Nicholas' POV:
"Are you going to have to post pone the honey moon or what, because we've just lost a heap of stock and profit from that attack", Antonio carries on as we walk away from the police who are investigating the scene. They asked the usual, wanted to know if this was planned arson so that we could get insurance money or if it was some sort of terrorist attack - we dismissed this all truthfully; honestly we were more nervous if they were aware of what stock was here.
"I'm more concerned about how I wasn't made aware of this until the morning, I thought we were supposed to have the best tech and yet we can't find any footage, all soldiers have been shot or blown to bits and even then I find out all of this happened from a fucking news update?, I run a stressed hand through my hair and spit on the ground, "This isn't just a stock base, it's a data base and whoever attacked this place, whether they be Russian, Italian or fucking Irish, now have information vital to this empire."
Antonio curses and takes out a cigarette to ease his mind, "I'm assembling a team," he says, unlit cigarette dangling between his teeth, "Of our best men, this wasn't a random attack and so we're going to need to be more on guard than ever if we want to prevent this from happening again."
I clasp him on the back, "You work on that, because the moment I get back to my office I'm going to be swarmed by calls from lawyers, the IT department and Tanya", he scoffs at the mention of my wife, "No seriously, swarmed. Just see what you can do without me and I'll get back to you by the end of the day", he send me a tight nod and jogs over to where his car is.
I do the same and stay in my car for a few short minutes to recollect my thoughts and plan out what I am doing. Grabbing my phone I dial Tanya's number, priorities first.
"Baby don't worry about the honey moon, you do whatever you need to with work and then we'll go when this all settles, I don't care if that takes five years", she rambles out just as the line picks up.
I turn on the ignition to my car and drive off from the base, "Baby I can make other arrangements, Dad and Antonio can take over and we can just get out of here."
"It's all over the news, and from what I've seen I don't think this was a random attack. You're going to need to focus on it as much as you can"
I sigh heavily, "We got married only just yesterday and not even life is sympathetic enough to give us a break"
She laughs softly, "It'll give me more bonding time with Athie, where is she anyways?"
"She had an appointment and Dad was there with her, but when he got the call about what happened he had to leave," my mind trails off, oh shit," Baby can I call you back? I need to check up on Athena"
"Yeah of course is everything okay?'
"It is, I just need to check on something. I'll call you back later, love you, bye" I hang up quickly and dial a number which has become foreign to me. I almost hang up as it rings out but in the last moment I hear the muffled sound of the phone pick up.
"Phone was in the backseat, sorry mate I haven't connected it to this car yet otherwise I would of picked up sooner, Athie can you try get it on bluetooth? Thanks"
"I see he sent you"
"Well I don't think he likes the idea of anyone knowing about her private history" I hear a grunt from him from the other end of the phone as he curses from Athena hitting him.
"Right, and so you're taking her home?"
"After we go to McDonald's, and we need to pick up a thing, but we were thinking of stopping back in at base"
"There's no need for that", I cough to hint at why.
"She knows about the explosion, you anal turkey." I bite my lip at the nickname, there once was a time when he was the uptight one who got called that, "In fact all of New York does, we just want to see what's happening there and then we're going back"
"You know Alejandro doesn't want her there"
"Well he doesn't want me there either so go figure"
"I don't think you used that expression properly" , Athena pipes up from the other end of the line.
"Did you ever go to school? How would you know"
She scoffs, "I picked up a few things"
I cough again at their banter, "Just don't disturb anyone, I've got a lot on my plate right now and I can't deal with anymore unnecessary drama"
"You won't even know that we're there", I go to respond only the be hung up on.
From what I was aware of, Alejandro was already investigating into the planned explosion. The only footage we were able to retrieve was of a van travelling in the direction of the base, but that footage was from a public surveillance camera, meaning that this could either be an inside job or the beginning of a series of attacks on our bases.
There hasn't been an attack this bad since the Dario incident, which even then it wasn't as well planned out, years after it happened I look into the surveillance footage of the attack and only then did I stupidly realise that it wasn't even Dario who forced those attacks and murdered my previous girlfriend. But I'll never admit to him this information, what's done is done and I can't change anything by admitting I was wrong.
