Reese POV:
"You have got to be kidding me."
I pulled my tired eyes away from the laptop screen in front of me just as an angry voice boomed from the conference room doorway. I looked up to see my father, Stephen, Carver, Alex, Gavino, Max, and Rocco all look up from their own screens and halt their conversations just as Natalie Rutherford stormed into the packed conference room and turned her sharp glare onto her husband.
"Natali-"
"No." The English Donna raised her hand, effectively cutting her husband off. She then turned her stern expression towards the English security technicians who were sitting in their seats rigidly, watching the tense interaction between their leaders take place before them.
"Everyone is dismissed." Natalie commanded.
The simple command was enough for every technician to instantly stand up and start making their way to exit the room.
"No." I turned my gaze over to Stephen who was looking at his technicians irritably. "Sit back down and resume your work."
The weary technicians once again made their way to their seats.
A sharp inhale came from the English Donna. "I will not repeat myself again." Her cold voice focused on Stephen as the tension grew thick in the air. "Everyone is dismissed."
The now scared technicians slowly stood up once again. The room was utterly silent as Stephen and Natalie's intense, hostile glares slammed into one another. It was only when the doors slowly clicked shut, indicating that all the security technicians had left, Stephen moved to speak. He looked at his wife in equal amounts of anger and incredulity.
"Natalie." He gritted out. "We need them to work."
The Donna scoffed. "They have been working, you have kept them in the same room, looking at the same files, and at the same screens for over forty-eight bloody hours. Don't tell me you need them to work, I know exactly what you need and don't need them to do, Stephen."
I looked over at my dad and the Di Genovas to see them awkwardly standing in place. Carver was watching his parents argue with a stoic, unchanging expression on his face, but I could see the tightness in his shoulders. No one wanted to interrupt the impending argument by moving, but we also didn't want to intrude on a couples quarrel.
"What do you want me to do, Nat?" Stephen sighed tiredly. "It's not like we are forcing them to work while we all go on fucking vacation." He gestured to all of us standing around him. "All of us have been here, working. We haven't left the room either, everyone is pulling their own weight."
Stephen was right. It had been a long forty-eight hours since Morrison's interrogation. Forty-eight hours of rerouting all of our weapons and narcotics shipments and transports, forty-eight hours of emptying out every warehouse in the United States, England and Italy that Morrison knew the location to, and forty-eight hours of tracking every single movement the French mafia family had made since we had last seen them at the Ball. The Baudelaires were dead men walking, we just needed to pinpoint their location.
War was coming, it was just a matter of how soon, and who would make the first move.
"That's exactly the problem." Natalie retorted. She then turned her gaze onto the rest of us. "Have any of you looked in the mirror? Red eyes, tired faces, crinkled clothes, you all look like hell." She shook her head. "You haven't slept in two days, you haven't gone outside, when was the last time any of you ate?"
Her question was met with silence. Natalie scoffed at the silent response and turned her attention towards Carver and I. Her gaze turned even more angry as she took in our unruly states. "I am not even going to ask why you two have blood splattered all over your clothes but Carver, Reese, I swear to God if you two don't go home and go to sleep I will personally make it so that the both of you won't see the light of day for the next month." She warned harshly. "I may not be able to control the grown men in the room but what I can do is control the both of you. Frankly, I couldn't give half a shit about your titles. You may be the heirs, but at the end of the day you are eighteen and nineteen years old. You are still kids to me."
Carver and I both opened our mouths to protest but one harsh glare from the English Donna had us clamping our mouths shut. In my peripheral, I could see Carver slowly grab a couple of files off the table as he calmly made his way over to Natalie all while the rest of us stood deadly still. "Mum." He started gently. Natalie's harsh glare landed on her eldest son. "We are trying to find the people responsible for taking Kade away from us." The English Donna stiffened upon hearing her son's words. She slowly took the files from Carver's hands and started going through them wearily. A look of devastation passed over her face while she read all the information we had managed to conjure up about Kade's kidnapping.
"The French declared war years ago, and we are only finding out about it now. We don't know what they have planned or what they are capable of. Right now, they have the upper hand." Carver slowly reached for the files and took them from his mom's hands. "All of us need to be here, we don't have the time to sit around. We have a lot of work to do."
The tension in the room was thick but the warmth that spread through my chest when watching Carver interact with his mom was unmistakable. He spoke to her so calmly and with so much respect that I couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt in my chest. Natalie was similar to my own mother in many ways. They were strict, no-nonsense women who knew how to control a room. They valued respect, and power but above all, family was their number one priority. I saw it in the way Natalie looked at her sons, she raised them incredibly well. She raised them with the greatest amount of morals one could have participating in an immoral business.
