No Strings Attached

CHAPTER 25

Anastasia rolls her eyes as she lets out a laugh, pointing to each of the men, "Ari, Gabriel, and the twins Griffon and Everett," she says.

They all politely shake hands and my jaw locks as Everett presses a kiss onto Lea's hand, Anastasia immediately pulling her away.

"That's enough," I say coldly, pulling Lea to my side as she laughs.

"You are a shit host," Everett scoffs, looking down at me, "No invite to breakfast? It's the least you can do for holding our Ana without telling us," he says, the way he says our Ana making my stomach churn.

Dad chuckles as he makes his way over to us, "Excuse my son's manners Everett, I hope you'll accept our invitation to stay here whilst we figure out how to go about this business,"

"So fucking formal," Uncle Carlos clicks his tongue, shaking hands with Everett. "Good to see you again," he grins, making Uncle Carlos laughs as he slaps his back and leads Everett to the kitchen.

"It's so good to see you again," Gabriel smiles fondly at Mom, hugging her as Mom smiles.

"It's so nice to know Ana was in good hands after Penelope and Castro's death," Mom says softly, her eyes shining as she hugs Gabriel back.

My eyebrows shoot up when I see Aunt Val stiffen as she walks past Gabriel, Mom smirking at her as Val shakes her head.

Ari glares at me as he puts an arm on Anastasia's shoulder and follows Mom and Gabriel to the kitchen, Griffon shoving past me as he walks behind them.

"Everyone fucking hates you," Alessio murmurs, coming up beside me.

I hum in response, trying to figure out why I made that deal with them.

What the hell is happening to me?

"Good choice son, I'm proud of you," Dad smiles at me as I feel the corners of my lips tilt up.

It feels good to have the support of my family in decisions like this.

"Hopefully it won't come back to bite us in the ass," I mutter.

Dad shakes his head, "They're honest men, once we have their loyalty they won't double cross us, it was a smart decision to form an alliance with them," he says, and I nod along.

"Better to join with them than go against them," Alessio adds.

"Keep your enemies closer," I sigh, walking into the busy kitchen.

"Just don't let Ari cook, he can't make a meal to save his life," I hear Everett laugh, everyone laughing along with him.

"No smoking in the house," Mom suddenly snaps, and I watch in amusement as Griffon looks around confused before shoving a cigarette packet back into his pocket.

"I don't think we'll be staying here long if we can't smoke," Everett grumbles, his eyes lighting up as Uncle Carlos grins widely.

"I'll take you to my smoke spot," he says, causing Aunt Lia and Issy to roll their eyes.

"Dad I thought you quit," Issy says, narrowing her eyes at her father.

"Never Pequeño búho," Uncle Carlos grins, gently kissing his daughter's forehead.

I look over to see Anastasia and Ari deep in conversation, Ari's face one of pure anger as Anastasia recalls the events of the past days.

"Ana we stopped past your place yesterday, Leonardo wasn't there but it looked like a fucking bomb went off, what the hell happened?" Griffon asks, leaning against the bench beside me as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"He tried to kill my daughter, that's what fucking happened," Ari says in a low voice, "And now the pussy's gone into hiding,"

My head snaps over to him as he calls Anastasia his daughter, finding her odd little family actually quite amusing.

Everett chokes on his juice as he looks at Anastasia, "He has some fucking nerve," he says, his tone deadly as he looks at his twin.

Gabriel let's out a low whistle, looking at his mug as he swirls his coffee, "Only a moron would try to kill my niece," he mutters, "How bad are the injuries?" he asks, his head raising to look at a visibly uncomfortable Anastasia.

"They're better now, Issy stitched them up for me," she mumbles, scratching her neck.

Gabriel shoots Issy a smile, who instantly returns it.

"Any idea where he might be now?" Alessio asks.

"He could be anywhere," Everett sighs, grinning at me widely, "Luckily for you, you're working with the 4 best men in the underworld,"

"How lucky," I say dryly,

"Watch your tone when you talk to him," Anastasia says coldly, narrowing her eyes at me.

My tongue pokes the inside of my cheek as I look at her, knowing that if I snap at her I'm a dead man.

Everett chuckles and I glare at Alessio as he laughs loudly, the two making eye contact and laughing even harder.

Everett goes over to my brother and whispers something into his ear, Alessio's eyes lighting up. "I'll give you 1 grand if that happens," he says quietly, shaking hands with a smirking Everett. I watch as Everett whispers something else and Alessio's eyes almost fall out of his head, his gaze landing on Aunt Val. "Make that 2 grand," he murmurs.

Dad laughs quietly as he shakes his head, "The girls can show you the guest rooms whilst we make breakfast," he says to Ari, who smiles appreciatively and nods.

Lea links arms with Anastasia before her and Issy lead Le Aquile Rosse out of the kitchen.

"He's funny, I like him," Alessio grins, looking at Everett as he sends me a wink.

"He's you in 30 years," I mutter, my eyebrows shooting up as I hear Aunt Val gasp.

"Fuck off!" she exclaims pushing Mom and Aunt Lia away as they both laugh.

"Oh come on Val, we all know it's going to happen," Aunt Lia says, a wicked smile on her face as I look over at Dad in confusion.

He just shrugs and turns back to the pan on the stove, looking over at Uncle Carlos who also shrugs.

"I'm done with this conversation," Aunt Val says, glaring at Mom and Lia who both give each other a look.

"Sure it is Val," Mom smiles sweetly, kissing Val on the cheek.

Alessio snickers as he pushes himself off the bench beside me and walks out of the kitchen, leaving me more confused than ever.

Today has been a complete mind-fuck, and it's not even 12 yet.

//

I'm on holidays now so I can hopefully update more regularly,

I'll update again before the end of the week, but until then, have a good day/night and don't forget to vote!!

Abi <3