Sophia froze midair as Axel gave her a look of complete disdain, deliberately dodging her path. Her heart skipped a beat—she hadn't overplayed it to the point of killing herself, had she?
"Help, help, help me!" she screamed, wishing she could wrap her legs around the rope. But the rope was too short, and she wasn't some expert acrobat. In an instant, she was only inches from the ground.
Victor's eyes rolled skyward.
"Miss…" he muttered, exasperated. With a casual motion, he lifted the rope, blocking her fall while supporting her waist with his left arm. Spinning Sophia gently to dissipate the force, he ground his teeth in frustration.
"Damn it!" Victor muttered, setting her down carefully. He pressed his shoulder and muttered, "Two years without injury, and thanks to you, Miss, I finally get a dislocated shoulder again!" With a sharp click, he popped it back into place.
Axel laughed, kicking Victor lightly in jest.
"Told you, Victor, no future in serving the old geezer Falcone. Now you've got to answer to the young one too, and she's… well, particularly troublesome, haha!"
"I… I was too rash, sorry," Sophia murmured, lowering her head in frustration.
Axel narrowed his eyes playfully. She stood sideways, hands clasped behind her back, a posture that only made her appear more awkwardly proper—like a character out of some clichéd youth romance story. Axel grinned.
"This chick wants to play the 'white moonlight' role," he thought, then called out, "Hey, chick, Zas just called you Miss, so you're Falcone's daughter too?"
Sophia froze at the word but nodded shyly.
"Axel, I'm Sophia Falcone. I heard Uncle Victor was picking you up, so I followed…"
"You better wait a minute!" Axel interrupted, pointing at Victor and laughing. "Pfft hahahaha! Uncle Victor? You two are barely three years apart—why so dramatic, hahahaha!" He slung an arm around Victor's shoulder, making him squirm. Axel held on tight; Victor couldn't shake him off.
Finally, Victor drew his twin pistols, firing several warning shots into the air.
"Damn it! Didn't you hear? The Falcone Family is conducting business! Everyone, get the hell out of here!"
The crowd—including the Metropolis police—retreated several steps. Even they knew this wasn't Gotham, but Axel was a menace they weren't eager to confront.
Victor pulled out two climbing ascenders. He handed one to Sophia. Then, patting Axel's arm lightly, he said, "I only brought two of these. Didn't expect Miss to jump down too. You probably don't need it, do you? I've seen your Smallville video—you made quite a splash."
"Haha, I don't need it. Did my video really get out? Let's get on the helicopter first, we can talk while flying, Buddy," Axel replied, grabbing the rope. With a single leap, he climbed halfway up, then pulled himself gracefully into the helicopter, drawing screams from the cheerleaders and the clicks of countless cameras.
Sophia's eyes narrowed in admiration.
"Axel, so cool!" she whispered, waving from below.
Victor wrapped the ascender around Sophia's raised right hand.
"Miss," he reminded her coldly before releasing it. The rope pulled Sophia toward the helicopter.
"Ah!" she screamed as Axel caught her hand midair.
"The helicopter's noise can't even drown out your screams, you little chicken," Axel joked, unfastening the rope and smoothly pulling her into the cabin.
Before Sophia could celebrate her rescue, Axel's playful hand landed on her arm. She struggled, not intending to be treated as a toy. Axel leaned close, whispering coldly, "Don't force me to rip your head off right here!" A pinch of pain froze her mid-struggle.
Victor arrived, rolling his eyes at the scene.
"Are you impatient? That's my boss's daughter, Axel!"
"Heh, if she weren't Falcone's daughter, I wouldn't bother," Axel replied, smirking, and gave Sophia a sharp tap on the arm.
"Falcone isn't sincere enough. He knows I prefer his other daughter, Selina, but gave me Sophia, the drama queen. If I'm not mistaken, she's older than Selina, but her size and strength… let's say she's an inferior product. And he expects me to marry into this family? Ha! I try it, and I might just demand a refund!"
Axel laughed, the sound mixing with the rotor noise as the helicopter lifted off, chaos below fading into the cityscape.
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