Piggesnye (n.) Someone who is pretty but not particularly bright.
Nicolo's P.O.V.
My footsteps dragged along the corridor of the estate as I made my way towards the meeting room, contemplating the burden that I have brought upon myself. The pleas of her begging me to trust her continued to replay in my mind as I struggled to accept that I willingly delivered her into the hands of someone who wanted her dead.
She had trusted me with her life, to keep her safe, but my reckless judgment had led me to abandon her, even when she spoke of the truth. She had always been honest with me, but I have been too cynical to believe that someone like her, someone so good, so pure, could exist in this world without any ill-intentioned motives.
The sound of my men's voices surrounded me while I entered the room and made my way towards the end of the table, dismissing the greetings that I received as I thought about how I would deliver this news to my men.
"Here," Leone said, catching me off guard as he slid a small object towards me, once I sat down.
"What is this?" I asked while I observed the piece between my fingers.
"It's a tracking chip. I caught our mole trying to slip one into my phone before she took off," Leone sighed as he leaned back into his chair.
"Who knows how many of those chips were planted, there could be a shit ton," Gabe mumbled. It's possible that one was placed into my vehicle, exposing the location of my safehouse, I thought as my fist tightened around the chip.
"How do we know that Romano is working with Cairo?" I asked my men.
"She left her laptop. We were able to go through her messages and email threads between Romano and the Greeks. The evidence is all here," Manny spoke out.
"We'll discuss more of this once everyone is ready for the meeting," Leone said while we observed more of my men shuffling through the doors.
"Is Bella on her way?" Manny asked excitedly with bright eyes and a slight smile along his lips.
I clenched my jaw as I felt a painful ache within my chest at the sound of her name. I glanced toward the empty seat beside me, the seat Arabella would have taken, then glanced back towards Manny. His brows furrowed as he waited for my response, but he suspected something was wrong as I struggled to answer his simple question.
"Where is she?" Alexander asked from across the table. His alarmed voice had caused the crowded room to fall silent. I could feel the stares of my men burning into my guilty skin, but I never broke eye contact with Manny.
His eyes were widened with trepidation, it was as if he knew what I had done, even without exchanging a single word with him. It must be clear to see the apprehension and dread which overwhelmed me in this moment. It was almost painful to see my closest man, my brother, lose his composure from fear, as I watched him begin to shake his head slowly, refusing to believe what happened to Arabella.
"Where is Arabella?" Alexander asked and suddenly held up his gun towards me. My men exchanged confused glances between each other as they were hesitant to restrict the man who pointed a gun at me, but the room remained still as no one dared to move.
I slowly glanced around the room, observing my men who showed troubled and worried looks across their faces, not for me, but for Arabella. It was at this moment I realized she had made an impact on all of our lives, I had made my mistake a burden, not only to me, but to them. Lastly, I turned to Manny and sighed once I saw his glossy eyes and trembling lips.
"She was framed," I said aloud as I watched Manny's concern transition into anger.
"What does that mean?" Alexander asked with a shaky voice as I heard him switch off the safety of the gun.
"Son, put down your gun," Atlas whispered to him as he turned towards me and anxiously waited for my response.
"Files were missing from the safehouse..."
"...she tried to tell me that she wasn't the one who had stolen them..."
"...but I didn't believe her." The last sentence left my lips in a hushed tone, completely blending into the silence of the room, as I was ashamed with what I had done.
"Where is my daughter, Nicolo?" Atlas asked as I watched him press his lips into a line, attempting to contain himself from an angry outburst.
"I have given her up to Cairo," I admitted with remorse laced within my voice.
"No, no, no," Alexander mumbled to himself while we watched him collapse back into his chair as panic began to settle within him.
"You sent her to Cairo," Dante stated in disbelief as he began to lean in closer to the table.
"Do you know how many of his men we killed in Greece?" he asked harshly and I glared at him for thinking that I have not thought about the consequences I would have to bear.
"She told you the truth, yet you easily denied all trust in her?" he continued to question me as if these thoughts never occurred in my mind since I have lost her.
"I was looking out for this family," I stated angrily.
"She is family!" he yelled back as many of my men flinched in fear once he slammed his fist onto the table.
"She was nothing but good to you!"
"She was nothing but good to us, all of us!" he continued to yell as his chest heaved up and down from the rage that consumed him.
Dante had always stood by my side since the beginning of my leadership, I have made many mistakes during our time together, but never once has he been this angry with me. I gave him a somber look as I knew this situation became a reminder of Catalina, but I couldn't stand to look at him any longer as I was beginning to feel sympathetic.
