2 DAYS LATER - (Tues, 21 February 2023)
Giovanni's POV
I just arrived at the mansion, straight from my nightshift at the hospital with Aurora and Kiara, to meet Elijah here so we can speak to the little nurse we got downstairs locked in the torture room. Yeah, James had her locked in there when he was informed that she tried to kill Dante, who is the new Don now after his brother's death, and James have not left the torture room since, his just as messed up as all of us, if not more because he blames himself. In his mind he failed to do his job, because he drove off with the kids, Kiara and Aurora, instead of getting Steph in the car and to the hospital like he was suppose to.
He keeps saying he failed because he was the women's cover, instead of covering his boss, so yeah his a mess, even after we told him it wasn't his fault, he wouldn't hear of it and still blames himself and had requested to speak to Dante once his introduced as the Don and takes his official position, so he can request to retire, and we all know that there's only one way out, and that's death, and James's words were "that would be more than he deserved".
But if he feels strongly about this, I'll have to step in and advise Dante to let him go because we all know James would never betray us, if his not a member anymore. It'll be the second time we bend the rules, first time was with Roberto, when Steph dropped him in the middle of nowhere instead of killing him, it's what Steph would have wanted us to do, he would turn in his grave if he knew we allowed Dante to kill him. I'm not saying that's what Dante would do but at the moment his a mess and Lord only knew what he would do now, because his blaming everyone, especially himself.
"Did you find anything?" I asked as soon as I got in the surveillance room, where I knew I would find Elijah because he said he would come here to check if he can locate the owner of the Chevy that took Antonio, or locate where the six unmarked vans came from.
"No, the driver of the Chevy belonged to a dead FBI agent, whose body was found in a ditch the morning of the beach attack" he said, giving me a knowing look and I gritted my teeth.
"And the vans?" I asked him through gritted teeth.
"Nothing, it's like it fell out of thin air, either that or it was parked in the underground parking lot, blocks away from the beach for months because that's the only place the trail is leading me to" he said and I shook my head, this just can't be right, months? How did he know we would go to that beach or when we would be there?
"You know what, nothing makes sense here but I don't want to waste time trying to figure this shit out, when we have only one lead downstairs. I'm gonna go question her, are you coming?" I asked him and he stood up, grabbing his laptop and his keys and followed behind me.
"I hope you're not gonna hurt her?" Elijah said as we're making our way to the basement, but it came out more like a question, his sometimes a bit too good for his own good.
"If you're gonna ask me questions like that, or stop me from doing what needs to be done, then I suggest you either watch from the surveillance room OR you go to the hospital and pretend you didn't see me here, otherwise shut up and let me do my job" I said scanning my thumb, adding the code and then pulled the door open. "What's it gonna be?" I asked turning to him, with the door wide open.
"Fine, I won't say a thing" he said and then walked down the stairs first, like the little bitch he is.
I don't mean to be so hard on him but now really isn't the time to be thinking about the law and sworn oaths we took, or even about our manners and or rules that was set. Because none of these assholes thought about that when they attacked us, and I bet my life that this bitch downstairs, is with whoever is behind this, and they didn't care when they killed Melody, an innocent WOMAN! They didn't care, so why the fuck should I?!
"James, has she spoken yet?" I asked as soon as I walked into the torture room, where James was sitting opposite an unconscious nurse.
"She refuses to give me a name, or a reason but from what I gathered, whoever is behind the attack at the beach and Dante's attempted murder, is one and the same person and this one over here, is the woman of this mystery dick" James said and then took a sip from the bottle of Scotch in his hand.
Nurse Mary looks like she took quite a beating from James, because her face is swollen and bloody, she's strapped in the torture chair, her hair is all over the place but she still has her scrubs on, meaning no one has touched her, not that they would have but in the state of mind that every man is currently in, who knows what they would do to any prisoner that's involved with this attack because right now, they're looking for someone to blame, someone to pay for the loss of their leader, their King, and to most, a brother, a friend, which Steph was to a lot of his men, all of them respected him, like no other Don before, they worshipped the ground he walked on, which he deserved through and through.
"Why didn't you inject her?" I asked because I wanted her awake when I get here, so I could question her and get this over with, so we can find this son of a bitch and end this whole mess.
"Here it is" James said dangling the syringe, I didn't even realize he had in his other hand because our focus only fell on the beat up nurse and the scotch bottle in James's left hand, which his drinking right from the cap, might I add.
"I was waiting for you to get here, before I wake sleeping beauty over here" James said, and Elijah and I shared a knowing look, his drunk for sure, because James joking about, or calling a prisoner "sleeping beauty", isn't just odd for him, it's unheard of. His really losing it.
"Hey man, why don't you go get some shut eye, Gio and I can handle this" Elijah said to James, who started chuckling, like we just made a damn joke.
"And miss the show? Fuck no!" James said through his bitter chuckle, shaking his head, yeah his piss drunk which is a first, by the way. "You're torturing her, and I'll be finishing the job" James said now seriously, almost bitterly.
"Fine, the more the merrier" I said and James smirked, I think James needs his friends around him right now, not exiled to his room because Lord only knows none of us has or can or even wants to sleep, ever since THAT day.
"Then let's get this show on the road" James said taking a huge gulp of his goodness and then slamming it down on the table next to him, then jumping up and stabbing the needle in the nurse's neck, well fuck... This day will be another interesting one, if only Steph were here to see the stiff as a board James, let loose, something Steph always tried to get him to do and look now, he had to die to get it right.
"Right, she'll be awake in a few minutes. So what tools will you be needing?" James asked waving his arms all around the room, and I just looked at him, not sure if it's safe to have him around so many sharp dangerous tools, in the state that his in.
"Why don't you sit back and enjoy the show, until it's your turn?" I asked him with a plastered smirk, so he can see that it was infact a question and not an order, I don't need a fight between us right now, I don't need any one of the men fighting one another, that's something Steph did not tolerate, at all and I won't allow it either.
