Mafia Princess Read online

  Now, using one's cousins as a way to gather information was not an unheard-of practice amongst Italian families. Especially when some of those cousins were hired explicitly to gather information on people.

  Granted, they were hired by her dad, but as the heir to the criminal empire Alexis felt like she was entitled to some of those resources as well. Her dad might not want her involved in the Family business in any way, but what he didn't know wouldn't get her grounded.

  It also didn't hurt that after hearing about the attack, FJ had offered to break bones. After reminding him that he could be charged with assaulting a minor, and that he was already helping her learn how to break bones, they settled for him doing some digging instead.

  And dig he did.

  It was after their second training session together, and they'd offered to return everything to it's proper place while Carmen went upstairs to shower before dinner that FJ went over to his bag, pulled out a manila envelope and handed it to her.

  "Here's everything I could find in two days. It's not much, but if you need more than I can look for more."

  Looking through the contents of the envelope, Alexis decided that they had very different definitions of what 'not much' meant.

  "Frankie, this is... wow. It took you only two days to get all this?"

  Drew and Sue's entire lives were reduced to a stack of paperwork in her hand. She had copies of their birth certificates, marriage certificate, of which Sue had two, one for each marriage. There was a birth certificate for all of the kids, police report, drivers’ licences.

  "Police report?" Alexis whispered excitedly. FJ just got a satisfied grin on his face. That had been his favourite piece of discovery as well. Alexis skimmed over the document. She'd known that one of April's older brothers wasn't around, but they all talked about him as though he was studying abroad. It would seem that 'studying abroad' was code for 'in prison for three to five years'.

  "Drug dealing. Turns out he was a runner for one of the smaller gangs around Perth. He'd already been picked up a few times before that for petty theft, and a breaking and entering charge, so when they caught him with a backpack full of coke ready to be sold on the street, they didn't hesitate. He got offered a deal to rat out his supplier, but he turned it down and decided to take the jail time."

  "Do we know who he was running for?" Alexis asked, flicking through the rest of the documents and photos.

  "Not yet little cuz. I've got a few theories, but I want to be sure."

  "Well when you find out, let me know?"

  "Of course," he stopped and thought for a second, "You know Zio Tony would be pretty pissed with me if he found out that I was helping you with this. He doesn't want you anywhere near this stuff."

  Alexis knew what he was getting at. There was truth behind his words, her dad would be pissed. He might even knock FJ around a little. That wasn't what he was hinting at though.

  "Frankie, don't you worry about my dad. So long as you don't leave a trail then he'll never find out from me. Whether he likes it or not, one day I will be a part of all of this. For today though, I need to know everything I can about my enemies, and in the event that my dad does find out, I think he'll be able to respect that. You have my back and I have yours."

  ◆◆◆

  Francesco Joseph loved his cousin. She was fierce, strong and refused to back down. She was also caring, protective and calculating. He had no doubt that one day he'd be answering to her, if he lived that long. As it stood though, Zio Tony was the head of the family and his word was law. Technically FJ hadn't broken the cardinal rule of don't involve Alexis in any Family related dealings.

  After the attack, Zio Tony had been furious. He'd ordered extra bodyguards for Alexis not caring that it had been a schoolyard feud and not a gang related attack. When Alexis had started self-defence training with Zia Carmen, FJ had volunteered to help out as well.

  When he'd mentioned Zio Tony's inevitable reaction to finding out about their dealings, FJ hadn't meant that he wanted protection. He was gladly helping out his cousin. It had more to do with what would happen to Alexis when he found out, but also what she planned to do with it.

  "Lex, what will you do with all this stuff?"

  "Nothing for now, but at least if I have it in my back pocket then I can use it when the need arises."

  FJ wasn't sure what he'd been expecting from her. She wasn't one to air dirty laundry to the entire high school, so he doubted that she would tell everyone about April's brother.

  "What about the three supposedly run-away siblings?" Alexis asked.

  "Ah, well those three, slippery fuckers that they are, are locked up safe and sound in casa de Hale." FJ reached out and pulled a surveillance photo from the bottom of the pile of documents. In it you could see the three siblings sitting around watching TV. It was date stamped for the day before.

  "Those lying sons of bitches," a sadistic grin spread across Alexis' face. FJ had had the same look when he'd seen them just sitting there. It would've been so easy to wait until they all went to bed and then get revenge. But this was his cousin's call. She was the one who had been attacked, so she got to decide how they were punished.

  ◆◆◆

  Taking the folder up to her room, Alexis pondered over how she would use it's contents. There was a lot in there that she could use against April alone if she ever acted up again. Someone who was as high and mighty as that wouldn't want anyone knowing about her precious brother. She had done the math and Alexis realised that at the time of his conviction, she and April and Emilia had still been thick as thieves.

  Guess I'm not the only one with family secrets.