The entire car buzzes with the sound of another incoming phone call, "Seriously, I can't catch a fucking break".
"How much longer until you're back at base, I'm currently being swarmed by lawyers, Antonio is apparently busy doing something and Dario is no where to be seen" Alejandro blurts out, not even bothering to greet me.
"I've sent Antonio out to assemble a team so that we can prevent any further attacks and Dario just called me a minute ago saying he needed to pick up something. Athena is with him by the way so don't worry"
I hear a sigh of relief on his end, "Okay but get here as fast as you can so we can deal with this crap."
"Alright pa, we'll talk soon"
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It was 5pm when I finally escaped a day full of meetings, and only fifteen minutes after leaving the meeting room was I called by Antonio, telling me that I urgently needed to meet him in one of the training rooms. I tried to explain that I wasn't in the mood to work out but he insisted that it was extremely important.
Waiting at the door was Athena who practically leaped out of her seat when she saw me, "Okay so you need to keep calm when you see what's behind those doors"
I raise a brow and cross my arms, "What are they setting you up for?"
"No seriously, Antonio and Alex are freaking out, Dario isn't as per usual and Alejandro should be here soon"
"Alright, I won't freak out", she scans my eyes carefully and then turns to open the doors.
Inside, Antonio and Alex are hunched over protectively talking to someone. Dario's eyes land on mine and he only smirks, I furrow my brows wondering what he's done this time.
"What's happening, why did I get called down here?" I ask and Alex stands up quickly.
"When Athena was training with the Italians she found a Russian base where someone was held captive", he begins to start and I become confused again but he continues. "At first we were all incredibly confused as to why a child was being held captive there but when we further investigated into it we discovered that she's the daughter of Ana, my sister"
My eyes widen and I look to Antonio who hasn't stopped comforting the little girl, "Stefano doesn't know Lucia exists, from what I know- but Marco does and he had her kept in his safe house where she's been staying safe from the world", Athena joins in.
I nod slowly, "Wait how do you know all of this?"
Her eyes widen, "I found Lucia which means that I was in charge of making sure she was okay and so he wanted me to visit her"
My eyes narrow, "If he tried to mother fucking-"
"No! Oh my God no, nothing no, I was just there for the kid"
Alex laughs softly, "Don't worry I kept an eye on her at all times, so did Marco and so he never attempted anything"
"You're not helping my case here"
"Okay so if she was in the safe house how the hell did you get her?" I ask
She smirks, the same way Dario does, "Let's just say that Marco trusted me too well, meaning that I was able to easily remember and access his pent house. Luckily he wasn't home otherwise that would of been a catastrophe but we were able to successfully help her out"
"And so how do you know that Marco won't go looking for her, he could of been using her as bait"
"I left a note" , she smiles.
Alex raises a brow, "You left a note?"
"It was the only logical thing to do", she looks at Antonio and then back at me, "So apparently Antonio is assembling a team, and because he's too emotional to vouch for me,"
"No" I cut her off.
"I'd be a fucking asset to the team, Antonio knows that as well. I may not be a fucking Alex but I was able to find out shit without the intention of being a spy, you would need someone like me on your team"
"So you can get stolen again? Absolutely not", Alex notices the tension and returns back to Lucia.
"I don't think it's that bad of an idea", Dario adds.
"I don't think you think anything, actually", I snap and he scoffs.
"Okay boys, it was just a thought don't worry about it"
"There's no need to play the victim, the answer is no"
"You're not my Dad", she rolls her eyes.
"But I am, what's wrong Athena?", Alejandro walks in, having heard some of the conversation.
"I found your nieces' daughter and returned her", she mumbles.
Alejandro's eyes widen, "Ana's daughter?"
"Yeah she's with Antonio, her name is Lucia by the way"
I run a hand through my hand for the hundredth time today, "Look Athena, we only just got you back. I don't want to lose you again", my eyes soften.
"Dario is right, you are too uptight. Loosen up", she says monotone and leaves.
I turn to Dario with a deadpan, "I should probably chase after her, Al put me on baby sitting duties after all", he nervously rambles out and jogs in the direction that she went.