Isaac's POV
"You ready?" Beanie questions as he unlocks the door in front of him.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I confess.
"You got this kid, I'll be right out here if you need me."
I nod my head and Beans is pulling on the metal door, stepping to the side once it's completely open.
I walk around him and step into the dimly lit room to find my cousin sitting at the edge of the bed, his arms resting on his legs as he leans forward, his head hung low.
He's no longer in the trashy dirty clothes my men found him in, he no longer reeks of alcohol and death, his hairs no longer greasy. He's now in some light gray sweatpants and a black tank top, completely barefoot.
"How you feeling?" I asked, stepping closer towards him.
Nate looks up at me and the mere sight of his clean face gives me enough hope that he'll push through this and be alright. "My heads fucking pounding."
"Yeah Beans mentioned it's gonna feel like that for a while. You try eating anything yet?"
He shakes his head, "he has me on liquids only, what day is it?"
"Wednesday," I answered.
He sits up, "you promised I could see Jessica Monday."
I immediately began to smile, "I did."
"It's Wednesday," he snarls sourly,
"My trip got extended an extra day and I had something come up last night. I also said it depended on the state of your condition."
"Please, KP, I need to see her."
I crouched down to his level, placing my hand on his knee, "and you will, you remembering what I said alone is a good sign, Nate. I'm proud of you."
He looks up at me and frowns.
"For not giving up when it got tough, for pushing through," I say. "Beans explained just how hard withdrawals can hit, it's mainly why he had to chain you up, so you wouldn't continue to hurt yourself," I point to his busted up, bruised knuckles.
He looks down, opening and closing his hand a couple times, shaking his head, "I don't remember doing this, any of it."
"I know, it's okay," I pat my hand on his knee. "All that matters is we're moving in the right direction, we're moving forward."
"How long have I been down here?"
"Almost two weeks."
"Two weeks?!" He exclaims. "Why do I feel like it's only been a few days?!"
"Because that's what drugs do man, they keep you numb. You were high off of your ass or coming down from the intoxication the first few days. The day I came to see you, that was the very first day you were alert and not so disoriented."
A single tear streams down his face as he looks over at me, "I'm so sorry, KP."
"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad to have my cousin back."
He continues to shake his head, "I shouldn't have tried to blame you, I was such an asshole."
"Pain changes people, Nate. It's water under the bridge brother."
He nods and is looking off to the ground again.
"Let's get you out of here man, there's a lot you've missed out on that we need to catch up on."
"I can't handle it if it's bad news," he says. "Not yet."
"Believe me, you're gonna wanna know this," I chortle softly and smack the side of his knee as I stand back up. "Come on, get up."
He gets up a second later and is following closely behind me as we step out of the room.
Beanie immediately smiles the second he sees Nathaniel behind me and is holding up a pair of black adidas slides.
"The floor's disgusting, put'em on."
Nate reaches for the slides and is dropping them on the floor, slipping into them, "thanks, Beans."
"Don't mention it."
"No, for everything I mean.. it's all still sort of a blur, but I remember hearing your voice a lot when I was out of it."
Bean's lips tug to the side for a mere second as he pulls my cousin in for a hug, "believe me, I've been there kid, I know what it was like, I didn't want you to have to be alone. You're a good kid in a bad spot."
Nathaniel nods his head as he embraces Beanie for about another second or so and Beans is pulling Nate away from him.
"Alright cut the water works and man the fuck up, your cousins gonna need every bit of energy you got left."
I snort softly, watching the two, "way to be soft and sensitive, Elias."
Beans snickers, "only my kid gets to see the soft sensitive side of me."
"You mean your kid and Hailey."
Beanie shrugs his shoulders, "not my fault you married a likable gal," he smiles.
I playfully roll my eyes and begin to make my way back over to the elevator. Both Nate and Beans climb into the metal box with me a second later and we ride up in silence as we stop on the top floor and make our way over to the main door that leads into the warehouse.
I glance over my shoulder at Beanie, he instantly nods his head, giving me the answer to my unasked question.
I open the door and take a step to the side allowing my cousin to step into the warehouse first as I follow behind him and Beans behind myself, hovering close by.
There's an instant loud high pitch scream the second we step onto the floor.
"Nate!!!"
Nathaniel looks in front of us, in front of him, to find his dad and little sister standing across the floor with a couple more of my men near them, as Jessica desperately tries to get away from Sal but he clings onto her hand, keeping her next to him.
"Jess?" Nate's voice is almost a whisper as he stares at his family in front of him, looking over at me the second I walk up to him.
I place my hand on his left shoulder blade, patting his back, "go to her man."
He doesn't hesitate, Nate immediately leaves my side and is walking forward. Sal releases Jessica's hand the second he sees his son walking in their direction and she's running into his arm, yelling his name again.
Nate picks up the pace and meets his sister about half ways. She instantly runs up into his arms wrapping her legs around him and Nate's quickly dropping down to his knees a second later, hugging the dear life out of his sister as she cries into him.
Both Sal and I give the siblings their moment before approaching them. I incline my head forward allowing Sal to go ahead and go first. He nods his head, nervously making his way over to his kids.
Nathaniel hates his father ever since he started using, he blames his dad for what he thinks happened to his mother so their relationship has been in the gutter this entire time and Sal admitted to Pops that he was actually scared to see his son, he's afraid of not nothing what he's gonna say or do.
I take a couple steps forward and watch my uncle walk up to his kids, crouching right beside Nate, his face still buried into his little sister as he lets everything out that he's been holding in since his mom passed away.
Sal places a hand on Nate's shoulder and he's instantly looking up at him.
"I'm sorry," Nate's voice cracks from where I'm standing. He shakes his head,"I'm so sorry dad."
My uncle shakes his head in return and is wrapping an arm around his son, pulling both of his kids into him.
"Boss," Dom walks up quietly behind me. I glance over at him. He looks down at his watch and whispers, "we got about seventeen minutes before we need you in the sit down if you're gonna include him."
