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"Well, as you know in two days we will be hosting a ball. It is for both our legal and illegal businesses, so I want you to be extremely careful and alert. I have decided that you will all be attending the night. You are adults, and you girls are old enough to avoid trouble and the two of you are eligible for marriage, so we might as well present you to the world." Our Father gestured towards Bianca and me. "If you feel uncomfortable, then it is not necessary, of course, but it would be good for our family to look united and whole. Bastiano, Filippo, you will be accompanying your sisters. Caterina if you don't have a problem, Nicolo has asked to be your date for the night. It will be your first official outing as a couple, and I would like to see you together. Dante, of course, will be with his wife, and we will send Aurelio to a non-disclosed location, so he will be safe in case something unexpected occurs. Figli, siete responsabili delle vostre sorelle, ovunque vadano, voi le seguite. Inteso?"

"Sì Don," my brothers all nodded their heads and Father's lips curled into a satisfied grin. He spoke to us in Italian sometimes, but he mostly used it to order Dante, Filippo, and Bastiano like the soldiers they were, aside from being sons.

(Sons, you are responsible for your sisters, wherever they go, you follow them. Understood?)

(Yes boss)

"Do you have any objections?" Padre looked around all of us as we shook our heads. Filippo, on the other side, stood up and pushed forward.

"The girls shouldn't be here either. Caterina is getting married, I can't deny her the right to attend, not when her future husband will be accompanying her, but Bianca and Sndra are too young. They should be with Aurelio. It is dangerous for them, with so many men here and us socializing throughout the night. We can't be sure nothing will go wrong." Filippo said in a tone that indicated we should have thought this too, and that he was the only sane person in the room.

"Nothing will happen, fratello," Bianca said from her place on the couch. She was wearing pink silk shorts and a white sports bra. Her hair was braided and she had her headphones around her neck. I think Stella interrupted her workout, and my sister loves her workouts. She doesn't have patience for anything that gets between her and her routine.

"It's our house, Filippo. You all will be there, guards are everywhere and it will be full of people. Surely they are dangerous but they do not have a death wish. No one would dare try anything," I said in an apparent tone. I appreciate his overprotectiveness, but sometimes, it is limiting and suffocating. He needs to understand that we have to get out to the world someday too. We can't keep living in a glass castle. "If Padre thought this was a bad idea, he wouldn't have suggested it. You must know that." My voice was soft and full of love. He is my older brother. I know he wants to help, but he has to find some balance in life.

"Do you even know who will be attending? You'll have them in the same room as Pedratti and Starkov? Don't you remember what they do?! Pedratti is involved in sex trafficking! Girls, boys, even babies! And you'll have him so close to your daughters?!" Filippo seemed to not hear us, and he was confined in his thoughts full of blood and vendettas. He was half-screaming, the veins popping in his forehead. He rested his fists on the desk in front of him, leaning close to Father who held a murderous glint in his eyes.

"Don't ever assume that I do not care for my family's safety, figlio. I've taken precautions and if I thought Pedratti or Starkov, or anyone else would be a threat, I would have sent your sisters away! Don't forget your place, Filippo," his eyes glazed over and looked more amber than brown in the dim light that entered the room through the mass of dark curtains. My Father's voice was a blade that could have cut ice in half. (Son)