  Chapter 18

  Alexis and her mum slipped into an easy routine when it came to her training. Monday, Wednesday and Friday before school, they went down to the training room and worked out for an hour. After school they went back down for another two hours before dinner. Alexis was exhausted and covered in bruises by the end of each session. However, after the second week she noticed that she was walking away with fewer sore spots. Her mum didn't ease up though. In fact every time Alexis seemed to get the hang of one manoeuvre, three more counters were thrown at her.

  It was the Thursday morning of the third week when Lucas noticed a particularly nasty bruise on Alexis' forearm that hadn't been there the day before.

  "Babe, where'd you get that?"

  Confused, Alexis looked up at him. "Get what?"

  "That bruise on your arm?"

  Without thinking Alexis covered the bruise with her opposite hand. That one unconscious move ratted her out. She could've played it dumb and pretended that she had no idea, but now he knew that she knew.

  "Um, so truth?" It was better that she told him. After all she'd been hiding her training from him for almost three weeks.

  "Yes, truth," he replied.

  "So after what happened, I asked mum and dad to help me learn to defend myself. Once I started feeling better mum started my training. Last week she brought in my cousin FJ so she could focus on watching and correcting. FJ is eighteen... and a giant. Like, you giant. Plus he's got an extra forty kilos on me. I know she brought him in to help me get used to fighting men, but goddamn I don't stand a chance against him. He doesn't hold back either, which I like because I need to be prepared for anything. It would just be nice to be able to catch him off guard for once."

  Lucas held his girlfriend’s hands in his, rubbing soft circles on the back of her hands with his thumbs. On the one hand, it sucked that she'd hid her training from him. On the other hand, he knew that her pride was hurt by the beating she took. With her personality, she wouldn't have wanted to tell anyone about her training until she was able to back it up with some actual skill. He didn't wonder about how long it would've been until she told him if he hadn't asked about the bruise. Instead he came up with a solution to her problem.

  "Lex, how about I train with you?" He thought it was a great idea, this way she'd be able to get used to fighting someone
so much taller. Then when she went back to fighting her cousin, she'd be a step ahead of where she was the last time. Which from the looks of that bruise, was on the receiving end of a downward strike with some kind of weapon.

  Now while Lucas thought his plan was brilliant, Alexis was not quite as convinced. "Do you know how to fight? Cos I don't think I'd be the best teacher. Also when would we do it, and where?"

  There wasn't really a way for Lucas to prove his own skillset without fighting Alexis, so instead he pulled her against his body and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "Baby, don't worry about all that. Just tell me what days you're available and I'll work out the rest."

  The funny thing was, when Lucas told her not to worry about something because he'd sort it out, she didn't worry. She knew that he would take care of things.

  ◆◆◆

  And that's exactly what he did. That afternoon Lucas led Alexis through the darkened back hallways of the gymnasium. Alexis pushed back the memories of all the times she'd made out with Seth in these hallways and instead, focused on how strong Lucas' hand felt in hers. She'd messaged her driver, AJ that she was staying back after school to work on a group assignment so he wouldn't be there to pick her up until five-thirty. That gave Alexis two hours alone with Lucas and whatever crazy plan he had.

  Finally they reached a locked door at the end of the hall. At least it was locked, until Lucas pulled a key out of his shorts pocket. When the door swung open and they stepped through, Alexis saw they were in the weights room. It was usually only used by teachers and year elevens and twelves doing certificate courses in sports. In the middle of the room were interlocking exercise mats set out in what was probably a sparing square.

  "Um, Luc, how did you get a key to this room?"

  Students weren't allowed in this room without teacher supervision, something about occupational health and safety.

  "I know people," he said with a cheeky smirk. When he didn't elaborate but instead just led her deeper into the room, letting the door swing shut behind them, she decided to let it slide. His connections could stay secret for now.

  Dumping their bags next to a rack of weights, the pair started stretching. Considering how spur of the moment their training session was, neither of them had sports clothes. Though if Alexis could fend off three attackers, at least for the most part, in her school dress, then she could spar with Lucas.

  So they did. For the first twenty minutes they went through various drills. Lucas figured out what Alexis knew and what she needed to improve. For the rest of their time they worked on the stuff that Alexis was doing with her mum and cousin.

  "Come on, you need to think. I'm bigger and stronger than you, how are you going to get out of this?"

  "I get it, okay? I don't know how to get out of this." Alexis was getting more and more frustrated. She'd been trying to get out of the bear hug for twenty minutes, and the manoeuvres her mum had taught her to use weren't working.

  Lucas stood behind her, his arms around her torso, pinning hers to her side. Every time she tried to drop her weight forward to loosen his grip it had no effect. With the amount of force she was using, if he ever actually let her go she'd fall flat on her face.

  "You're just going to wear yourself out doing that."

