The Coldwell

The exam

Vane walked towards his room, holding the envelope in his hands, feeling him shake uncontrollably.

Upon entering, he locked the door and then collapsed onto his bed, staring at the ceiling with his arms open. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling.

The ceiling was a large screen where images of space were constantly displayed in real time.

The girl seemed hypnotized, her mind wandering from one thought to another. She didn't understand why they didn't ask her if she agreed to lead that life. She still had a hard time understanding many things, despite having grown up in that environment.

She stood still for a few minutes and then she sat down to review the information on the man. She took one of the photos of her in her hands. In fact, he was handsome, attractive and successful: an ideal man.

"So, you are my target. Too handsome. It is not my greatest wish that a man like you ends up hating me. But I have to do it. I apologize in advance. I think you must have had a compelling reason to do what you did."

In the days that followed, Vane concentrated on poring over the information. He didn't want her mother to be angry with her for her failure, much less with her grandmother, for whom he had great respect.

On the day of the exam, Vane headed to the meeting room. Upon entering, the entire Coldwell clan was already present, except for Darius, who had announced that he would arrive a few days later due to a delay in some important personal documents.

"If they keep looking at me like that, I'll get even more nervous and won't be able to take the exam," Vane said. The girls immediately looked away.

"Go ahead, daughter. Take your place at the front. We'd better start the exam right now. I'll make the first observation: your way of dressing is not appropriate. You dared to show up in your pajamas."

"I'm sorry, Grandma. We're home and I thought you might be comfortable."

"You've thought wrong. For women like us, image is everything. Have you ever seen me, even at my age, appear poorly dressed at any of our meetings or events?"

"No, Grandma, I'm sorry." Vane felt embarrassed. Her grandmother was right. She had never seen her poorly dressed, not even in pajamas. She only wore them inside her bedroom, and her aunts and cousins were the same.

Vanessa thought that she must have inherited a lot more from her father in terms of behavior than from her mother. However, physically, the Coldwells were very similar, with long, wavy blonde hair and similar features. Although she stood out among the others for being the least extravagant. Her body was natural and she had not undergone any surgery nor was she planning to do so in the future.

"Go to your room and change. Then come back here dressed appropriately," Grandma ordered in a stern voice. The girl obeyed immediately and minutes later she returned.

"See? It's different. Take your place."

The girl took her place, which was a small armchair that had been placed in the middle. The other members of the family would sit in front of her. It seemed more like an interrogation than a simple exam.

Vane was nervous; she could feel the questioning looks of the women sitting in front of her. Only the older ones asked questions, while her cousins watched her performance.

"Let's begin. As the head of the family, I will ask the first question. What is your target's name? Describe his appearance and preferences."

Vane thought this was more than just a question; actually there were three. She sighed deeply before answering.

"Dante Damasco, known by his friends as Dada. He is 30 years old, he is blond, blue-eyed and athletic. Among the men in his family he is the youngest. He likes to go to the gym, he usually goes to the club, he has participated in tennis tournaments and he is passionate about Formula One, which is one of his hobbies. He likes extreme sports.

"Perfect. I can see you've done your homework. Let's continue."

"What do you know about his family?" her mother asked.

"The Damascus family is originally from Italy. In this country they have several businesses in various industries. It is an open secret that their family belongs to a clan of Italian gangsters. They all come from Procida, a small island in the Mediterranean, just 16 kilometers long."

"Who are your family members?" —Asked Caroline, Sara's mother.

"His father is Dionisio Damasco, who is 60 years old, and his mother, Claire, is 56 years old. Donatello is the older brother, 36 years old. There are also the twins, Diego and Daniel, who are 35 years old. David is 32 years old and "The youngest is Dina, who is 19 years old."

"OMG, that family really loves names that start with the letter 'D,'" Katrina exclaimed.

"Silence!" Grandma ordered, taking the matter very seriously.

