** REBEL SIMMONS POV **

As soon as we exited the room, Dante pushed me against the wall, trapping me within his muscular arms. A shiver ran down my spine and my mind became fogged with his tantalizing musky scent.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" He whispered in my ear.

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy, without fighting. All warfare is based on deception." I breathed out quickly. 

"Sun Tzu. Art of War." Dante said as he pulled his lips away from my ear and gently kissed my neck. "I should have known you'd capitalize on your intellect." Dante said as his lips grazed my skin and his hand cupped my face.

His lips continued to pepper kisses on my skin. I moved my head to give him more access. My heart was pounding and his touch made my knees give our slightly.

"You're-" His sentence was cut short by the sounds of footsteps approaching. He quickly backed away from me as if I was burning his skin. A familiar sting of disappointment shot through my body. I couldn't help the pang of regret for allowing myself to be in that situation once more. 

"Shit Rebel! That was insane! How did you know what to say?" Isa asked as she and Natalia embraced me in a tight hug. Dante's posture stiffened as he watched the embrace.

"Observation and assumptions." I shrugged knowing that they were probably watching on the surveillance cameras.

"And the fluent Russian?" Dante asked, with a curious expression. His cold demeanor returning as he crossed his arms.

"I use to teach myself languages when I was younger. I'm fluent in Russian, German, French, Italian, and Dutch." I stated coldly. His frequent mood changes were giving me whiplash, and I felt a migraine coming on.

"Interesting." Dante said in a calm tone. His hand was brought up to his chin, gently stroking his facial hair.

"So what's with the Balle des Enfers?" I asked as we quickly walked up the flight of stairs, hearing the distant screams of the Russian prisoner begin to fade. 

"It's the worst event of the year." Isa groaned and she rolled her eyes. 

"Also the biggest." Natalia added, seeming rather excited about it.

"As you know, it literally means 'Underworlds Ball'. It's a yearly event where the heads of all the Mafia Families get together in a peaceful and civil manner. It is a tradition in the Mafia world. This year will be the 205th anniversary of the ball." Dante explained as he walked in front of us, not bothering to turn around. "Every family isn't allowed to bring any sort of weapons and killing is forbidden. The only guests allowed to attend would be the direct bloodlines of the families and our Capos."

"And our dates. Don't forget our dates." Natalia said as she beamed. Isa rolled her eyes.

"So if it's so peaceful and civil, why would Pavlovski execute his attack there? Skinkoli mentioned he was in hiding, maybe it's to make his return and exert his dominance by waging war at an event designed for peace?" I thought out loud.

"My thoughts exactly." Dante said as we reached the door. He opened it, and quickly walked in the other direction. Leaving the twins and I alone in the hallway.

"Jerk." Natalia scoffed as we started our walk towards my car.

*************************************************

After we arrived at the Vino mansion, I went straight towards my safe haven: the garage. The sound of Jimi Hendrix once again filling the air of the garage.

Dante Vino, that motherfucker, was really fucking with my head.

He's all over me, then acts distant.
He kills for me, then ignores me.
He compliments me, then pushes me away. 

I felt like a child playing some fucked up version of "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not."

I looked at my phone and realized that it was already 11PM. I closed the hood of my car, and was startled by the sight Angelo who was standing by the door, leaning against the wall. He was dressed casually, his suit replaced with blue jeans, a red crew neck, and white sneakers.

"Hey." He said casually, a lopsided smile stretched across his face. 

"What do you want?" I asked getting straight to the point.

"Geez I just wanted to see what you were up to. No need to rip my head off." He said throwing his hands in front of him in surrender. I rolled my eyes at the man child.

"You're still upset about the whole drugging thing, huh?" Angelo asked, his face softening instantly. He looked like a sad puppy with his big brown eyes and shaggy hair.

"Perhaps." I smirked at him. It's hard to stay angry at Angelo when he's making such a pathetic looking face.

"I'm sorry. I was just following Dante's orders." He said looking down. "But next time he orders me to drug you, I pinky promise, scouts honor, put it on moms life that I won't do it." He said smiling a wide smile as he held out his pinky. 

"Ok deal." I said walking over and locking pinky's. "If you break this promise, I'll break your pinky." I said laughing. His boisterous laugh filled the room.

"Nice ride." He smiled as he examined the car. He walked over to the passenger side and bent down, examining every little detail. 

"Thanks." I said as I put my tools away and sat down on the floor of the garage.

"Why don't we take it for a spin?" He smirked as he walked towards me.