Natalie and Carver's relationship made me long for the connection I had lost. My mother meant everything to me, and she meant everything to my brothers. For six years she executed the role of being our mother and father to perfection. When you don't know what you are missing, it doesn't hurt. When you do know, the pain is incapacitating. In the midst of my silent heartache, I couldn't help but look over at the Di Genovas sadly. Gavino, Max and Rocco were all staring at Carver and Natalie grievously, but it was Alex who caused my heart to throb painfully in my chest. My eldest biological brother was already looking right at me with his face projecting the perfect representation of misery. When our eyes locked, he gave me a small, sad smile.
I didn't have it in me to respond, I looked away.
"I want justice for my son." Natalie's voice was strong, unwavering. "I want to eradicate the entire French empire because of what they did to my baby but in order for that to happen I need all of you operating at full capacity. None of you will get any work done if you collapse. You are dons, heirs, and capos of empires that need you. I get that. We are entering a war, I get that too. But if you actually think that running yourselves and your members into the ground by working nonstop for days is how you're going to win, you are gravely mistaken."
Natalie took a deep breath in and turned around to leave the room after sending one last warning look to everyone. She paused in the doorway and looked down at her phone before spinning around one more time.
"Alexander, Anastasia has been calling. Do not follow the lead of my idiot husband and worry your wife. Go home, you need to get some sleep. That includes you five as well, Jonathan, Gavino, Maximus, Rocco, Reese, go home. I'll be waiting downstairs, I'm going to watch every single person in here leave headquarters. If you refuse, I'll get people to drag you out. Don't test me."
And with that, Natalie left the room.
The Donna's presence left a lingering shocked aftertaste in the air. There was a short uncomfortable silence that lasted a couple of seconds before my dad interrupted the quiet. "Have fun at home, buddy." He joked while slapping Stephen on the back. We all broke out into laughs as Stephen ran a stressed hand down his face.
"Bloody hell." Stephen murmured. "I guess we're all going home then."
"We don't have much of a choice do we?" Gavino chuckled while closing his laptop.
"I guess not."
"Natalie is right. I've been practically seeing stars from looking at the computer screens for so long. We can continue this tomorrow. That fucker Baudelaire isn't going anywhere, and we got a considerable amount done."
"I believe logistics are all taken care of. Every location Morrison had access to has been either emptied out or sold, the routes have been changed, and us and the English are moving headquarters." Alex pointed out.
"What about your houses?" Carver spoke up looking directly at me. "We've been to both the Vanderbilt estate and your estate Reese, multiple times. Morrison had to have informed the French of the locations."
I rubbed my eyes tiredly. "That's not a problem."
"How is that not a problem?" Stephen and Alexander both voiced their disagreement at the exact same time.
I laughed lightly at their distrust of my words. "Do you guys know the location of the New York Federal Reserve Bank?" I asked calmly. Both Stephen and Alex scrunched up their faces in confusion as to why I was suddenly talking about a bank, but they nevertheless shook their heads, indicating that they had no idea.
"33 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10045, the United States of America. That is the exact location." I took a few seconds to type on my laptop and then turned the screen towards everyone. "Now you know the exact location, look it's even online incase you forget." I folded my hands and rested them on the table. "You know what the bank holds, seven thousand tonnes of pure gold are held eighty feet beneath the streets of New York. You know what's inside, you have all this information. Tell me, will you attack? Will you take the risk to accumulate that seven thousand tonnes of gold that equals approximately $294 billion US dollars?"
I waited for a response in the silent room.
"No."
I looked over to see Max shaking his head. "No, no one would attack."
"And why is that?" I questioned.
Max scoffed in disbelief. "Why? The federal reserve bank of New York City is one of the world's most impenetrable buildings. The vault itself holding the gold consists of a ninety-tonne steel cylinder encompassed in 140 tonnes of pure concrete and cement. Not to mention the reserve has a private police force.You're talking about attacking it? Forget minutes, you would be dead within seconds."
I clicked my tongue. "Exactly. Everyone knows it's a suicide mission." I stood up from my seat as I grabbed my laptop and my phone. "Now, imagine all the federal reserve security, then triple that." I looked over at Stephen and Alexander. "If you triple it, then you have somewhat of an estimation of the security that locks down my father and I's estates. I assure you, the French knowing where we live won't hurt us, it'll only hurt them."
