An Empire of Guns and Lies (18+)

Thirty (Trenta)

I woke up on the couch of Jaxon's office, my wounds now properly taken care of, however this did not mean the pain subsided.

I groaned as I sat up.

Jaxon and August were having a conversation but stopped in the middle of it when they saw I was awake, August gave me a small smile before lightly hitting Jaxon on his biceps and leaving.

"Jaxon we have to get papi" he held his hands up to silence me

"We already took care of it, Maeve and Enzo too" My shoulders drooped, I hugged my legs and rested my forehead on knees.

Few seconds later I felt a cold sensation on the nape of my neck I jolted up.

Jaxon handed me a glass half filled with a rich amber liquid.

I swirled it around getting a good whiff, my eyebrows raised at him.

"Macallan 25 huh"

He gave me a sad smile "I thought I should open it tonight given everything that's happened" I sipped the alcohol savoring the cool burn as it went down the burn that brought me to reality that my father was dead and then the tears came Jaxon sat on the side of me with his head hung low and watched me cry until his own tears surfaced.

He knocked the whiskey back swallowing it in one gulp I buried my head into Jaxon's chest and we cried together for what felt like forever.

We cried for our mother's and father's deaths, we cried because we had no choice but to murder our own blood and we cried because we were sick and tired of this empire of guns and lies but we were born into omertà, we lived our lives by omertà, and so we would die by omertà as well.

After we sobbed our frustrations away we finished the entire bottle while recollecting memories of our past happy and sad alike. I was felt sick to my core, slurred and unable to make complete sentences I cursed Jaxon for making me drink so much but I realized he didn't hear any of my wining as his snored filled the room, I removed the blanket that once covered me and placed it onto him.

I gently closed the door of his office and stumbled upstairs into my room thankful nobody saw me. I plopped into the middle of my bed not bothering to change out of my disgusting clothes as my head was spinning to much it didn't take less than 5 minutes before I fall asleep.

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*36 hours later*

I awoke to a throbbing headache and a dark figure sitting at the side of my bed their back faced to me, I quietly reaching into my bedside draw and took out the all black CZ 75 I kept there for emergency purposes, I cocked it and pointed it at the person the sound making them spin around.

"Calm down Vera it's just me" Iliana announced I sighed and lowered my gun

"You scared the shit out of me" I croaked. My throat felt parched and withered I think Iliana noticed and handed me a bottle of water I broke the seal and and drank it in it's entirety without stopping, once I was done I crushed the bottle and threw it at my door I rested my head back into my pillow and stared up at my ceiling,

"How long was I out for?" I queried

"Um about 36 hours give or take" I flew back up

"I was asleep for a day and a half?" I said aghast

"Basically yeah, August stayed with you half the time until I shooed him away"

I snickers at her comment, I looked down at body to find fresh clothes unsullied by blood

"Did you change me too?"

"Yeah" her voice broke, I snapped my head up to see hot tears pooling in verdant eyes I quickly scanned her body making sure she wasn't hurt I crawled over my blankets to where she sat

"What's wrong Ana? Talk to me" I encourage her. She wiped her eyes with the balls of her palm, she sniffled as she said

"It's my fault Papi is gone, it's my fault you got hurt Vera, I almost lost you and Jaxon, August almost lost you too and I'm sorry I'm so sorry if I wasn't for me-"

"Iliana" I said sternly forcing her to look at me.

"Never again let me hear you say those words, nothing is your fault, papi loved you as much as he did me and you know that, he was willing to give his life for either of us" my words were harsh but they were true my father valued family more than anything his sacrifice proof enough.

"You don't have to feel guilty for anything Iliana, I promise you that. He's with mama now,I'm sure he's happy." She wrapped her arms around me and when she pulled away the words she said winded me

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nobody:

vera when ana dropped the news :0