I wave him off and nod my head, "give them another minute," I speak softly. "Have Ric and Aj take Jess back to the house. I don't need them in this sit down, I want them back by the time we do the third round. Did you set up what I asked you to do?"
He nods, "of course."
"You know he's gonna lose his shit the second he finds out."
"He'll get over it when the rage comes down, Beans and I will be ready. We're behind you."
I nod inclining my head towards the conference room, "finish setting up. I want another sweep of the room."
"I've checked it after every single meeting, Isaac, there's no bugs, he's not in your inner circle."
He's referring to the mole that's still a part of this fucking faction.
We're finally going after the last two families tonight, while rescuing my aunt at the same time and I don't want this mother fucker to tip anyone off so we're trying to be as discreet as we can be.
We're on meeting number two for today. Each meeting is gonna have a different group of men, with a different layout and game plan for tonight. This way if someone tips off The Deroma's or The Robsciottis at least I know in what group the fucking mole is in.
"Continue fucking checking it," I hiss. "It's fucking insane that he's even lasted this fucking long."
Dominic places a hand on my shoulder blade, "don't worry, kid, we'll get it established after tonight. You got family you gotta focus on tonight."
I nod and look down at the watch on my wrist. Fuck, times fucking flying today. I have less than fifteen minutes to lay everything on Nathaniel if he wants to be part of tonight's rescue mission.
"Pops in the office?"
"He is," Dom answers. "Shall I move him into the conference room?"
I shake my head, "no. Do what I asked you to do and I'll see you in there in a bit."
Dominic leaves my side a second later and I'm moving forward towards my family.
I lean over and place my hand on my cousin's back, "as much as I hate breaking up this moment for you, Nate, I need you to pull yourself together, I still gotta talk to you."
He nods his head and Sal is getting back up onto his feet, "give her here, son, go with your cousin."
"Actually I want both of you to come with me," I say and point behind Sal at Ric and Aj who are making their way over to us. "Jessica's going home with them so say your goodbyes."
Jessica immediately begins to cry the second that Nathaniel attempts to pull her off of him, clinging onto him even tighter. Sal actually has to pull her off of him and hand her off to Ric, kicking and screaming as Nate tries to reassure her that he'll see her in a bit, begging her to calm down and stop crying.
She agrees to leave with Ric and Aj only if she gets to hug her brother one last time, and she does just that. Ric puts her down and she's instantly flying into Nate's arms, making him promise to 'never go away' again or she's really gonna be mad next time.
I have ten fucking minutes left before I'm needed in the conference room by the time Jessica is gone with Ric and Aj and Nate, my uncle and I are walking over to my office, stepping inside.
Pops is sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the desk, burying himself in paperwork as usual. The man ain't even in charge and has the need to stick his nose in everything, although I do appreciate his help, everything's been a lot easier with him back and taking the wheel here and there.
I take a seat in my chair and nearly want to laugh when I watch Nate's eyes nearly pop out of his head when he sees my father sitting in front of him.
"Hello, Nathaniel," Pops smiles.
Nate frowns cocking his head to the side, looking back and forth from my father and I. "Y-your alive. H-how is he alive? Was I that out of it?"
I smile, shaking my head no, "no man you weren't, you're not crazy."
"Sit son," Sal pulls the other chair out for his son as he takes a seat on the couch behind him and my dad.
Nate takes a seat in the chair, never taking his eyes off of my dad.
Pops smiles and is laughing softly as he places his hand on top of Nathaniel's arm, "I'm real kid, you're not seeing a ghost."
"I'm so confused.."
"I told you we had a lot to catch up on." I smile and look down at my watch to see we have about six minutes left before I have to go next door. "I'm so sorry to just throw this on you man, apparently I didn't prioritize my time as well as I thought, but he's not the only one alive."
"How are you still alive?" My cousin frowns, jabbing a finger at my dads hand, that's still resting on Nate's arm, completely ignoring what I've just said.
"We'll explain everything later, Nathaniel," he swats his hand away from him, pointing over in my direction. "Your cousin is talking to you."
Nate looks in my direction, "what did you just say?" His frown deepens.
As much as I didn't want to show Nate the pictures of his own mother, Pops said I needed to, we needed to show him actual proof so I tried my best picking out the most appropriate pictures to show him, along with other things that Pops had in the file.
"He's not the only one alive.." I repeated myself even softer the second time, pushing the green folder in his direction.
Nate looks over at the three of us completely confused as he reaches for the folder. I watch all the color drain from his face as he opens up the folder and grabs the first picture that's on top, as the rest of the folder falls to the ground.
Pops quickly reaches over and grabs the items before they can hit the floor as Nate keeps all of his attention on the picture in his hands.
I pay close attention to him, watching his every movement, noting just how much his chest is rising up and down, waiting patiently for him to speak up and start asking questions when he's ready.
I hated the first picture that I saw on the USB, it was the one picture of his mother I really didn't want to show him because she looks nothing like the woman that raised him, but it was the most recent photo my dad had of her so there is, in his hands.
"I-" his voice cracks, never once taking his eyes off of the photo. His eyes are now glistening with tears although they're staying intact, in place, he's trying to be strong.
"W-what exactly am I looking at?" He turns to look at his dad behind him. "H-how long have you known?!"
Sal is now leaning forward, his arms on his lap.
"I just told him this morning, kid," Pops answers.
Nate turns to look back at my father as he hands him back the folder.
"S-she's alive? My m-moms a-alive?"
Pops nods his head, "yeah kid," he smiles softly. "She's alive. And we're getting her back tonight."
"Getting her back?" He frowns, quickly turning to look over at me.
I inhale a deep breath, silencing the alarm that's vibrating on my watch.
"Long story short. The drive by was gunning for my mom, when they failed they took your mom as leverage at the hospital in hopes that my dad would step down and give himself up."
Pops hands Nate a couple more pictures, the one with the ransom notes.
"I tried getting her back on my own but got nowhere near close because they promised to kill her and the rest of my family if I even tried sending in the faction. They were watching Hailey, threatening my unborn grandbaby that I knew nothing about."
