** REBEL SIMMONS POV **

After hours of shopping, I was exhausted. I was feeling lazy today, and rightfully so. Claiming the title of the second best street racer in Italy, being in the middle of a gun fight, killing an assassin, getting shot, then getting blacked out drunk would do that to you.

Much to Natalia's dismay, I used being shot as my excuse to wear my black joggers, sneakers, and white hoodie out to the mall. Thankfully, she let it slide.

I decided to get gifts for everyone since I was here... again. I figured I might as well get everyone two gifts, just in case they didn't like the first one I got them. I got Giana a new Tiffany bracelet and a pair of earrings, Florence a dark red elegant dress from Ted Baker and a diamond necklace, My mom a new iPad and a protective case, Angelo a book on medical measurements as a joke and a new PS4, Damon a new hard drive, screen protectors and screen cleaners (god knows he needs them), and Harry a limited edition version of his favorite book, Wuthering Heights and a new sweater vest (since he's always wearing one). The twins agreed to pick out their own gifts: Isa picking out a sleek pair of black Louboutin heels, and Natalia and classic nude Valentino heel. I secretly got them both a Louis Vuitton scarf: Natalia's in pink and grey and Isa's in grey and black.

"Didn't Dante say not to leave the mansion?" I asked as I realized that we've been out for five hours already.

"We have a secret security detail surrounding us." Natalia said as she nodded to a man in a trench coat and a fedora following us. He was sitting on a bench staring directly at us with his hands in his pockets, and a bored expression on his face.

"Well that's not obvious at all." I said rolling my eyes.

"Speaking of Dante, are you going to get him anything?" Isa asked curiously.

"Should I? What does he like?" I asked curiously. I've always been horrible at gifts.

"Anything that resembles killing." Natalia said as she raised an eyebrow as they laughed in unison.

"We aren't really too sure. He isn't much of a holiday kind of guy. He's always saying that 'us being alive is a good enough of present' or something. He usually just eats with us and goes to his office." Isa shrugged.

"Even when we did give him gifts, he never really accepted them. So we just stopped giving him gifts a few years ago. And he never gives gifts, he said he's giving us the gift of life by protecting the family." Natalia said, rolling her eyes.

We stopped into a small weapons shop, and walked around. I eyed the different guns, and stopped as one caught my eye: a jet black glock. The metal shined underneath the lights in the container. Right next to it was a matching pocket knife. It reminded me of Dante instantly. I discretely purchased it while the twins wandered off next door to a jewelry shop.

"Would you like to add an engraving on the gun?" The woman behind the counter asked as I was about to swipe my card. "It'll only take a few minutes."

"Okay." I finally said. She handed me a piece of paper and I thought over what I would want it to say.

Should it be sentimental?

Or would that be too much?

We haven't kissed, yet we've done more than that.

We aren't exclusive, but he'll protect me with his life?

I stood there for a few moments, staring down at the lines on the paper, overthinking and complicating what I would write.

I took a deep breath and wrote down the first thing that came to mind:

To the man who both infuriates, and ignites my soul all at once.  

I laughed at the accuracy of the words, and I shrugged and handed it over to the woman before I could change it again.

I waited a few minutes before the twins got hungry and found their way back into the weapons shop. Isa discretely handed me a gun with a silencer, just in case, and left to go search for some food. I shoved the gun into the waistband of my pants, adjusting it as the cool metal hit my skin.

When the woman was finished, I held the gun in my hand and smiled. The engraving shimmered against the black metal, making it noticeable, yet discrete. It was perfect. I gently placed it back into its holder, and placed it in another bag so the twins wouldn't see.

I walked towards the food court, getting my phone out to see where the twins were. As I texted on my phone, a hand wrapped around my mouth and pulled me down a barren hallways. I quickly hit the call button on my phone, and started to call Natalia.

I instinctively bit his hand as hard as I could causing him to scream out and I elbowed him in the chest. It did more damage to me than him, my elbow aching from the impact with his stomach muscles. I pulled out my gun and aimed it at his head.

"What do you want with me." I asked. He smirked as he walked closer. I shot him in the kneecap, he groaned and fell to the floor.

"What the fuck do you want with me?" I asked again, aiming the gun between his eyes once again.

"You. You're my target." He said laughing as he lunged for me, I pulled the trigger and shot him between the eyes. His blood splattered all over my white hoodie. I examined his neck and saw the familiar writing in Russian. I grabbed his phone, and opened the back for any tracking devices. As soon as I found one, I tossed it and put the phone in my pocket. I ran out of the hallway and instantly slammed into Natalia.

"Holy shit, what happened?" Isa asked, urgency lacing her words as she examined my blood stained hoodie.

"We have to go. Now." I said as I grabbed my bags from the floor and started sprinting towards the car. We ran through the crowded shopping center, and finally made our way to my Dodge Demon as gunshots began to erupted inside the mall.

We quickly piled in as I peeled out of the parking lot. I swerved through cars as Natalia called Dante from my phone. He picked up one the first ring.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked in a gentle tone.

I looked in my rear view mirror to see four blacked out cars trailing us: two Escalades and two Mercedes AMG 63s.

