The Donatelli household was bustling this morning, and all the help and servants were arriving to start their day.
The huge servant's quarter was just at the foothills of the Donatelli hill, but some senior, experienced ones had their private room in the south wing of the Donatelli Mansion itself.
The person in charge of every department was conducting morning meetings in a different, dedicated part of the lawn.
They were delegating tasks for the day so that everything ran smoothly, like a well-oiled machine.
"New sets of soaps and detergents will be used from today onwards; the old batch is used up, keep a log of the usage..." The woman in charge of the laundry department was instructing her three subordinates with utmost precision and urgency.
One of the subordinates, a young man in his early twenties, was feeling a little more than usual.
The morning was a picturesque mid-summer morning. It was 8 o'clock on the dot, and the golden sun had not yet reached its proudest; the soothing light was everywhere, especially in the garden. The young subordinate was enjoying the view of the lush, verdant surroundings, the cool morning breeze caressing his face softly, and the warmth of the fresh sunlight.
The young man lost interest in the senior lady's pronouncements; his eyes started drifting everywhere. Moments later, his gaze was enticed by an aesthetically pleasing big garden patio and its two beautiful occupants.
The Donatelli sisters...the young man could see the two sisters were at the breakfast table helping themelves, at first he noticed Valentina, young, bubbly, fresh looking girl, smiling, her beautiful honey blonde hair fluttering like a beautiful poem of summer as mild winds kissed her, her sea blue eyes were both mischevious and innocent and her full puffy lips were dripping with a baby pink hue.
The young helper had his thoughts linger on Valentina for an uncomfortable amount of time, completely unaware of his environment.
His colleague, standing beside him, noticed this and nudged him with his elbow, "Concentrate, lad..." The colleague looked a bit senior in his appearance; he was trying to shift the attention of the young laundry help earnestly.
He did succeed somewhat as the young man's gaze now trotted towards Victoria, who was deep in thought and was projecting what appeared to be a gloomy outlook, as if something was bothering her.
Victoria's rose blonde hair was neatly tied back, she was still in her night pyjamas, her gem blue eyes seemed sad and dangerous at the same time, like they had seen much more of the world than they should have, they felt heavy from an unknown burden.
She had an aura about her, one that people cannot identify with good or bad, but it was prominent, mature, and imposing.
The laundry in charge suddenly stopped her flow of address. She looked at the young man and traced his view.
"Aah Hm Hmm, Mr. Bard, having a good time are we?" the old lady eyed with a solemn temperament, her voice raspy.
This abruptly jolted the young; he snapped back to reality, and he turned around with intense torque.
"Splendid summer morning, cool breeze, beautiful women having breakfast, that's any young lad's dream start to the day, isn't it?"
The young man was flustered now, because that was exactly his thought; he smiled embarrassingly while scratching the back of his head in a boyish gesture.
"Hehe, come on now, don't be embarrassed, lad".
"But do you know who those lovely gals are?" The old lady's voice turned sarcastic.
"Yes, ma'am, those are the Donatelli sisters".
"And do you know their names?"
"No ma'am".
"Aww, that's right, today is your day first here, right?"
The youngster nodded, still smiling.
His colleagues beside him portrayed grim expressions.
"The young, lovely girl in yellow is Miss Valentina, and that is her elder sister Miss Victoria beside her".
"Lovely young women, both of them, especially Miss Victoria".
"Do you know her nickname, what they call her?"
He shook his head, gesturing that he didn't.
"She is the papessa della morte, the priestess of death," the old lady's expression turned with each word.
"And do you know why they call her that?"
The young laundry help was showing hints of helplessness; his facial expressions were confusing, from smiling to frowning to sudden shock to visible fear, as he grasped the weight of the old lady's words.
The old lady spoke her next words slowly, whispering, "Because no one has done more oblations to Goddess Death than her in this City, she is Her staunch follower."
"You understand, young man, what I am saying?"
The young man nodded that he understood.
