Heir

-THIRTY-

He's irritating. Sarcastic. Outdated. Matteo is my preference. Just don't let Iris find out I said that about her husband.

I arrive at my office and sit down behind the desk, grabbing a random book Seriyah left behind and flipping it open. I kick my feet up onto the desk and lean back in my chair.

"Did I seriously not give you a childhood?" Pa asks.

I look up, startled, and slam the book closed on the table. Taking my feet off the table I straighten and look my father in the eye. "I have updates."

Pa grins at me, finding something funny. "Look, I can read it to you if you really want."

I glare at him.

"Oh come on, you seemed very happy this morning!"

"That's 'cause mom was dominating you." I snort.

Now he's glaring.

"Anyway, Sergio found footage of Ava at ODS." ODS, the restaurant named after Ottavia De Santis. My father's sister and one of my mom's best friends. "It looked like she was placing a bomb. We cleared out the restaurant and closed down everything near ODS so nobody gets hurt."

"What are you going to do about the bomb?" Dad asks.

"I sent Vince-"

"Oh yeah, is Matteo back yet? Vince is a terrible underboss."

"Hey! It was either him or Alessandro."

"Ah, not him. He worries too much. Why not Carlo?"

"He's an idiota." I state. "And that's not the point. Vince found the bomb and the timer was set for five days, this was three days ago. Yesterday, we got a note saying Ava would like to meet us at ODS today. You on for the mission?"

"Yeah, sure." He shrugs. "What else do we know?"

"Well, Ava only gives us information she wants us to know," I state. "Yes, we figured out her name but that's really all. We need to kidnap her again and this time keep her."

He nods. "I'll start with my updates now if you're done."

>|<|>|<|>|<|>|<

"Hey, Sy." I grin, answering the call.

I recently gifted Seriyah and Maria burner phones so that they could contact me at any time. They've been using it a lot lately, especially Maria. Lori is back to talking again but she still isn't fully okay, Ria would talk to her father but he's just putting up a facade and isn't exactly in the best place right now either. So she comes to her next best option, me.

"Pa!" She beams. "How are you?"

"I'm doing so much better now that I'm hearing your voice."

"What's happening today?"

"Well, we have a mission," I say. "Ava wants to meet at ODS and we're surrounding the perimeter to prevent her from escaping. We have people watching from blocks away."

"Good luck!"

I hear someone in the background and I immediately know who it is, Alana. Her voice does something to me. It's so silky yet calm and kind at the same time. I love it. I wonder how things would've worked out if I just raised Seriyah with her. But I think her toughness came from what she went through when her family kicked her out.

"Ma wants me to come downstairs and eat- I'm coming!- see ya later, Pa."

"I love you, bye."