"They wanted your uncle's life in exchange for your moms," Sal speaks up. "They needed proof of his death in order for us to get her back."
Nate quickly turns back to his father and then to mine.
"Y-you faked your own death?"
"It's the only way I knew how to save my family how to save your mom," Pops confesses. "They wanted me dead so I let them kill me."
Nate flies out of his chair and is dropping down onto his knee in front of my father, hugging him.
Pops immediately goes still at the sudden affection. "The hell are you doing, Nathaniel, get up."
"Thank you," his voice cracks as he hangs onto Pops.
"Nate, get up," my dad grumbles.
My cousin shakes his head, "thank you, Zio," his voice cracks.
"Nat-"
"I don't know how to thank you," my cousin talks over him. "That's the most selfless thing you've ever done, you giving up everything and everyone."
My dad pushes Nathaniel off of him. "We're family kid, it's what we do for each other."
A soft knock on the door immediately grabs every single one of our attention, it's Dominic. "Wrap it up, we're falling behind schedule."
I nod and look over at my cousin, "I promise we'll explain more later, talk more. You're sober enough to where I trust you again. Are you in or out of your moms E&R tonight?"
"I'm in."
***
I'm mentally fucking drained already and the night hasn't even started yet. I still have one more fucking meeting to get through and honestly I'm losing my damn patience and sanity here.
I grab my cell phone from my desk checking the time on it, it's almost 7 o'clock, I haven't spoke to my wife in over six fucking hours, I haven't seen her gorgeous face in nearly 12 hours. I've been texting her here and there replying to her messages through the sit downs, when I get any little free time but I need to hear her voice, I need my wife right now.
I unlock my phone as I walk around my desk and go to close the door to the office.
Tapping into Sacramento's message thread, I shoot him a quick text. "Go in for her, call me the second you hit base."
I don't bother waiting for his reply and quickly go into my wife's contact info and click on the video icon, calling her via FaceTime. She answers on the third ring.
"Hey," she beams with happiness, holding up the phone in front of her. "It's getting late, what time are you coming?"
She's still at her dads thank God. I recognize the walls behind her, she's in his living room, the tv softly playing in the background.
I inhale a deep breath and exhale it slowly, feeling better than I did a few minutes ago, "I'm not babe."
"That's fine, baby, don't worry about it, I'll just have my dad take me home, don't send a car out."
As if on queue, the doorbell to her dads rings in the background. Hailey pulls her attention away from me for a couple seconds, no doubt watching either her dad or Ana walk over to her front door.
"I'm not going for you because you're not coming home, babe."
Hailey looks back at the screen, confusion written all over her pretty freckled face.
"Uh, Hailey?"
"Yeah?" Hailey looks to the side, calling out to Ana.
"I believe they're here for you hon," she says at a distance.
Hailey focuses her attention back on me, narrowing her eyes, "what did you do? What do you mean I'm not going home?" She hisses, her sudden quick hormonal temper at bay.
"Mrs. Matteo."
Hailey instantly turns to look in the direction of Sacramento's voice. She looks back at the screen, "what the hell is going on?!"
A pair of knuckles taps on my closed door and is cracking open a second later, "we're ready for you sir."
I quickly snap my fingers, keeping my attention on my wife in front of me, "shut the door," I command.
They do, leaving me alone again.
"Isaac," Hailey's voice is now softer, now concerned. "What's going on baby?"
"We're doing the extraction and rescue tonight. Sacramento will be escorting you to the safe house. I had Beven's pack a bag and send it out with my mom earlier.
"Tonight?! No. We literally just got back the other day ago, Isaac!"
"I know, princess, I'm sorry. If I could push this off any longer I would, but I can't. It's happening tonight whether you agree with me or not baby, you promised that you would go without arguing with me when the time came, Hail."
"I'm not arguing with you, Isaac. I understand, baby, I get it, I'll go. I'm furious with you that you over there and I'm right here, that you're telling me this over a fucking FaceTime call rather than in person. That you're not here giving me what can possibly be my last kiss from you!" She exclaims.
"I know," I sigh. "I knew you would be, that's exactly why I'm doing it like this. You'd instantly have me staying there with you with one single bat of your lashes, princess. I'd be completely at your mercy the second I see this sad look in person."
I watch her eyes immediately begin to glisten with tears through the FaceTime call.
"I love you, Hail, you're the most important person in my life, baby, but I have a mafia to run. I have men to lead, an aunt to rescue. Nathaniel's a fucking mess right now, he needs me here, there tonight with him, he needs someone to be his back bone. We were bound to go through this eventually, this won't be my first nor my last racket that I get into, baby."
She nods her head in understandment, "I know," she softly, wiping some tears away from her eyes. "I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly."
"I'm coming back to you, Hailey Katherine Matteo, I'll be at the safe house before you wake up. I'm not going anywhere, you guys ain't losing me so quick. I got not only one faction going with me, baby, but two, I'm coming home don't you worry."
She nods, "you go in last you hear me? You let your men handle everything, don't be a fucking hero tonight."
"Yes ma'am," I smile. "Anything else my queen?"
She shakes her head, "I love you so much."
I nod, "I love you more than life. Give Sacramento your phone the second we hang up so it doesn't get tracked. He has a burner should you feel the need to check in, baby."
She nods her head one last time, "please be careful tonight, Isaac."
"I will, I'll see you in the morning bellissima."
***
"Hey."
I turn to look behind me to find Cris walking in my direction, dressed in nearly the same outfit I'm dressed in.
Black boots, black pants, and a black hoodie with a nice little black bullet proof vest over it to finish off the 'if I get shot tonight I'm not gonna die' look.
"Hey," I say in return.
"What are you doing out here?" He wonders out loud, making his way over to where I'm standing.
I definitely needed some fresh air after my call with Hailey, after the final third fucking sit down of today and quickly made my way outside. I just wanted to be alone and get away from all the noise and people, even if it was only for a few minutes.
Thankfully it's been a good fifteen minutes and no one has came out to look for me, other than Cris right now; perks of being the boss and telling everyone don't fucking follow me.
