The De Luca's Mansion: Sicily, Italy.

"Get yourself together, Leo!" Roberto said as he kicked on his stomach. It was the late evening and they had already returned home. "You're not being yourself for the past five years."

Leo lay inside the ring and didn't try to get up. Roberto sighed and curved down and lay beside him.

"I want the old Leo back," Roberto said quietly making Leo turn his head towards him. "The happy, carefree, protective and reserved brother of mine—"

"I'm still here." Leo deadpanned looking at him.

"Yeah, I know. Physically you're here but you left your old soul back in Fairfield five years ago." Roberto uttered solemnly with a small smile. Leo furrowed his eyebrows slightly and stared blankly in space. Roberto sighed softly and stared up at the huge ceiling of the gym. "You still think of Anna."

"She's long-dead for me and don't you dare mention her name ever again," Leo warned and stood up in a sitting position.

"Ah! You're still angry at her." Roberto voiced feeling amused. "Guess she's hard to forget, your one and only." He added with a huge grinned and turned towards his brother who was already giving him a death glare.

"I'm sorry," Roberto said quietly and gulped down.

"She made her choice and I made mine. We are nothing but an enemy, do not forget that." Leo said in a serious tone. "And moreover we can never be together—" His voice fading into a mere whisper.

"No matter how our families' history is, I will never consider Anna as my enemy," Roberto stated. "I know you don't either, she's your world. You're just angry at her because you didn't see her for the past five years. Once you see her, nothing will matter but just her—"

"Shut your mouth before I kill you!" Leo growled and reached for his brother's neck but Roberto, on reading his movement, quickly dodged away from him and gave him a cheeky smile. "I'm being serious here, Roberto." He said and stood up from his position. Roberto's smile turned into a frown when Leo came and stood in front of him.

"And you're wrong; do not forget what Nonno declared five years ago, no ties to your enemies or she die," Leo said with mixed emotions.

"That was five years ago, you are the Don now, Leo. You can do—" Roberto said.

"We live by rules and traditions, do not forget that." Leo interrupted and reminded him.

"Rules and traditions can be broken, you know that very well," Roberto interjected.

"Only if it doesn't cost lives," Leo hissed with a bad temper and jerk forward, coming face to face to his brother.

"Brothers! Ready for another combat with your sisters!" Sarah shouted and challenged as she entered inside the gym but her face immediately fell when she felt the heating environment between brothers. Jasmine and Alesso followed behind.

"What's going on?" Alesso asked and hurried inside the ring, standing between the thin spaces of his brothers.

"Nothing serious," Roberto gave him a lazy glance and then looked back at Leo. "I was just playing with my brother dear," He grinned widely on Leo's face. Leo rolled his eyes in annoyance but then he quickly threw his anger away.

"No more talks!" Leo said lowly and jabbed gently on Roberto's chest but Roberto simply gave him a sly grin. "Vaffancullo," he chuckled softly before getting out of the ring.

Sarah took a water bottle and strolled towards Leo, who was now resting on the bench beside the ring. "You okay?" she asked and passed him the water bottle. Leo nodded at her and took the bottle from her.

"Sarah!" Roberto called out for her from the ring. "I'm ready and I'm all ready to knock you down this time." He accepted the challenge with a mockery smirk playing on his lips.

"Rest well, brother. Let me take care of our ungrateful brother." Sarah said to Leo.

"Teach him a good lesson." Leo chuckled. Sarah strolled towards the ring and stood at the edge of it.

"This will be your 72 lose to her." Alesso mocked and laughed at Roberto.

"Not this time!" Roberto said and gestured Sarah with his finger to enter the combat ring. Sarah wore a smug face and move towards him. Roberto went stiff looking at her boldness. "Why don't you first defeat Leo in one on one combat then come to me? You know I'm hard to reach." Alesso burst out laughing at his ridiculous statement.

"Oh please," Sarah rolled her eyes over.

"Why don't you just admit that you don't want to get hit from her over and over again?" Alesso laughed out loud. Roberto glared at him and charged towards him and started to combat each other.

Jasmine, who was enjoying watching her brothers fight, drew her attention towards Leo and ran towards him. She sat beside him and looked at him.

"What're you looking for in my face?" Leo asked.

"I'm looking for happiness in your face." She answered. "You don't look good."

"I'm just tired!" he said.

"Want your sister to give you a massage!"

"Will you!" She grinned and nodded at him before massaging his head. "Where's Fiona?"

