Blood in our Love

CHAPTER I

"Could everyone hurry up? We have places to be." Kekepania complained, tossing her head back in annoyance.

"Its not my fault Artemi is taking forever!" Verena furrowed her eyebrows as she spoke, placing her hands on her hips, popping one hip out.

"I'm sorry, okay? I just can't get this lipstick to look right." Artemi muttered, pursing her lips. She carefully applied a nude lipstick. Once she finished she took a step back, studying herself in the mirror. She gave a nod of approval.

"All yours now." Artemi patted Verena on the shoulder as she strolled out of the bathroom.

"What was taking you so long? I swear you and Verena were in there forever." Vendetta commented. As she spoke her head popped out of the doorway of the other bathroom.

Before Artemi got a chance to answer, Kekepania chimed in,
"Miss perfect couldn't get her lipstick right." 

"Keke, be nice! Good lord." Vendetta rolled her eyes which earned a giggle from Minxie, who had just appeared behind her.

"Why are we even going to this stupid dinner thing?" Dahli groaned and walked up next to Minxie. Her arms were crossed loosely over her chest, suggesting that she was bored of the idea of attending the dinner. Artemi nodded in agreement.

"Because it's the polite thing to do. I don't want to just turn down their invitation." Vendetta said dismissively with a light shrug.

"Now, come on. We know darn well you're not the most polite person in the room. Whats the real reason Vendetta?" Verena raised an eyebrow, looking at the other girl with scrutiny.

"Ugh. Fine. You remember that one group that lost to us? The 'Blood Eyes', or whatever. They're going to be there. Thought it might be nice to.. pay them a visit." Vendetta said. Her voice carried a hint of malice. She strode through the house as she spoke, the others flocking after her. She reached the front door and perched on a little bench to put her shoes on.

"I'll assume we bring weapons?" Minxie asked with a small smile.

"Don't we always bring weapons?" Vendetta retorted. As if it wasn't obvious.

With that, they each darted off to go retrieve their weapon of choice.

They all had their specialties. For Vendetta, she had a dagger strapped to her thigh by a garter, hidden from view by her black dress.

Venera owned a small hand pistol which was carefully stashed in a small hand purse. Easily concealed and effective.

Dahli also enjoyed guns. To her hip was strapped an FN 503. This too was out of sight, veiled by her poofy, but elegant, layered blush pink dress.

Keke worked best with blades. She had a little leather change purse, an innocent looking little vessel, slammed full with shurikens. Any type of sharp object was her forte but she often favored shurikens.

Mimi though, she preferred to work more discreetly, under the radar. She had a trio of small poison vials secured to her left thigh, in a custom-made garter that had little vial holders.

Minxie had a grenade in her bag. Just in case. One might say she liked to work on a larger and more... dramatic scale than the rest. Alongside that was beside was a dagger with a wicked curve in the blade. You can never go wrong with multiple weapons.

- - -

Vendetta thanked their chauffer and handed him $75 as the team of women exited the car, coming to stand before the giant mansion.

Vendetta couldn't help but stare for a moment. It was absolutely beautiful. The gates around it were white, laced with vines and an assortment of greenery. Right beyond the gate there were two gorgeous twin fountains, the water as clear as could be.

Vendetta was suddenly snapped out of her awe-struck state as Artemi and Venera raced past her.

"Stop running! You're gonna break your ankles!!" Keke shrieked after them, walking up next to Vendetta. Vendetta cringed at the screaming and ducked away. Her eardrums may finally burst this time.

Vendetta turned her head to see Minxie appear on the other side of her, Dahli just behind her.

"I honestly wish I lived here. You think they'll sell me the property?" Vendetta asked no one in particular, still gazing around the entire place. She studied the yard, the front door, the windows, everything. She loved new places. The architecture of this place was lovely.

"You cannot impulse buy any more houses, Vendetta. We already have 7. We dont need an 8th." Dahli said with a slight chuckle, but she wasnt joking. Vendetta was NOT the wisest person, particularly with money. She tended to impulse buy a lot of things.

Such as an entire Walmart.

And yes, she DID buy a Walmart once, just simply because she liked how the building was set up. It was a wonder the group wasn't completely bankrupt by now.

"Fine, fine." Vendetta scoffed disappointedly and shook her head to regain focus as they reached the front door. Artemi and Venera were waiting on the steps impatiently.

Vendetta quickly smoothed out her dress before leading the way through the open front door, which was already being held open. She quickly muttered a thanks to the man as she entered. Vendetta didn't bother to look at him, but out of the corner of her eye she saw him silently bow his head as a sign of respect.

Vendetta critically studied the room. It was an open room with a high ceiling, from which was hanging an intricate chandelier. Along one wall of the room, food and drink tables and bars were set up. The rest of the room was filled with rows of tables. There were a few empty tables scattered around the room, though none were completely to her satisfaction. Some were too close to other people or had not enough chairs.
Finally she set her eyes on one table that was halfway decent, then turned to one of her girls.

"Keke, go grab a glass of white wine for everyone. We're going to go sit at that little table over there." Vendetta pointed at a table near the middle of the room that was empty. It had more chairs than they had people, but it still worked.

Keke nodded and marched away towards the bar area.

Vendetta sat down with a small sigh, honestly not really wanting to be here. She didn't enjoy being around all these older men that loved going around telling people how much money they earned, and she didn't like the women that clinged onto their side like their life depended on it. She just didn't like these events in general. Vendetta was certain her expression matched her feelings, and she didn't care to make herself look more pleasant.

She smiled as Keke approached the table with 6 glasses and laid them out for everyone. Vendetta immediately began sipping on hers.

Vendetta was in her own little world, boredly zoning in and out of reality, until she heard multiple voices. Loud and obnoxious. She rolled her eyes. Probably some new, stupid teenage members of a mafia group. The boys were always like that when they first start.

Venera, unlike Vendetta, swiveled her head around in search of the voices, not being able to contain her curiosity. Her grin quickly faded as she recognized the other people.

"Vendetta.. Your about to hate this event even more than you first did." Venera murmured, slowly turning her head back to the other girls. She tapped the back of Vendetta's hand to get her attention.

"What? Why? Is my aunt here? Please tell me she isn't here.I cannot handle her shrill voice." Vendetta said with a roll of her eyes, nonchalantly taking another sip of her drink.

"No, it's not Aunt Cathy. It's a certain someone associated with snakes." Venera didn't want to say his name, since his group was basically right behind their table.

"Who? Just spit out their name." Vendetta said, annoyance creeping into her tone. She was clearly not in the mood for code words and dancing around the bush.

"Ehm.." Venera trailed off warily. If she said his name, he might hear her and draw his attention to their crew.

"Oh my LORD. It's Lorenzo. Black Mambas are here." Minxie snapped with a scowl, glaring at the two of them. "Was that so difficult?"

Right after his name was uttered, a certain man's head spun around, his eyes searching until they eventually met Vendetta's.

Great.
Just freaking great.