I shrug my shoulders, "thinking, smoking." I pass him the burning joint in my hand.
Cris shakes his head, softly forcing a small laugh through his nose, "I'm cool, thanks. I'm not really big on smoking."
I scoff, "how are we related?"
"Oh- uh, apparently your dad is my dad," he jokes. "We literally just had a whole sit down about it."
"You're an idiot," I say.
He laughs softly and is walking towards the car I'm leaning on, leaning on it as well. "How you holding up with everything?" He questions from beside me as I take another hit from the joint.
It's been months since I last got high, for some very obvious reasons but with everything going on so far I definitely needed to destress, even if it's momentary, hence why I needed to come get some fresh air.
I exhale the smoke from my lungs immediately going into a coughing fit, "you know-" I say in between the coughing. "I don't know. I always wanted a brother growing up- but now that I have one, I don't know exactly how I feel."
Cris snorts softly, "yeah I know what you mean. I always wanted one too, especially with growing up with nothing but women."
"At least you had siblings growing up," I smile before I take another hit of the joint. "I had the family and my friends."
"You had a father," he mutters under his breath.
Great. Way to kill my high bro.
I scoff and drop the joint on the floor, no longer in the mood to smoke, stepping on the last of the roach. "Up until like I was twelve ," I say. "I had a father up until Montse happened."
"Shit I remember that."
"I may have had him in my life, Cris, but he was nowhere near the father figure I needed. I lost him the day after getting jumped by Montse and his friends. Carmelo raised me, not my father, the mobster did. Our father-" I force out. "He lost himself in the rage, in the uncertainty, in the unknown of what could happen to his son. The Mafia Don, boss, completely took over and turned me into who I am now."
"Gonna assume here that Montse really didn't move out of the country?" He smirks.
I smirk in return and shake my head.
"You may have grew up in a fucked up broken family, Cris, but my life was no better than yours. I think that's why I'm having trouble accepting this," I wave a finger in between us.
He frowns, "I don't follow?"
I inhale a deep breath. "I hate that you'll only get to know the softer side of him. I hate that you'll never get to see the other side of him, the man that I grew up with. That you won't have to beg him to stop hitting you because you simply can't handle it anymore," I admit bluntly, bitterly. "I hate that you immediately get his comfort from the get go when that's all I ever wanted growing up. I couldn't show him any emotions, I couldn't show him I was weak."
"Isaac-"
"I hate that you get to see the better parts of him, Cris, that you don't have to forgive him for everything that he's put you through! I hate that you can't hate him for neglecting you because he genuinely didn't know about you. That you can't blame him for the fear that's inside of you about becoming a father, afraid that you can't break the tedious cycle and become him, or who he use to fucking be at least."
"Hey," Cris puts his hand on top of my shoulder, shaking his head. "Come back, don't feed into it."
I inhale a deep ragged breath slowly nodding my head, immediately feeling the shake in my hands, I hadn't realized that I was getting lost in my emotions, again.
"You are not who he used to be," he says. "And I'm sure you never will be. I'm sorry for what you had to go through, that we can't change the past, that we're both completely out of control in this situation. I know we've had our differences in the past but I'm honestly glad we were able to get past them, I'm glad that I get to know you on a more personal level now."
"Is this you trying to big brother me?"
He chuckles and shakes his head, "I am not that much older then you so shut the fuck."
I smile and pull my phone out of one of the pockets in my vest. It's Sacramento's burner number, they've been at the safe house for a couple hours now, Hailey's all settled in but throwing a hormonal tantrum.
"Red?"
"Sacramento," I answer, stuffing my phone back into my pocket.
"She get there safe?"
I nod. "You should've let him pick up Belle and take her with the girls, she would've been fine with Hailey and Jessica."
He shakes his head, "she'll be fine, plus your family already has so much going on for me to dump my cousin on you guys."
"What time is it?" I point to the watch on his wrist.
"11:09."
I inhale a deep breath feeling my anxiety attempting to take over the calm, soothing, feeling of my high and make its presence.
"Guess it's time that I rally up the guys," I say, pushing myself off of the car that Cris and I are leaning on. I smack the back of my hand on the side of his arm, "ready to see true greatness?"
"I see it every morning when I look in the mirror," he smiles, pushing himself off of the car.
I smile and roll my eyes.
Cris sticks a hand out, gesturing towards the double doors to the entrance, "let's see what you got baby bro."
"Don't fucking call me that," I cringe.
Cris laughs deeply as we begin to walk forward.
He follows in tow as we both walk towards the doors and are both stepping into the warehouse one after another.
Thanks to Dominic and Dion the men in here are all gathered around in one spot, they've actually been since 11 on the dot.
Dee's technically still learning all the ropes of being my second in command so Dom hasn't officially taken off his training wheels. Dion's shadowing Dominic until he and the other top chair men have a sit down with the Don, being me, to appoint him my official second in command, when the family feels like they can really pin my life on Dion and trust him enough to take the roles Incase of any emergencies.
I walk over to the small stage/platform that's set up near my office.
Stepping onto it, I take a few steps forward standing close to the edge, in front of everyone behind me that's on the platform with me, looking out into the sea of men that are standing before me.
My heart thumps inside of my chest as the overwhelming feeling begins to settle in my chest, and the high immediately begins to fade away.
The entire warehouse is filled with a mixture of Cris' men and mine.
There's men standing in every corner that I look in.
There's probably about a little under two hundred men standing in front of me. They're standing off to the side, standing near the lockers, near the double front doors we just walked through, on the second floor of the building leaning over the rails, everywhere.
Cris has also stepped up onto the platform standing behind me, along with my father, Dion, Dominic, and Beanie.
Nathaniel, my uncle, Ric, Aj, Milo, are all standing directly in front of me, in the front row, along with a handful of Cris' most trusted men, faces I'm trying to get familiar with.
They're all dressed in similar black clothing like myself and Cris, some of them sporting similar black bullet proof vests, along with the rest of the group of men that we're taking along with us tonight.
