Four: Shock

AXEL

"She's Lisa Volkov, the last daughter of the Volkov family."

"Volkov?” I asked, rubbing my forehead as if that’d ease the headache I've been feeling since I set my eyes on her, “the same Volkov that I know?”

“Of course,” Prince replied from the other side of the phone, “the same Volkov that we all know. But why did you ask me to run a background check on her picture? You guys attend the same school and...”

“Tell me more about her,” I interrupted him.

“Well, she attends your school, she's in her last year, and she's an IT genius...”

“How come I never knew I was attending the same school as Lisa... With the daughter of a fucking enemy? Do you even know what that means? I could...” I sighed in exasperation and I gripped a part of my hair tightly as if I wanted to rip it off. I had no idea she was attending St. Williams but from the looks of things, she knew exactly who I was.

Of course, I knew who exactly I'm fucking with.

Fuck shit! She knew exactly who I was. She challenged me on purpose, she intentionally tried to rile me up. Fuck shit. She stepped on my toes with a mission and now, regardless of who she is, I'll show her what it means to fuck with me.

“Axel,” Prince’s voice was soothing over the phone, “she's the prized weapon of the Volkov family. Do you know how they've always been secretive about their last daughter? No one even knows what she looks like until today.”

“And why is that?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer. Most mafia fathers always keep their daughters locked up and away from the public eye. They were, after all, mafia princesses that’d be married off to solidify businesses and forge relationships when they were of age so they needed to be protected. I guessed she was one of the mafia princesses who knew nothing about the business and she had the fucking nerve to challenge me?

Now, I was really going to have to show her that she doesn't have an idea who she was fucking with.

“Is it because she's a mafia princess?”

“No Axel,” Prince’s voice lowered, “she's a professionally trained assassin, she's in fully in the mafia, and she... With what I'm seeing here, she pulled off the assassination of Lorenzo Peters.”

I felt my heart drop for the briefest moment before it started thumping again. She was what? I pushed myself off the wall I'd been leaning against and my mouth dried at the image I first saw.

Lisa fucking Volkov.

She was seated in the cafe with another girl, sipping her drink like a totally random girl while others in the cafe were pointing to her at intervals, probably talking about the stunt she pulled off today during the race without knowing the kind of person she really is, without knowing the kind of blood that runs through her veins.

She pulled off the assassination of Lorenzo Peters.

Lorenzo Peters died four years ago after he attempted to double-cross the Volkov Mafia and his assassination had been well known throughout the underground. His assassination had been so clean that there was no doubt it was done by a professional assassin except that it was done by a 21 or 22 years old... No scratch that, he was killed four years ago so that means she was 17 or 18 then.

She killed someone that perfectly when she was 18.

“What happened though? You know how deep the feud between the families is, did you get into an argument with her? We would not want to get into another mindless war that'd just claim the lives of our men. Just...”

“I'll talk to you later.”

“Axel...”

I cut the call on him.

I should have known. I should have known right from the minute she had the nerve to stand up and challenge me to a race that she was no ordinary girl when she didn't squirm under my intense gaze when she didn't flinch when I bent to whisper into her ears.

I should have known that she was no ordinary girl.

And I should have known that she had to be a Volkov when she was able to get under my skin that much when she annoyed me when she fucking had the nerve to look into my face and taunt me... I've never met anyone that got me so riled up in less than 30 minutes of knowing them.

So I should have known that she could only be a Volkov. They were the ones capable of being that annoying, of getting me to hate them without even trying.

I already absolutely and thoroughly hated her guts within just 30 minutes of knowing her.

I should have known she was a Volkov.

And now, she was not just a mafia princess but a mafia assassin.

I chuckled.

She must think that because she has pulled off killing some people without any flaw, that must have given her some sort of audacity to pull that stunt she pulled today. To challenge me and to embarrass me like that in my game and I was going to have to show her that she could be all that but she was no match for me.

I was going to have to put her in her place.

I jammed my hands in my pocket and I started to walk towards the cafe only to see that she already left with her friend. I caught sight of them... Or rather, only her walking towards a deserted hallway, and my lips curled in a smirk.

She must have seen me, she must have known I was going to seek her out so she had her friend excuse her. I've been dealing with the tricks of the Volkov family for years now so I know them like the back of my palm.

And this girl might be an assassin but I was Axel Ivanov and really, she should have known better than to fuck with me.