  A low growl started in Alexis' chest. She knew that he was right, but it didn't make the situation any less frustrating.

  "You said that one of the guys grabbed you from behind that day you got attacked, how'd you get out of that?"

  "I headbutted him in the face, but I've tried that already with FJ. It doesn't work because I'm not at the right height."

  Lucas loosened his grip around Alexis but didn't let her go while he contemplated a way for her to escape. Alexis wasn't complaining though, she liked having his arms around her. If only she weren't so frustrated with her lack of progress to really be able to enjoy it.

  "Okay I've got an idea." Lucas relayed his brainstorm to Alexis and had them switch positions so that he could demonstrate on her what he wanted her to try. Five minutes and two resets later, she had him pushed against a wall with an elbow to his throat. Breathing heavily she couldn't help but grin up at her boyfriend.

  "I did it."

  "Yeah, you did." Lucas was breathing heavily as well. Ever since they started sparring he'd been fighting back his hormones. There was something about how she moved and took control. You didn't expect there to be so much fire just by looking at her.

  Alexis noticed that Lucas' gaze had settled on her mouth, and who was she to deny him what he so obviously wanted. Before she had a chance to close the distance though, Lucas pulled her body flush up against his, their mouths crashing together. Alexis was standing on her toes, her hands had made their way into his hair, his were squeezing her waist like it was a lifeline.

  They stayed entangled like this until they had to break away for air.

  "I wouldn't suggest using that as a defensive manoeuvre when fighting your cousin, but when we're sparring, go for your life." With a kiss on Alexis' forehead Lucas put some space between them even though that was the last thing he wanted to do. "You... are dangerous."

  "I have no idea what you're talking about," Alexis smiled innocently. She had wondered if she had the same effect on him as he did on her, and this had just proved that she did.

  "Alright, come on you, let's go again."

  And they did.

  Once Alexis felt confident that she could get out of the bear hug they did some general sparring which ate up the rest of their time together.

  ◆◆◆

  The next afternoon Alexis was more than ready for her afternoon training session. While she changed into her workout gear, Carmen let FJ into the house and ran him through her lesson plan for the afternoon. She wanted to give Alexis another chance to get out of the bear hug on her own. Then she was going to show Alexis a way of getting out if that didn't work.

  Sparring with someone in a training room was easy, there was no real sense danger or urgency. You always knew how to counter someone’s' attack, but the thing was that out in the real world, sometimes your counters didn't work. Alexis needed to be able to improvise if she ever got into a situation where her tried and tested tactics had no effect on her opponent.

  Twenty minutes later, after FJ and Alexis had gone through their warm ups, Carmen had FJ wrap Alexis up in the bear hug attack. They both expected Alexis to drop her weight forwards in an attempt to get FJ to loosen his grip, just like she had when they first practiced this attack the other day. She didn't though. No, Alexis surprised them both.

  Bringing her foot down on top of FJ's, scraping his shin as she went caused enough of a distraction for his arms to involuntarily loosen ever so slightly. It wasn't enough for her to escape from them, but it was enough for her to swing her hands backwards and hitting the inside of FJ's thighs.

  She used the extra space she then gained to thrust her elbow into his gut. That was the blow that made him bend at middle, and when he did, she jerked her head backwards. Using the back of her skull, she tapped his face hard enough for him to retreat but not hard enough to break his nose.

  Finally his grip broke, and that was when Alexis unleashed hell. Swinging around she brushed her elbows past his chin, just enough that he knew to move his head to the side.

  Somehow FJ managed to trip over his own feet and fall to the floor. Alexis wasn't far behind. She dropped to one knee, that knee placed rather gently yet firmly on FJ's ribs and pressed her arm against his throat. In seconds he was tapping out.

  "Wanna go again?" Alexis smiled down at her cousin, feeling a sense of accomplishment that she hadn't been expecting.

  "Alright you two, reset. I want to see that again."

  It went a little differently the second time around. That first time she'd caught FJ off guard, but this time he was ready for her. Or so he thought. She waited for his arms to tighten around her and then made her move. Grabbing hold of the thumb of his right hand she pulled it backwards at the
same time she elbowed him in the gut with her left arm. Once his grip was broken she repeated her elbow strike. Half way through the move FJ blocked her arms. Strafing to the side she forced him to follow her. When he struck out at her, she implemented her own attack/defence manoeuvres. Within seconds she had him bent over as she mimicked kneeing him in the face.

  "Okay I think we can move onto something else for now," Carmen said from her position on the sidelines, a proud smile playing on her lips.

  ◆◆◆

  Training went on like that for a week. Every other day she trained with Lucas. They worked through any manoeuvres she was struggling with in her sessions with FJ, and then did some more general stuff. He even ended up teaching her a few new things. When she asked him how he learnt to fight so well he made a vague comment about his dad teaching him.