No Strings Attached

CHAPTER 2

I open the doors and dramatically walk in, "I've arrived!" I say in a sing-song voice, immediately being greeted by cheers.

"Our daughter has arrived!" Ari shouts, pulling me in for a hug. I laugh as his beard tickles my neck, pushing him away as I lay down on a couch, stretching my legs out and making myself comfortable.

"We heard you got yourself into a bit of trouble," Everett grins, his eyes crinkling as he looks at me. "Trouble? Who the fuck said that?" I ask indignantly, narrowing my eyes at Ari.

"Well I for one would consider setting out to kill the entire De Santis family getting yourself in trouble," Griffon says, his tone teasing as he grins at me too, making him and Everett look identical. They are very alike, but Griffon has a light scar on his left cheek, differentiating him from his twin.

I shrug, "I'll manage," I say in a light tone.

"Of course you will. Another Fiore Mortale and Le Aquile Rosse mission, when do we ever fail?" Gabriel says, winking at me. I smirk and nod at him, "Exactly, when have we ever failed on a hit? Fucking never," I say.

I'm met with a roar of laughter, "The Fiore Mortale and Le Aquile Rosse back together!" Ari cheers, smiling his fatherly smile at me as I throw my head back in laughter. Pure joy only felt now when I'm with these people. My odd little family.

"We need to stake them out first," Ari says, the conversation turning serious as I sit up and he comes to sit next to me. The laughter dies down as the men all sit down, their eyes intent on Ari as they quickly all become focused on the task ahead of us.

"There's an auction tomorrow for the leaders of the underworld," Gabriel says thoughtfully, "That would be a good start to figure out the dynamics of the family,"

I him and nod, "What's the auction for?" I ask, and Gabriel shrugs; "Some piece of land which would be good for a base," he says nonchalantly.

"Is it just for Mafia leaders and such though?" I ask, and Gabriel chuckles, "My dear Ana, anyone in the Mafias would let us in to their business,"

"They're all smart enough to not deny us entry, we've all helped them out in one way or another," Everett says, and I nod.

"Is it guaranteed that the whole family will be there?" I ask, knowing that I have to watch and know the whole family for this to work. Griffon nods, "They always go to events like this together, some bullshit sappy family reason," he sighs.

I curl my lip is disgust at how close they seem to be, going to all events together. Maybe a bit of jealousy, but love like that is simply a weakness to be exploited. A weakness I intend to tap into.

"We also need to watch for the Spanish Mafia, they're very close with the Italians," Ari says, and I groan at that detail I somehow managed to overlook.

Everyone in the underworld knows how tight the two Mafias are. You fuck with one and you're automatically fucking with both.

"What time is the auction?" I ask, wondering whether or not it's worth going home or just crashing here for the night. I mean I have my own room and wardrobe here so it would be fine.

"Twelve o'clock sharp start, best to get there Eleven thirty though," Gabriel promptly answers.

"How do you know so much about this auction?" Ari asks.

Gabriel shrugs, "I have my connections." Everett scoffs loudly, "What fucking connections?"

"I know the owner of that land, I took care of a competitor for him last month," Gabriel explains, "He told me he was selling the land and asked if I'd be interested since I helped him keep it,"

"If he got you to make a hit for him to keep it, why is he selling it then?" Griffon asks what we're all wondering. "He discovered that the land is unstable, some shit about part of one of the buildings being over a sinkhole," Gabriel explains.

A sly smile grows on my lips, "So we should let the De Santis' buy it, they'd be sabotaging themselves before we even begin," I say, being met with smirks from all the men.

"There she fucking is," Ari chuckles, patting my shoulder in the most Father-like way I can imagine.

"Everyone up by eleven o'clock tomorrow then," Gabriel says, patting his knees as he stands up.

"Alright, goodnight all," Everett says, standing up and waving goodbye to me before waking out.

We all walk upstairs to the hallway with our rooms and each one wishes me a goodnight before I go into my room.

It's been a while since I've been here and in all honesty I've missed it. I've missed the company of Le Aquile Rosse and it feels good to be back in the company of people my parents truly trusted.

I change into a pair of sweats and one of Dad's old hoodies before getting into bed. I smile at the thought of tomorrow, watching my hit and planning before they even know I'm after them.

Look out Vincenzo De Santis, The Fiore Mortale is coming for you.

//

I hope you're all liking this so far!! Halfway through I decided to add Le Aquile Rosse and I hope you guys love them as much as I do,

Next chapter will be out tomorrow, so until then, have a good day/night and don't forget to vote!!

Abi <3