"Stay here." I ordered, leaving the living room to search for my suit jacket.
My eyes landed on one of the chairs in the kitchen, where the jacket was hanging from its back.
"What? No." Rivo argued, following me around. "You can't just tell us to do nothing!"
"You're staying here, with your sister." I said, throwing my jacket on and buttoning it in the middle. "I won't repeat myself."
I can tell he wants to fight with me, to let his own anger and uncertainty loose.
But right now I don't have the time for it, and he knows it.
"Good." I nodded after he said nothing and slightly squeezed his shoulder. "I know you want to help, so I need you to be there for Olive while we're out."
Rivo looked away but still nodded, clearly mad about my decision.
I walked past him and grabbed my car keys from the table, putting them inside my pocket.
Amadeo is already standing by the door, waiting.
His face is completely blank, trying to keep his cool for the sake of his younger brothers.
My gaze moved automatically to Riccardo, who was standing right next to him.
I took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose, preparing myself for what's to come.
"You-"
"I don't care what you're going to say." he took one step towards me, looking at me directly in the eyes.
My jaw twitched, but I didn't let him see how aggravating his need to cut me off every time is.
"I won't fucking stay here, Alessandro." he continued. "I'm coming with you, and you can't stop-"
"I wasn't planning on stopping you." I said, my calm exterior fading with every word I say.
After everything I've heard from Olive, the desire to break someone's skull is stronger than ever, and right now, Riccardo is really testing it.
He blinked a few times in confusion, furrowing his eyebrows. "You weren't?"
"No." I replied, walking straight past him towards the door.
Santo was still sitting silently on the couch, and I shot him a meaningful look, one that says 'you're in charge'.
"I'm going to cut that fucker's neck in every way there is." Amadeo muttered as soon as we left the house.
I kept my eyes glued to the garage we're heading to, but my anger only grew at Amadeo's words.
A few minutes ago, Rivo mentioned how Olive told him this Elsher is in jail.
I have no idea who he is or if he's still in there, but once I find him, he's going to wish he could've spent his life behind bars.
"Where are we going?" Riccardo asked as soon as we all got into my car, his voice's serious.
He might have decided to come with us, but it's not like he had any idea on where we planned to go.
I glanced at him through the rear mirror, but he didn't look back at me.
He seems to be holding himself back, something he doesn't normally do.
"The office." Amadeo breathed out angrily, pulling his phone out of the back pocket of his pants. "I'll let Roman know we're coming."
I nodded and started to drive towards the gate, signaling for my guards to open it.
The office is how everybody calls our main building.
It is the place where most of our legitimate work takes place, all while making sure our other business stays a secret to the world.
Every information my mafia has ever gathered is in there, with hundreds of teams working all around the clock to ensure nothing will ever leak out.
And if there's any place we can find out who this Elsher fucker is, is there.
"We're all thinking the same thing, right?" Riccardo spoke after a few minutes, breaking the tense silence. "The pezzo di merda worked for Viktor." (piece of shit)
I clenched my jaw, keeping one hand on the wheel as I accepted the cigarette Amadeo extended towards me.
"Yes." he confirmed Riccardo's words for the both of us, passing me the lighter after using it on his own cigarette.
I placed my arm on the windowsill, taking a few drags before speaking.
"He was Viktor's guard dog, there to make sure no one will ever find her." I blew the smoke out, and my hold on the wheel tightened.
There's no doubt about it.
Viktor was the one who put Olive in that orphanage, and while everybody looked for her, he had to make sure someone will keep a close eye on her.
She told us how she always felt like she was being watched, how she felt his eyes on her.
Fuck, I'm going to rip that man's throat.
Another few minutes have passed before we arrived to the office, and I parked my car right in front of the building.
"Riccardo." I called, and he turned his head away from the window, making eye contact with me through the mirror.
He looks angry, too angry.
"You need to control yourself." I advised, shutting off the engine.
Riccardo shook his head in disbelief, and Amadeo shot him a sharp look.
"Control myself? Again with this shit?" he breathed out, leaning forward in his seat. "Are you fucking-"
"Riccardo." Amadeo cut him off, his tone holding a warning.
Riccardo shook his head again, but didn't argue.
"Let's just get in." he muttered, leaving the car and slamming the door behind him.
I gave Amadeo a pointed look, and he breathed heavily while opening his own door. "He'll be fine."