Six pairs of eyes blinked at me.
"Jesus." Stephen breathed out. "I guess that solves that problem then."
"Yes, it does." My dad chuckled. "Get some sleep gentlemen, Reese and I will meet you again once everyone freshens up."
Everyone nodded their heads. My dad, Stephen, and Alex all filed out of the room while conversing about ongoing profits from our narcotics distribution, but as I continued gathering my belongings, I could sense the rest of the Di Genovas making their way to stand behind me. It was a struggle to not outwardly tense up. Although I now understood why the Di Genovas did what they did, I was far from being forgiving. The Di Genovas and I were civil, I could have a conversation with them without any outward malice on my part but that didn't mean I was comfortable enough to hang out with them outside of work affairs. If they wanted to be in my life they would have to work up to that, but we are nowhere near close enough to being there yet.
I took a sip from my glass of water just as I turned around. The second I moved I was met with the faces of Gavino, Max and Rocco looking down at me with soft, nervous smiles. I looked from brother to brother as they stood awkwardly in front of me seemingly at a loss for words. We had been talking for days but it was always about our tasks at hand. Drugs, weapons, traitors, police involvement, kidnappings, raids, killings, territories, so many things discussed with such little conversation. All of us had been talking, but no one was really speaking.
"Can I help you guys?" I asked curiously.
"Anastasia is a really good cook."
I blinked slowly, wondering how the statement that just left Rocco's mouth had anything to do with me. "How wonderful." I answered dryly.
My dry tone made Gavino laugh quietly. "What he's trying to say, bambina, is that Anastasia has been wanting to cook for you the second she found out who you were. We would really love it if you and Jonathon could join us for dinner tonight."
Discomfort crawled up my throat. I looked at the three brothers standing before me. Each one of them had these wide-eyed, exceedingly hopeful expressions on their faces. Unshackled vulnerability was practically radiating off of them. As I stood there in front of the three young men who looked nothing more than boys at the moment, I couldn't help but feel shame. I could feel my mom standing beside me, urging me to speak to them, to address them, to forgive them, but the shame played in when I realized that I didn't want to. Not yet. The same questions drilled holes in my brain as I pondered them over and over again.
How are you any better than them? You're shutting them out the same way they shut you out. Do you remember what that did to you?
But that was exactly the problem. They did it to me and they did it ten times worse.
"Ree?" My attention turned back towards the now frowning brothers. I could see the subtle panic stirring behind their eyes and my heart tugged painfully.
"I have things to do." I finally managed to respond. My tone was cold, sharp, a stark contrast to the turmoil that was brewing in my chest.
The hurt that morphed into their expressions caused a knife to pierce through my heart, but I forced myself to stay rooted in place. Rocco opened his mouth to probably try and convince me to change my mind but Max placed a hand on his shoulder gently, effectively stopping him from doing so. The dejected look on Rocco's face hurt me more than it should have.
They did it to you. They did it to you.
Max gave me a small sad smile. "Va bene Ree, magari un'altra volta allora?"
(That's okay Ree, maybe some other time then?)
I don't even think Max realized he was speaking in our mother-tongue, and my chest throbbed painfully at the realization. It was easy to switch into a dialect you are familiar with when you are upset, and that was exactly what he was. He was upset, he was hurt, and I hurt him.
I didn't answer Max's question.
They noticed.
"Reese." A familiar voice interrupted the maddening noise growing in my mind, and the suffocating tension growing in the room. I turned to my right to see Carver walking up to us. He slowly made his way over to my side and passed me a couple of files. I took them graciously.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I don't think you've seen these ones yet, Ree. Have time to check them out with me?" Carver asked.
I looked up to see Carver looking down at me gently. He slowly moved his eyes to the files once again and I knew exactly what he was doing. He was saving me, he was with me when I went through these exact files hours ago. He was giving me an excuse to walk away from the Di Genovas, and he was doing it effortlessly. The weight on my chest lessened considerably.
Gavino cleared his throat, taking my attention away from Carver. "We're going to head on out." He exclaimed. "We'll see you guys soon."
Both Carver and I nodded our heads. I made eye-contact with Rocco one more time before he turned around and walked out of the conference room doors. There was a hint of desperation in his eyes almost as if he was waiting for me to say something. When I didn't make an attempt to speak or move, his shoulders dropped dejectedly and he followed his brothers out of the room. It was only when the doors closed, I finally let out the breath I didn't even realize I was holding in.
Carver gently placed his hand on my back.
"I really do need you to check out the files." He teased me.