"That's a brilliant idea, care to join me for a drink, while we wait? I think we can come up with a toast or two, what do you say?" James asked raising his eyebrows with a grin on his face, looking stupid, but obviously trying to look devilish or convincing but we nodded nonetheless, we know he needs it, he needs us, we need each other in this time and if it means drinking from a bottle he just downed from the cap, then that's what we'll do!
All three of us had a gulp of James's new friend scotch, toasting to fucking up the enemy, James's toast but I must admit, this side of him is something Steph would have killed to see and who are we to put a cork to it? This is exactly the kind of layed back brother Steph always tried to bring out in James because in his mind he thought it's a personality James was hiding from us. Man how I miss him, I love drinking but it would seem scotch just doesn't have the same delicious taste it use to have without him. My first glass of Scotch was with him, the weekend after I met him and Roberto, and we were only 12 years old.
Steph being the rebel he was, had a bottle of his father's scotch for us ready in his bedroom, I met Elijah that Saturday afternoon too and the four us got piss drunk and passed out before the sun even set, well it didn't take much for that to happen but the next morning Antonio was waiting for us to wake in the room, sitting on a chair. He had all our fathers called and we had to clean everyone's yards for a month every weekend, plus he gave us a spanking none of us would ever forget, and it definitely wasn't our last either, but yet those were the best years of my life, with my brother! Now nothing will ever be the same again, not without him.
"She's waking up" Elijah said bringing me out of my thoughts and when I looked down to my glass, I noticed it being still halfway, I only took that one gulp, I guess the delicious taste of scotch had died along with my brother, that's why a threw the glass across the room, smashing it.
"I believe your name is Mary, correct?" I asked after I sat down on the chair James previously occupied. "See Mary, there's something you need to understand in here, when we ask a question, you are required to answer, if you don't, you'll feel pain you never even heard of, if you lie, you'll hurt, if you do not give us the answers we need, you die a slow and agonizing death, do you understand?" I asked and she just glared at me.
"DO YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND?!" James shouted, banging on the table next to me, causing her to jump in her seat.
"Yes" she whispered and I raised my eyebrow, holding her eyes. "Yes!" She said a bit louder than I wanted her to But at least she understood me.
"So tell me Mary, that isn't your name is it?" I asked and she shook her head. "Another rule you should know, here we use WORDS" I said leaning forward.
"No, it's not" she said in a quivering voice, good she seems scared but then again, this is the same bitch that had an attitude with Kiara, even knowing who she is married to. "My name is Amelia" she finally said more sternly this time.
"Amelia who?" I asked, because I have a feeling that this little nurse could be the key.
"Amelia Green" she said calmly, like it's no big deal.
"Elijah" I said and Elijah moved to grab a chair and sat down with his laptop by the table James is leaning on and started typing away.
"Tell me Amelia, who do you work for? And why would you want to kill Dante?" I asked and she looked at me without blinking and then she smiled and I narrowed my eyes at her.
"I don't work for anyone, I just wanted him dead" she said shrugging her shoulders, like it's nothing at all.
"Amelia Green, born and bred in London, England. Graduated from King's College London, 5 years ago, got her nursing license, relocated to the US approximately 2 years ago, started at Presbyterian medical center a year ago" Elijah said and the bitch's smile only grew into a grin.
"London?" I asked because this surely cannot be a coincidence.
"Yeah, I'm from London so what?" She asked in her bitchy attitude again, guess the bitch is back.
"So what? Tell me Amelia, why did you want Dante dead?" I asked and she giggled. "Who are you working for and why relocate to the US from London? Did you know Kennedy?" I asked and she started laughing, ignoring my questions, pissing me the fuck off!
Without saying a word I stood up and moved to the tool table and wall, grabbed what I needed, gave the one tool to James to heat up in the steam room, and then I grabbed the chains so I can choke this bitch because her laughing is pissing me the fuck off. I'm almost certain that she is connected to the Albanians, but the question is how and why would she strike now, if she's behind the attack, then who is working with her because she definitely isn't that clever to pull off something like that. As soon as I got behind her, I swung the chain around her neck and started squeezing, hard.
"Not so hilarious now is it?" I gritted out close to her ear, applying even more pressure.
"Gio you're killing her!" Elijah yelled from the table, snapping me back to reality and I immediately let go.
"You see that's not even taste of what I'm planning to do with you, if you do not start talking!" I gritted out, making my way to her front so I can look at her as she coughs and fights to get a breath into her lungs.
"I don't have time to waste in this room, so if you are not planning on saying anything, then you are useless to me because I have family that needs my attention more, so if you're not planning on speaking to me, I'll leave you to James" I said to her as soon as she got her breathing under control.
"Fuck you!... I'm not saying shit!" She said and I grinned because at that very moment, James came walking out of the steam room with a very hot tool.
"I had a feeling you'd say that, so let me give you a real taste of what's to come, because we can't kill you, because Dante wasn't to deal with you himself, but for now let me shut you up, I said as soon as James handed me the tool.
"Do whatever the fuck you want, you all are dead anyway" the nurse said and then chuckled bitterly, like a psychopath.
"Maybe, but you will still die painfully nonetheless" I said and then strapped her head, used the other tool to keep her mouth open and then moved the hot tool towards her mouth, I watched as her eyes widen and she screamed as it touched her mouth and I used that as my chance to grab her tongue with it, and applied pressure. "HOW DOES THAT FEEL, LOVELY NO?!" I yelled over her screams of agony as I watched her tongue turn red and bubbly.
"That should keep that fucking mouth of yours quiet for a few days, and be prepared, what I'm about to do to you, will be nothing compared to what Dante is going to do to you" I said to a still screaming and crying nurse.