"When was the last time Riccardo acted the way he was supposed to?" I shook my head, not trusting Amadeo's judgment on that one.
Riccardo is a ticking time bomb.
He can't keep his emotions in check, especially his anger.
At least he's not drinking it away anymore.
"I'll watch over him." Amadeo nodded reassuringly before leaving the car, and I followed suit.
It's a Sunday afternoon, so the usually busy street is almost empty.
Something I can't say about our destination.
Running a mafia is a twenty-four seven job, so the office is never empty.
Walking towards the building, you can spot the small cameras at its entrance, scanning and recording every single one who even passes it.
"Don." The security guards nodded as soon as we reached them, and immediately opened the glass doors for us.
I nodded back, walking inside the building with Amadeo and Riccardo right behind me.
I'm not used to come here with my brothers with me, and judging by the unusual amount of stares we receive from the people around, they're not used to see them as well.
Amadeo always works in one of the warehouses, supervising and training our soldiers.
He only comes here if there's an emergency, and that didn't happen in a long time.
Riccardo gets information about his targets from the teams here, but never voluntarily stepped foot in this place.
I, on the other hand, am coming here a lot.
Part of my job is to make sure everything functions, and it doesn't matter if it's the office or the warehouses.
In the past month I've tried to be home with Olive as much as possible, which meant letting my capos watch over everything here.
They've passed every new information we got onto me, but now that won't do. No.
Now I need to make sure we get this information myself.
On our way to the elevators we passed the front desk and the other guards, all giving us respectful nods.
This building has to be secured, so in order to get to the top floor where our most sensitive data is, you need to scan your fingertips and eyes.
And, just like everything else, Riccardo has an opinion on that too.
"I fucking hate this James Bond bullshit." he muttered, coming to stand in front of the scanner.
Not even ten seconds have passed before the elevator's doors next to us opened.
I let Riccardo and Amadeo walk first, and once we were all in, I pressed the '25' button.
"Roman said they're waiting in the conference room." Amadeo voiced, reading the text from his phone.
I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest.
Roman, the head of security, is one of my most trusted men.
His teams once found Olive, and now, his team here will find me Elsher.
"How are we going to identify him?" Riccardo asked, and I glanced back at him.
He was leaning against the wall, furrowing his eyebrows.
"You're going to call your best friend, Jace." I raised my eyebrow, not taking my eyes off him. "I've heard the two of you have grown closer, what was it Amadeo? 2AM visits?"
"Funniest man alive, ladies and gentlemen." Riccardo clapped his hands sarcastically. "Wow."
I turned around just in time for the elevator to stop.
The doors opened, and we stepped out immediately.
This floor looks almost identical to the others, but the real difference is behind each door.
Here, the main focus is on getting information out of our rivals, out of the police, FBI, everyone.
Most of the rooms have glass walls and doors, so it was easy for Roman and his team to see us coming their way.
He has a lot of teams, part of them are even located in our warehouses, but this team is supposed to be his best.
"Fai qualcosa di stupido e sei fuori." (Do something stupid, and you're out.) I muttered, and Riccardo didn't need me to look back to realize I talked to him.
"Sono qui solo per Olive." (I'm only here for Olive.) he gritted out. "Me ne andrò non appena troveranno lo stronzo." (I'll be gone once they find the asshole.)
I opened the door to the conference room, Roman and the three members of his team already standing.
"Don." Roman nodded and walked towards me, his eyes darting between to both Riccardo and Amadeo. "Good to have all of you here."
Amadeo patted him on his shoulder and moved forward, looking at the rest of the people in the room.
Roman's team consists of two young men and a women, all experts in their own field.
They shuffled nervously under our gazes, and I sighed.
Fucking tech people.
"Are you going to tell me why are you here?" Roman asked quietly, looking at me directly in the eyes.
From the corner of my eyes I could see Riccardo walking around the room, examining every computer he finds.
"It's about Olive." I said, and those three words were enough to make all heads snap to our direction.
They looked at me with a new found interest, the nervousness forgotten.
"How is she?" the women, Miranda, smiled.
All of them took a part in finding her, and that is the only fucking reason I don't break their spines for talking about her.
I didn't respond, only turning my head to look back at Roman. "I need you to find me a person."
"Alright." he nodded slowly, sensing my anger. He walked over to the long table and sat at one of the chairs in the middle, his laptop already open.