"You are so quick to judge, so quick to put blame on someone, when deep down inside you know that Arabella would never do anything to hurt us."
"My daughter, Catalina, was only a child when she passed away," he said as his voice began to tremble.
"She lost her life to the mafia, but she was innocent!" he raised his voice and looked around the room, but no one had the strength to look him in the eye.
"And it hurts..." his voice fell quietly as I watched a tear fall from his eye.
"...it hurts to wake up every damn morning knowing that I am still alive on this Earth without my daughter, knowing that I could have done something to save her," he seethed while returning a furious glare.
"I know you've grown close to Arabella..." he began to say as his voice broke under her name.
"...but Nicolo, for your sake, I am praying that Arabella is still alive, because I would never wish this type of pain or misery upon our worst enemies," he asserted angrily as he immediately stood up from his chair and slammed the office doors shut once he left the room.
I looked around at my men and saw that they gazed back at me with shock across their faces. Atlas and Alexander had followed Dante out of the office and I somberly watched as Gabe silently comforted Manny.
I dismissed my men from the room as their heavy and morose presence hindered my thoughts of forming a plan to save Arabella. I have come to a realization that the moment I made the decision to not trust her words, she had possibly lost all respect for me, all of her affection towards me.
The cigar that I lit in my hand released a trail of smoke into the air of tension and dissipated as I stared at the wall in front of me, trying to maintain my composure. Whether Arabella chooses to forgive me or remain aggrieved at me, was the least of my worries.
To live in a world where her hatred has led her to avoid my presence, would fill me with content and ease, but to live knowing that she is gone, simply a figure of our pasts...this I could not dare to fathom as a possible reality.
Arabella's P.O.V.
Once again, I was accompanied by the ominous presence that was brought by silence. I had not confronted this intimidating feeling in so long, it was almost missed.
I could feel the heat of the sun against my skin, but my vision remained dark as I felt a piece of cloth tightened around my eyes. I struggled against the rope which bounded my hands behind the chair I sat in, but after many attempts, it seemed impossible to escape.
A steady breath left my lips as I prepared myself for what was to come once I heard heavy footsteps slowly approaching me. Chills began to travel down my spine while the person took their time with their strides, as if they enjoyed the fear that they caused within me.
"Principessa," the familiar voice spoke out tauntingly (Princess). The blindfold slid off of my face as I tried to adjust to the bright light, and scowled once I saw the person who towered over me.
"Romano," I seethed and glared at his face which held a contemptuous smile.
"It's a pleasure seeing you again," he beamed ecstatically in a derisive manner.
"I see you've gotten better," I played along as I watched him stand proudly in front of me with a cast covering his leg.
"It was only a graze," he shrugged nonchalantly.
"You need to practice your aim," he said with a wink and smirk across his lips.
"Sure, you can be my target again," I replied, sending him a sarcastic smile. The smile slowly left my face as he began to chuckle menacingly and reached for the revolver in his waistband. I watched carefully as he slowly walked towards me while counting his bullets and became nervous once he pulled down the safety lever of the gun.
"Watch your mouth, Bella," he threatened as he dragged the barrel of the gun down my face and across my lips.
I refused to look at him as his face was dangerously close to mine, but my nervousness was plain to see as I shivered in the presence of his gun. He began to walk away, but anger rose within me as our games were coming to an end.
"What am I doing here?" I called out to him. I wasn't supposed to be here, or I at least expected to be in a different location. The vans that had taken me away were strangely similar to the one I was captured in by Cairo's men, I was preparing myself to meet him again.
"Are you going to be nice?" he asked, completely ignoring my question as he began to play with a small knife in his hands. I held my breath in fear, as he made his way towards me, and became frightened of the sharp blade meeting my skin.
"Are you afraid?" he laughed mockingly, using the tip of the knife to push my hair away from my face as he walked behind me.
"There's no need to be," he whispered as he suddenly cut the rope which bounded my hands together.
"Now, I would answer your question..." He began to say as I watched him wave the knife around while he walked towards the front of the room.
"...but that seems like a lot of work, so I'll let someone else do it," he smiled as he gazed over my shoulder. I was too bothered by the pain in my wrists to notice the sound of heels tapping against the floor, but I shuddered in surprise once I looked up.
"V-Viviana?" I stuttered.
"Oh, don't be so surprised, Bella," she chuckled as she strutted her way towards Romano's side.
"You're working with him?" I asked in disbelief as I watched him drape his arm over her shoulders.
