Danny Torent's POV

With two beers in hand, I make my way up the stairs. I was cloaked in the shadows as I walked closer to the only room in the tower. The sound of objects breaking had me rethinking my strategy, but I remember Carlos parting words.

"Give her a reason to trust you."

I open the door a crack and throw a knife of my own.

It must have caught Rae Jean but not me by surprise because as I opened the door fully, I met her holding the knife with a dangerous smile and an evil glint in her eye.

"Let's go for a walk," I said more like a demand.

I would have requested, but that would waste more time, and time was not on our side.

She glared at me but didn't argue. I stepped to the side as she marched past me on the shattered glass and down the spiral steps of the tower. I made sure to lock the door after us as we walked out.

If Penny was here, she would have made a joke about Rae Jean being a wannabe Rapunzel.

She pulled her hood over her head and took the bear bottle from me with a grunt. She took sips while we walked through the night. The cool weather engulfed us with open arms as guards walked past us.

I had a feeling where I was leading her would make her put a knife between my eyes, but it was worth a shot. I was never one to back down from a fight, but that doesn't mean I'm entirely stupid.

We headed to the bridge I stood with Carlos earlier as we watched her kill her Caporegimes. The place looked as if no one had ever come here, and the bloodbath that was there earlier was nowhere to be found.

"Why did you bring me here?" Her voice is hoarse from all the crying and shouting she had been doing in her office.

We all need that little push from someone. Sometimes it may be from the person that you least expect it.

"When I was younger, I used to love to stare at my mom's bright red hair while she cooked. Since my dad wasn't around most of the time, she was my rock, but the day she upped and left. I felt kind of hollow inside." I tell her solemnly as I get a faraway look in my eyes.

I could still feel the way I felt that day, but I numb it down because not only do I know that I have grown out of that stage, but some feelings are meant to be dead as soon as they are made.

"Again, why are you telling me this?" She eyes me, and I see her reaching for her hood.

I dropped the beer bottle in my hand and pulled her closer. I held her hands in a tight grip as I whispered on her lips.

"You know, I thought this trip would be a way for me to understand why you think you can manipulate just about anyone you meet. You were already going to help me find my mother even if the French weren't involved. You may not show it very well, but I know that you are hurting-"

She cut me off while struggling from my grip, "You take me as a fool if you think that I would accept the nonsense that you are spitting out from your mouth." She growled as she glared death at me.

I rolled my eyes but decided to keep my voice low, "You will need to open up eventually and heal, but I'm not going to force you." I let go of her, and it was then that I noticed that we were both surrounded by broken beer bottles and alcohol.

She leaned against the railing, and a small laugh escaped her mouth. It started as giggles, which turned to loud maniac laughter and then the dam broke. Her sobs filled the night.

Many people don't know that kids turn out the way they are because of the kind of people that raised them.

She rested on the rails, her elbows kept her put as she used her palms to cover her face. She shook violently and cried; this took me exactly to the moments when I was in the background as I watched Peyton, Lola and Charlie.

What is it with Women and crying in a lonely place?

I would let them cry it out and try to offer silent comfort, but my brain must have forgotten its thought process because I found myself walking towards her and standing behind her.

I wrapped my hands around her waist and turned her around. She wrapped her hands around my neck and cried more, shaking violently and pounding my chest.

I patted her hair and allowed her to cry it out while my mind wandered about where to go with my plan from here.

Soon she sobered up but refused to lift her head from my chest. I continued to pat her head as I talked to her quietly.

"I know you won't agree with me right now, but we are kind of alike, don't you think?" I breathed a small laugh while she sniffed.

"We both have mommy issues, and we handle it by isolating ourselves to drown in our thoughts, but you know what?" I paused, lifted her face from my chest and stared into her now misty eyes.

"We are a part of a dangerous world. We are much more hazardous than the world we control."

I see her features soften a bit and her true self seemed to click into place as she let out a small laugh. Her eyes darted around my face thinking that it was surreal. At that moment, she must have thought her brain was playing tricks on her.

Guess reading people could be an occupation.

Trust is like a dustpan of sand; it can easily be swept together or away.

Her hand around my neck tightened as she dragged me towards her height and planted her lips on mine.

I felt my eyes bulge out of my head as I watched her kiss me and more tears fell from her eyes. I stood there fixated on the spot as she tried to deepen the kiss, trying to coax a response from me.

I moved my head backwards and tried to catch my breath. She moved forward but held back. Her eyes had many questions in them.

I thought I left my heart-breaking ways in the past year, but old habits never die.

"Rae Jean.." Before I could begin, she shook her head sharply and turned away from me.

"Don't ruin the moment." She said quietly.

She might want to live in a fool's paradise, but I don't want to.

I have a go at it again, "Rae Jean, whatever is going on in that head of yours. I want you to know.."

She cuts me off again, her tone becoming icy, "You know Danny, were it not for the upcoming war that is bound to happen. I would slit your throat." She threw a knife at me and stormed off.

