Forbidden Fruit

CAPITOLO QUARANTANOVE- Destruction

"Spin the block, we came to shoot up the whole crew." - YSN Flow

Staten Island, New York📍
9:15 am
April 12th '19

"See, when the boys said 'Safe house, I expected some sort of fancy cabin in the woods, not a whole damn mansion!" Cataleya whispers loudly to her sister as they walk into the large house with two security guards leading their way.

"Right!" Rheah exclaims as she observes the modern interior design of the foyer. "This place is nicee!"

"Mhm!" Cataleya nods in agreement before whispering, "I just hope we get the chance to explore and enjoy it before you-know-what."

Rheah glances at her sister, sending her a "Hopefully" look before she diverts her eyes back in the direction they were travelling in.

They were now walking through what they could only assume was the main living room and were both thoroughly impressed by the sleek decor.

It was very luxurious!

After marvelling at the mini bowling alley, The sisters' eyes were immediately drawn to the large crescent-shaped sofa bending in front of a fire pit in the middle of the spacious room. They loved how the set-up gave the place a comfortable and cosy feel.

The wooden staircase was also a gorgeous design detail, with the glass wine cellar rising from the waxed mahogany floor to the white high ceiling, along with some of Chris' artwork hanging from the walls. Further towards the east corner of the room, there were also more entertainment pieces such as arcade video games, a medium sized bar and a pool table.

Everything screamed the Anderson brothers, as it matched perfectly with their character and aura.

While synonymously thinking about the boys' characters, Rheah couldn't help but realise neither Michael or Chris had come to collect and greet them when they arrived. Instead, they were being escorted to where the gang were chilling, per the brothers' request.

"Sis?" Rheah calls Cataleya's attention towards her as they begin to climb the grand staircase.

"Mhm?" Cataleya replies, glancing back and forth between her footing and her sister.

"You don't think it's weird that the boys didn't come to get us themselves?" Rheah whispers.

Cataleya holds eye contact with Rheah.

"Sis!" She mirrors Rheah's low tone, "I didn't wanna say anything 'cus, you know 'optimism gang now' and all, but for Michael to be so adamant for you to be on the phone all the way up here and not be waiting at the gate when we arrived was definitely a lil weird."

Rheah frowns slightly. "You don't think they know already, do you?"

Cataleya mimics her sister's facial expression, "I don't think so... I mean, I'm sure we would have been sniped down at the gates if that was the case."

"True..." Rheah nods.

"But then again, maybe they want to torture and kill us in person." Cataleya shrugs.

Rheah cringes and glances over at her sister with slightly panicked eyes.

"But hey, optimism." Cataleya forces a wide-toothed grin, "We can only know once we see them. But in Jesus' name, let everything be okay."

"Amen." Rheah agrees in a tone much louder and more confident than before while she does the sign of cross.

After making it to the top of the long staircase, the girls were led past a few more rooms before coming to a stop in front of white double doors at the end of the hallway.

As the guards knock on the door and identified themselves, the girls listen out intently for the voice and tone that would respond.

"Come in." Benny's distant voice filters through the door, not giving the girls much to decipher what greeting would be waiting for them behind the barricade.

Directly after his command, one of the guards opens the door and steps inside, while the other guard allows the girls to go in next so he could follow in after them.

As soon as they crossed the threshold of the door, the sisters' eyes dart around the room, meticulously observing everyone's position and body language. They immediately relax once they notice that both Chris and Michael were sat in front of a wide screen TV, deeply immersed in a game of C.O.D while Rashaun and Jamal sat observing on the side lines.

They also notice Mase and Kyle on the far left of the room competing against each other in a game of bowling, in what looked to be another indoor bowling alley. Eveyone was practically fixated on their games so the only person to notice them was the one who had answered to the knock at the door.

"MY WIFE!" Benny exclaims loudly with a goofy smile as he approaches Cataleya, drawing everyone's attention finally on them.

Cataleya giggles as she accepts Benny's warm embrace and kiss to the forehead. "My king."