"We've been working together for a very long time now," she replied, gazing at him with fondness across her eyes.
"In fact, we've been working with you as well."
"What are you talking about?" I asked nervously.
"You see, the whole plan was to bring down Nicolo and the Mazzerelli Family," she replied.
"And we've been struggling for quite some time now," Romano commented.
"There are organizations we've been working with, all across the globe. Including the Greeks..." she smirked while staring at me.
"...the Russians..." Romano added.
"...the Americans," Viviana concluded.
"Just to name a few," she chuckled.
"Even with the help of the other mafias, we weren't able to bring down the Mazzerelli's. They hold too much wealth and power, but then you came along," she sneered and glared at me, with what appeared to be envy.
"Nico let you into his life so easily. You became his distraction, our greatest strength, and his only weakness."
"Now, call it a coincidence, but imagine our surprise when Alexander came running along, exposing who you really are," she laughed and shook her head.
"The long lost daughter of the Greek Mafia," Romano said as he began to light a cigar.
"No wonder why you have some fight in you," Viviana said as she eyed me up and down.
"The violence runs in your blood," she whispered to me and smirked at my appalled expression.
"You're the mole," I said quietly to myself as I was beginning to put the unsolved pieces together.
"The one and only," she gloated happily.
"You were at the safehouse," I confirmed as I glared at her in disbelief.
"Y-you framed me," I wanted to say confidently, but expressed as a question.
"Ask me how I did it," she said with a sly smile. Disgust filled my face while I looked at the woman who I genuinely believed I befriended. I knew an intruder had broken into the safehouse, but I would have never guessed that Viviana was the perpetrator.
"It's quite simple, really," she said, crossing her arms over her chest with a wicked smile, and I watched as her eyes traveled down my face, towards my lap. I followed her gaze and looked down, my hand held my wrist as it was still in pain from the rope, but my eyes widened once I realized what she was looking at.
"It's a tracking device with a microphone as a little added bonus!" she said aloud as I unclasped the opal bracelet from my wrist. From the very beginning she was never my friend, she has only ever seen me as a key to their rise in wealth and power, she was someone who I could have never trusted.
"Everywhere you brought that bracelet, your conversations were being monitored, and your location was being tracked, down to your exact coordinates," she said as she approached me and snatched the bracelet from my hand.
"And trust me, we heard a lot at the safehouse," Viviana said as she rolled her eyes.
"We also used it the night of the charity ball. How else do you think Cairo's men were able to get to you?" Romano said with a scornful laugh as he exhaled a cloud of smoke from his cigar.
"Knowing how Nico reacted the night you were taken was truly astonishing," Viviana grinned.
"The Mazzerelli Family had finally left their guard down. You became their main focus, all eyes were on you principessa," Romano stated (Princess).
"So we just had to try something like that again, especially once we learned where Nico had taken you," Viviana shrugged playfully.
"You've done all the dirty work for us, Bella. We greatly appreciate you for your service," Romano said in an amused tone.
"And now the safehouse is left unguarded. All of those files, completely at our disposal," Viviana taunted.
"But we have to move quick! Cairo will be here soon and who knows how long we have until Nico and his men find out where we are," she sighed.
"Don't worry, I'll ask Cairo to give you a quick and painless death," she smiled at me before walking away.
"Wait!" I called out, unsure of what I was going to say next, but I knew I had to save every second I could get, I refuse to die this way.
"You can stop this, it's not too late," I begged.
"You told me about your mother, think about how she would feel if-" I started to say, but was soon cut off.
"My mother?" she shrieked as she immediately turned on her heels.
"I killed her," she exclaimed furiously through gritted teeth.
"Nothing was ever good enough for her. I was never good enough for her," she cried out.
"Bring her to the cellar!" she yelled out over her shoulder as she stormed out of the room.
"No, please, no," I pleaded as Romano made his way towards me with a rag in his hand. I quickly stood up from the chair, but he suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him. He placed his forearm against my neck, holding me in a chokehold as he placed the rag against my face.
These events had sparked a similar memory inside of me, my past was repeating itself once again, yet I feel I have not learned a single lesson. But I fought, I fought as long as my strength could keep me awake, but just like my past, darkness began to overtake me. I have placed my trust into the hands of those who failed me and my weakness continues to bring me to these disheartening moments, again, and again, and again.
*****
Author's Note:
Hi Beautiful Readers,
A lot of answers spilled in this chapter!! There's one more chapter left before Book #1 ends. What an amazing journey this has been!
What do you guys think will happen in the last chapter?
-Love, A