Not at all satisfied with the screams, I moved back to the tools, knowing exactly what I needed. I picked up one of the handsaws and the handheld burner, wouldn't want her to bleed to death, something Kiara did a few years back with such grace, not only impressing all of us but also got all of us to respect her as our Donna, even more than we did before that day. As soon as I got in front of the little crying nurse, I bend down turned her hands and noticed that she's definitely right-handed, judging by the marks on her left hand, not to mention the strength is definitely more in the right hand then the left, as I squeezed each side.
"So your right-handed, correct?" I asked and she didn't answer, just kept her mouth shut. "Fine don't answer, I didn't really need you to confirm what I already know but let me tell you why I'm interested in your hands" I said, knowing full well that she couldn't answer even if she wanted too, because her mouth is on fire, she was obviously in a shit lot of pain, and then stood up and you could see her breathing pick up, she obviously saw the tools in my hands.
"I'm going to cut off your right hand, seeing as you were planning on doing such a bad thing to a man that couldn't even fend for himself, who's in the damn HOSPITAL, for healthcare, something you clearly do not give a fuck about, and you call yourself a FUCKING NURSE!" I said yelling the last part.
Without giving myself a chance to change my mind, I grabbed her right hand and removed the restraints on it, held it down and started cutting it at the wrist. Listening to her screaming and crying, trying to shake her head, gritting her teeth, kicking her whole body stiff. She probably would've passed out by now, if James hadn't injected her with adrenalin earlier, so I can only imagine the agonising pain I'm inflicting on her right now, something I wasn't planning on doing, but hearing where she's from, made me pissed off all over again. The blood gushed from where I slid the blade through, as soon as her hand fell off, I picked up the burner, and burned the wound closed with it, not wanting her to bleed to death, while enjoying her agonizing screams.
"James, Elijah, let's go. She'll be screaming for a while" I said wiping the blood off my face, using the inside of my suit jacket, and then I wiped my hands which was also full of the nurses blood, on the outside of my jacket, and when I looked up at the two, James shook his head probably not wanting to leave yet and Elijah just sat there staring at me with bulging eyes.
"I'll stay with her, have a little fun" James said and I shook my head and looked at Elijah who also shook his head, no.
"James, you're coming with us and that's final!" I said before he could say anything and he gritted his teeth and walked out of the torture room before us and I just signed.
"See you soon Amelia" I said to a hysterical "Nurse Mary", I mean Amelia.
"I found something" Elijah says as we're making our way out of the torture room, behind a pissed off James, who stormed down the corridor.
"What?" I asked as I closed the door of the torture room, but I could still hear her screams and cries and for some odd reason, it put a small smile to my face.
"You remember Bethany, Justin's girl?" He asked and my head snapped his way as we're walking down the corridor and I nodded my head at him because I remember all too well Steph's suspicions of the girl. "Well she and the Nurse, are connected" Elijah said and all I did was shake my head, that son of a bitch was right, and he was going to do some digging on Beth but never got a chance to.
"How do you know?" I asked instead of commenting my thoughts out loud.
"Well there was a picture of the two, and it wasn't taken at a club here in the City, it was taken in London of all places, so I'm guessing the two were either family or friends" Elijah said and again this information only leaves more questions.
"We have to find out who they were working for or working with, because they couldn't have done any of this on their own and we need to find out soon, before the funeral because I don't want anything to go down the day we put our brothers to rest!" I said and then I remembered poor Justin.
"Make sure Justin never finds out about this, let him mourn Beth, he doesn't need to hate her or blame himself for any of this, so this information stays between us, do not breath a word of this to Dante either, his messed up enough, we don't need him going off on Justin" I said knowing exactly how Dante will react and I wouldn't want him to mess up his relationship with Justin, we're all the kid's got, and I won't let this fucked up situation fuck up the family we've got left!
"Definitely, I agree. They don't need to know about Beth but we need to tell Dante about the Nurse because we do need him to figure out who's behind this" Elijah said and I have to agree, apart from Steph, Elijah and myself, Dante is the best person out of everyone in the family to figure things out, and put things together. "Agreed" is all I said.
I know how shit like this works, surely this is a Mafia attack and if we're right, then they would come after the rest of us and the best place to do that, would be the funeral and I'll be Damned if I allow them to fuck up this family even more than they already did! Lord only knows how this day alone will affect Kiara, Dante and Gabriella. I don't want something to go down that will destroy the day they give their final good-byes to their loved ones!
******
4 DAYS LATER (Sat, 25 February 2023)
I'm currently sitting in my car in front of the private wing entrance of the estate, trying to build back my strength to go in their to see Kiara. Elijah is at the mansion, trying to figure out who is behind all this, as we still have nothing, while I decided to come to the estate to check on Dante who released himself 2 days ago, but first I need to check on Kiara, who is a mess. She doesn't speak to anyone and if she does it's like she isn't in mourning and is expecting Steph to be home soon, the doctor said it's her way of mourning the loss or her husband but this is something more.
She keeps saying that his not dead, she says that she can still feel him and if he was dead she would know but then she walks around like a zombie, she doesn't eat much, she hardly ever sleeps, the kids hasn't seen their mom for a week already and Kiara doesn't seem to mind that at all, which is odd we all know this because her kids are more important to her than anything or anyone else, she and Steph both felt that way.
I've been sitting in my car for the past hour already. Honestly, I haven't been to the estate since the day of the attack, before we left for the beach, I've have been avoiding this place, but 3 days ago Kiara demanded to be brought here, and we couldn't do anything but allow it and now I'm forced to go into the one place that has such good memories of the man Steph became after he met the love of his life, the man we all admired and envied. He spend his best days of his life on this grounds and as crazy as it might sound, I'm afraid to go in there and see him everywhere I look, I know that might be my breaking point.
"Are you coming in?" I was brought out of my thoughts by a voice outside my car window, I had completely forgotten that it was even open. And when I looked up, I saw it was Gia.
"Hey, yeah I'm coming" I said turning off the ignition, which I didn't even realize was still running.
"Good because I've been waiting here for more than half an hour, watching you. Are you okay?" She asked as I got out of the car.