"Maybe later." I said as I looked up at him. Normally, I would never say no to a joy ride, but I was emotionally exhausted from the games Dante is playing with my mind. 

"Oh come on! You've been working on this thing for weeks and have hardly taken it out." He laughed. His childlike features coming to life with his laugh.

"What did you have in mind?" I said after a moment, standing up. The twins entered the garage, also dressed somewhat casual. Isa was wearing black sneakers, black jeans, a grey hoodie, and a stylish black pea coat over it. Natalia wore a white hoodie, a light pink bomber jacket, ripped blue jeans, and heeled boots.

"Ever been street racing before?" Angelo asks as the twins faces light up with excitement.

"Somewhat." I said, laughing at the old memories I had in my parents Silverado.

"This is going to be awesome!" Natalia squeals.

"Yeah, Dante never lets us race." Isa exclaimed. My stomach dropped at the sound of his name. Natalia caught on and roughly elbowed Isa in the ribs accompanied with a deadly glare.

"Why's that?" I asked with curiosity.

"He says it's too dangerous. So only he's allowed to race." Isa explained as she mimicked Dante's thick Italian accent. I couldn't help but laugh at the way she puffed her chest forward and attempted to make her meanest scowl. "Fucking hypocrite never lets us go." She said as she crossed her arms. 

"Well, good thing I've never been good at following the rules." I said with a devilish grin on my face. "When do the races start?" I asked Angelo, who also had a rebellious smirk on his face.

"Midnight, So hurry up and get ready. We have to leave soon." Angelo said as he nodded at me.

"Alright, lets go then. I'm ready now." I said walking towards my car, earning stares from the twins. They both quickly walked over to me and stood in front of the drivers side door of my Dodge. 

"Rebel...we love you..." Natalia said with a smile as she clapped her hands together. 

 "But you need to change." Isa said as she grabbed my hand and led me inside the house. I looked down at my grease filled tank top, baggy black joggers and dirt covered converse before I let out a loud groan.

"Give us 30 minutes brother." I heard Natalia say in the garage before she ran after us. 

As soon as we got in my room, the twins frantically went through my wardrobe and warmed up a curling iron as I sat on my bed. Isa dug through the drawers, and pulled out every makeup item she could find.

"What the hell are you two doing?" I asked them confused as I sat on my bed.

"We're about to be around the best racers in Italy." Natalia said frantically as she threw a black spaghetti strap dress on the floor.

"Your point?" I asked, boredom filling my voice as I watched clothes fly through the air with an eyebrow raised. 

"Which means our brother will be there." Isa stated as she quickly walked over to me and started applying makeup.

"So you have to look HOT." Natalia stated as she threw another article of clothing on the floor. I groaned and flopped on my bed.

"Like we're talking smoking hot." Isa said as she continued to apply makeup to my face.

"Like make his jaw break when he sees you hot." Natalia said as she dug through the closet drawers.

"Like break his neck from a double take hot." Isa said as she started applying eye shadow. 

"Like make him pass out cause he can't handle the heat hot." Natalia said as she threw a jumpsuit over her head. 

"Like make him rethink his life decisions, let the existential dread take over and make an entire personality and life change kinda hot." Isa said as she looked back to admire her work as she tilted her head. 

"Like make him-" Natalia started from the closet. 

"Okay. I get it." I snapped, annoyed thinking about Dante. 

"Trust me, you'll be thanking us later." Isa said as she applied foundation to my face with a sponge. 

"And.... done." She said as she lightly grazed my nose with a brush. She grabbed a small mirror, and held it up for me. 

Isa did my makeup flawlessly. She did a smoky eye with eyeliner, and added on coats of mascara to add volume to my already long lashes. She curled my hair and took a step back to examine me before she nodded in approval.

"You're a masterpiece darling!" She exclaimed in a fake British accent before jumping off the bed. 

Natalia picked out a leather jacket, mainly because I refused to wear anything else, with a white crop top with a deep v neckline to accentuate my full breasts and slim waist. She paired it with black ripped jeans, and light beige thigh high boots with a heel.

I looked in the mirror in awe. I looked like a completely different person... in a good way. I actually looked attractive. 

"Ohhhh girl. Our brother won't know what hit him." Natalia said as she high-fived Isa.

"Agreed." Isa said as she smiled.

"Thank you guys... so much." I said, gratitude filling my words as I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. 

"You can thank us by making our brother miserable." Isa said as she winked.

"Now come on! We're gonna be late." Natalia said as she smiled before walking out of the room.