I scoffed as I playfully pushed Carver's shoulder, forcing him to sit down on the couch right behind him. "You mean the files we went over a dozen times a couple of hours ago? Those files?" I laughed as I started to walk over to the conference table to put the files away, but the second I started moving, Carver gripped my wrist and yanked me back.
I went flying back.
Right onto his lap.
I narrowed my eyes as Carver put his arms around me, caging me in. "I'm quite deprived, love." He whispered close to my ear.
My heart stuttered in my chest as I laughed lightly. "You should get some sleep then." I retorted playfully.
Carver smirked. His gaze fell onto my lips and I watched as his eyes blazed with intensity. My skin radiated heat as my own gaze disappeared into the piercing blue eyes that only served to captivate me more and more every time I saw them. "Not sleep deprived Ree, not sleep deprived." He breathed out.
Our faces hovered millimeters away from each other. One of Carver's hands went up to my cheek while the other went to the nape of my neck as he pulled me in. His soft lips brushed against mine as his teeth teasingly bit down up my lower lip. I ran my fingers through his hair as I started to deepen the kiss. Fire was spreading through my entire body as everything melted away. This kiss was nothing like our first one, this one was gentle, soft, slow.
Addicting.
We were floating, stuck in a blazing moment of intensity that felt infinite.
Until someone cleared their throat.
Carver and I instantly broke apart as we jerked up and onto our feet. It was a struggle to calm my racing heart but I somehow managed to compose myself as I prayed to whoever would listen that it wasn't my dad at the door. I looked over at Carver to see him nonchalantly loosening up his tie and running a hand through his hair. Our dazed expressions and messy hair were dead giveaways and we both knew it, but lucky for us we knew how to put on a facade. So we schooled our faces into blank, uninterested expressions and looked up, only to come face to face with a smug Natalie leaning against the doorway.
"Reese, your father is waiting for you downstairs." Natalie's voice was teasing, almost elated. I sheepishly nodded my head and quickly moved to gather my things. Once everything was in my hands I looked back over at Carver.
He was looking at his mom with a deadpan annoyed stare, while Natalie was full on grinning back at him. I patted down my hair and slowly started making my way to the doorway.
"Ree, wait." Carver's husky voice made me stop in my tracks. "I'll walk you down."
I looked over at Natalie who was just watching our interaction amusedly. I quickly turned towards Carver, "It's okay Carver, I can make it down by myself." I chuckled awkwardly. I then walked towards Natalie and gave her a sheepish smile as I hugged her goodbye.
"Bye honey, get some rest." Natalie smiled while fixing my crumpled jacket.
I waved goodbye, snuck one more glance at Carver who was still staring unamusedly at his mom and then I booked it down the English headquarters' main hallway. I could hear Natalie and Carver talking behind me but I was too far away to make out what they were saying. Soon, I had voiced my goodbye's to Stephen, his security technicians, and the Di Genovas and climbed into my dad's car.
My exhaustion hit me full force during the car ride back to the Vanderbilt estate. It hit me so hard that the embarrassment of getting caught withered away in nothing. I might have dozed off for a couple of minutes because before I could even comprehend what had happened, a thirty minute car ride was completed in half the time.
When we finally reached home, my dad and I practically dragged ourselves up the stairs and into our respective rooms. I was so incredibly exhausted that every time I blinked I had to fight to open my eyes again. I don't know how I did it, but somehow I managed to drag myself into my bathroom, take a hot shower, and then change into sweatpants and a random t-shirt. I didn't care enough to take the time to dry my wet hair. I just took it out of the towel, collapsed onto my bed and then buried myself deep into the covers seconds after I double checked no one had called me.
I was starving but my sleep deprivation took precedence over my hunger. I felt like a zombie, I had zero energy to try and get out of bed to go eat something. I was barely conscious and even though thoughts of Morrison's interrogation, the French files, all the work I had at Cryptic and Carver's searing kisses were running rampant through my mind, the second I flipped onto my stomach, I was out.
_
"Ree."
"Mmmm."
"Ree, wake up."
My head throbbed as I started to register someone calling out to me. The voice I was hearing was muffled, it felt like I was standing in the distance while the person talking was a hundred metres away. I tried to force my eyes open, I tried to move from my position, and I tried to say something but no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't do anything. My body refused to respond, I was just too damn tired. After a couple of half-assed attempts to move, I stopped trying to tell whoever was in my room that I was semi-lucid. I just dug my face further into my pillow and tried to fight off the sleep that was threatening to pull me under again.