"Promise you won't be mad?" Natalia asked nervously as I drifted the corner and floored it. The four cars following closely behind me.

"Natalia? Where the fuck is Rebel?!" Dante growled over the Bluetooth. His gentle tone vanishing in an instant.

"We went to the mall and-" Isa started to say as I swerved through traffic.

"Where the fuck is she? So help me god if she even has one hair out of place I'll-" Dante said, his deep voice threatening.

"Dante! I'm fine!" I said as I maneuvered through traffic. One of the Escalades pulled up next to use and rolled down their windows. A shadow was in the backseat with his gun aimed directly at me.

I slammed on my break and started to drive in reverse on the freeway, narrowly avoiding the bullets that were hitting my windshield.

"Did I just hear fucking bullets?" Dante said in a deadly tone.

"Long story short, we went to the mall, a Shadow tried to kidnap or kill me, I killed him, took his phone, disabled the tracker on it," I began to explain.

"That's my girl." Dante proudly said. My heart fluttered at the sound of his words.

"Awww." The twins cooed in unison as they loaded their guns.

"Now we have four cars of Russian mobsters shooting at us on the freeway. Any suggestions?" I said calmly as I turned my car to exit on the freeway, making my car face the proper way.

"And we are almost out of ammo." Isa called out from the back. The Russians were gaining on us as I continued to maneuver through the narrow streets.

"Try and lose them and head in the direction of the second warehouse. I stashed some extra guns under the passenger seat and center console, just in case. Meet me halfway to the warehouse, I'm on my way." Dante said in a serious tone. I opened up the center console and smiled at the tiny arsenal he stored in my car. Isa reached under the passenger seat and smirked as she pulled out a semi automatic. 

"Got it." I said as I drifted a tight corner. An Escalade took the corner too quickly and lost control, crashing into a bus.

"And...Rebel," Dante spoke after a long pause.

"Yes?" I said as my eyes were glued to the rear view mirror.

"Be safe please." He said gently before he hung up the phone.

"Okay. Seriously, what have you done to our brother." Natalia called our as she ducked down to avoid the bullets hitting the back windshield.

"In our 19 years of life we have never heard him say please to anyone." Isa said as she rolled down her window and started to fire at one of the AMGs. She took out the front two tires, and it swerved uncontrollably before crashing into a nearby flower shop.

"Can we please discuss my love life at a more appropriate time?" I said as I rolled my eyes. We were about 3 miles from the meeting spot with Dante.

I merged onto the mountain path, the Escalade and AMG closing the distance between us. The Escalade was closing in on our left. The streets were narrow, with only two lanes on each side. I looked ahead of us to see a gasoline truck coming our way. I made my mental calculations and grabbed the semi automatic, and rolled down my window.

"Isa, take the wheel." I said as I unbuckled my seat belt.

"Rebel What the hell are you doing?!" Isa called out as she quickly took the wheel. I waited for the semi truck to pass before I stuck my body out of the window.

"Do you know what Dante would do to us if you die!?" Natalia yelled as she held my legs for support.

I carefully aimed for the fuel tank on the semi truck. The Russians in the vehicles were aiming their weapons at me. With deadly precision, I fired at the gasoline truck and moved back into the car. The gasoline truck exploded on impact, taking out the Escalade and AMG.

"Dammmn our best friend is a motherfucking legend!" Isa sang as she high-fived me.

"Seriously Rebel. You're bat shit crazy but that was incredible!" Natalia said as she grabbed my good shoulder.

We neared the halfway point, and it looked like Dante brought an entire damn army. Hundreds of men and woman were waiting, Guns drawn. Dante was standing towards the center of his troops, his arms crossed. When he saw my car, he rushed over before I could even stop.

My Demon looked like a disaster. Bullet holes pierced a vast majority of the car. My windows and windshields were all cracked and shattered. He ran over to the drivers side door and opened it quickly. He grabbed my shoulders and examined me from head to toe, making sure I wasn't hurt. When he saw the blood on my hoodie, his eyebrows furrowed in worry. 

"The blood isn't mine, don't worry." I shrugged. He let go of my shoulders and opened the passenger seat and shooed Isa to the backseat.

"Really Don? You had us all come out to save some girl?" A woman walking towards the car as she looked me up and down and scoffed.  She was gorgeous. She has long brown hair that reached the middle of her back, and light blue eyes. Her lips were plump and large, stained with a dark color of her lip stick, contrasting perfectly with her tan skin. Her facial features were all sharp yet feminine. She was tall, taller than me, and very curvy in all the right places. She was the type of woman that made every other female in the room feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Fuck off Sofia." Isa said as she flipped her off while getting out of the car.

Sofia looked at Dante expectantly, as if waiting for him to defend her. He looked at her, emotionless before turning his back to her and stepping into the car.

"Oh, and by the way, I did have oh so much fun with you this morning, like I always do." She said seductively as her hands trailed across his shoulders slowly as she walked away. Jealousy overflowed in my veins as I watched Dante scoff before he got into the car.

"The mansion. Drive." He ordered. As I floored it out of the barren streets, drifting in a U-turn.