CHAPTER ONE

CRYSTAL

"Are you sure?" Crystal asks Nicholas for the twentieth time. She just tricked her parents into flying from America

–where she had been hiding from them for the past four years- to Brazil –the place where she was born- then she ran away from them in the airport.

Knowing her parents, they will not succumb until they get what they want. Moreover, Nichols's house is the first stop they will make attempting to find her. After all, Crystal always goes crawling to her big brother whenever she is facing an ordeal; her childishness does not allow her to fight her own battles.

"Yes, Crystal, mother and father will not come to my house, not if they know what is good for them." Nicholas replies without looking up from the papers on his desk. Crystal looks around the huge office she is in before looking back at the 'busy' man before her.

She is not surprised by his reaction to that particular subject. His relationship with their parents is even worse than the one she shares with them. He loathes the ones who have brought him to life with passion. The fact that he is risking seeing them once again after almost eight years makes Crystal all more grateful to him.

Nicholas has been the one who looks out for her ever since he took their father place as the Brazilian Mafia leader. Of course, no one knows of Crystal's awareness of where her family gets their income. Furthermore, she watches the news; no matter how careful her brother is, she occasionally sees him on the news.

"Why don't you go and find Lucas and annoy him rather than sit across my desk watching me as if I am some statue in a museum?" This time he does look up, but only to deliver a fake smile. Crystal can feel the tense atmosphere from the conversation they just had. Thus, she has a desire to see her brother smile. She starts picking small subjects off his desk and throws it at him one by one.

"Mujer loca, what are you doing?"

"Me? Oh, I am just drawing a smile on your face."

"Are you puto blind? I am not smiling! If anything, I am getting angry!"

His words do nothing to vanquish Crystal's twisted joy as she keeps tossing different kinds of pens and pencils in his face. In immaturity, she finds her utter felicity.

"Can you please stop?" Nicholas puts his hands up in surrender.

"Nope" She throws a stapler without looking where it landed. The abrupt silence and the sense of having eyes glaring at her make her look up to face her brother.

"It hit you in the face, didn't it?" When her question is answered with a quite 'Aha' She bursts out laughing.

"You will never grow up, will you?"

"Nope" She simply replies before jumping off her chair, running over to Nicholas, jumping on him, thanking him for his help, kissing him on the cheek, and then heading out of the door intending to find Lucas.

Lucas has been best friends with both Crystal and Nicholas ever since they were in diapers. The trio went to kinder garden, primary school, middle school, and high school together. That is of course until the boys graduated leaving Crystal to face Carey Mitchell on her own for three years.

Crystal cringes at the thought of Carey who was the devil that haunted her dreams in her teen years. All these thoughts get pushed back once she sees Lucas in the kitchen cooking. She takes a moment while leaning on the doorframe to save the image of Lucas playing around with things he does not even know the names of in her mind.

"What are you cooking big momma?" Crystal smirks roguishly at her best friend. Seeing him brings warmth to her heart. They have not seen each other in almost a year, and Lucas is the only friend she has. Hence, she has been feeling lonely lately. Sure, they have video called each other, but it will never compare to seeing him in person.

"Huh! Very funny! You know I haven't missed you at all." He teases Crystal as he moves away from the counter to hug her.

"I missed you too, jerk." She pulls away and takes a quick glance at what is inside the many cookers.

"What the bloody hell are you making?" the disgust on her face is evident. She cannot decide whether Lucas is making green soup or puke. Either way, it looks, and smells disgusting.

"Hey! Do not make that face. This is a very famous Chinese soup. I cannot remember its name though." He makes a face trying to remember the piece of information.

"Well, maybe that is for the best. I mean, maybe that is a sign that you should throw this... thing away. Oh, God, who would even put this in their mouth?"

"What the fuck are you talking about? This is the best food anyone can ever make!" Lucas exclaims dramatically.

"Oh yeah?" a mischievous smirk finds its way into Crystal's lips. She pulls out a cup, fills it with the green stuff, and then tackles the brunet man into the ground.

"Crystal What the fuck!" he tries to push her away, and Crystal knowing that he will not find any difficulty in doing so she puts the cup aside on the floor and starts tackling the hell out of the poor man that is under her.

"Stop it!" She takes this time to study Lucas's face. He has light brown hair that is cut off on the sides and is long in the middle, peanut butter brown eyes, long eyelashes, full pink lips, and has small piercing on each ear. No, she does not like her best friend like that; she loves him like a brother. She also knows that she is like a sister to him. The idea of falling in love with Lucas is in the same category with falling in love with Nicholas.

"Get off me you ferret!" the assaulted man yells to no avail. Crystal exploits the chance and grabs the cup pouring its contents into Lucas's mouth. She laughs evilly as she empties the cup, gets off him, and makes a run for it. She; however, is stopped by a huge figure at the doorframe, also known as Nicholas.

Crystal is about to say something when both her and her brother hear a huge scream-ish. Thus, they snap their necks to the sink where Lucas is vomiting his guts out. Witnessing the scene that is before her, Crystal burst out laughing.

"What happened to him?" Nicholas tries his hardest not to chuckle but fails miserably as a small chuckle escapes his lip sat the end of his question. Crystal gives herself a mental pat on the shoulder; her sibling knows that this is her doing. She loves how he can distinguish her wickedness/ puerility.