"Why is she sleeping at 3pm? She would never do that." I somehow managed to recognize Eli's voice over my head.
Hands shook me gently. I didn't move an inch.
"She's out cold."
"Ry."
Simon's voice.
"How long has Reese been sleeping?"
"Miss Vanderbilt has been asleep for approximately twenty two minutes, Mr Takahashi."
"Twenty two minutes?" This time it was Raf's voice that rang out. "When was the last time she slept?"
"Miss Vanderbilt got four hours of sleep exactly fifty-three hours ago."
Silence was met with Ry's answer to Raf's question. I could feel someone pulling my comforter and blankets higher up to my chin.
"What the fuck?" Eli was now whisper-yelling. "Fifty-three hours?"
"There's no fucking way we're waking her up." Raf decided. "Let's just wait until she wakes up."
"Ry, does Ree have an alarm on?" Simon asked my A.I quietly.
"Miss Vanderbilt has scheduled an alarm to wake her up two hours from now."
Eli scoffed. "I don't fucking think so. Cancel her alarm, she needs more than two hours of sleep." He whispered.
"I cannot cancel anything without Miss Vanderbilt's authority."
"Yeah, well Pria taught me how to get past you, so too damn bad Ry. You're going to do it anyway." Raf snickered excitedly.
For a few seconds my room was once again engulfed into silence and I was slowly drifting back to sleep, but then someone gently grabbed my wrist. I could feel Eli, Raf and Simon hovering over me, as a pair of cold hands gripped my watch and carefully took it off my wrist. If I had the energy to move, I would have smacked the shit out of all of them but I was weightless, simply drifting in and out of consciousness as they schemed to somehow get past my A.I.
The last thing I heard before I fell into the deepest sleep of my life was Ry cancelling my alarm and then Eli, Raf and Simon silently cheering.
A small smile morphed onto my face.
Then I passed out again.
_
The quiet hum of my T.V and the aggressive clicking of gaming controllers that followed behind, were the sounds that were responsible for pulling me out of my peaceful sleep. For a couple of seconds I laid unmoving in my bed as I tried to force my heavy eyelids to open. Once they finally decided to cooperate, I groaned as I shifted under my covers. I was still pretty tired so I lazily moved to fling my arm over the pillows I knew were on my right side. But when I did, my arm hit something hard instead of soft. I gripped the foreign object in confusion.
"Ree, stop hugging me you weirdo."
My heart jolted out of my chest as I jerked awake. I immediately grabbed my gun from under my pillow and flung myself on top of the intruder in my bed. I pressed my gun into their temple causing the body under me to yelp loudly.
"HELP! REESE IS TRYING TO KILL ME AGAIN!"
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as I commanded Ry to turn on the lights. The second my room lit up I looked down to see Raf looking up at me with wide eyes and his arms up in surrender.
"What the fuck Raf?!" I huffed as I rolled off the idiot.
Raf sputtered in disbelief. "What do you mean what the fuck?" He choked out. " I should be saying what the fuck to you! I was just playing video games peacefully and then you start hugging me, and then next thing I know I have a gun to my head! Do you love me or do you hate me? Pick a side psycho!"
I flung my pillow at his face.
"What are you doing in my bed anyways dipshit!"
"I was waiting for you to wake up!"
"Go wait on the couch then!"
"No! Your bed is more comfortable!"
"Well then stay on your side!"
"I was on my side! You're the one who started to get all grabby!"
I lunged forward and tackled Raf into a headlock. "You haven't seen grabby yet, dumbass." I hissed while he struggled in my hold.
"Why... am...i....the only one...getting yelled...at? What about...those...assholes?" He managed to choke out.
I let go of Raf's head after he gave up and tapped out. When his face finally turned back to its normal color, he looked at me blankly and then looked by my feet. I followed his gaze onto the foot of my bed where two huge lumps were hiding under the covers. I sighed in annoyance just before I kicked out my legs, effectively sending dipshit two and dipshit three flying off the king sized bed.
They groaned in pain as they smacked onto the hard floor.
Eli and Simon took their time in standing back up again but when they finally managed to do so, they glared venomously at Raf and I.
"We hate you both." Eli gritted out while Simon nodded his head.
"Same here, bitch." Raf retorted while I flipped Eli off.
After a few seconds of heated glares being exchanged from all four sides, we all collapsed onto my bed once again. The four of us laid side by side as we silently stared at my ceiling, just like what we were forced to do as kids when we got into trouble. Back then it was a punishment, now we enjoyed our pockets of peace.
