Precarious

Chapter 36

Sierra's POV
My eyes widened when I heard that I was technically the new leader of the Russian Mafia. All in all, what I went through in the past few days felt so surreal. I didn't expect to get abducted by the Russians, meet my father, and find out that Ashley was my half-sister in less than a week. Even more, I didn't expect to watch Ashley die in front of me.

"Sierra, are you going to say anything?" Gavin asked. "Uh, are you alright?"

"I-I'm just having a bit of a hard time processing everything, especially the part about the Russian Mafia."

"Don't worry about that," Stefano replied. "We'll handle the necessary paperwork and agreements for dealing with the Russian situation."

"I understand that, but I don't think I'm suitable for being the leader of the Russian Mafia. After all, I only became a member of this family a few months ago."

"She does make a good point, Stefano," Jett added. "Even if Sierra is technically the leader now, competence also matters. The Russians won't hesitate to overthrow the leader if they're found to be incompetent."

"Exactly," I responded. "However, maybe the American-Italian Mafia could figure out how to acquire the Russian Mafia. After all, the Russian Mafia is currently without a leader, so Stefano might be able to take advantage of this situation."

"Sierra's right. I think it would be in your best interest to take advantage of the Russians' shitty situation to further the interests of the American-Italian Mafia," Santiago surprisingly remarked.

"Santiago actually agreed with a Rossi member for once? Who would've thought?" Damon teased.

"Well, I have to give Sierra and Mr. Rossi credit for taking out the leader. Over the past few months, the Russians were a handful. I'll be glad to see little to no conflict with them in the future."

Stefano and Santiago continued chatting for a few minutes, and then we exited the warehouse. I should've known everything was too good to be true though. The moment we left the building, we were surrounded by rivals. It seemed as if they knew that Ashley was dead and were seeking to find a new leader before Stefano could intervene.

Instantly, Stefano and Jett drew their weapons while Santiago yelled at Cole, Damon, Gavin, and me to run to one of the safehouses, where backup was located. How long that would take was something I didn't know.

* * *

After running for God knows how long, we finally came across the safe house. There, I saw dozens of people who seemed to work for Stefano, and I even saw Stefano's bodyguard, Mila. I was glad to see her again since she seemed quite nice. However, another person stood out to me.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Cole asked. "I thought you went back into hiding? You know that it's dangerous to be here."

"I did some thinking, and I'm sick of being in hiding. While I was kidnapped at one point, I can't let that hold me back. Especially when I know damn well that my husband, your father, wouldn't want me to dwell on the past."

"Uh, about that..." Gavin interrupted. "Uh, he's very much alive, which Stefano correctly assumed. In fact, he's fighting alongside Jett, Santiago, Stefano, and some other people against the Russians."

"The only reason we came here was to get backup, Mrs. Rossi," Damon added.

"I see. Well, don't worry. I'll make sure that our soldiers and I make it back alive. I'll be damned if I lose my husband and my family again."

"What should we do? Can we go back with you to help?"

"No, Cole. It's much too dangerous for you guys to be involved in an actual mafia war. All of you aren't even 18 yet for goodness sakes. Anyways, I'm leaving now."