We divided the men into six different teams at the last sit down. The first team is actually out already, my smallest team, my most trusted team right now. Team two is heading out with me. The third is going out with Cris. The fourth one will stay here at the warehouse. The fifth and six will go to my estate and then Cris'.
We're trying to be prepared for anything at this point, I'm not taking any chances.
The crowd of men stand perfectly still, quiet, watching my every move as I take in every part of this, every single face, the empowerment.
If everything goes right tonight this, this is only half of what the new family will be, what we will look like after Cris and I combine the factions together.
"First things first, let's address the elephants in the room and clear up the air. Roxwell is no longer a threat to this family," a handful of men frown, glancing over at each other confused. "Yes, my father is alive and well, as you can see," I wave back to my dad behind me. "Yes, Cris just so happens to be his biological son as well. The same blood that runs through my father's veins, through my veins, runs through his as well, he is now considered famiglia."
Both groups of men on both sides of the family immediately begin to get unsettled and frown, mumbling underneath their breath, looking back and forth from one another.
Cris takes a couple steps forward standing at my side, "silenzio!" He commands and his men immediately go silent.
My men on the other hand, they're still losing their shit, some very unpleasant fowl looks on their faces as they look in the direction where Cris' men are standing.
"Knock it off!" I shout, catching every single one of their attention. "Yes, you're used to them being on enemy lines, yes, it's gonna be a major adjustment for everyone, but if someone like myself can put my own differences aside then I expect my fucking men to do so as well! I expect everyone one of you's-" I point to my half side of the room shifting it towards Cris side, "to treat everyone of them with respect, just like you do amongst each other, am I making myself clear?!"
"Yes sir," my men answered in sync.
"That goes both ways!" Cris says beside me. "We are guests in this home, this empire, you will behave and be nothing but respectful!"
"Yes sir," his men comply.
I take another step forward and immediately begin to smile when I hear heavy footsteps shuffle behind me, growing closer and closer. "Anyone that has an issue with that speak up now, anyone that no longer wants to be a part of this organization lemme know now."
Half of the eyes in front of me immediately shift to the side of me as the other half shift towards beside Cris.
My lips quickly tug to the side in a wide smirk as I watch two of Sacramento's men get comfortable on the right of Cris, heavy machinery in their hands ready to fire, same for the two men that are now standing to my left.
"Anyone," I start to say, "and I do mean anyone that starts some irrelevant, petty, argument with one another, will be leaving in a body bag." I wave my hand to the right of me and then the left, where more of Sacramento's men are coming into view, coming out of the shadows.
Something they're known for, hiding in plain sight.
There's exactly four men on each side covered in their all black special force gear, automatic rifles in their hands in front of them.
However, Sacramento isn't behind any of the masks out there, he and the other half of his team, team one just so happen to be with my wife, mom, and Jessica at the safe house.
With the mole still intact I'm afraid to trust anyone else and put them at the girls disposal, Sacramento's there instead of here to ensure they're safe and sound from everything that is about to happen. Like I said I'm not taking any risks here.
Majority of the men in the crowd get a bit antsy as Sacramentos men step forward and push them in, huddling them closer to each other.
"We are one big happy family and I expect you all to act like one big fucking happy family, capiche?"
"Yes sir," the crowd answers simultaneously.
"I can't promise to bring every single one of you back home alive tonight, I can't even promise my own wife, my family, that I'll come back home alive tonight because I'll be there fighting right along your side. I'm putting all my trust, all my faith in other people's hands, in your hands. We're in a new age, a new generation, we don't install fear into each other, we install fear in others," I lift my hand up, dismissing Sacramento's opts team and they're instantly putting their guns down, taking a couple steps back.
"We are one fucking family," I raise my voice an octave. "We respect each other! You respect me, I respect you. You stand behind me and I protect you, I take care of this fucking family. You disrespect me, you betrayed me, you betray this family, then you find out just how merciless I can be, how merciless I was raised," I point back to my father behind me without bothering to look at him.
"If we do not work together we will not survive this dictatorship!"
Half the sea of men in front of me quickly begin to frown confused.
"Yeah, you heard correctly.. This is our fucking city!" I pat my hand against my chest, the empowering feeling immediately back when I see the excitement in my men's eyes. "There's a reason why we're at the top of the fucking food chain, there's a reason why so many people fear my name, why they fear you when they see you coming! We are not going to war, we are taking over. We're taking control back, we're taking our fucking city back,. I want absolute power over these fucking families! I want the blood they shed! The blood they fucking owe us!"
My men immediately begin to go crazy, instantly getting amped up as some of Cris's men stand there quietly, closely watching me.
"One life comes out intact tonight, one life!" I shout, holding up a single finger up in the air. "If they are not related to me, to him," I wave a hand towards Cris. "I can careless what the fuck you do. I don't care who they are, or how old they are- I want that entire estate filled with casualties by the time we get there, am I making myself clear?"
"Yes sir."
"Then what are you waiting for, let's get this shit on the road. AT2 and B1 you're on the main roads."
B1 meaning the bike team, Ric, Aj, Ian, and Emiliano.
"You're dismissed," I finished.
The crowd of men quickly begins to break up as men start to scatter all over the place.
"You, you, and you," I point down to Milo and then back to Dion and my father behind me. "Are sitting out."
"WHAT?!" All three exclaim at the same time.
"You," I point towards Milo, "are barely recovering from your surgery. I'm not gonna risk having to pull out another round of bullets out of you!"
"KP-" Dion grumbles behind me.
I turn to look at him, jabbing my finger into his shoulder now that he's taken a couple steps forward, "you- should fucking know better! You- are a brand new father! I am not gonna risk that baby losing her dad before she gets to know who he really is!"
"Isaac-"
"I'll have more than enough people around me, protecting me, Dee, trust me. Go home to your daughter, to Ang, I'll see you in the morning."
It looks like he wants to protest, like he wants to bite my head off but he doesn't, instead he pulls me in for a hug.