"We don't have much other than a last name." Amadeo said, looking at Roman and his team. "But we do have a slight background and another man who can identify him."
"What's the name?" Liam, one of the men, asked.
He took off his jacket and sat on the opposite side of Roman, putting his own laptop on the table.
"Elsher." Amadeo responded, coming to stand next to him.
David and Miranda joined their boss and coworker, opening their computers as well.
"Never heard that name before." David glanced up, looking at us with furrowed eyebrows. "What's the background?"
"Born to a fucking whore." Riccardo mumbled, and I shot him a warning look.
He raised his hands and came to sit down at the end of the table, making Liam, David and Miranda look at him.
Amadeo ignored Riccardo's comment, and answered. "He worked for an orphanage downtown, the one Olive lived at."
Roman opened Olive's file, the one the police made after arresting her.
He scrolled through the transcripts of her interrogation, searching for something.
"Shepherd's institute." he read out loud. "That's the name of the orphanage. She said they closed it a few years ago."
"I'll look into staff members." Miranda said immediately, her fingers running on the keyboard.
Amadeo continued to tell them what we know, and I stayed in the same place, leaning on the table and watching Roman's computer.
He stopped typing after a few moments, spinning his chair around to look at me. "What'd he do?"
Even though he asked quietly, the other three subtly stiffened, their eyes moving between their screens to me.
I ignored them completely and kept my eyes on Roman.
"He dared to lay his hands on my little sister."
They all stopped typing for a few seconds, now shamelessly staring at us.
Amadeo crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Roman, who was furrowing his eyebrows.
"You're shitting me." he deadpanned, and I shook my head.
"Find him, so I can fucking cut every limb off his body." I gritted out, my knuckles turning white.
I'm going to make him regret being born.
"I've found something in one of their documents." Miranda said, making Riccardo look into her laptop's screen. "It's a photo and a full name, might be your guy."
"Send the picture to Jace, now." I ordered, and for once, Riccardo followed my words.
"What's the name? I'll type it into the NYPD archive." David rolled his chair towards Miranda, his laptop on his lap.
"Evan Elsher." She said, and a moment later Riccardo shut his phone off while clenching his jaw. "It's him."
I straightened myself. "Show me the picture."
Miranda turned her computer towards me, and I could feel my blood boil.
He was fucking smiling.
"It says here he was convicted of child abused three years ago." David raised his head, his words cautious. "But..."
"Speak." Amadeo hissed.
David gulped, looking down at his laptop again. "He got out four months ago."
"It seems like Viktor pulled some strings. He got out without a parole, nothing." Liam added a second later, turning his computer towards us. "I've found a security footage from that day. A cop simply got in and took him out."
"This is your only mission for now." I said, looking directly at Roman. "Find me the son of a bitch."
"Of course, don." he nodded, getting out of his chair to stand in front of me. "We'll find him, and maybe he'll even lead us to Viktor."
I looked down towards his team, and they all nodded. "We're on it."
"Good." Amadeo rubbed his jaw, taking one last look at Liam's laptop before walking towards the door.
"Find him." I repeated harshly, this time addressing all of them.
I waited for Riccardo to leave the room before following him, slamming the door behind me.
"I still need to fucking kill someone." I muttered, walking beside Amadeo while Riccardo is behind us.
He glanced at me, fishing a pack of cigarettes out of the front pocket of his pants. "We have a few of Viktor's men in warehouse thirty two, they're not talking."
I nodded at him, my fists clenching and unclenching. "Works for me."
Amadeo suddenly stopped, his head turned back.
"What the fuck is he doing?" he mumbled, taking the cigarette out of his mouth.
I followed his line of sight and narrowed my eyes, watching Riccardo sitting on one of the chairs in the empty hallway.
"Cosa fai?" (what are you doing?) I asked tiredly, walking back towards him.
He kept looking at the wall, arms crossed over his chest. "I told you I'm not leaving before they find him."
I rubbed my jaw, giving Amadeo a sharp look.
You can fucking trust Riccardo to make things more difficult than they already are.
"And how is you being here going to help them get his location?" I asked, trying to stop myself from snapping.
I'm already fucking pissed off, even without Riccardo's bullshit.
"I don't care." he gritted out, finally looking at me.
He shook his head a few seconds later, shuffling in his seat. "I'm not expecting you to understand."