"Yeah I'm cool, don't worry about it" I said as we're making our way up the stairs to the front door. "Where's Kiara?" I asked as soon as we got inside.
"She's in her bedroom, hasn't left yet for the day, not sure what she's doing in there but she told Alfred that she didn't want to be disturbed" Gia said and I nodded my head and started making my way up the stairs.
"Okay thanks, I'll go check on her. And would you mind checking with Alfred to see if everything is in place, the kids and the girls will all be arriving tomorrow and he had a lot of preparations to do" I said because I had instructed him to get everyone's rooms ready, because I want them all here, it's better to protect them if they're all under the same roof and I think having the kids here would help Kiara too, plus Alfred will need Clarissa here so he has her help in arranging the funeral, of course with the help of Luigi and most importantly our embalmer Mrs Japhta, the woman that is one of our associates, she arrangers all our funerals, traditionally of course.
"Sure, do you know how Gabby is doing?" She asked because I was the only one that went to give her the bad news and she was a mess, still is infact, which is why I want them here so I can be close to her, Elijah will meet me at the hospital and after we checked on both Jayden and Justin we'll be back here tonight and will be staying here again and working from here, at least until the funeral is over.
"Not good, she'll need all of us for support, she did just loose both her parents and brother" I said and then turned to my sister and all her questions, pecked her in the cheek. "I'll see you later, I have to go check on her and then Dante, and then get back to the hospital" I said and she looked worried again.
"Okay, but Gio you need to take it easy, you haven't slept in days have you? You need to rest and not over do it like this" she said and I rolled my eyes.
"I'll rest when I'm dead Gia, I'm fine. Now let it go okay?" I said and then pecked her on her forehead and turned around and walked away, before she could say anything more, she can be a pain in the ass sometimes.
As I'm walking down the hallway towards Steph and Kiara's bedroom, an intense pain hit me out of nowhere because I'm about to go to the one room Steph made off limits to everyone, because that room was the place where he spend a lot of quality time with his wife and his children. Every cell in body want to knock on that door and have him open it and glare at me for disturbing him, have him bark at me for coming to his favorite place in this whole estate.
Now if I feel this kind of pain, I can't even imagine how she felt coming back here, to the house she use to call a home, to a room she use to share with the love of her life. Without thinking I lifted my hand and knocked on the door, I knocked a few times but got no answer, of course I wouldn't be able to hear anything because he made it sound proof, reasons for this? Well, Kiara always said his insatiable... I don't even want to think about that, it's just wrong! And if he knew I just thought that, he would probably rise from the dead, just to kill me.
"Kiara!" I yelled aloud as I knocked while at the same time opened the door but as soon as the door opened, I stopped in my tracks.
Kiara is sitting on top of the table, with a purple shirt, purple skirt and low and behold... purple heels. Her hair is a frizzy mess and her make up, well that's completely out of character for her, the Kiara we know. What the fuck is going on here? The room looks a mess, outside the closet door clothes lay, like it was thrown there, purple clothes are scattered all over the bed and around it on the floor, shoes is laying everywhere and there she sits on the table, lost in her own world looking down, not even noticing that I walked in, I'm not even sure she knows I'm even here staring at her.
"Kiara?" I called out to her but she doesn't move, I don't even think she knows what's happening around her. "KIARA!" I yelled this time and she jumped with a startled scream.
"What the fuck Gio!" She yells back, staring at me wide eyes, as if I sneaked up on her intentionally. "You scared me! What are you doing here?" She asked me while getting off of the table and straightening her purple shirt, absentmindedly.
"I just came by to see how you are doing" I said squinting my eyes, to have a good look at her.
"I'm fine, how are you doing?" She answers but quietly shift the conversation on to me, something she always does, avoiding to speak about her own turmoil inside.
"How are you really doing? And what's going on in here?" I asked and she lowers her head and straightens her shirt again, continuously rubbing her hands over the fabric as if standing there, had wrinkled it or something.
"I'm fine don't worry about it" she said fast, avoiding eye contact, which made me step forward, closer to her.
"Kiara" I called her name so she could look at me, just as I got a few feet in front of her. "Look at me" I said putting my forefinger under her chin and lifting her head up and I noticed how she kept blinking her eyes, she's trying to hide her tears.
"What's going on? You know you can talk to me right?" I said and she looked everywhere but at me, which I didn't mind but it was worrisome nonetheless.
"I'm fine alright! And if you're talking about the room that's such a mess, don't worry about that, I'll clean it" she said moving to the bed and picking up the first thing infront of her which is a purple dress, and she ran a hand over the fabric, lost in thought, obviously replaying the day or night she wore it, which I'm sure was probably with Steph, he hated purple by the way so I'm sure she wore it to piss him off, something she loved to do.
"You know you don't have to clean it, but I'm curious though, we're you looking for something? And what are you wearing? Are you going somewhere?" I asked her and it was like she snapped out of wherever she went and she quickly wiped a tear away, turning her head while doing so but I saw her and chose to ignore it for her sake.
"I did some research and found out that when an Italian dies, his wife wears purple and as you can see, I don't have much purple" she says shrugging, not once looking at me. "These dresses on the bed are evening wear and cocktail dresses, most of them I got over the years, just to piss him off" she says with a giggle, an actual giggle. And she's right, the widow wears purple but that's not an importance when a member of the Italian American Mafia dies, we all wear black, women included but why choose it now though?
"And out of all the purple I got in my closet, I only found two decent ones" she says lifting another dress from the bed, showing it to me. "This one and of course the one I have on, both I wore only once to work" she says throwing it back down on the bed.
"Kiara, you don't need to worry about that, Clarissa and Laura will find y-" I was busy saying when she turned to me fast, cutting me off.
"No! I can find my own clothes, and I am wearing purple, I might even do my hair like this because I know it will piss him off and maybe he'll jump up and growl at me for my choice in clothing, not to mention the hair" she says seriously as if she meant it as a joke but it came out as serious as she meant it.