"I- am not the only one with a family," he says. "You come back in one piece or I swear to God I will personally revive you myself and beat the fuck out of you making you wish you were still dead. Don't make my daughter grow up without her Godfather."
I snort softly and nod my head, "she won't, everything will go fine, I'll be fine."
He nods and I'm pulling myself away from him, looking over in my father's direction.
He's furious. The old him definitely would've decked me for excluding him out of today's mission. Dominic, Beanie and I actually all agreed to have my dad sit out of the E&R tonight, regardless of how mad the man got.
"And me?!" He blurts out stepping forward. "The hell's your excuse for me?!"
"You," I pointed over in his direction, immediately softening up my voice, "you are my father."
He frowns, obviously confused.
"We just got you back," I clarify. "I'm not losing you again, I'm not letting mom lose you.. Dead or alive, you have way too much heat on you, dad, they'll instantly go for you. You're going back to the safe house, where I know you'll be safe and sound."
"Fuck that," he argues back. "I go where you go. You either come back to the safe house with me and let your men handle this on their own, or I'm sticking right beside my son."
"Or- how about you are no longer in charge, therefore this is not debatable."
I watch Dominic and Beanie creep closer towards my father. Dom immediately slaps hand cuffs on my dads wrist as Beanie hangs onto his arms.
"What the fuck is this?!" He exclaims viciously. "The fuck are you doing?!"
"This," I point back to Dom and Beans, "this is insurance to make sure that you actually go to the safe house and try to sneak away. They're going back with you to make sure that you stay put!"
Pops immediately begins to shake his head, "Isaac, don't do this, son, please."
I ignore him, looking back at Beanie, "check in the second you guys reach base."
"Isaac!" My father seethes as he attempts to move forward but Beans and Dom are both banging onto him.
"You got it, kid. Stay safe out there."
"Isaac!"
"You're causing a fucking scene, Pops!"
"Please," he shakes his head. "Don't do this, son, let me go with you guys, let me keep you safe."
"It's my turn to keep this family safe. It's my turn to take care of this family," I tell him.
Pops quickly turns to Cris beside me, "Cris-"
He instantly shifts his gaze away from my dad, "sorry, Carmelo, I'm not calling the shots here, your son is."
"You make sure he comes back home alive!" He says in a panic as Beans and Dom continue to pull him back. "The both of you, you hear me! You fucking take care of each other, protect each other!
I will not bury either one of my sons!"
I glance over at Cris to see an instant shift in him as my dad refers to him as his son and he's quickly fixing his posture and standing up straight a second later.
"We'll be fine, he'll be fine," he says.
"Get him out of here," I snarl and both Beanie and Dom are turning him around and escorting him out of the warehouse leaving Cris and I alone together.
"Sooo that was intense," Cris comments.
I chuckle and shake my head, "that, that was nothing."
He smiles, "you ready for this?"
I nod, "you?"
He nods in return and is sticking his hand out in front of me, "don't go dying and making me look bad."
I immediately snort as I place my hand in his, pulling him in for a half ass hug, "I don't have to do anything to make you look bad, you do enough of that on your own."
He chuckles softly, "guess I'll see you back here after everything's done then?"
I nod, "don't do some stupid shit and die and make me look bad."
He snickers one last time before we go our separate ways. Cris and his team are actually heading out to The Robsciottis to raise some hell as my team and I, we head out to The Deromas.
According to our intel Veronica's at The Deromas estate. Cris' is going to The Robsciottis to sweep it just to be safe we didn't get any bad intel.
I'm pulling up to The Deroma's place about half an hour later, giving my men enough time to do what they gotta do, give myself enough time to let the heat die down a bit. I made a promise to my wife that I would go back home to her, that I would show up last and I don't intend on breaking any promises I made tonight, I have to many people waiting on me.
There's dead bodies in everyone corner that I look in as we pull into The Deroma's driveway and I'm climbing out of the truck to find a group of me just right outside of the front door.
It's a group of my men, they have none other than Damon Deroma down on his knee's his hands tied behind his back, his face beat up pretty badly.
"What's going on here?!" MK, Sacramento's second in command questions as we come across the group.
"We sweeped the entire place twice, sir, there's no signs of her here."
"Where's his father?" I point my gun over to Damon. He has a rag wrapped around his mouth, preventing him from talking, but it definitely doesn't stop him from shooting some very nasty unpleasant looks in my direction.
"Bleeding out in his office," another mask man answers.
"You shot him without getting intel?!"
"He opened fire the second we step into the estate. Markus took two to the chest-"
"So I fired two back," Markus hisses in return jabbing his gun at Damon's head. "Doofus said he'll tell us anything we want to know if we let him and his mother go."
"Where's the mother?" I look around the area we're in.
"Bleeding out in the hall way," the first masked man answers.
"Who the fuck open fired on her?!" MK snarls.
All five men in front of us point down to Damon.
What the actual fuck.
"You shot your own mother?!" I asked, crouching down beside him, pulling the rag from his mouth. I wave my gun behind him and the men take a step back.
"Not intentionally! Idiot number two used her as a shield," Damon inclines his head to the second masked man to the left.
"You used his mother as a shield even though you're wearing bulletproof gear, Specs?"
I hear the instant smile in his voice as he looks in MK's direction, "I got scared and reacted," he tells him.
All five men break out into a giggle fit. I almost wanna laugh along with the idiots but it's definitely not my place, I have to be stern, I have to be in charge.
There's a reason why Sacramento's team is my deadliest team in the faction. They genuinely don't have any remorse, they're all business, they do what the fuck they get paid to do with no questions ask.
"Alright, enough!" I shout, settling the men down.
"How the fuck are you gonna get him to talk now?!" MK scolds his team.
"I volunteered to break his toes," Specs.
"I can torch his nipples off," another guy to the right says.
"Quit it!" I smile underneath my own face shield.
The men chuckle softly for a second or two.
The guy Specs takes a step forward placing his hand on Damon's shoulder causing him to flinch, "your mom was an honest accident, I'm sorry for that. This however, this will be on purpose," he says, pulling a blade out, placing it under his ear, as he tugs on it with his other hand.