"What? He did not tell you? Lucas how could you not tell the one who you consider your family about this?" She attempts to be as theatrical as she can.

"Qué diablos are you talking about?"

"Lucas is pregnant"

"What the fuck!" Both men yell at the same time.

"Nicholas, it is the truth Te lo juro, and Lucas honey, it is nothing to be ashamed of." Crystal fakes a concerned smile before running out of the house her laugh echoing through the air.

Crystal sits on the grass under a tree by the house as she repeatedly inhales and releases the smoke out of her lungs. Even though she is a crazy person, she still needs to get some quite a few minutes per day. She takes the time to try, and fail to come up with an idea for her new book. It is scheduled to be released in eighteen months and she still does not have a plot or characters, or anything!

Four years ago, when she was twenty years old she assembled all the bravery she had and finally gave her parents the middle finger by leaving Brazil and finding refuge in the United States, America to be precise. Her parents raised their children on speaking English as their mother language rather than Bulgarian. It was one of the camouflages they used to conceal their true identity as the leading family of the Brazilian mafia. Crystal is not supposed to know that, so of course she does.

Once she settled down in America –with Nicholas's help- she decided that she would not accept any job. She has always dreamt of being a writer, and so she became one. Although she is happy with her career, she is often saddened by the fact that she writes using an alias. She could not and still cannot dare imaging what her parents might do if they found out about her secret job. Despite being a New York bestseller author, she cannot celebrate her accomplishments with anyone but Nicholas and Lucas. While they are her rock, they sometimes feel not enough. Crystal hates herself for feeling that way, but no matter what, you cannot flee from your emotions.

"You know, smoking can kill you." Lucas sits down next to her on the grass. He leans his back on the tree so that he is almost lying down.

"So does life and you know what they have in common? Both of them kill us gradually and painfully. The way I see it, I am just assisting in accelerating the process."

"This situation with your parents is really getting to you, isn't it?" Crystal does not need to reply, as both of them know the answer.

"What did Nicholas say?" She takes her time reliving the conversation she had with her brother about an hour ago in his office.

"He said that he is going to buy me a house in Italy. He wants me to stay there for a few months, which should be long enough for my pathetic excuse of parents to give up and leave me be. In addition, he claims that they will not be able to find me there. I am to leave in a couple of days. Meanwhile, Nicholas believes that I am save here."

"Well, that sucks. On the bright side, you will only be here for a limited amount of time. Since my misery will leave with you, I am glad about that." Crystal delivers a playful glare to her best friend before finishing her cigarette and leaning her back on the tree next to him.

"You know if you need to talk, I am always here to listen."

"Yeah, I know Lucas."

It genuinely breaks her heart knowing that not only her brother lies to her face every single day, but also her best friend too. The three of them have an unbreakable bond, but Crystal is aware that she is the outsider, which is why her loneliness is usually agonizing. When Nicholas became the leader, Lucas became his right hand. The lying; however, started years back when her parents confronted their son and told him about how his future will be and about the title he is to inherit.

Nicholas could have gone to his sister and informed her about everything. Instead, he resorted to Lucas. Together, they made a pact to keep Crystal in the dark.

She used to have hope believing that her big brother will come clean once he is in charge. Alas, her hopes were created only to be shattered. It has been seven years and still the two people who are closest to her choose to deceive her every single day. She always assumed that she would not have to hide the fact that she knows about the mafia. She even considered confessing about eavesdropping on countless mafia related conversations, but she determined that if they are going to have their secrets, then so will she.

"How are you feeling? After drinking the green stuff I mean." Crystal tries to loosen her mood by focusing on a lighter subject.

"After having it shoved down my throat you mean? Yeah, great. I won't be able to eat anything for a few days though."

"Good" She replies with a stern voice. She knows that he will look at it as part of the act, but in reality, she was glad to cause a little anguish. It is only right; she suffers a lot more every day because of his lies.

"You never told me what it was for." She murmurs in an almost inaudible voice.

"What? The Chinese soup? A new security guard has been hired, so I thought it would be elegant and polite if I make him a welcoming dish."

"From all the things you could have made, you chose an Inedible green Chinese soup?"

"I never learned how to cook, sue me! Anyway, I ordered the chef to cook something so I could go to the shack and offer an appropriate dish."

"Why do you care about being courteous? The guy works for you; he is not your friend." Crystal grasps the unspeakable truth of this new guard being a new member in the mafia. Bitterness swallows her heart at the thought of her brother trusting a stranger more than he trusts her. Still, she makes sure not to show how she really feels in her actions or her expressions.

"Crystal, I know that your social life is non-existent, but when you hire someone you need to offer them enough reasons why they should be loyal to you." To protect your ass from illegal dangerous people, Crystal mutters in her head in sorrow.

"Whatever." She gets to her feet, and she makes her way into the house. Both Lucas and Nicholas reckon that all her imprudence and audacity are part of her personality, but the truth is that side of her was born once she learned about her family's glorious legacy. It was her way for claiming vengeance against the ones she loved for deluding her. Eventually, mischief became a part of who she is.

Crystal locks herself in her room and throws herself on the bed. She feels the need to sleep on the anger in the hopes of it fading when she wakes up.

"Why do you all have to be hypocrites?" She asks no one before closing her eyes.