"You smell like a goddamn brewery, you damn alcoholic. What the hell are you thinking drinking this early? It's not even noon yet!"
Richhie chuckled at his sister before raising his glass to her and waving it calmly.
"No, no, no, Angie, you have it all wrong. I didn't start drinking this morning. How in the world would I do something so damn irresponsible!? I started drinking last night, and when I woke up, this bottle was already beside me! Haha!"
Angelina frowned at her brother's attitude before shaking her head. The people around the two siblings couldn't help but stare as they passed beside them, and Angelina could hear some of the most vocal civilians murmuring curiously.
"Who are those two? Are they acting in a movie or something?"
"Damn, that girl is hot. What the hell did she do to get a body like that? Did she strike a deal with the devil or something?"
"Hey, don't you know those two? It's the Lucas family siblings. Richard and Angelina."
"What? But I thought they were sent abroad!"
"Yeah, seems they've come back. Damn, I wonder if they came back because of what happened to their father."
"Mummy, mummy, that man looks wasted!"
"Don't point at him, baby! That's rude!"
"Come on, let's get out of here. I don't want to be anywhere near here if someone attacks them."
Angelina tuned out the words from the peasants easily and sat down on her metallic briefcase while crossing her legs regally. Angelina was used to people talking about her both because of her appearance and because of who her family was, so this was nothing new to her. Angelina had been studying fashion and art in a school in Japan for the past three years, and in a way, she missed her family back home since she was so far away. But now that she was seeing her brother like this, she was slowly starting to remember why she didn't like him in the first place. Richie was the most irresponsible one of them by a mile, and if not for the fact that they were related by blood, Angelina would rather have nothing to do with him at all!
"How the two of us are related is the biggest mystery in this world. Ugh... where the hell is our ride?"
Angelina started to look around for the car that was meant to pick them up, but she was completely unaware of the men in black suits who were standing a few meters away from them. The men were part of the Lucas family, and Dante had placed them there as security to make sure that the siblings weren't attacked by anyone before he could come to get them. The spies reached out to Dante over the comms and told him that the siblings had arrived, and it didn't take long before Angelina saw a group of men in black suits coming in their direction. They all wore sunglasses and their faces were set in a hard look that scared anyone around from approaching them. There were ten of them in total, but Angelina's eyes immediately focused on the man in front of all the others.
Dante Lucas was wearing a long black coat over his black suit with black gloves and a pair of sunglasses. He led the other men forward until they reached the siblings, and Angelina stood up with calm grace as she gave Dante a smile once he was close enough.
"Richard, Angelina. I'm glad to see you arrived safely."
Dante's voice was deep and calm, and Angelina felt a thrill go through her body when she heard it. Angelina remembered Dante's voice from before she headed off to college, and she knew that it had been nowhere near as deep as it was now! Dante had only been sixteen when Angelina left Stockham for Japan, but now, he was a twenty-year-old with a maturity that would put most middle-aged men to shame! Angelina couldn't help but admit that Dante had grown up very nicely!
Angelina was about to say something, but she was cut off as Richard scoffed from behind her.
"Yeah, yeah, you fucking cleaner. Take my bags and put them in the damn car. Let's go."
Richard started to walk away without even bothering to give Dante a proper greeting, and Dante ignored Richard's attitude with practiced ease. This was something common between Richard and Dante. Even though George had taken Dante into the family as his honorary son and treated him with love, Richard had never bothered to see Dante as anything more than a servant. As far as Richard was concerned, Dante was just a helper who was in charge of carrying out their dirty work, and he had no right to stand on the same stage as the rest of the family! Angelina rolled her eyes in irritation when she saw her brother's action. Angelina really thought that his trip to Canada would make Richard a little more mature, but it was obvious that the current Richard was no different from the person who left four years ago.
Angelina stepped closer to Dante and spoke in a low voice.
"Hello, Dante. It's been a pretty long time since I heard from you. You've grown up."
Dante nodded respectfully and spoke in a no-nonsense voice.
"Angelina. I'm glad to see you're doing well."
Angelina frowned slightly when she didn't see Dante smiling at all, before she shrugged carelessly and gave him another smile. Dante turned around and called on Richard, and Richard glanced at him with a frown. Dante told the siblings that there was something important he had to tell them as quickly as possible, and he told the other men there to take the bags to the car while he spoke to the two of them. The gang members all obeyed and left quickly, and Dante put his hand to his ear and spoke through the comms to the spies that were stationed around the airport. Dante told them to sweep the exits for any Romanov or Bellagrini gang members, and the spies responded that they understood before they all took off.
Dante faced the two siblings once he was done and took in a calm breath before he gave them the news without beating around the bush.
"Your father is dead. He died in a hospital three days ago, and his body was laid to rest yesterday. The family didn't tell you about his death because they didn't want the news to upset you, but now that you are back, they decided that it was best if you were informed as soon as possible. Today is the reading of his will and Fredrick wishes for you both to be there as he receives the title of Boss. I'm sorry you have to get the news this way, and I hope you understand why you were kept in the dark for so long."
Silence was the only thing that greeted Dante after he laid out such world-shattering news. All of a sudden, Richard was more sober than he had ever been in his life. He stared at Dante with a distant gaze that was completely unfocused, and Dante could tell that he was still trying to process the information. Angelina also looked shocked by the news, and Dante watched as she covered her face with her hands as tears began to gather in her eyes.