"Kiara, talk to me please, this doesn't sound anything like you, you don't want to look at me, none of the guys that came hear daily has seen you, why?" I asked because Roberto, Elijah, Francesco, Sam, Paul, Chris, James, Tim, everyone came to see her, but she didn't want to see any of us, well except for Nate, I don't know why though, she only met him a few dozen times over the years.
"If I tell you, will leave me alone and not come back here?" She asked seriously, shocking me. Does she blame us for Steph's death?
"I can't stand to look at any of you" she says without waiting for me to respond and it felt like a knife in my heart, because Steph would have wanted us to stand United and to take care of his family but clearly she hates us, and will make it close to impossible.
"What do you mean? Why are you saying this?" I asked softly, sounded like a wimp but I just found it a bit difficult to get words out and she moved to the window and stood there staring out of it, lost.
"I know you might think I'm being a bitch, or that blaming you but I don't. I just can't be around you guys, all of you remind me of him, the fact that you come here to check on me pisses me off because his not with you! Whenever you're here I know his just down the hall or in one of the kids' rooms, but his not" she says absentmindedly again, not looking at me, just standing there arms crossed and before I could respond she continued.
"When you aren't here, he isn't here then I know you guys are working but when you come here and he doesn't, it hits me all over again. And everytime I tried telling you guys that he wasn't dead, none of you believed me. And if you don't believe me, you won't help me try to figure out why I still seem to feel him! But I know now why... Because you guys keep him alive, I see him in each and every one of you..." She says and I can hear her voice changing, I can hear she's trying not to break into a sob, she's fighting her pain, she stopped because her voice broke at the end and I moved forward and she quickly turned around and I stopped when I saw her face. Her tears were rolling down her cheeks, her lips were quivering and her hands were fisting the fabric of her shirt.
"I'm afraid... If I feel this way about you all... How am I going to feel when I see our... Our kids?" She says and then she looked up swallowing repeatedly and then she took deep breaths and then looked at me again. "Now you know why I can't see any of you, why I don't want to be around any of you right now, I just need my space, I need time... You understand that right?" She asked now more composed again and I only nodded my head, not knowing what to say.
"I really want to get back to this mess, could you let me know how Justin is doing, I know his awake but I just can't go back to that hospital, please send him my love" she said and then walked past me back into her closet, without waiting for me to respond.
Justin woke up last night, his still pretty out of it and I came here to ask her or Dante to go with me to break the news to him, because I know I won't be able to do this. But now hearing what she's saying, I guess Dante is the only one that will be able to help me with that. I always knew that Steph was the one holding all of us together and now we're all lost, Dante doesn't speak to any of us, I'm not sure how he is with Aurora, Gabby is still at the safehouse, drinking herself into a coma, EVERYDAY! The guys, well we're all lost, no sense of direction and the business is suffering because of that, so yeah everything is a total FUCK UP! So my question is, WHY THE FUCK DID HE HAVE TO DIE?!!!
1 WEEK LATER - (Sat, 04 March 2023)
Dante's POV
Today is the day... The day we're suppose to say our last goodbyes, and for the life of me I refuse to do that! So this morning, I woke up before 5AM, well I should say,I stood up before 5AM because I wasn't asleep to begin with, I just layed on the couch and stared at the ceiling for hours. Yeah for the past week, I decided to use couch instead of the bed because I wake up Aurora every couple of hours with my restlessness. She of course believes it's because I'm trying to shut her out just like I'm doing with the rest of the family.
What a fucking joke, I know it's stupid for me to not be able to face my brother's wife, because I was the one that left him in a fucking parking lot, bleeding himself to death. I was the one that went and tried to be a hero for Justin, when all I ended up being, was a failure because he still got shot, THRICE! And my brother, HE DIED! SO YEAH I'M A FUCK UP! I watched my brother fall, and I gave him a gun, even though I knew he was bleeding badly. I saw Dimitri fall, and I ran right past him! I heard Melody scream, and I looked away to get my sister to safety, asshole right?!
And here's the kicker, instead of saving Justin, or getting him the help he needed, I get myself shot, in the fucking stomach and layed in the hospital like a bitch, with no fucking idea that my father needed me to save him, to come for him! And he died... And again, I wasn't there to help him! And now everyone is expecting me to step up, men are awaiting my orders, the family is waiting for me to head it up! But they don't understand that I don't know how to! Steph was my guidance and now his not here, and I'm lost! So what do I do? I jumped on my bike an came to the one place I knew I could be alone, where I could think clearly, a place Steph and I came once and a while, to race where we use to compete against each other to win a bet, something that was just for us, no one else, not even Gio but they all knew that it was our thing, just ours.
Steph taught me how to drive, he learned me how to drive all type of cars, including sticks and bikes. He made me somewhat of a collector myself, although I was never obsessed with cars like he was, but it was something we shared, sure I out grew it and got obsessed with women, but he never did, well that's until Kiara came along. Steph hated the way I use to be, you know the screw'em and loose'em kind, not my proudest moments but hey, I never really had the right kind of role models, my dad was somewhat of fuckboy or man himself, and brother, well he never gave women the time of day, but he was always respectful towards them and often seen around them, which is why he was seen as a womanizer, much like his father and Steph hated that.
But the day he first layed his eyes on Kiara, I was blessed enough to be a witness of how she captivated him, she caught not only his eyes but heart that very same night and it confused the shit out of me, at the time. I never understood how he could fall for someone he hadn't even spoke to yet, and if you knew the man he use to be, it would have been a shocker to you, just like it was for all of us. He was so whipped that he intentionally impregnated her, just so he wouldn't loose her, yeah it might sound sick to some, but it's a norm to us because when he wants something, whether it be business or personal, he always gets it, something I admired about him, he went for what he wanted, he never gave up, and he always took responsibility for his or our actions, that's the man my brother was!
