"You are not worthy to be our Don," he said as he tackled me to the floor. I ran short of breath but that was just for the while he was on me. Now I was on him as he groaned in pain, clutching his jewels, the knife some feet away from us and my arms on his neck.

"That's your opinion."

"Well, you're going to have to add more pressure on my neck if you really want me unconscious."

As I thought about the gun and how good the bullet would look in his skull, he up handed me and threw me away from him.

My back hit the floor hard and I wheezed. Coughing and inching sideways bit by bit, I asked, "Why are we fighting again?"

"I don't want you as my leader. You killed your own father for crying out loud!"

"What?!" I pushed both palms forward. "Wait! Wait! Wait!" Then, my eyes widened. 

Actually, no one had seen Henry pull the trigger. Only three people were present at the time of Allen's death— Hilda, Henry and I. Whatever made him suspect I was the one who killed Allen was his business. All I had to do to seal the pretense was to follow the script in their minds.

"Allen was going to give me this position anyway whether he died by my hand or not. What's your fuss about, really? That a lady can't lead you?"

"That's not really what I meant but when you put it that way..."

My hands wrapped over the handle of the gun and immediately, I pointed it straight at him. "Well," I said as my fingers curled over the trigger. "I've listened to you and I don't find your argument appealing."

A gunshot rang, followed closely by a yelp.

My assailant was clutching his knees which had just been perforated.

"So what?! A bullet to the knee and you think you've won?"

I couldn't even recognize myself as I said, "Na, I don't care about winning you. Your predicament would serve as a deterrent to others."

I turned to look at the men staring at us, bored.

"Please handle him, and tell everyone who isn't in support of my leadership to come forth. Ooh, which of you was Allen's advisor?"

"You just shot him."

"He was doing a bad job anyway. I need a new advisor."

~~~~~~~~

"Harida, what's this I hear about you taking over? Where the hell is father?" Praise said angrily, heels clicking against the tiles and her luxury bag  hung on the dip of her elbow as she walked.

"I see they have informed you against my better directions," I said, looking up from the last of the business I was signing over to Avian. Avian sat at one side and Henry at the other.

"We wouldn't be the ones excusing you."Avian said. "We are here for a reason."

"We?!" Praise asked.

"Well," I said with open palms as I approached her. "Henry is here to help me ease into power and Avian is here for what he does best. I believe it's best we both speak I've a drink. What'd do you say?" I asked opening the door.

She looked at me with raised brows, probably as surprised with the way I was acting as I was.

I didn't know the exact reason I was acting like a new wife visiting family her husband's family for the first time, all I knew was that despite our differences— Praise and I, she wasn't meant to find out about her dad's death the way I found out he was my father.

She tilted her head and walked through the door I opened.

"We'll be back?" I said to the other two in the room as we both made our way to the bar.

The bar had this retro-decor all around. It had windows for its walls, louvered, narrow, dark and of a door's height.

She walked before me, taking her seat on one of the barstools and I the other. I rotated a bit on it before I met her pointed stare.

"Right?! A drink," I said, standing up and navigating the counter towards the cellar.

took two stemmed glasses from the cabinet up. There were a lot of wines in the cellar, mostly alcoholic. There were fruit wines, yogurt-infused, spicy...

"Harida," she said in that way she always did, uplifting the "I" in the name. "I'd suggest you taste the Portuguese vintage by your left, that's if you've got a nack for complex wines which eventually turn out sweet."

I then proceeded to find it. "No up. Alright, I'm coming."

And she did. Her heels clicked against the floor as she approached where I stood and picked the wine just above my head. I almost forgot that we were of the same height— probably dad genes.

She popped the cork and checked our glasses. Then she poured us drinks, the amber liquid of the bottle falling into the cup.

She then went bit towards the left of the cellar and took another wine, one which as she poured, appeared to be as white as flowing snow.

I read the inscription on the bottle, "Port Tawny"

She raised the white wibe to her lips.

"You know, I find it weird that we're drinking different wines. Honestly, what cemented your decision to pour us this?" I asked. I'd deliberately not used the word "offer" in place of "pour" cause there was no way she'd be offering me something while I'm not at her mercy. As stepsisters, siblings to be precise, we were no more roommates but now equals, relatives.

"Here, what I've got is a tawny," she said, twirling the wine in her cup with her index finger caressing the rim of her glass so they revealed short nails painted a pink hue. "Tawny have a specific time frame to be consumed and we got this some days ago, I think. However, what I gave you is vintage, twenty five years to be precise. I didn't want to serve you wine and have you thinking you lacked on the better ones cause these ones would be perishing soon."

"Wow, that's nice. I should take a sip then."

I took a sip. The liquid content refreshing on my tongue. It was sweet and sour at the same time.

"Wow! This is nice." I took a gulp this time.

"Yes it is. Dad is a big fan of wines and he just so happens to have friends who love them too. You might want to be careful though, cause the alcohol content is high."

I hurriedly swallowed the wine in my mouth, and proceeded to take another gulp, in hopes that I could buy myself time. But the universe didn't seem to be at my side cause Praise broke the silence again.

"Speaking of Dad, where's he? His last message seemed kind of urgent. Wait?! Why were you in his office holding a meeting?! So it's true what I heard."

An unmistakable silence took over. One that had me looking away from her eyes for reasons I didn't know.

Glass shattered as she hit it hard against the counter. "Harida?!"

"I owed people and Allen wasn't going to let them go."

"And you don't owe me? I'm your step-sister Harida, and he's your dad! Our dad!"

"Well," I said. "If you support father running a sex- trafficking chain, then you're not really my sister. Because my real sister, a victim of rape, wouldn't support a criminal sex-trafficker cause he's her father. Just stay out of this, the way "father" is sure to, cause when you step in the way, I'll be forced to deal with you too," I said, staring straight at her bewildered gaze before taking a sip of my wine again and taking my leave but her voice stopped me.

"You may have acquired all this Harida, but let me remind you that I have an equally powerful fiancé, and some acquaintances, equally powerful who will come after you for killing their trusted associate." She tilted her head head a bit and smirked. "I hope your win doesn't end up short-lived."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come one babes, let's talk. How are you enjoying this novel so far? Who's your favourite character and who are you rooting for? Avian and Harida or Henry and Harida?

Please comment your thoughts.