I caught the knife by its hilt.

The blade sparkled under the moonlight, and I noticed an inscription on it.

Property of Rae Jean Jacqueline Guerrero Fuerte.

-

I replayed what went down last night, but there are many things to make out.

Rae Jean must have found comfort in me. It explains the kiss. I made her see something that she was too blind to see, but I believe the right person beside her was waiting for her. He would help her to be less volatile.

And no matter how much Carlos claims I might be the cure for her never-ending quench for deaths by a small sword, I'm not the person for her.

As they say, opposites attract, and the opposite of me is waiting for me back in the British Empire.

I haven't heard from anybody yet, but I think I'll give it some time before I call them. I still have one more thing to do before I break down the entrance to the tower and get a particular cloak-wearing woman to talk to.

I wipe the sweat from my brows and turn around to meet cold eyes looking at me. Raimundo looked pissed, but the smug smile made it hard to tell.

I looked heavenward for extra strength to deal with this walking sociopath in front of me.

"What do you want now, Raimundo?" I grab my towel and water bottle from the ground and walk toward him.

"Can't I walk around my Mafia?"

Definitely delusional.

He moved to the side to allow me to walk past him, and the wheels of his chair rang out. We began walking side by side in the halls of the Mafia house.

"How's your day going?" He tried to make small talk.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Raimundo, are you still on your master plan to destroy your father and sister?" I run my hands through my sweaty hair.

"Si," His reply was clipped, but I knew he wanted to say more, and I pushed him to talk.

At least this time, I didn't have to worry about a sharp object being sent my way.

"So what happens next when you bring them to their knees?" I question further.

"I'll take back the reins of the Mafia and make it get back to its former glory." He says.

"And what would you do when the people under you revolt against you?" I could see that my room was coming up. I slowed down my steps so that this conversation wouldn't end just yet.

"I'd..." He paused to think for a moment but came up blank.

The smug smile on his lips finally dropped, and his face contoured into one of irritation.

I stop walking and turn to face him, "You should count your blessings while you can, Raimundo. Were you in the British Empire, you would be dead when it crossed your mind. I advise you to rethink your strategy about how you want to live the rest of your life." I tell him and continue walking.

This time he didn't follow me, but I could feel his stare on my back as I walked away from him. The only noise was my footsteps, and when I finally got to my room, his voice stopped me.

"Why do you care about what happens to my family and me?" His voice is quiet, uncertainty coating his tone.

"You're one lucky son of a gun to have a family that cares for you, and it's time you realise it," I say and walk into my room.

-

I open the door and meet her using a knife like a pen to write, her father at her back as he watches her with a proud smile.

"You're right on time, Danny. Take a seat." Carlos motions to the chair in front of the table. He doesn't take his eyes away from the map in front of him and his daughter.

"We finally have your bitch of a grandmother cornered. Tonight you talk to her, and you two return to the British Empire. I have half of my end of the deal complete." She looks up at me as she says the last part.

The once calculating and precise aura she sported when I first got here was back, and it seems that whatever walls she has built around herself are back. They are higher than before.

I can't tell if it's a good or bad thing but for now.

"The spies that follow her tell me that her husband is throwing a small barbecue in their backyard. Neighbours and friends would be invited. Since there's a local club thirty minutes away, the party would move there when it is a bit past midnight, and that is the only time we can get to her without much of a fuss." She finalises the details of tonight's plan.

"What exactly is the cover operation?" I ask.

Carlos rubs his beard, "An extraction mission. Kasie would be on her guard, but since they are the hosts, she and her husband would be separate for the most part. We move in dressed as normal party-goers..."

"We?" Rae Jean cuts her father, "Whose this we, you speak of?"

Carlos keeps a level gaze with his daughter, "You and Danny would go, I will monitor you two from here, and a black van would be nearby with a few of our men to step in when things get side-tracked. It would raise too many suspicions if there were too many faces. You two go in and try and get Kasie on her own the moment the party starts to migrate; watch each other's backs and be careful with what you say." He pats her head.

"What's our backstory if we're asked?" I look down at the route Rae Jean has mapped out for us for the night and notice a few dark spots that might come in handy. "You're a couple that moved a few blocks away and decided to join the party to get acquainted with a few neighbours."

Rae Jean swallows when the word couple comes to play, but she tries to not let her aura falter.

"I would have to alter my appearance; should she have been keeping tabs on me, we'll have the upper hand." I look at the two of them.

The proud look on Carlos' face is directed at me. He subtly shakes his head at Rae Jean.

His message is received, and I know I have more than just this present extraction mission to get done tonight.

I return a nod of my own, "We leave here by nine. Hope you're as strong as you portray yourself, Danny." She taunts.

I tip my head to the side and study her along with the office. Everything seems to have been repaired since her meltdown last night, but I still see tiny cuts on the wooden shelf.

I snorted in reply, "I'll leave you to be the judge of that."

Not gonna lie; this chapter was hard to write. Please let me know what you think, and don't forget to comment, vote and share.