"Understand what?" I hissed, leaning down. "That you can't think rationally-"
"Fermare." (stop.) Amadeo put a hand on my shoulder, and I breathed out angrily.
Riccardo always does whatever he wants, never thinking ahead.
I'm honestly curious, what is he planning to do? To sit here day and night until they'll find a lead? Never eating, never returning home to see his brothers? His sister?
"Riccardo." Amadeo called seriously, making him raise his head.
"What?" he muttered, glaring at the two of us. "You can fucking go, I'm staying."
He's fucking infuriating.
"No, you're not." Amadeo took one drag out of the cigarette, blowing the smoke to the side.
He crouched down, looking directly at Riccardo.
"Olive's at home, and she needs your support. She needs to know you're there."
"I'll come home eventually, alright?" he said, returning his gaze to the wall. "Just not now."
"You'll come when they'll find Elsher?" I chuckled humorlessly, putting my hands inside my pockets. "When will that be, exactly? Tomorrow? Next week? Next fucking mon-"
"Could you not be a patronizing asshole?" Riccardo hissed, glaring at me. "Just this once?"
I shook my head in disbelief, pointing at Amadeo. "Make him stop acting like a fucking child, or I'm fucking leaving you here with him."
Amadeo looked at me with disapproval, but I couldn't give two shit.
Riccardo was and stayed the same, no matter how hard I've tried.
I stared to walk towards the elevators, taking my own pack of cigarettes out.
Ever since he was a kid, our parents knew the trauma from Olive's kidnapping affected him more than he'd let on.
His therapists helped him, but that was until he grew up and found the vodka to be more appealing.
I've tried to take their places after they passed, I've tried to stop him from making hundreds of horrible choices, one after another.
But he didn't fucking want to.
He loved losing control over himself, loved letting his mind free.
Even though he realized what he's doing to himself, not once did he make any effort to quit.
So I had to, and I don't care if he fucking hates me for it.
Placing him into rehab last year wasn't an easy decision, but a necessary one.
He might not understand how much better he is now, but at least he is.
I shook my head, lightning my cigarette and stepping out of the building.
I walked towards the car and leaned on it, waiting.
Yes, so what if I said I'm leaving them here? Like I'll ever fucking do it.
Putting Riccardo into rehab might have fixed his drinking problem, but definitely not his attitude.
He acts on impulse, which is why he's such an excellent shooter.
He doesn't hesitate.
Always doing whatever the fuck he wants, and most of the times, what he wants means problems.
And I've had enough problems today.
I know he cares about Olive, and I know he feels the need to be in control every second, fearing of what will happen if he'll look away.
I've tried, fuck, I've tried to make him see he can let go, to relax and be with his sister after all those years.
But it's like talking to a fucking wall.
"Non dire niente." (don't say anything.) Amadeo muttered, pushing Riccardo into the backseat of my car.
I had no idea to which one of us he meant, but I wasn't planning to say anything either way.
I took one last drag of my cigarette before dropping it to the ground and stepping on it.
I opened my door and sat down, looking at Riccardo through the mirror.
His head was leaning against the window, and as if feeling my gaze, he locked his stormy eyes with mine.
I sighed and started the engine, looking away from the mirror.
He really does hate me.
But at least he's coming home.
°°°
"What's going on?" Amadeo asked cautiously, coming to stand next to Rivo.
He was pacing silently in the middle of the kitchen, only stopping once he heard us entering the house.
I slammed the front door shut and walked towards them, Riccardo's already climbing up the stairs.
"She said, and I quote," Rivo crossed his arms over his chest, glancing at us. "Treat me differently and I'll chop your dick off."
My lips twitched upwards.
"Then why are you here, shirtless in a dark kitchen?" Amadeo chuckled and bended down, picking up Rivo's T shirt from the floor.
"Because I can't pretend nothing is different!" he exclaimed, snatching the shirt from Amadeo's hand and throwing it hard against the wall.
"You don't need to." I said, walking towards him. "You can be angry, but you can't let that anger affect your relationship with her."
He looked at me for a few seconds before chuckling and shaking his head. "What relationship? She despises me."
"No, she doesn't." Amadeo put his hands on Rivo's shoulders, making his look at his eyes. "You're getting to know each other, and it's a long journey, remember that."
I left the two of them to talk and walked towards the stairs, planning to go check on Olive.
Now that I know my people are looking for the fucker, I can loose some of the tension.
"Finally!" I heard Olive shout from her room, and decided to see what's going on.