But look at me, I push Aurora away, I keep my distance from the people my brother loved the most, his wife and kids, and if he knew how I have been acting the past two weeks, I know he'd be disappointed in me. I know this because when I think back to the day Steph left for London, a few months back, he asked me to promise to always take care of his family, to be there for them if anything should ever happen to him, but am I doing that? No! I run, I block Everything and everyone out, and crawl into my own little shell, where I get to feel sorry for myself, and at the same time disappoint my brother! Asshole I know...
"I'll fix this Steph, I promised you I would, and I'm sorry I didn't, but from today I will" I said and then touched the wall where we use to sit and have a few beers together, he never liked it but always had a few with me, when we're alone, because it was my thing and now I'll start doing his thing, something I never thought of doing when he was alive.
"Here's to you brother!" I said opening the flask that contains his favourite scotch, poured some on the ground where we use to sit with our back leaning against the wall, And then I took a huge gulp of my own and I let it all out, let the pain of losing him consume me and I cried while apologizing over and over again, for not protecting him, for not getting him the help he needed, for not going with my gut that fucked up day, for not doing what I was suppose to do with the family and last but most importantly, for not being there for his family.
"I love you brother, and we'll meet again..." With that last words of goodbye, I wiped the last set of tears away, swallowed the rest that threatened to burst through, and started up my bike, knowing what I needed to do now, knowing what my brother would have wanted me to do... Because when I see him again, I can face him because I did right by him... I'LL DO RIGHT BY HIM!
CUE SONG BELOW 👇
(See You Again BY. Wiz Khalifa Ft. Charlie Puth)
******
2 HOURS LATER
I just arrived at the estate, not the guesthouse, the private wing entrance, where I know every family member will be. Because they are all getting ready to go and give their last goodbyes, traditionally but unfortunately, I'm far from a traditional man and I already said my peace to my brother, he hated attention and he hated sappy shit, which today will be, no doubt but I'll have no part of it. I'll pay respects to my brothers, my father and Melody, the day after I AVENGED THEIR MURDERS! But for now, I won't go anywhere near them, for now protecting my brother's family is what's important! Because I know as I'm sure Gio does too, that today could end up being another blood bath, that's what happens at our types of funerals, they will come for Kiara and my brothers children and I'll be here waiting!
"Dante?" I was stopped by Gabby's voice, she sounded so broken, I haven't seen her since the day at the beach, she was at the safehouse when I was in hospital, I wasn't there to comfort her when we lost our dad and brother, and to top it off, she lost her mom too.
"Gabby" I said turning around and when she saw it was me, she ran upto me and in my arms.
"They won't let me see them... They..t.." she was busy whispering, but her voice broke and she ended up sobbing, brokenly.
"Shhhhh, that's okay sis" I said rubbing her back soothingly, trying to calm her down.
I didn't know how to tell her that the reason for this is, the way my father was dismantled, and her mother being shot in the head, it's the obvious reason why they didn't want her to see them one last time. As for Steph and Dimitri, well they're members and we don't do open coffin funerals, ever! Steph would probably haunt us till the day we die, if we ever allowed his wife to see him in a coffin. He always said that we should remember the member who dies, the way they were, not the way they see them, lifeless in a coffin, so yeah, all members were buried in the Romano family cemetery, paid by the family's money, which we all worked for, for generations and rules are rules.
"Gabby, you have to listen to me okay?" I asked her, pulling her away from me, Because she was literally clutching on me for dear life.
"I know Gio already explained but please Dee, just me, no one has to know, I promise I won't say anything, I just want to see them one last time" she begged, her lips were quivering and her tears were rolling down her face but I could smell the alcohol on her breath, it broke my heart to see her in such a state. It was clear she had a few and it might not be the time to go off on her but I knew I had to be stern, better for her to hate me, then to be traumatized by what she'll see inside those coffins.
"YOU CAN'T! IT'S THE LAW GABBY! I'm sorry, don't you think I want to see them too? It's out of my hands, I'm sorry but I have to go see the kids, GET YOURSELF TOGETHER FOR FUCKSAKES!" I said to her shaking her a bit for a better affect, so she can think I'm an asshole, and that's okay because this is best, I'm sparing her pain, no matter how much it hurt me or our relationship.
"YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE, YOU HEARTLESS SON OF A BITCH!!!" She screamed, hitting me through my face and chest but I let her do it, ignoring the pain, just taking it until she was pulled off by Gio and Elijah, who was standing close by. I'm guessing they knew this would happen, maybe this is what they had to deal with the past week, since she was brought back home with the kids.
"Gabby, let's go!" Elijah whispered, while I turned my back to her and made my way towards the stairs, not wanting to see anyone, or get anyone's sympathy wishes and shit but I knew full well that Gio is following me because his worried about me, plus I haven't spoken to him since the day he gave me that news, I wouldn't see him but that's over now!
"Dante!" He yelled as soon as I got to the top of the stairs and was about to walk down the hallway that would lead me to the kids' rooms as well as Kiara's.
"Yeah" I said stopping and turning to him and without a word he pulled me towards him, as soon as he was in front of me and hugged me, this is why I didn't want to see anyone because I knew none of them would know how to act around me, well apart from hugging and expressing their sympathies and worries about how your holding up, all of which I hate!
"How you doing man?" He asked as soon as he let me go and I just looked at him blankly and he let out a chuckle. "Okay, that was a stupid question, I get it" he says and I just nodded at him.
"Have you seen Kiara yet?" I asked wanting to know how she's doing and trying to shift the conversation away from me.
"Yeah she's downstairs, sitting in the sitting room. Something isn't right with her, she's acting as if she's not about to bury her husband" he said and you could see the worry on his face.
"She's obviously going through some kind of denial, I'll go speak to her in a minute. Where are the kids?" I asked him, not really sure where to go to first.
"They're in the master bedroom with Clarissa. I didn't want them downstairs, you know with everything going on" he said and I nodded my head in agreement.