"Now get on with it, and for your sake, do not linger unnecessarily, now off you go, all of you".
All three of the laundry helpers left, terrified.
The old lady looked at Victoria and marked a cross in the air before leaving herself.
Although she exaggerated a little bit to scare off the dumb youngster before he did anything stupid, she was not very far off from the truth.
"Pass me the toast, Vic." Valentina was busy setting up her breakfast plate, planning the right order of food to eat.
"Don't drink so much black coffee, sis, you know it gives you constipation." Valentina was chirpy as usual.
Victoria was not listening to her; her mind was crammed with the events that transpired last night. And the most disturbing thing was what her father said last night.
She was rightfully suspicious of Luke; they had been in several firefights, and not from the same side, though.
If the bullet wound in Luke's left hand, slightly above his wrist, was an art, then she was its rightful artist.
What is that bastard thinking?... Victoria's thoughts were all over the place.
"...Sunny side up".
"Uh, what?" Victoria was dragged back to the breakfast table in the Donatelli garden patio by the sudden remark.
"I said the eggs are sunny side up just as you like them." Valentina's eyes shrank as she giggled.
'Sunny side up' was Victoria's go-to egg delicacy; she loved fried eggs and glimmering soft yellow yolk, both her and Uncle Vinny.
"You want some juice with it?"
Valentina, with the large juice jug in her hand, was harbouring fresh orange juice from the Donatelli estate, homegrown organic oranges.
She helped herself with an ample amount of juice before speaking again.
"Sis, I heard what happened yesterday, father told me".
Victoria was alert for a second, holding her breath.
"You collapsed in the garden due to weakness. You should eat more like me, or you will fall again".
Victoria sighed as she exhaled.
"I know how close you and Unc....oh look....mom. And father is here too".
"Good morning," Valentina wished the approaching couple.
"Oh, good morning, love..." Patricia was beside Victor, and their hands were intimately interlocked.
The morning feasts truly began as Victor and Patricia sat at the table, Valentina munching on, Victoria was still distracted.
"How do you feel now, honey?"
Patricia kissed Victoria's head as she was deep in her thoughts. Victoria forced a smile, conveying that everything was fine.
Patricia kept a sympathetic gaze on her eldest child.
"Well, as you know, tomorrow we have a memorial for your Uncle Vinny at the Cathedral."
Victor is sipping orange juice from his glass.
"Many important delegates and officials will be present, even the mayor will attend", Patricia cut in, Victor.
"Yes, and I want both of you at your best tomorrow, that goes without saying."
Victor and Patricia made eye contact, communicating something to each other.
"I have doubled both of your security personnel. Check with Rob, okay?"
Victor looked at his eldest daughter, "Okay?"
Victoria scoffed, "Yes".
'Rob', aka Roberto Donatelli, is the estate Manager of the entire Donatelli estate, and is also one of Victor and Vincent's first cousins, the eldest among cousins, actually.
Robert is also in charge of the personal security of the main family members of the Donatelli Tribe.
He had served his country, he was 'Delta', and some say he was much more, all very hush-hush. He doesn't really talk about it. And he takes his job very seriously.
"Oh, and the Baldwins will be attending as well," Victor looked away.
Victoria, all of a sudden, looked at her parents with a mix of emotions that were hard to decipher.
"Oh, really, is Luke going to be there?"
"Of course he will..."
Victoria stopped listening and looked at the big ol' birch tree at the edge of the garden, after Valentina and Patricia spoke respectively, and started a new chain of conversations.
Although Victor looked a bit worried.
The Sun felt a little bit more intense with time, and the breeze seemed to have lost some of the coolness it aired, getting warmer.
A pair of yellow canaries were chirping away about their pressing issues over the patio shed roof.
The entire Donatelli Household, with all its personnel, servants, help, staff, and even the four main residents, worked in unison from the first light till the midnight hour and even after that, like a giant dynamo to keep the vast Donatelli empire running.