The Survivor

Chapter 15

"Xander, calm down," Xavier snapped, trying to settle his younger brother, who was pacing outside the hospital like a caged tiger.

"Fucking shut up," Xander swore, running his hands through his silky hair. "We don't know if Vanessa is okay or what even happened! So, how can you be fucking calm about it?"

Matteo answered, after sending Xander a glare, "You are right about us not knowing what happened to Vanessa but she is going to be alright. Do you think that mum or dad are going to let anything happen to her?"

Xander growled, but continued striding around on the rough pavement.

Xander, calm down," Xavier demanded, his voice tight with tension as he tried to contain his younger brother's anger.

"Shut the fuck up, Xavier," Xander hissed, his eyes blazing with fury. "We don't know if Vanessa is okay or if someone hurt her. How the hell can you be calm about this?"

Matteo stepped in, his voice low and steady. "We may not know what happened to Vanessa, but she's going to be fine. Mom and Dad won't let anything happen to her."

Xander's hands shook as he paced back and forth on the rough pavement, his thoughts consumed with the worst possible scenarios.

Alessandro sighed.

"I'm going back in. They should be finished by now." He checked his Rolex watch before storming in.

Angelo who had been silent the entire time followed him inside, leaving Xander, Xavier, and Matteo alone.

Matteo faced Xander, "I know this is scary, but, remember, I also checked Vanessa before going. She is going to be alright." He laid his hand on Xander's shoulder, forcing him to look into his older brother's eyes.

After a beat of silence, Matteo turned to depart but paused and turned to the boys, hesitantly, "Would you create mayhem if I leave you two unassisted together?"

Smirks were the only answer that Matteo got.

"Hey, she is going to be fine." Xavier expressed after Matteo left.

Xander frowned, frustrated. "Xavier, we just found her, and she is already in danger."

"We will protect her. We have to."

They stood in silence for a few minutes before deciding to go back in. They strolled through the busy stream of doctors and nurses, some rushing around in a hurried and panicked fashion. Marching towards the private section of the massive hospital, they quickly located their sister's room.

Upon entering, they noticed that Vanessa was now awake, glancing up at the twins with sleep-filled eyes.

"Guess what?" Dr. Resse asked.

"What?"

Viktor cut in. "We are going back home in about an hour."

Desmond Resse scowled at the head of the Italian Mafia. "You just had to ruin it for me."

Vanessa snapped her head up in shock, any thought of exhaustion vanishing in an instant. "What?" She had overheard her dad speaking to someone over the phone about making arrangements for the jet, but hadn't thought much of it.

Felicity squealed in excitement, "Oh, honey, wait until you meet the rest of us! Your grandma and grandpa are beyond overjoyed to see you. And your Uncle Stefano is going to adore you. I can't wait for you to meet them."

Vanessa smiled. Maybe it was for the better to leave this horrendous past behind and start over with people that would love and cherish her-her family. Family: she had started to get used to the term and had begun acknowledging the term more often in her mind.

The sound of a phone ringing sliced Vanessa's thoughts open.

Viktor answered the call, frowning, "Martin, cosa c'è che non va?" he inquired in Italian. What was wrong?

"Boss, we searched Miss Vacker's house for any possession or any connections to her relationship with the Russian Mafia, but unfortunately, my men haven't encountered anything other than a De Luca locket," Martin replied in Italian.

"You found the De Luca locket?"

That captured the others' attention, except for Vanessa, who couldn't understand a single word coming from her father's mouth. The De Luca locket had been in the family for decades and was worth millions of euros. It had been given to Vanessa on the day she was born as a gift to welcome her into the family, but Amberly had stolen it on the night of the kidnapping.

"Yes," Mr. Murphy replied, "It was in the box which we think were Miss De Luca's possessions."

Viktor grimaced. "What about the police investigation? Did you deal with them?"

Martin replied in an irritated tone, "Yes, we dealt with them by saying it was a private investigation that the De Luca family would handle in private. They didn't cause much trouble other than Detective West, who kept on asking questions about the young Miss De Luca."

"What did you do?"

"I told her that it was a family and a private matter, but she was persistent about Miss De Luca's well-being."

Viktor scowled, annoyed but at the same time had a professional admiration for the woman. Standing up for a girl she just met against a powerful and domineering family was a courageous task to do.

And for that, he admired her willpower and determination because it took a lot of nerve to talk to Martin Murphy. He hadn't just earned his title as being the head of security for the Italian Mafia from his father. He had achieved the title with no easy success.

Martin snapped Viktor out of his thoughts, saying, "Is there anything else, Sir?"

"I need you to look at Sylvia Crest and check the old Russian compound that she used to work at. We have a lead that this assassin might be related to that somehow."

"Of course. My men will be ready."

"Good. We will be leaving to go back to Italy now, so have the security measure in control. Have all of Vanessa's possession dropped off in the jet." With that, Viktor ended the call.

"What language were you speaking?" asked Vanessa over his shoulder.

Angelo chuckled, stealing his sister from his dad. "That, tesoro, was Italian. Our home language."

"Come on," Felicity said. "The car should be here. Matteo, get everything set with doctors. The paperwork and everything."

The rest of them waited in the black SUV's.

After hours, the boys arrived, buckling themselves, leaving Vanessa a moment to comprehend the situation. While she was happy that she was departing the place that gave her so much misery, she would still miss some good times she had.

Officer West's number was still burning in her pocket. Why was a stupid number making her this worried?

She shoved those thoughts in a far corner in the back of her head before focusing on meeting the other family members.

Meeting her family was intimidating and there were more? Seriously! Why do they just keep on multiplying?!

Even though Felicity assured her that they would love her unconditionally, some doubts seeped through. She wondered what they would be like or behave like.

Tiredness tiptoed in and it slowly lured her into a deep, peaceful sleep.

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