ALESSANDRO: Book 3 of The De Luca Brothers Series [COMPLETED]

7:

After Chloe gave me back my jacket that I eagerly accepted, I slipped it on and nearly instantly felt confidence oozing into my bloodstream. I had pushed back the vulnerable little girl and embraced the flamboyant psychopath that I got to know well. After that she had taken me upstairs to a nursery where Gufo was with their child: Dylan.

"Boo! Boo!" Cries Dylan as she tugs at my hair with one of her pudgy hands, her other one on my shoulder for balance.

"Yes, blue sweetie," Chloe agrees with her daughter before going back to our conversation. "We've been getting continuous attacks from the other gang when our members went into the city to gain intel or simply deal. All of our missions have been compromised and nobody seems to be able to find them, or if our members do they never return alive." Our Of frustration she nibbles her bottom lip as she watches her baby with a stricken expression.

"Hey, you don't need to worry. I can help you now," I say lightly as I gently set Dylan on my lap; she babbles to herself. "I'm not saying I'm amazing or anything, but I've been... trained to survive such things and I know how to handle myself."

"If you don't mind me asking, how?"

I pause and bite my lip, casting my gaze to wavy brown locks, "I-I'd rather not say. Meanwhile, hows your situation? No longer stripping, hm?"

"Well, I've got a job," she smiles and I beam. "I'm also nearly finished with college so that's fun."

"What job?"

"Drug research," She looks away.

My brows furrow as I notice the double-meaning. "Are you a Thorn?"

She doesn't respond, only lifts her sleeve revealing a discrete wrist tattoo of the emblem. I open my mouth to say something only no words come out. I shut it and nod realising it's not my place to assume or judge, especially since she has a child who she needs to work for.

"I'm proud of you."

She snaps her head up at me, opening and shutting her mouth like a fish as she seems to lose the words, "S-Sorry?"

"I said: I'm proud of you. You've faced hard times and made troublesome decisions into a beautiful life. Dylan's healthy, you're happy and with a job, you are surrounded by family..."

Her hazel eyes glisten as she looks away from me and bites her bottom lip, attempting to hide her raw emotions only it's too late. Dylan senses her mother's distress and she taps my arms; I release her. She uses me for support before stumbling clumsily to her mum, her legs waddling like a duck. She collides into Chloe with open arms and stays their silently as her mum her in a warm hug.

"It's hard to believe, y'know? Sometimes I'm scared I'd wake up and be back there with him and this was all one long, enticing dream that my plagued mind conjured."

"What happened to you?"

She inhales sharply and settles Dylan down next to her with a toy car, "I had an abusive father, a drug addict mother and a possessive boyfriend."

I keep my expression passive and nod for her to continue.

"I wanted something with my life, I've always had and when I figured out one particular night when my face was bloodied and bruised that I couldn't reach my dreams if I stayed there, I packed. Packed and ran. Ran far, far away until I felt somewhat safe against from them."

"Who was your boyfriend?"

She snorts and Dylan mumbles, "Oink, oink."

"Tom; a boy who said all the right words but did all the wrong things. Involved with drugs, illegal activities and had stalker-ish tendencies that I couldn't cope with."

"Is he in prison now?"

Chloe shrugs nonchalantly, "Don't know, don't care. My ma was a piece of work, always high on the couch, croaking our orders or emotionally blackmailing my dad to do A to Z on the daily. I think that's why he took out his anger on me, especially since I look similar to the bitch."

"Looks like both our mother's aren't winning any parenting awards this year," I comment.

Chloe shrugs, "It's the truth sadly, however I've sworn that I'd never be like them. I'll raise Dyl with love and affection."

"Unicorn," grumbles Dylan as she raises it up and throws it at a wall.

"No Dylan, that is very rude of you," lectures Chloe as she stretches to pick up the Unicorn and pets it playfully. "Say sorry to Unicorn, it did nothing wrong."

Dylan shakes her head, "No!"

"Excuse me young lady, you better not shout at me," Chloe responds sternly as she raises a challenging, scolding brow.

Dylan's cute little face scrunches up in disdain, "Unicorn evil. Bad Unicorn."

"But Dylan, Uncle Zachy bought this for you with his money. It is very rude of you to break your toys just because you think it's naughty."

The little girl huffs and mumbles something under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Sowwy mamma."

Chloe nods and glances at me with an amused sparkle in her eye, "Nap time?"

Dylan smiles and her eyes droop, "Nap nap."

After Dylan gets put down for a thirty minute nap, Chloe had connected a baby monitor to the waste-band of her sweats before silently walking out of the nursery and indicating a room at the end of the same corridor. We enter and I'm instantly met with an open planned kitchen, dining and living room with three desperate doors extending to different rooms.

"This is the boys' main room—"

"Corvo, step back from the prisoner," a familiar female voice commands from the kitchen as she pulls out a gun swiftly.

Chloe gasps and instantly goes to stand in front of me before I could react, "Stop! She was released! God, Vipera, What did I say about being friendly?!"

She has the genuine decency to look sheepish, "To not pull weapons on them."

"Exactly. Put the gun away and let's have a little conversation, hm?"

She does just that and the three of us awkwardly go to sit at the table. Chloe huffs in annoyance as I glare at the hoe who electrocuted me and she glares back.

"Stop it. You're worst that Zac and Dyl."

"Who's Zac?"

"Toro's boyfriend," she shrugs. "Now I want you two to be friends. You're both incredibly violent, sarcastic, have dark humour and are somewhat loco- give up the entire chick-roulette match and just be friends! I have enough hassle with a kid and four boys."

I look at her strangely, "Four boys?"

"You seriously thing these men can live without a sensible female role model?" She questions with the roll of her eyes.

"Hey, I'm responsible," Vipera intercepts.

Chloe gives her a bored look, "Hush."

"Look, I'm not sure if I can be friends with his bitch since she's what gave me hell for ten months," shrugs Vipera as she leans back in her chair nonchalantly.

"Then I'm not sure if I can befriend the bitch who electrocuted me," I grin broadly. "Kinda kinky by the way, only not really for me. Wouldn't be surprised if it was for you, the best way to train bitches are with shock collars."

Vipera lets out a strangled cry and goes to leap over the table until Chloe promptly stops her with the smack on her wrist, "Behave."