"Not sleeping for fifty three hours won't do you any favours Ree." Simon broke the silence. "You shouldn't be working that much. Take a break from Cryptic if you need to but fifty three hours is not okay."
Raf and Eli both let out murmurs of agreement. It was quiet while they waited for my response.
"We're going to war with the French." I informed them quietly. I kept my gaze on the ceiling but I could feel their heads snapping towards me and their shocked stares burning into the sides of my face.
"We are going to war against one of the most bloodthirsty, brutal, and immoral empires in the world. And apparently they have been planning for years." I paused as I closed my eyes. "Wars kill. People die. There will always be casualties on both sides, it's inevitable, I know that. I am a mafia heir, it is my duty to deal with death, pain, loss and suffering, I know that too but that's the fucking problem. I don't want my people to die."
Eli, Raf and Simon stayed silent beside me.
"So, how do you stop mass killings, how do you stop your people from dying?" I opened my eyes and looked at the three boys that were already looking at me. "How do you stop a war?"
"You cut the head of the snake." They all simultaneously replied.
I nodded my head. "Cut the head of the snake, the body dies. I need to find Elroy Baudelaire and I need to find him now, and if not sleeping for fifty-three hours contributed in making sure my people live, making sure my people survive." I scoffed. "Fuck fifty-three hours I won't sleep until I fucking collapse."
Eli sat up on the bed. "We'll help you." He decided confidently. "We'll stay in New York until everything is over. We'll help you fight."
I shook my head. "Eli, you're the Russian heir. You have enough on your plate with the Bratva. Same goes with you Raf, and you Simon. You guys are flying out of here tomorrow, you have work to do and responsibilities to uphold with your own empires. Don't worry about me, I can handle the French."
Eli, Raf and Simon didn't respond. Our entire lives we stood at the sides of our fathers and watched as they ran their empires. All of us had seen our fair share of conflicts and death but war was something that was untouched ground for us. I knew they were scared for me and I couldn't blame them because if any one of them was going to war, I would lose my mind stressing over their safety.
"I need to help. How can I help?" Simon questioned frantically.
I sat up and smiled. "You can distract me by buying me a burger at our favourite diner?"
Simon rolled his eyes, Eli scoffed, and Raf muttered something about me being bipolar, but nevertheless thirty minutes later the four of us were seated in our favourite booth at the small diner we first discovered when we were thirteen years old. The diner was almost ancient in its looks, but the food was something to die for. Eli, Raf, Simon and I had been obsessed for years. We probably spent hundreds of hours just sitting, messing around and eating in the very booth we were seated in. It was always a perfect end to our reunions.
"I should've charged my phone when I was sleeping." I muttered annoyedly while popping a few fries in my mouth.
"Charge it now." Raf shrugged.
I hummed as I laid my phone on the table so I could charge it with my watch, only to find the area where my watch always rested bare. "What the..." I felt around my wrist as my eyes widened. "Where the fuck is my watch?"
Eli, Raf, and Simon all choked on their food. I narrowed my eyes.
"You little shits." I seethed. "What did you do with it?"
"Nothing!" Eli protested. "It's sitting on the table next to your bed!"
"Why is it not sitting on my wrist?" I slapped Eli's head causing him to shuffle away from me.
"Ry was being fucking annoying." Raf huffed. "So I fixed her."
I groaned as I buried my head in my hands. "I'm going to kill Pria."
The three idiots burst out in laughter. I looked at them annoyedly but I couldn't stop the small smile that was forming on my face. It was hard to stay mad at my family, no matter how badly they irritated me.
"Excuse me, Miss Vanderbilt?"
Instantly, all laughter at our table ceased just as my heart dropped into the pits of my stomach. Dread slammed into me as an invisible strangulating weight pressed against my throat. I looked over at Eli, Raf, and Simon only to find them looking at me wide-eyed with pale faces. All four of us were frozen, stiff in our seats as we slowly reached for our guns. My heartbeat throbbed loudly in my ears.
Someone just said your name out loud. Someone knows your real name.
"Um, Miss Reese Vanderbilt?"
I clenched my fists to stop the shaking of my hands as I forced myself to turn my head towards the voice. I stiffly made eye-contact with a young girl standing right beside me, holding a phone in her hand. She couldn't have been more than twelve years old, the young girl was looking at me in awe.
"Could I please get a picture with you, Miss Vanderbilt?" She asked excitedly.
I forced myself to suck a breath in. My lungs had seemed to stop working. I quickly surveyed the girl from head to toe, then I looked over at the rest of the diner that had suddenly seemed to turn eerily silent.