"You know, the ladies of the house. She's probably with Severina and Avery, cracking some old ladies jokes." Jasmine answered and rolled her eyes over. "Leo." He hummed in reply. But before she could say a word, Leo phone rang.

He went and fetched the phone from the table and received it.

"How did it go?"...... "I'm coming there myself then!" he said and cut the call.

"What happened?" Roberto and Alesso came asking.

"The deal with the Russian mafias didn't go well. He wants me in person," he informed. "Guess I have to go there myself."

"Fuck that guy; he's doing it on purpose," Leo muttered under his breath.

"Guess he's really missing you." Alesso laughed at him.

"We'll go with you!" Roberto said.

"Okay, we'll leave early flight tomorrow."

"Jasmine!" Alesso called out to her and gestured her to come towards him with his two fingers. "You're at the rock bottom; you have to train more than us." he gave her a mocking challenge.

"I think it's time to show your place, little brother." She stood up from her placed and marched towards him. Their brothers and sister watched them as they fought one on one combat. Jasmine kicked him to the ground and arm-lock him.

"I surrender! I surrender!" Alesso quickly patted his hand on the ground in surrender.

"Serves you right!" Roberto mocked at him.

"Now you're at the rock bottom." Jasmine released him and pulled him up.

"Okay, babies time out, now it's time for the oldies," Sarah shouted and entered inside the ring. She stretched and cracked her body side by side, getting ready for one on one combat.

"Now is your time to kiss the floor." Alesso mocked at Roberto before leaving the ring.

"Game on, little brother."

"Game on."

***

Later that night, Leo received a call from his man informing about the change schedule of the meeting with the Russian boss. He took a quick shower and went downstairs to join his family for dinner. He stopped in the hallway and glanced to his right and saw the ladies of the house setting table for the dinner and to his left was his brothers who were busy playing video games.

"Kids!" He shook his head and sighed deeply.

"Roberto! Alesso!" He addressed them and strolled in. Both the brothers immediately abandoned their games and stood up from their place.

"Change of plan, we're flying to Germany tomorrow early morning." He informed.

"What! Why?" Roberto exclaimed.

"Received news that Kazimir has flown to Germany this evening," He said.

"Why did he go there?" Alesso asked.

"To get his regular treatment!" Leo jerked an eyebrow.

"Honestly, Leo, among your friends, he is the only one whom I hate the most." Roberto spat out. "Douche bag!"

"That's your problem." Leo deadpanned.

"There's not a single whore left in Russia that he didn't fuck with!" Alesso said amusedly. Leo simply chuckled and rolled his eyes over.

"That's his speciality, tasting every curry." Leo chuckled heavily.

"Duh fuck!" Roberto rolled his eyes over.

"Sons, come for dinner, it's all set," Severina called out to them.

"Coming," Nicolo and Dino, immediately abandoned their game and dash towards the dining hall.

"Pigs of the house." Alesso laughed at their back and strolled towards the same direction. Leo and Roberto followed behind.

The table was all set and the entire family member had gathered. They held their hands and said a short prayer before dinner.

"Leo," Severina look at him who was sitting opposite to her. "Gideon called me."

"Let me guess," Leo said straightening in his position. "He has told you to convince me." Severina nodded at him.

"He's your best buddy, Leo," Severina said before putting a piece of steak in her mouth.

"I know," Leo sighed.

"So—" Severina pressed.

"What's the rush! The wedding is in two weeks." Leo said.

"Yes, I know. But the bachelor vacation is in a week." Severina jerked an eyebrow at him. "You need a break, Leo. Stress has taken the best of you." She added as she gave a glancing glare at the boys on the table.

"I'm not stressed, Momma," Leo said quietly. "I just don't wanna go but then I'll think about it again."

"You better do that or none of your friends will turn up at the time of your wedding." Severina joked without a thought and suddenly the environment became tense.

"Don't worry, Momma. I won't marry." Leo chuckled and said, bringing back the good mood.

"Me too, I'm not going to marry," Roberto said and winked at Leo, to which he winked back at his brother.

"Me too," Nicolo and Dino said in unison.

"Count me too," Alesso joined.

Severina rolled her eyes over and sighed. "What a waste!" she muttered making everyone laugh at her. Then she glanced at the ladies and said, "What about girls?"

"A white wedding and dress are what every girl dream about," Fiona said with a beautiful smile.

"That's very true, dear." Severina agreed and smiled at her.

"My dream is to walk down the wedding aisle with the man I love." Jasmine squealed as she drifted to her imagination.

