𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬

60- pads

I will always be proud of my family. No matter what they do, no matter who they kill, I will be proud of them either way.

I've seen almost all of my brothers kill a person in front of my eyes. Did I love them any less? Not at all.

But maybe that's because I've seen it before, that I don't get surprised anymore. Maybe it's because I would expect it from them.

I didn't see it coming when Zina killed 6 men yesterday. And I also couldn't even imagine her not being affected by doing such a cruel deed. I thought she would break down or atleast shed a tear, but she did neither of those thing. On the contrary, she chased down the last man until the beginning of the kitchen.

'La Serpiente Mexicana'.

None of us saw his attack coming. It was like he knew we were unprepared when he would come. And he struck right when we weren't home, and when we'd almost forgot about him attacking our other bases.

It was like he saw right through all of our plans.

And I did expect him to show up eventually. I wasn't even that surprised when he appeared at our house all of a sudden. That part was atleast a little predictable.

But the part that really shocked me, and was the least predictable of all, was our sister killing his men and even chasing him after. She clearly didn't know who she was trying to kill.

But even the fact she killed 6 men, and walked right past them after, even going as far as collecting her knives from their bodies, is already mind blowing. Because it tells me this isn't the first time she's killed someone. And I know all my brothers thought about this too when they saw this different side of her.

Of course we've all killed people, loads of them even, but seeing your little sister nonchalantly killing those men after we thought we'd kept her from our dangerous world, that's the shocking part.

I thought, even in the horrible household she's been raised in, the mafia would be worse. But when she told us about her house in Texas with that bastard, and now I've seen her do this stunt without even doing so much as blinking, she managed to change my mind.

Because what the hell was yesterday.

I can't blame her. Not at all. I'm in fact thankful for her, because if it wasn't for her, we all probably wouldn't be alive and well now. She saved our lives, and didn't even expect a 'thank you'.

And seeing her do this, with such ease, makes my heart ache for her. What did she have to do in order to survive to not even blink at murdering people? She must've had to use this skill of her more often than I'd thought.

Of course I've seen the bruises and heard the truth she'd told us about Texas, but seeing the actions of her stay there made me realize she really had it horrible there. She had it even worse than us, and we'd lost our parents and little sister all at once.

And even after seeing her do such a gruesome thing, I can't stop thinking about all the smiles she's shared with us before.

She smiled, even through all this, and even after all she's been trough. She made sure to always put other people first, even if she should be her own first priority. And I didn't even notice.

Although what she did yesterday shocked me, like no other thing has ever shocked me, I did feel a tiny spark of pride inside of me.

I mean, come on, she killed 6 men bigger and stronger than her with ease! She could belong right in the mafia, although none of us would allow that.

And I directly saw she was really good with knives. I knew she was a good fighter, but I never knew she'd be so good.

And yes, I know we all should talk to her about where she'd learn this, but she kinda is mad at us right now and I can't deny we deserved it. We did lie to her– even if it was for her own safety– after all.

Because if she learned it from her friend– like she'd told us– she didn't have really safe friends either.

All of a sudden, the sound of Maneater– my ringtone– echoes through my room.

I check the screen and roll my eyes when I see the name.

Speaking from the devil.

I hope she won't bite of my head, because Javi told me she's in a mood today and is mad at everyone.

I pick up anyway, worrying it might be something important.

"Hey Zina." I try saying kindly to her, still afraid of her snapping at me.

"Adrian." Zina speaks out my name in a stern voice.

"You have to go to the store for me." She basically demands me.

Since when are we taking orders from her?

Since now apparently, because I quickly answer;

"Uhm okay, anything particular?"

"Yes." She says and it stays silent for a long time after.

When she won't continue I roll my eyes.

"For what?" I ask her in a bored voice.

"Well, uhm." She murmers in an embarrassed voice.

Suddenly I hear her phone falling on the ground, and I hear gagging noises from beside it.

I straighten my back, and stare at my phone now slightly panicked.

"Zina?!" I ask now panicking because she isn't answering.

"Yes, you need to buy some... pads for me. Please." She adds the last word in a embarrassed voice.

Because she added the 'Please', I accept and chuckle lightly at her embarrassment state.

"Okay Zina I will, which kind though?" I ask her already rising from my chair and putting on my jacket.

"And do I need to come take care of you? Because I can you know." I add, in case she feels really bad. Normally, I would've stormed of the stairs had I heard her throwing up, but I think I'd rather spare the embarrassment for her.

"I don't know. Just ask the shop lady. Thank you." And she hangs up.

Okay, now I can see what Javi meant with being in a mood.

The shop lady it is.

I pick up my keys and leave the house.

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