Every single person was looking directly at me, and they all had their phones out.
I was being recorded from every angle.
"Look Miss Vanderbilt! I even have Cryptic's newest phone model! My mom got it for me as an early Christmas gift! Do you think you can sign my case?"
The young girl practically shoved her tiny hands in front of my face. She was painfully oblivious of the current state I was in. I could barely hear her, I could barely see her, I could barely make out my own hands in front of my face but she continued to ramble on excitedly. My heartbeat was growing louder and louder as it pounded in my chest. With trembling hands I took the phone from the little girl's hands.
"How do you know my name?" I somehow managed to breathe out.
The little girl grinned. "My papa lives in France. He saw your picture in the newspaper there" She leaned in close as if she was going to tell me a secret. "I was one of the first people to know." She whispered happily. "My papa sent me a picture of the newspaper article. Everyone in here saw your picture after me just because it's on T.V now. But your original announcement was in Paris right? That's where you released your picture first?"
It was easy to drown out the little girl's voice because of all the noise that was generating in my mind. I slid my legs out from under the table and started to stand up mechanically slow. "Ree." Simon whispered with panic lacing his voice. I raised my hand to stop him from talking. I moved out of the booth and slowly made my way over to the T.V hung on the diner's main wall. I could feel cameras following my every move but I didn't care. My gaze was zeroed in on the news channel that had my face plastered right below the breaking news bulletin.
It was a picture of me entering my car, the day of the Ball.
"... forty minutes ago a no-name French newspaper delivered a special edition print to every door in Paris. The face of Cryptic's CEO, Reese Vanderbilt, was plastered on the front page. The photo you are seeing behind us is the first public photograph of Miss Vanderbilt herself. As of this moment we have no clue as to why the citizens of Paris were the only ones to receive the elusive newspapers. All we can tell you right now, is that the hidden billionaire is hidden no more."
I was drowning.
That was the only way I could comprehensively identify exactly what I was feeling. I was underwater with muffled noises projecting all around me, pressure filling up my lungs, and panic flooding my entire being.
I was fucking drowning.
The roar of a helicopter flying over the diner broke me out of my tunnel-vision attention on the T.V. Every single sense that I had drowned out and suppressed in the last few minutes slammed into me at once.
Everyone was screaming around me.
Then everyone was grabbing at me.
"Get the fuck off of her!" I looked beside me to find Raf on my left, Simon on my right, and Eli was protecting me from the front. The heirs were trying, and failing, to push the massive hoard of people away from me.
It only took a couple of minutes for word to get out about where my current location was.
The diner was now filled beyond capacity. Fleets of cars were actively pulling into the small parking lot, news helicopters roared in the sky, and camera flashes were blinding me from every angle.
I was completely and utterly surrounded and there was nothing I could do about it.
"Everybody back up!" Eli yelled out. "Don't fucking touch her!"
A cold hand clamped down on my shoulder and yanked me back. I stumbled backwards away from the protective barrier that was Eli, Raf, and Simon and the crowd wasted no opportunity to surround me completely. The heirs were immediately swallowed up by the rowdy crowd and I was left alone at the epicenter of the madness. Curious fans, reporters, paparazzi who seemed to emerge from thin air, and the diner workers all continued to scream excitedly in my face as they shoved camera after camera before me. I tried to push forward, but the same hand that pulled me back still had a strong grip on my shoulder. I frowned as I looked over at the hand, the second it dawned on me that someone was holding onto me, my heightened emotions drastically changed course.
My shock was quick to turn into fury, and before I could even register my actions in my head, I spun around, grabbed the man who had the audacity to put his hands on me, twisted his arm behind his back painfully, and forced him down onto his knees. He screamed in agony.
"Don't you ever put your hands on me again." I spit out murderously, not caring about the consequences of being filmed on hundreds of different cameras. "I will fucking ki-," I paused my sentence when I realized just what I was about to say. As I looked around at the shocked faces surrounding me, I realized that I needed to compose myself. These people knew me as Reese Vanderbilt the CEO, I could not show them the reality behind my capabilities. The public didn't know the majority of the American Mafia was housed in New York. My face might have been revealed but my title had not. I needed to get a grip on things, and I needed to do it now.
So, I took a deep breath in, pulled my shirt over my gun tighter, clenched my jaw and shoved the terrified man away from me just as gruff shouts exploded from the entrance of the diner.
