Damon
Our searches have stalled in the hunt for Dimitri. Dead end after dead end. The bodies of his men are starting to pile up. By the time we kidnap and torture the men to get the information out of them, Dimitri has moved on.
The cycle keeps repeating itself. Which means it's time to move onto the next tactic. No more kidnapping and murder. That's clearly not working anymore.
I'm going to need Alessandro and Gianni's help with this new tactic. If I can't track the man through his foot soldiers, then I'm going to track him through that disgusting website he runs.
If Alessandro can hack into the website, he can try and trace his IP address to where Dimitri is running it. It's a long shot at best. A man like him would he covering his tracks throughly.
Choosing to not worry about that right now, I stand from my desk and straighten out my tee shirt. I'm frustrated and I know Arella would be my cure.
I find her and Freya in the living room. A small pile of toys has started to build in the corner by the floor-to-ceiling windows. My wife is sitting cross legged on the floor, playing with a doll while Arella giggles.
"Hey, beautiful." I whisper in Freya's ear after crouching down by her side.
She turns her head, flashing me her perfect smile. It lights up her whole face, showcasing her white straight teeth.
"Hey, handsome. What are you up to?"
Plopping down on my ass, I pull Arella into my lap. She pulls on my shoulders as she attempts to stand up on my leg. I hold her torso to help her. Wobbling on her single leg, she finally stands.
Freya claps her praise, "Good job, mi amor. You're getting so good at standing!"
Arella's smile has never been bigger. She loves to stand. A simple thing that most take for granted is everything for her. Ever since she came home with us, she's put on some much needed weight and has gained some of her strength back.
Soon enough my baby girl is going to be strong enough to be fitted for her first prosthetic. I already know Alessandro has been looking into them for her. He's not as sneaky with his electronics as he thinks he is.
I've seen him researching doctors, looking into prosthetics for toddlers, and even parenting techniques for helping children with amputations.
That's how I know my boy cares about Arella.
"We've hit another dead end with Dimitri," I sigh, holding Arella with one hand so I can rub my eyes with the other, "I was getting frustrated, so I came down here to play with the baby for a bit."
A frown flits across Freya's face. She doesn't like that we haven't found Dimitri yet. My wife is a social person who loves to be outside the house. I know this. Yet, it's too dangerous for her to be out in public.
She could be kidnapped and used to manipulate me. My enemies know I would do whatever I could to get her back. My love for Freya could be used against me for money, information, or even my status as Don.
"I know you don't like being in the house. It's only temporary. I'm changing tactics to hopefully find a lead on his whereabouts. It's a long shot, but it's all we have. Hopefully, this will be over soon enough."
Freya's shoulders slump and she nods, setting down the doll she was turning around in her hands.
Standing, she announces, "I'm going to go make some lunch."
Arella and I watch as she retreats. The baby whines, digging her tiny fingernails into my shoulders.
"How about we give Mama some space for a bit? You can come with me and we'll have a little bit of fun. Let's go find one of your brothers."
Her whining stops at the mention of one of the boys. She's started to warm up to them.
I tickle her belly while asking rhetorically, "You want to go bother them, huh? Shall we go find Davide?"
A little bit of shock goes through me when she shakes her head. That's usually her favorite brother.
"Gianni?" Another head shake.
"Andrea?" The action is repeated.
"Alessandro?" I finally ask, tilting my head to the side.
Her eyes widen and she nods, pointing to the stairs. Well, I didn't see that one coming. I don't know how Alessandro would react to having Arella in his space. The germs that come with a toddler freak him out.
"We'll go see if Alessandro wants to play." I concede.
Holding Arella on my hip, I stand and climb the stairs, coming to a stop in front of my youngest sons door. Knocking three times, I enter.
I find him working on his computer. Just like where I expected to find him. He looks up at my arrival, his eyes moving over Arella before falling to the wall beside my head.
"Arella wanted to see you," I explain when he continues to stare at the wall beside my head, "You can say no, Alessandro. If you don't want her in your space it's okay."
Instead of turning her away like I thought he would, he points to the bed. I set her down there, standing close by so she doesn't crawl off or try and mess with his neatly organized books on his nightstand.
Alessandro stands and opens a drawer in his dresser, pulling out a toy. I recognize is as one of the cartoons she loves watching. A plastic baby with a single curl of blonde hair.
I hate that fictional baby. He's annoying and makes me want to scream when I hear him sing that annoying song about a baby shark.
What happened to the good days of non annoying kids cartoons? My kids didn't grow up on this shit. They watched the good stuff.
He hands the doll to Arella. As soon as the toy is in her hands she squeals, setting the doll down as her hands flap with excitement.