"It seems that you have studied the files we provided you on your target's life very well. That's good. What will you do to get closer to him?" asked Constanza, Katrina's mother.

"I'll apply for her executive assistant position. I managed to find out that the current assistant worked with her father and is about to retire. So, I applied for the job and will have the interview in a few days."

"Perfect. We're done with the questions. I don't want to overwhelm her. I think she's ready for her first task. The girls should talk to her and give her advice. Although I don't think it's entirely necessary, Vanessa has been trained for this since she turned 15 years. But still, they must educate her in other matters."

"Of course, Grandma," Tanya said. As she was only a few years older than Vane, she knew that there were some topics that she had no experience in. The same thing had happened to her.

The Coldwell women headed to the dining room. After the supposed exam, they traditionally had a big meal. Shortly after, the doorbell rang insistently and the housekeeper, angry, went to see who the daring visitor was.

“Woman, I thought you would never open the door,” an attractive young man was standing at the door.

"Young man, Darius, I am so glad she is here," the woman exclaimed, and Darius embraced her warmly.

The Coldwell family made a big fuss when they saw that the only male member of the family had arrived. Darius was very handsome, with blonde hair like the rest, tall, and a muscular body, the result of hours spent in the gym.

“My divine son, you have arrived,” his mother approached to hug him and he hugged her back.

"And where is my princess?" she asked, referring to Vanessa. She approached him with a smile.

"Look how much you've grown. I left for five years and found a beautiful young woman."

Darius hugged Vanessa, lifting her into her arms, he began to spin around as she laughed. He used to do that when Vane was little.

Then he warmly greeted his aunts and cousins, and finally his grandmother, who seemed happy with what had happened.

"Come here, the most beautiful woman in the world. But look, grandmother, every day more beautiful."

"You're quite charming to your grandmother, son. I'm getting older every day."

That night turned into a party at the Coldwell family home until Katrina came up with the idea that it would be Vane's debut.

"What are you saying? My sister won't do anything like that. I've talked about it with you, mother."

"You can't stop her. She belongs to this family too, she owes us respect and she must obey us. Anyone she doesn't obey will no longer belong to the Coldwell family."

Grandma was very angry. It was practically a tradition between them and she wasn't going to let them end it.

"Don't worry, Darius, everything is fine. No problem," Vane tried to calm him down.

"But you've told me about your dreams. What about them?"

"They don't matter. I'll do whatever Grandma asks."

Darius was a rebel, but he knew Grandma was dead serious. She was a loving woman but her worst enemy if you didn't obey her to the letter.

The young man went out to the terrace to smoke a cigarette. He needed to calm down. Vane came out a little later.

"Since when do you smoke?" She didn't know he smoked. He told her everything about her, but she had omitted that detail.

"I was trying to come to terms with the fact that I have to do what Grandma tells me to do. For a moment, I thought about not coming back, about walking away. But that would mean never seeing you or our mother again, and I couldn't." stood. That's why I took a few more days to return. "I was thinking about it."

Vane approached him and hugged him tightly. Darius was as dreamy as she was. He wanted to travel, see the world, fall in love with a good girl, get married and have children. But he only told her. His dreams were similar.

"So, did you pass the damn exam?"

"I did, although it was more of an interrogation than anything else. They just want to make sure I do my job right. Since Marianne's mother died, Grandma doesn't allow any mistakes."

Two family members had died years ago, Marianne's mother at the hands of her lover and Tanya's mother, who died when Tanya was born during childbirth. Tanya was raised by her grandmother and Vane's mother.

"You should have done everything possible to fail. When will you start the job?"

"You know in our family that would be humiliating. In a few more days, I will meet the target."

"I need you to give me the files to study. I need to know that you will be safe."

"I'll give them to you later."

They returned to join the other members of the family. They chatted happily as if nothing was happening. Their way of life was normal among them.

At night, Darius carefully reviewed the files. As he did so, he felt furious. How the hell were they going to send the youngest member of the family to deal with a g**g of gangsters?