I ignored the chaos and raised my forearm in front of my face to shield my eyes from the camera flashes and to conceal my face as best as I could. I then looked down and started forcefully walking forward in a pitiful attempt to get away from the growing crowd. I had made it a few steps forward when someone pulled me into their chest.
Panic flooded through my body with violent waves. I immediately jerked backwards in an attempt to get away but the arms held onto me tighter. I thrashed in the person's grip.
"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. Ree! Look up, look up love."
My panicked eyes looked up to meet Carver's concerned ones.
"You're fine. You're fine." He consoled me while holding me protectively to his chest. He cupped my flushed cheeks and moved my hair away from my eyes. The loud drumming of my heart seemed to subside a small amount.
"Alex!" Carver's voice was laced with rage. "Do it now." He commanded gruffly.
"Jonathon, move them in." I registered the eldest Di Genova's deep voice ringing out from beside me. I lifted my head up momentarily only to see a man-made barricade now surrounding me. Carver was actively holding me tight while trying to shield my eyes, Alex was protecting my left, I could hear Max and Rocco behind me threatening anyone who came near, Gavino and Eli were protecting my right, and I could see the tense backs of Raf and Simon standing firmly rooted to the floor just like bodyguards right in front of me.
They surrounded me like a shield.
"This is your first and final warning." I looked up at the ceiling as Pria's voice boomed through the diner's speakers. "Back the fuck up or our security will forcibly make you do so. It's your choice, we are fine with either or."
"Move!" I turned my attention back in front of me just in time to see Raf and Simon move out of the way. I watched as I got a clear view of my dad and Nico storming through the crowd with our soldiers flanking them on every side. Behind my father and Nico, I could see the rest of my soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder creating a pathway to the exit doors. They were keeping everyone back until I could make it into the guarded SUV parked right in front of the exit doors.
I watched wearily as my father took in the aggressive crowd. The anger that painted him was one I had only seen a couple of times before. I knew he was beyond pissed off, but the second he saw me standing in Carver's arms, his face softened as he rushed forward. Carver hesitantly let go of me and I was immediately engulfed into the familiar warmth of my father's arms.
"Are you okay? Are you okay?" He questioned worriedly.
I nodded my head. "I'm fine dad, this just... took me by surprise." I assured him.
"Guys we need to go." Nico rushed out. "Three more helicopters are en-route. All of them are broadcasting for their respective channels worldwide, and it's all live."
"Let's move then."
"Wait." I stopped everyone from moving forward. "The second we exit out of the diner, there is approximately five meters of uncovered space. That means every helicopter in the air is going to get a perfect shot of our faces."
"So we cover our faces." Simon responded.
"No." I clenched my jaw. "I will not let anyone force me to cower in my own city. The French just officially declared war." I schooled my facial expression into a cold one.
"We're going to show them exactly who they're going up against."
Ten men from six different empires stood behind me as we walked straight into the chaos that was awaiting us outside. Reporters screamed my name, begging for me to make a statement. Lights from the helicopters rained down on top of us as news channels provided coverage on one of the biggest events of the decade. I was four steps away from the waiting car, but at the last minute I changed course and stood stoically in front of a small shocked reporter. He fumbled with his glasses and microphone before shakily realizing that I had picked him and was waiting for him to ask me a question.
"H-he-hello." He stuttered out.
"Hi."
"Can you tell the world who I am currently interviewing, ma'am?" He asked nervously.
I looked directly at the short man before me, not moving my piercing gaze from his eyes.
"You're talking to Reese Vanderbilt."
"As in the CEO of Cryptic Incorporated?"
"That is correct."
"Tell me Miss Vanderbilt, w-why now? Why show the world the hidden face behind Cryptic's reign, what is the significance of today?"
This time I moved my gaze away from the reporter. Instead, I looked directly into the camera positioned beside him. I looked into it as if I was directly speaking to Elroy Baudelaire. I wanted to send him a message, and I had no doubt he was watching everything that was going on wherever he had himself hidden. He needed to realize that he may have caught me off guard but shock only last for so long. I could manipulate his actions into any way I saw fit.
"Today marks the start of a new era. If you thought Cryptic's reign was omnipotent before, you have no idea what's to come."
I clenched my fists. They revealed my identity. They showed my picture to the world. I was going to rain hellfire down on the French empire. They needed to know that.
"Congratulations, you're all standing in the new age of power."
A small smirk tugged on my lips as my gaze burned into the camera lens. "You'll be seeing more of me very soon."
"I hope you're ready."
_
As always, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
Until next Wednesday/Thursday,
-Eliza