"You mean, on a magic carpet with Aladdin," Alesso joked making Jasmine give him a death glare.

In the middle of the dinner, Alvero entered inside and addressed them.

"What happened, Alvero?" Leo asked looking serious. He was now in his Don mode.

"Bolton's Don is here with her daughter, Boss." He answered, alarming up everyone present on the table.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Leo asked.

"He comes with peace. He wants to have a talk with you."

"Escort them to the study," Leo said. Alvero nod at him and bowed down before leaving the room. Leo stood up from his position and immediately his brothers mirrored him. And together, they strolled towards the study.

After waiting for some seconds, Alvero brought in the guests and gestured them to a seat.

"You came with peace so we'll keep the peace," Leo said. "Now tell what do you wanna talk about with me?"

"Actually I came here to talk with your parents," Bennet said. Leo narrowed his eyes at him for some before gesturing Alvero to bring his parents.

"Have you met my daughter, Leonardo? This is my daughter, Tatiana." Bennet introduced. Tatiana stood up from her place and strolled towards Leo, wearing a beautiful smile.

"You're very handsome, Leo." She compliments as she stood a step away from him. "I fell in love with you from the first time I saw you." She confessed blatantly. Leo sighed in irritation and looked away from her. His brothers shared unknown glances at each other.

"Long time no sees, Bennet," Francis said as he entered inside long with Severina. "What is it that you wanna talk about?" he asked settling on the couch.

"Tatiana," Bennet called his daughter back to him. "Severina, I came here with a proposal, a proposal to make our relationship into a family member, a marriage proposal." He continued making everyone confused at his words.

"My daughter likes your son, Leonardo and she wants to marry him," he added.

Leo's eyes went wide while his brothers gaped at what they just heard. Francis and Severina looked at each other and furrowed their eyebrows.

"That's never gonna happen," Leo said loud and clear. "I'm sorry but I have to reject your proposal."

"Why?" Tatiana asked.

"First thing, I don't know you and second thing, I don't plan on getting married ever." He stated firmly.

"Tell me what I should do to change your mind." Tatiana urged.

"Nothing," he snapped.

"But I want to—"

"Enough!" Bennet interrupted and yelled. "I came here to make our relationship better but this is not going anywhere." he angrily stood up from his place and shouted.

"I like the way it was before. Think that this incident never happened and leave now at once." Leo said with a bad temper.

"You're going to regret your actions." Bennet glared.

"Leave now before I change my mind of killing both of you," Leo warned. Bennet glared at him one last time before dragging her daughter along with him out of the De Luca's mansion.

"This is not the first time you're getting a marriage proposal, Leo," Severina said and strolled towards him. "How many more are you gonna reject and how many more enemies are you going to create!" She said quietly with a worried tone as she cupped both his cheeks.

"I'm not the one making enemies. They're the one taking things personally and going on about it." Leo defended as he slowly looked away from his mother. "But I don't care—," he snapped and looked back at his mother, "Let them do whatever they want, but if they break the truce, I'll see to that." He said.

"Oh yes," Leo was reminded of something, "Talking about the truce, what happened to those Morgans, did you get them, Alvero?" Leo asked drifting his eyes towards Alvero.

"The plot was done by the Morgan's twins, we're searching for those two but still no traces found," Alvero informed.

"Keep searching, I know they won't hide for long."

"Yes, Don."

Leo gives him a nod and turned to face his brothers. "Roberto, Alesso, we're leaving early tomorrow." He reminded them to which they nodded at him and then drifted he drifted his eyes towards his mother and frown. She was giving him a worried look.

"Don't give me that look, Momma. I promise we'll be okay." Leo said and cupped his mother cheek. "No matter what happens, we'll always come back to you, remember!" Leo smiled and jerked his eyebrows. "But the ironic thing is, you always get worried about us stepping out of the house but then a few minutes ago, you were trying to convince me to go for a vacation, miles away from home." He continued and narrowed his eyes at his mother.

Severina chuckled softly and palmed her hand on his shoulders, "I was just trying to convince you to take a break. And California is a safer place and moreover—Gideon and Kazimir will be there to protect you." She said.

"Protect me!" Leo rolled his eyes over and chuckled heartily.

"So made your decision," Severina raised her eyebrows at him.

"Not yet," Leo said and leaned down to place a kiss on his mother's cheek. "Bounna notte, Momma," he said and left the room at once.

"Bounna notte, Son,"

Always Smile,

Happy Virus,