"I don't think it's a good idea to take them to the graveyard. This might not be over yet, and I don't want to risk having his family there, in the middle of what could turn out in another blood bath"I said and he nodded his head.
"I agree, and that's what I tried telling Kiara, but she wouldn't hear none of it, she's insisting on going" he said, something I already knew would happen and I can't blame her for wanting to say goodbye to her husband before they bury him, it's only natural.
"Of course she would want to be there but the kids aren't going, I'll stay with them" I said to him and he looked taken aback.
"What do you mean you'll stay with them? You have to go, we're burying three members of the family, Kiara needs you there" he said and I knew this was coming.
"I already said my private good-byes to my brother, and I will go see my father and Dimitri, once I avenged their deaths, until then, I'm not going anywhere near their graves. And don't even try to talk me out of it because it won't work!" I said and he just stared at me because I wasn't acting broken and distant like I was for the past two weeks, I was being my normal self, just a little pissed off added to it.
"Dante are you sure this is what you want? I don't want you to do something you'll regret" he said worriedly.
"I won't regret it, we both know that whoever is behind this attack, might know our every move, hell they might even know the location of the estate, surely they know by now where the mansion is and the graveyard, and we both know the kids will be there first target, they are his heirs and I'll be Damned if I allow them to take these kids from us too, so you go with Kiara and Gabby, protect them because we both know they won't stay, and I'll stay with the kids" I said and he nodded his head in agreement.
"You Right, I figured this was a Mafia attack and Kiara and the kids will be the first targets, I'll get a few men to stay with you. Are you going downstairs to see Kiara? Or are you going to wait till we get back because we're leaving in the next hour to the mansion" Gio said and I shook my head.
"I'm not going downstairs, please just keep the girls close by and let Aurora know that I'm staying with the kids and I'll see her when they get back, keep her safe man" I said and he nodded his head and I pulled him into a hug.
"We should talk when I get back" he said, tapping my back a few times.
"We should, I have some things to discuss with you and Elijah too" I said as soon as we broke apart and he nodded his head.
"We'll see you soon. And Dee, check on Justin too, he doesn't want anyone near him, his angry but never even shed a tear, his not doing so good, his a mess man and won't let us try and be there for him" Gio said and I nodded my head, Aurora told me that they set Justin up in a room, because his on bed rest and still recovering, his got a private nurse caring for him in the spare bedroom next to the master bedroom, Kiara's orders apparently.
"I'll go check in on him first, before I go to the kids" I said and he nodded his head, hugged me again and walked off after we said our goodbyes and then I made my way to the room right next to the master bedroom, where Gio said Justin would be in.
"Hey man" I said as soon as I walked in the room, seeing him laying on the bed wide awake.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, trying to get him to say something because he didn't move, nor did he greet me back.
"Gio said Beth is dead and when I asked him if she was responsible for what happened, he denied it but I know he was lying, tell me the truth. Was she the one that gave them our location?" He asked shocking me. I have no idea who revealed our location, or who's behind the attack but I'm surprised he put that together on his own, but the way his looking up to the ceiling lost. Hurt and anger was written all over his face.
"I don't know man, but I promise you when I do know, I'll tell you the truth" I said and he gritted his teeth, I think he doesn't believe me and when I looked down, I could see the tears forming in his eyes.
"You don't have to, I already know it was her" he says and I knew this was killing him, you could see it all over his face.
"You don't know that kid, at this point we can't be sure wh-" I was busy explaining when he cut me off.
"Stop! I know because she was the only outsider there, Jay's girls always parties with us, they were so many times at the mansion and here, so I know it wasn't any of them which only leaves her!" He says and the tears rolled down his face and he closed his eyes, breaking my heart to see him like this. "He didn't like her, the second he met her and I didn't trust him and now... his dead..." He said and then broke into a sob, I didn't know what to say, how to comfort him, how to take his pain away, I just didn't know...
"This is all my fault, he died because of me! He was like a father to me... And I killed him by loving her!" He gritted out through his tears but I let him finish, knowing he needed to get it off his chest.
"This ISN'T your fault, none of it is! But whoever was behind this, I promise you I'll make them pay for taking him from us, I swear to you but I won't have you blaming yourself for this, Steph wouldn't want that, so stop it right now!" I said sternly, leaving no room for argument, something Steph use to do with him to make him listen, not that it took much for him to listen and follow Steph because in every way, Steph was his father, his role model, his idol... Just like he was to me.
"But he wasn't suppose to die like this, not now, I need him..." He said and then broke down completely, and he was right, so all I did was bend down and held him, letting him cry because just like I needed to let it all out, I knew he needed it too so I tried giving him the comfort, something I didn't want but partly needed. So that's what I did, held him for as long as he needed me too, and let him cry in my arms.
"We'll get through this, for him" I said soon as his sob subsided and then let him go. "Get some rest, I'll check in with you later but you have to promise me, you will stop blaming yourself because we don't know who is behind this and we can't say for sure that she had anything to do with this, so until we know, we won't be making any assumptions, okay?"
"Okay but Dee, can I help you find out who did this? I want to help, please" he says pleadingly and I looked at him intently, silently. And I knew he needed to be apart of this, just as much as I did.
"Okay but for now you need to get your strength back, and fully recover, when we have a meeting after the dust is settled, I'll make sure to have it here so you can be there too, but for now just get some rest" I said to him and he nodded his head and then wiped his face and send me a small but forced smile, it's clear that his hurting, badly.
"Okay thanks for this, I need to do something, anything" he says and I nodded my head and bend down and kissed his forehead, something Steph did often to him, and to me when I was younger and it annoyed the hell out of me back then, just like it did with Justin when Steph did it in front of others.
"Get some sleep, I'll check in on you in a bit, I want to go check on the kids. I'll be back later" I said and he nodded his head and smiled at me, small smile but a genuine smile.
"Could you bring them with you later?" He asked softly and I smiled and nodded my head and then made way to the door, siluted him with a wink and smile, just like he use to do and then walked out the door.