I knocked three times before opening, not really waiting for an answer.
The first thing I noticed was the floor, and the hundreds of snacks on it.
Both Snato and Olive turned their heads towards me, and that was enough to make me raise an eyebrow.
"You've got something on your face." I looked at Santo, who rolled his eyes behind the blue face mask he was sporting.
"I lost a bet." was all he said, and I hummed.
My eyes moved to Olive, who was smiling wildly. "Yeah, he's my bitch for the rest of the day. Right now he agreed to tell me how he got that scar, you know? It's only fair."
I closed the door behind me, coming to lie down on the bed next to them. "It's a great story."
"No spoilers!" she threw one popcorn at me, hitting me straight in the eye.
I picked it up and playfully narrowed my eyes at her, making her stick her tongue out.
"Okay, so we were on a boat." Santo started slowly, looking between Olive and I. "And I walked into the chef's kitchen and dropped a-"
"Absolutely not." I cut him off, using my palms to push me backwards until my back rested against the headboard. "Tell it from the start."
Even past the face mask I could see Santo's glare, but I dismissed it with a wave. "And stick to the facts."
"Fine." he muttered, shuffling in his spot.
Olive started to laugh at him, and I found myself smiling with her.
"So we were on a boat." he repeated, looking at me pointedly. "And I was really starving. I mean, really."
My smile widened, remembering this day.
"And the chef was supposed to make this amazing meal and whatnot, so I decided to sneak into the kitchen and get some food."
"This better be good." Olive bit her lip, hugging one of her pillows.
"Oh, it is." I nodded, and Santo hit my arm.
"Interrupt my story once again and I'm kicking you out." he threatened, and I held my hands up in mock surrounder.
"Well?" Olive rushed him. "You sneaked into the kitchen."
"Promise not to laugh." he looked at her seriously, and even I knew it was too much to ask.
"Dude, I'm already laughing." she smacked him with the pillow, causing him to groan loudly.
"Alright, alright." he nodded, getting back on track. "So, as soon as I walked in I saw this huge bowl of pasta on the counter. And, it's important to the story so listen."
"I wasn't always this tall." Santo gestured towards his legs. "So when I tried to get to that bowl, I accidentally fell and dropped the giant fish tank with me."
I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "It made the loudest noise we've ever heard, so we immediately started to run there."
"So the glass cut your face?" Olive raised her eyebrow.
He fucking wishes.
"It's so much worse." he shook his head, but before he could continue, the door opened.
Amadeo walked in, coming to lie down on the other side of the bed. "What're we doing?"
"Santo's trying to tell Olive how he got that scar for the last hour." I narrated, glancing at Santo's unimpressed expression.
"Easy, just tell her a lobster jumped on you." Amadeo yawned, and he was definitely not expecting the reactions he got from that comment.
"WHAT?" Olive screeched, looking at Santo with wide eyes. "A lobster jumped on you?"
"You've just ruined my entire story, man!" Santo groaned, kicking Amadeo's leg.
Both me and Amadeo were laughing, that day fresh in our memory.
"Just imagine what we saw when we walked in." Amadeo coughed, looking at Olive and Santo. "A little Santo trying to fight off a puppy sized lobster on the floor, screaming from the top of his lungs."
"It was..." I nodded, searching for the right word. "Terrifying."
Olive was wheezing on the bed, and Santo looked down at her with a blank face. "You can stop laughing now."
I leaned forward and grabbed his neck, ruffling his hair while he protests. "Sanster, remember?" I looked at Amadeo with a teasing smile.
"Oh yeah." he nodded, furrowing his eyebrows. "I completely forgot we used to call him that."
"Sanster is cruel!" Olive widened her eyes, but the grin was very much still on her face.
Santo broke free and brushed his hair, trying to fix the total mess.
"The most cruel thing is to live with four brothers." he muttered, narrowing his eyes at us.
"Weak. I have five and I manage." Olive shrugged and picked up a bag of chips from the floor, but she didn't get the chance to open it.
Amadeo grabbed her just like I grabbed Santo, making her squeal. "Let go!"
"Nah." he shrugged, keeping her in a headlock. "It's time for you to get the full brothers experience."
Chapter 39!
Hey babes<3
I'm sorry for the late update, but I just couldn't write that chapter, no idea why.
I wrote and deleted like a hundred times.
Happy 2024 yall!!
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