If the loud high pitched noise bothered Alessandro, he doesn't show it. He just plops back down in his chair and continues typing on his keyboard.
The sound did draw Gianni's attention, though. I hear his footsteps pounding rapidly down the hallway floors. He stops when he reaches the open door to Alessandro's room, his deep brown eyes searching for any sign of danger.
"I thought there was an intruder." He admits, reaching up to scratch his head in embarrassment.
"No intruder. Alessandro just gave Arella a gift. She's excited." I gesture over to where Arella is still bouncing around with glee.
He visibly slumps with relief, inviting himself into the room without permission. He plops down on the bed beside Arella, folding his arms behind his head.
"What's up, little lady? You like your new toy?" Gianni inquires playfully.
All the while, Alessandro looks like he's about to have a heart attack. My youngest son may be different than my older boys, but he still gets picked on by his older brothers all the same.
I think he likes it too. It makes him feel included. The boys will come in, sit on his bed or touch his stuff. They'll tease him about being a nerd or a geek. Often when they do this, I'll find a tiny smirk on Alessandro's face.
He puts up a front, but at the end of the day he loves his brothers.
Arella turns around on the bed, practically shoving the doll in Gianni's face. She crawls her way onto his chest and puts her hand on his cheek, making sure he's paying attention to her new toy.
"I see. This thing is quite cool." He gently grabs the doll from her hand, giving it a pat on it's plastic head.
"Ooh! Party in Alessandro's room. Count me in." Davide appears in the doorway, hopping up onto the bed beside Gianni.
The only one that's missing is Andrea. I'm sure he's still sleeping. Whenever we have a day at home like this, he'll sleep in for as long as possible. I don't blame him either. He risks his life everyday, learning the ins and outs of this life to make sure he'll be a good Don when he eventually takes over.
"Alessandro, bro, you have the best bed in this place. Tell us your secrets." Davide teases.
Arella snatches her doll back from Gianni, crawling onto Davide's lap to show him in the same fashion she did the former.
"This thing is creepy, baby sis. But if you like it more power to you." He winks playfully, rubbing his bare feet all over Alessandro's bed.
My boy is still pretending to be focused on his computer, but I see that telltale little smile on his face. He's stopped typing and is just listening to the conversation happening behind him.
"Dude, put those dogs away." Gianni fake gags, pointing to Davide's feet.
"These babies would make good money online. Creepy people love feet." He wiggles his toes to emphasize his point.
"Yeah, well, I'm not a creepy person, so put those fuckers away."
"I beg to differ. You're about as creepy as they get." Davide twists his torso to the side so he can maneuver around the bed to poke Gianni in the chest with his big toe.
"Gross! Get those away from me, you freak!" Gianni jumps out the bed, picks up Arella, and hands her to me.
I see what's coming before Davide does. Gianni hops onto the bed, putting his brother in a head lock while punching his side. Arella watches all of this with wide eyes. I'm afraid they're scaring her, about to take her out of the room.
That is until she starts laughing. I'm talking about full on belly laughs. Her head is tossed back while she gasps for breath.
"I'm going to fuck you up, dude!" Davide bellows, managing to wiggle loose from the head lock he was in.
He flips the both of them so he's straddling Gianni's chest, wrapping his hands around his younger brothers throat.
It looks violent, but this is just how they settle their differences. They've been wrestling since they were walking. If it ever went too far I would step in.
What can I say? It builds character.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Alessandro slip a twenty dollar bill across his desk towards me. He then points towards Davide.
Oh, he wants to bet on who's going to win. Reaching into my back pocket while still securely holding Arella, I produce a fifty bill and slam it down next to Alessandro's.
"Fifty on Gianni." I already know who's going to win.
I've been watching these boys fight each other their whole lives. Davide will get the upper hand, then fuck it up by leaving his sides open. It's his flaw. Gianni knows this, so he'll use it to his advantage.
Just like he does now. My son delivers a hard punch right into Davide's side, which makes him topple over, clutching his side while groaning in pain.
Gianni takes that as his opportunity, hopping up on top of Davide and delivering several harsh punches to his face. That's all it takes for Davide to tap out.
"Fine! You win, asshole." Davide concedes.
"Good." Gianni hops off of his brother, offering his hand to help him up.
Like the good sports they are, the two give each other some back slapping hugs before marching out of the room all bruised and semi-bloody.
"I believe this is mine." I swipe the twenty and my fifty off of Alessandro's desk, shoving the twenty in my pocket and handing the fifty to Arella.
"Save that and buy yourself something pretty next time you're out with Mama."
By the time we leave Alessandro's room, his bed is a mess, Arella has a new doll and is fifty dollars richer, I'm stress free, and Alessandro has a smile on his face.
I would call this little visit successful.