"There's a secret door!" Damon shouts the second the blade digs into his ear.
"Where?!" Specs growls, digging the blade deeper into his ear, breaking skin.
"Behind the floral portrait at the end of the hall!" He hisses. "It leads down to the basement, s-she's down there, y-your aunts d-down there."
"See, that wasn't so hard was it?"
"Enough, Specs, back up," MK commands.
He releases Damon's shoving him forward, causing him to fall in front of me.
"3348," he stammers. "T-that's the code to get in, s-she's the third door to the l-left."
I nod, "I'll consider letting you live depending on the condition she's in."
"I-I had no ch-choice, Isaac, m-my dad,"
"I wasn't your fucking problem!" I snarl cutting him off. "My family wasn't your fucking problem! But we're sure as hell are now. Your father should've stayed in his lane, now he's gonna burn with the pathetic ass empire he tried to build. You and you," I point to Specs and Markus, "you're going with me, the rest of you stay here."
"Yes sir."
I stand back up to my full height allowing Sacramento's team to walk ahead of me and enter the house first.
I'm immediately relieved to see that Sal and Nathaniel are in here alive with a group of men in the living room.
I call them over to me so that they can go down to the basement with us and they're instantly rushing over.
Walking down the rest of the hall we come up to the big painting that Damon mentioned. It's fucking huge, twice my size in height and weight.
MK, Sacramento's second right hand man, does a little hand maneuver and another man is taking a couple steps ahead of everyone and is pushing in the right corner of the portrait; there's an immediate click sound.
I take a couple steps to the side, waving a hand behind me towards Nate and my uncle Sal to stay put as the rest of the men in front of us fall in order, ready for whatever's behind the frame.
The man beside me instantly sticks his hand out, pushing me back as I attempt to continue to move forward.
"Hold it boss, give it a second."
I watch the guy in front of us pull the frame back, opening up the secret hideout only to reveal another metal steel bolted door behind it.
I guess my fathers not the only one with paranoia and trickdoors.
Sacramentos second right hand man walks up to the keypad that's on the side of the vault and is putting in the code that Damon gave us. The lights on the pad turned green and he's taking a couple steps back, grabbing a better hold of his gun as the man from before places both of his hands on the wheel handle, looking in his commander's direction.
MK gives him one single nod before he's turning the wheel and unbolting the door.
All five men that are in front of me immediately go into their special ops mode again and are rushing through the door one by one, falling into a formation of two once inside the hidden room.
The hallway seems like it goes down for days with how many doors are on each side of the walls. There's exactly five doors on each side, Veronica supposedly being on the third one to the left so the men instantly head for that door first.
Thankfully these doors aren't bolted shut but they are locked, with no windows on them whatsoever, for all we know Damon could be talking out of his ass and setting us up.
One of the guys in front of me fires three shots, aiming at the door hinges, sending them flying completely and the door falling forward, landing on the floor a second later.
Sacramento's second in command enters the room first followed by two more men, leaving the last two outside with Nate, Sal, and myself.
"All clear boss."
Sal doesn't waste any time when he hears that the coast is clear and is immediately pushing past me and storming into the room as I attempt to grab ahold of his arm and pull him back but he's too quick.
"Stay here," I tell my cousin. "Let me go in first, let me see if you can handle it."
He nods his head rapidly.
I enter the dimly lit room a second later, the air suddenly feeling a lot thinner and muggy in here, it's almost uncomfortable.
My two men are standing to the back of the room, away from the entrance, away from Sal. Sacramento's second in command tilts his head to the side, towards Sal and time immediately begins to slow down when I hear the panic in his voice.
"Vee, wake up baby."
I turn to my right, to where he's kneeling to find him near a mattress on top of a box frame laying on the floor with no bed frame, empty chains near the bed.
Chills instantly begin to run up my spine as I take in my aunt lying unconscious on top of the dirty mattress, or what's left of her at least. I don't recognize the woman who's now in my uncle's arms.
She looks far worse than she did in the pictures. She's practically bones with all the weight that she's lost. Even though it's dark in here her face is missing that usual glow of hers, the warmth.
Her skin tone no longer resembles that we're related, she's now pale, she's bruised and dirty, she practically looks dead with how sucked in her face is.
"Come on baby, wake up please."
I take a few more steps closer, standing directly beside my uncle and crouch down to his level and reach for my aunt's arm.
"Sal, look."
He looks up at me and I shift my attention back down to her arm, gliding my thumb over the track marks on her arms.
"She's out of it man."
He immediately reaches for her other arm, inspecting it, taking in the track marks on that arm as well.
I watch his eyes fill up with tears as he combs some of my aunt's hair out of her face.
"Wake up, Veronica!" He snarls impatiently.
"Dad?"
I turn to look towards the door entrance to see that Nathaniel has now entered the room, a worried expression all over his face.
"What's wrong with her?"
I stick my hand out in front of me, stopping him in his tracks, "stay right there, Nate, don't come any closer."
"What's wrong with her?!" He exclaims, pushing in our direction.
I quickly snap my fingers, "get him out of here," I instruct my men.
"Isaac, please!" He blurts out frantically shaking his head as the guys begin to push him back. "Please don't make me leave, please!"
I stand back up to my full height, "it's for your own good, Nate."
"Isaac!" He shouts one last time before he's completely out of the room, putting up an even bigger fight outside in the hall, leaving Sal and I alone in the room.
"Come on," I place my hand on my uncle's shoulder. "We don't have much time left. Pick her up, let's get her out of here."
He nods his head and is scooping his wife up in his arms. She immediately begins to stir, shaking her head, mumbling something.
Sal instantly sets her back down on the bed, caressing her face, "talk to me, baby, I'm right here."
"P-please," she continues to slowly shake her head as I get closer to them.. "N-no m-mo-re."
Sal and I both look at each other confused.
He turns back to his wife, "no ones gonna hurt you anymore, reina, open your eyes, look at me."
Veronica keeps her eyes closed falling back into her unconscious.