Apart of me is glad that his still in recovery because today will be too hard for him, this is something that messes you up in so many ways. I would know, I've been through it with my mother's funeral, and Justin would have gone through the same indescribable, agonizing pain today because in every way that counts, Steph was his father, through and through, no matter the age difference, which by the way was only 13 years, he was his dad.
And for some fucked up reason, a small part of me is glad that his kids are so young, so they wouldn't know this pain of losing him because it's something that stays with you throughout your life and at least they will be spared the agony that was caused by that fucked up day on the beach. Yes, them being young means they probably wouldn't remember him in a few years but they WILL know what an extraordinary man their father was, I'll make sure of that, as I'm sure Kiara will too. We'll make sure too keep his memory ALIVE... We'll make sure his not forgotten.
After taking a few deep breaths, I moved away from the closed door and walked the few feet towards Kiara and Steph's bedroom, which everyone including myself, refers to the master bedroom, these days. It just doesn't sound right to call it Kiara's room, it's not fitting Because that was his favorite room in this whole estate, something he often said with a smirk and a thoughtful look on his face. As soon as I got infront of the door, I didn't bother knocking and just opened the door and walked inside, shouting "Hello!", just to get their attention, make them come running.
"DADDY!!!" Bella was the first to shout, running down the hallway and stopped when she saw it's me and NOT her daddy, I watched how her face fell when her eyes landed on me instead... FUCK!
"Hey Bel" I said crouching down to her level, lifting her head so she could look at me.
"Where's daddy?" She whispered with tears in her eyes but before she could say anything, Ales came running.
"Uncle Dee!" She shouted enthusiastically, being her energetic self.
"Hey princess, what are you guys doing?" I asked her instead of trying to say something to Bella, whose looking for her daddy and I don't a fuck know what to say to that, I'm not ready to answer that question.
"We playing hide and seek with daddy, he sa-" she was busy saying excitedly, shocking the hell out of me but before she could finish what she was about to say, Clarissa cut her off sharply which was an odd thing to see and hear.
"ALESSANDRA! GET BACK IN HERE!" She yelled almost... angrily? Not quite sure because I have never seen her angry, and I looked at her gritting my teeth as she grabbed both Bella and Ales's hands and moved them back towards the hallway.
"Clarissa, a word!" I said to her back and she stopped in her tracks and turned her head my way, and she had this guilty look on her face but turned her head away from me fast.
"I'll be back in a minute" she says in her normal sweet voice but not facing me and without another word or waiting for me to respond, she continued walking and stopped in front of the kids' playroom and letting them run inside and closed the door behind them and then she turned around to face me and walked ever so slowly towards me, she looked nervous, guilty, not to mention scared...?
"What was that about?" I gritted out through clenched teeth and she lowered her head, rubbing her hands together, as if it was sweating or dirty or something, what the fuck?
"I'm sorry, today is just such a hard day to handle" she says not in a soft voice which I had expected but in a nervous way.
"Clarissa what is going on? You're clearly nervous and the way you just acted with the girls is unacceptable!" I said to her angrily and she nods her head without looking at me, keeping her head down. "You are hiding something and I'm not sure what it is and I promise you I will find out! But if I ever and I mean EVER... See you handle them kids that way again, you'll find out just how roughly you can be handled, are we clear?!" I gritted out deadly and I saw how she flinched back a bit but nodded her head nonetheless, not saying a word.
"Can I go see to the kids?" She finally asked in a quivering voice, after a few long seconds of silence and I signed, I didn't like speaking to her this way but something isn't right here and she clearly is hiding something but whatever it is, it doesn't give her the right to manhandle my nieces.
"No, take the day off. Rest, you obviously need it. If you want to go to the funeral you're welcome to go say your good-byes, I'll be staying with the kids" I said to her and for the first time her head snapped up and her eyes bulged in her head, why? I have no fucking clue!
"No sir! I mean Giovanni told me to watch the kids, I'll feel much better when I'm with them instead. You really need not to stay, you go I'll take care of them" she says fast, nervously and rubbing her hands again.
"That was an order! Now go!" Was all I said and she nodded, reluctantly.
She looked past me for a second, not looking me in the eye and then nodded again more firmly this time and then walked away slowly, while I kept a watchful eye on her, in case she turned around so I could show her how serious I am. She's acting really odd today, and I have a feeling the kids will know something. I'll find out what she's hiding soon and I know just the little person who would run her mouth without any effort on my part... Alessandra!
Hey guys, firstly I want to apologise for the long wait, I know I said I would update regularly and I'm not going to make any excuses, so I'll just tell you the truth. I didn't have the energy to write, the excitement and drive just isn't there anymore, and I know it'll show in this chapter but I did try even though it took me almost a week to finish it and then another few days to make myself actually come on Wattpad to paste the chapter onto the site from my files 😫 I can't say this won't happen again, and I also can't promise when the next chapter will come out, and I know it's annoying and probably pisses you guys off but I really can't help it, I guess you can call it a block of some sorts Because believe me I tried to create a chapter with my notes but I just couldn't get it together and into an actual chapter that actually makes sense, it happens and I'm sorry.
Now that, that's off my chest. I want to thank mstanley93 & Nootzers85 , for being so concerned about me. The past two weeks they send me messages not to ask about the update but to hear how I'm doing, if I'm okay and if I'm actually still alive, you guys are the bestest friends a girl could ever ask for, and I love you both muchness 💜 Thank you for being such amazing friends, it means a lot, especially now with everything going on in my personal life, your love, concern and support means the absolute world to me💜😘 Anyways, I hope you guys will tell me what you think of the almost positively shitty chapter, long in length (11480 Words) but shitty nonetheless, but please do send me your thoughts and theories, if it's not much and please REMEMBER to look out for hints in ALL the upcoming chapters as well as precious chapters, it'll help you figure out who is behind the attack and what is really going on😉 And please don't forget to comment and vote.💜
THANKS FOR READING
KIMMY 😘