INSEPARABLE | 18+

N I G H T E E N

Present time.
Rome, Italy.

-

"Don."

Antonio stood in front of the desk as he addressed him. He was aware that his cousin meant business at the moment. But he had no idea why Valerius had called him. As far as Antonio knew, he was not needed in the afternoon.

"When is Vladimir leaving for Russia?" Valerius asked, joining his hands together.

"His plane leaves tonight. He could not do so in the morning because of the weather."

Valerius gave a nod and grabbed the file lying on the desk in his hands, "There is an important shipment that needs to be monitored. It will leave in the evening." He passed the file to him, "Make sure there is no problem."

Antonio grasped it in his hands and then went through it and after a quick look, he nodded, "There won't be any." But a certain thought ran through his mind and he found himself speaking again, "But, Dimitri is the one in charge of the warehouse, why am I appointed for this particular one?"

"Dimitri is aware of this. He has to leave for Milan in a few hours."

Antonio nodded, "Bene."

(Alright)

Valerius unclasped his hands, "You can leave," he said while dismissing him.

Antonio looked at Valerius with a calculating gaze. He could not pinpoint the particular feeling, but he knew that something was up. He just did not know what it was. Or maybe he was being paranoid?

"Yes?" Valerius asked when he noticed Antonio staring at him, "Their death anniversary is near." Antonio said instead, he had to remind him anyways.

Valerius sighed, "I am well aware."

"I can't even remember how many years it has been."

"Time moves fast when you are busy," Valerius murmured, keeping his gaze transfixed on the ceiling above.

Valerius had never bothered to honor his father after his death. He did not care about him. It was Antonio reminding him most of the time because unlike him, he cared about his own father. His uncle was the better brother, if he had been the Don instead of Valerius's father, things would have been different.

His life would have been different.

The beating, the lashing, the screaming, the shouting, keeping him locked in the basement for days, making him kill men and women, even children - he remembered it all. Each torment of his father was fresh in his memory.

"Zio would have been proud of you."

(Uncle)

Valerius let out a humorless chuckle, "I am not so sure about that."

"We turned out exactly as our fathers wanted," Antonio said, despair evident in his voice.

It did not go unnoticed by Valerius.

"We had no other choice, Antonio."

"No," He sighed, "We didn't."

_

"Signora do you need anything else?" Zara asked Valentina as she placed water on her desk. Valentina shook her head in denial and passed her a grateful smile. She brought the glass to her lips and took a sip.

Zara remained standing beside her desk. Something was disturbing Valentina, she could sense it on her face.

"Is everything alright?" Zara asked her, hoping she would share her worry.

Valentina placed the glass down. She took a deep breath and gathered the papers sprawled across her desk.

She could never draw when she was worried.

"I just feel.." She stopped looking for the right word, "uneasy."

Zara stared at her in response, "How so?"

"I just, I just have a feeling that something is about to go wrong." She said with a huff, raising her hand to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear.

Zara took a seat in front of her desk, "You look pale as well," She spoke, "Do you need me to call the Don?"

Valentina immediately shook her head, "No!" She murmured, "He will be worried for no reason."

Zara nodded and watched as Valentina continued to tap her finger against her desk. She had never seen her this disturbed. Valentina was always collected, even more so than others. She never crumbled easily, not even under the pressure of her Boss, and Fang Chen was not an easy person to work with.

"Wait," Valentina spoke, her eyes widening as if something had clicked in her mind. She grabbed her handbag and pulled out a folded paper. Zara watched as she smoothed it down.

"Who is this?" She questioned, looking over to see. Her eyebrows furrowed when she noticed that it was the same man who was responsible for Valentina's accident.

A leaden look was plastered on her face, "I told Valerius that I knew this man, but I could not pinpoint from where."

Zara nodded slowly, as in asking her to go on.

"I have been trying for days," Valentina rushed, "but now I am slowly getting a flashback."

Zara grew dumbstruck. Valentina must have seen him with someone important if she was acting like this, she thought.

Valentina kept running a hand through her hair, messing it.

Her knee bounced.

Her nail tapped against the glass of her desk.

And then it clicked in her mind.

Her breathing stilled. The nail halted against the desk and so did the knee.

She froze completely.

"What happened?" Zara questioned, worrying about her reaction. She slowly stood up from her seat but before she could touch Valentina, she moved.

"We need to leave."

Valentina quickly made her way out of the office with Zara trailing behind her. She walked as fast as her heels could carry her. Her mind could not even register the shouts of her Boss.

She had to reach home.

Valentina was leaving the elevator as soon as the doors opened. The driver was already at the entrance with the car. Zara ran and sat from the other side as Valentina entered.

"Home now." She ordered the driver as he started the engine, and urged him to drive fast when she noticed the speed.

She ran a hand through her hair, struggling to make sense of it all. She needed to reach home and get answers.

The familiar gates had her clutching the door handle.

Valentina was out of the car before he even parked it properly. She walked swiftly towards the entrance door but before she could ascend the stairs, she looked behind at Zara.

"I need to talk to Valerius," Valentina said, "Stay here."

Zara understood that she was not needed and bowed her head, "Si, Signora."

Valentina walked up the stairs, almost running towards his office. She grabbed the handle and opened it hastily.

"Valer- "

She was cut short.

Her eyes slowly met with the man standing beside the desk. His hands holding a file with several sprawled across, his face masked with a freezing expression when he noticed her.

It took Valentina a second to regain her composure.

"Dimitri?"

-

Hello everyone. What are your thoughts on this chapter?