I smack the back of my hand on the side of my uncle's arm, "let's go, Sal, we'll try more in the car, Leo can ride with you."
Sal nods his head one last time and is grabbing his wife and scooping her up in his arms, walking her out of the room.
There's an instant loud whistle the second I step out of the room. I turn to my right to find Sacrementos second in command across the hall, at the last door.
"We got a problem boss."
I frown and begin to make my way towards him and he's instantly stepping out of the doorway allowing me to step inside.
My insides immediately churns as I step inside the identical room to my aunts and find a little girl chained up by the ankle, sitting on top of the same old raggedy, dirty, mattress, clearly terrified.
She's so small, too young to be chained up, to be anywhere near here, she's probably about only Jessica's age, if not a little younger.
There's little small tear streaks on her dirty face as she holds her knees close to her.
"What the fuck," I muttered under my breath as I step deeper into the room.
"She's the only one left," Mk mumbles quietly beside me. "All the other rooms are clean, but it's clear that the rooms were occupied by similar little people with what was laying around," he uses his gun to point in her direction.
"Fucking Deroma's," I snarl. "Kill him," I command in Italian, hoping she doesn't speak the language. "I don't want her to see his face by the time we step outside."
"Right away boss. We got less than twenty so let's make it quick."
I nod my head and snap my fingers at the other two men in the room, "get her free!"
"Yes sir," they step forward.
The little girl immediately begins to whimper, cowering towards the wall, further from us.
I quickly tuck my gun away, putting up my hands in the air, stepping towards the bed, "it's okay Angel, we're here to help. We're not gonna hurt you, I promise. Can my friends get that off of you?" I point to her chained ankle.
She nods her head, sticking her leg out, her white socks completely filthy. I immediately wanna laugh as she starts to roll her ankle around.
"Snap the chain, we'll worry about the anklet at the warehouse."
Both men nod and step forward. One of them hangs onto the bolt cutters as the other one picks up the chain from the ground looking in the little girl's direction.
"Hang on, we're gonna go on for a quick ride," he says and is instantly pulling her away from the wall with the chain, pulling her closer to him, closer to me.
Once she's at arms reach he uses his hand to cover up her foot, turning it away from where the bolt cutter is and she's free a couple seconds later.
"That feel better?" He questions through his ski masks.
She cautiously nods her head.
"I-I c-can go home n-now?" Her tiny fragile voice is raspy as she looks in all our direction.
I pull down the black neck gaiter showing her my entire face and extend a hand out to her, "let's get you out of here first, then we'll figure out where home is okay?"
She nods her head yes slowly making her way towards me.
I snap my fingers and one of the two men is instantly handing me a black solid bandana.
"Stand up sweetheart." She does so, tears starting to stream down her face again. "Shhh I promise I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?" I stick out my black gloved pinky in between us like I normally would with Jessie.
She looks down at my hand and eventually intertwines her pinky with mine.
"I'm gonna protect you, I promise. I'm gonna get you out of here, but there's a lot of bad things out there that I don't want you to see, okay?"
"Okay," she cries softly while nodding her head.
I fold the bandana small enough for her and tie it around her eyes, shielding her from the chaos we're about to walk out to.
"Boss, ten minutes," another one of the guys calls from outside.
"Start heading out!" I shout and instantly drop my voice. "Ima pick you up okay?"
She nods and I'm quickly picking her up off of the mattress holding her to me. She quickly wraps her arms around my neck and her legs around me, her body instantly shaking.
"Let's go," I tell the men, tilting my head forward.
"We're right behind you," one of them says.
I begin to make my way out of the room, meeting the rest of the team out in the hall and we slowly begin to make our way through the house.
"What's your name?" I asked, placing one of my hands on her back.
"Ayra," she mumbles quietly.
"Myra?"
"Ayra!" She exclaims.
I chuckle softly, "I know I know, I heard you just fine the first time."
I feel her small body vibrate softly against my chest, no doubt from the small giggle and her hold on me is instantly loosening up, she no longer so tense.
I lose the instant playfulness as I watch two of my men, one of them being MK, drag Damon's dead bleeding body back into the house, a fresh bullet wound on the side of his head.
"How much time do we have left?" I shout stepping out of the front door.
"Six minutes." Ric answers, coming into view. "Who the hell is that?" He inclines to the child in my arms.
"Everyone out and done?" I asked, ignoring his question.
"Yup, just waiting on you," he says.
"Then let's get going," I smile and begin to walk towards the truck in the driveway. "Get me feedback on Cris!"
"Got it! See you back at the house," he says and is running towards his bike, flying out of the Deroma's estate with Aj and Ian closely behind him, revving their bikes, giving the signal to the truck parked outside.
I open the door to the back seat and climb into the truck with Ayra still in my hands. MK and his partner are instantly climbing into the truck after me and we're quickly taking off as I sit Ayra down beside me.
She reaches for the bandana around her eyes the second I strap her in and my hand is quickly flying to hers, "not yet baby, hold on."
She nods her head quietly, sitting perfectly still next to me as MK parks the SUV to the side of the road and we begin to wait for the count down.
The burner in my left pocket vibrates.
I pull it out and open the flip phone to find a message displayed on the screen with an unsaved number that I recognize.
I click on the message and immediately begin to smile as I read the text and listen to the loud explosion behind us.
"BOOM."
I roll my eyes and snap the phone in half. Rolling the window down I toss it out, noting the orange glow where The Deroma's estate is as it continues to engulf in flames.
"Team two is clear and on their way back to the warehouse boss," MK says from the driver seat. "Shall I proceed on route or make stops?"
I take the bandana off of Ayra, "you hungry?" She stares up at me timidly and nods her head. "What would you like to eat?"
She shrugs her shoulders.
"Hmm how about some chicken nuggets? You like those?"
She smiles softly, nodding her head yes.
I smile, "okay then. Let's get her some chicken nuggets first, MK."
"Yes sir."
***
Phew that was a long one 😮💨 anyways goodnight my babies, I hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter!