Fighting for Us

Prologue

Sometimes life throws funny things in the mix, things you had never even considered happening to you. For Aoife, that wasn't exactly the case. She had decided to go out there and leave her family and friends behind, moving to Italy to complete her masters in Data sciences and cybersecurity. She wasn't exactly nerdy, but the idea of doing what most women 'weren't' supposed to do is what attracted her to her chosen field of study. Boxing, running and even swimming were all passions of hers. She loved the thrill of doing things that challenged her physically and mentally. In reality, sometimes she just didn't want to stop to think, to think about all the reasons she left, the reasons she couldn't stay near her family or where he lived.

When Daphne, her best friend from London, where she got her Bachelors, joked that she was totally the type of girl to accidentally end up in a relationship with a walking red flag that she could never escape, Aoife just laughed at her and agreed. So, she swore off of men, at least for the year until she got a job. Trusting her choice in men was risky, as her friends liked to put it, especially if they ever found out what her 'sweetheart' ex did. The one they never really liked but she was convinced he was a golden retriever, so her friends and family shut their gobs and let her date him.

So far she had been in Rome for a month, having found a quaint restaurant run by an older couple that she absolutely adored. They hired her immediately, and now she works whenever she can. She was quickly beginning to settle and feel at home. Having learnt the language in the many moves from her childhood, speaking wasn't a problem; that wasn't to say she was extremely outspoken and confident in her abilities. She usually liked to play it off that she couldn't speak the language if someone initially spoke English to her. Her coach was the only one she would willingly speak italian with. 

Lorenzo, Aoife's coach, lived a life full of trauma in search of his brother. He was protective of those he cared about. He scoped out the Arena and was known for his skilled training in the underworld of fighting, yet none of his fighters ever got scouted. 

Gabriele, Ellio and Dante were the trio that actually worked, the perfect balance. Gabriele the level headed leader, Ellio the tech guy that knew everything about everyone and Dante the muscle. Gabriele had spent his whole life trying to live up to his fathers expectations and desires to take over the family 'business' in the future. Ellio had the perfect spotless family, well at least to the public eye; his family was loving, open and well-off. Dante was a whole other story– one of an orphan who was saved by the two men that are now his best friends. Any girls or friends always said 'dating one of you would be like dating all three of you', which was probably true considering they were connected by the hip.