by people he trusted. His caporegimi, his lawyer, Danny, and his underboss, Isaac. The highest ranked people on the family, sitting at the same table. Derek smiled at the thought that this would be a picture that would inspire fear in one of the associates or even the soldati, who answered the orders Derek and Isaac gave to the caporegimi .
~*~*~
He narrowed his eyes, as he watched the strawberry blond woman, Lydia Martini, dropping a brown package on a mailbox. She had looked discreetly around her before doing so, which increased Stiles’s suspicions. As the son of the NYPD’s Chief of Department, Stiles was well trained in the arts of investigation and suspicion. He smiled triumphantly as he saw her walk away.
After walking subtly towards the mailbox, Stiles looked inside, and tried to pull out the package. He froze suddenly as he felt claw-like nails digging on his back, grabbing him by his black vest. He rolled the sleeves of his white shirt up, and turned his head around, looking at those feisty hazel eyes.
“So. What would a kid like you want from a girl like me?” Lydia asked, faking a pensive look, the finger of her free hand taping gently on her own chin.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Stiles hissed.
“Oh, really?” Lydia asked, smiling. “Well then, I guess you don’t know what’s inside that package, do you?”
“No idea.” He replied promptly. “I mean, I have no idea of what package you are talking about.”
“Yeah? Maybe you should-“ She stopped suddenly, her eyes darting up. “shit!” She hissed, pulling him inside the building.
“hey, watch it! Bad touch!” Stiles screamed. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and Lydia winced.
“Fuck, Derek is going to kill me. Listen, do you have a car?” She asked. Stiles didn’t want to answer, but she eyes him down like she could eat him alive.
“Y-yes. The blue Wrangler parked on the other side of the road.”
“That thing!?” Lydia squealed. “That won’t get us anywhere without us being noticed!”
“Hey, care to explain what the hell is going on before insulting my beautiful ride?”
“The Argento family. They just blew the Camaro up. It was a trap. They are getting smarter.” She stated. “You hav the keys?”
“I… Do, but I’m not giving them to you!” Stiles said, in a manly, manly voice, yes?
“Then you’ll drive me around, kid. Go!” She warned, as she took her high-heeled shoes out, and threw them towards the stairs.
Stiles ran, his arm pulled in front of him by Lydia. He heard gunshots, and the adrenaline started to kick in. he stopped thinking. Suddenly, there was only one objective on his mind: survive. He slid into the Jeep, Lydia jumping into the passenger sit, and waving at him to go. A bullet shattered the back window, and Stiles squealed loudly, as Lydia laughed maniacally. Stiles stomped on the accelerator, and the Jeep came to life, whooshing across the streets of New York.
“Fuck, I’m gonna get a speed ticket this way!” Stiles roared.
“Kid, you’re being followed by one of the deadliest mafia families in the whole United States, and you are worried about that?!” Lydia asked him, incredulous eyes opened wide.
“Yes! My dad would kill me!”
“I like you already.” Lydia said, a smug look on her face. She turned around, and looked behind them. They were being followed by an SUV.
Stiles was starting to worry. Where the hell was the police? He would like some help, here. But, on the other hand, they had guns. If they shot his father, he would blame himself for the rest of his life, so it was probably for the best that he was on his own… Well, on his own if you don’t count the very important wanted woman sitting next to him.
“Where to?” tiles asked, looking at the SUV through the rearview mirror.
“Not sure yet. Give me your phone. I left my wallet at the dropping place.” She said, extending her hand towards him.
“here. Who are you calling?”
“I’d have to kill you if I told you.” Lydia said, an amused smile on her face that made Stiles shiver.
There was a moment of almost silence, that the Argento soldati chose to interrupt with gunshots, freaking gunshots! And then Lydia was talking to the cellphone.
“Derek, we have a situation.”
“Is that gunshots?!” Stiles could hear a man’s voice coming from the other side of the line.
“Yes. We need to get to a safe place. I think Scott’s men are close by?” She paused, as the man on the other side of the line talked. “Ok. Aaaaand-“ There was a crash, as a black van tackled the SUv off the road. “They’re here, thanks, Der. I’ll be at your place in fifty. Be ready, I brought a pet.”
“A pet?!” Stiles squealed. “Did you just call me your pet?”
“Yeah. So, I’m Lydia. What shall I name you? Squishy?”
“Stiles would be fine.” Stiles grunted, making a sharp turn to the left. “Where are we going?”
“Tuxedo Lake.” Lydia said simply. “I’ll direct you once you get there.”