Chris rolls his eyes as he pauses the game, standing up along with Michael to greet the girls. As they draw closer, they tell the guards to wait outside, who in turn, give them both respectful nods before heading out of the room.

"Sweet Gyal like RheeRhee!" Benny greets Rheah in the same manner he had with Cataleya.

"My baby B!" Rheah grins, indulging in his warm embrace, "Ugh, I've said it before but I'll say it again, Benny baby, you always give the best hugs."

Benny folds his arms across his chest with his eyebrows raised questionably, "So is that why you ain't say yes to my bro's proposal?"

Rheah's mouth drops open in shock while Michael smacks Benny upside the head before pushing him off Rheah.

"You in our business nigga, don't do that." Michael mugs Benny before turning back to Rheah and pulling her into his arms.

Benny smirks, "Aye, ain't nobody tell you to tell me y'all business." He shrugs, "Besides, I was just tryna figure out how to help your 'no-good-hugging-ass' get a fiancée."

Michael stills his advancement in going to kiss Rheah to throw Benny a side glare. "Walk away B."

"See, I was finna do that anyways." Benny shrugs, walking backwards. "So don't think you did something now, playboy 'cus you know I would square up with your 'I-give-bad-hugs' looking ass." He teases.

Rheah couldn't help but laugh as Michael moves to chase after Benny but he turns around and takes off cackling all the way over to what looked like a small bar in the far north of the room.

"Yo, you need to stop gassing Benny's stupid ass and quit fronting like my hugs ain't the best." Michael narrows his eyes, looking down at Rheah.

Rheah chuckles, "They are great but Benny has a lil more warmth to his."

Michael rolls his eyes, "Yeah whatever, Imma remember this when your lil ass wanna be up all under me asking for cuddles and shit."

"And you still gon' give them to me so I don't understand your point." Rheah raises her eyebrow with amusement.

Michael smacks his lips with a smile on his face, "Come here." He says, pulling her back into his arms and lifts her chin up towards him.

In turn, Rheah grins, leaning up on her tip toes to close the slight gap between her lips and his, initiating a kiss as sweet as honey.

Beside them, Cataleya was trying so hard not to strip for Chris there and then as they both came down from the high of their own mini make out session. The moment Chris has closed the distance between the two of them, he'd wrapped his tattooed hand around her neck, pulling her in for a deep, sensual kiss.

As she remains under the seductive grip and spell of Christopher Anderson, Cataleya couldn't help but bite her lip as she looks back up into Chris' mischievous, lust filled dark brown orbs.

"Next time you wanna say some slick shit about me on the phone shorty, add me to the call first." Chris demands lowly.

Cataleya raises her eyebrow, "And what you finna do if I don't?"

Chris' eyes search through her own, now twinkling in mischief in her pool of lust.

"Try it again and find out." He smirks as he licks his lips, dropping his hand from her neck.

Cataleya's face falls instantly at the loss of his touch and close proximity and steps forward back into his arms once more.

"Why'd you move?" She complains, wrapping her arms around Chris, "Don't do that again, I wasn't ready."

Chris laughs as he wraps his arms around her upper body, "Aight ma." He kisses her forehead, causing Cataleya to sigh in content as she snuggles into his warmth even further.

"I love you." Cataleya mumbles into his chest, causing Chris to smile.

"I love you too kid."

"All four of y'all cute or whatever, but I'm tryna figure out when Rhee and Leya finna show love to the rest of us?" Rashaun questions, looking between the two couples with his arms folded.

"Right, ain't said shit to us like we part of the furniture or something." Jamal adds, making his way over.

Both sisters pull away from their significant others, chuckling as they move over to greet the rest of the Kings. After hugging it out with Kyle, Rashaun and Jamal and dapping it up with Mase, the girls were now seated on the semi circle sofa next to their boyfriends while the rest of the boys spread out between the other sofas in the area.

"So how was the drive up here?" Kyle looks between the girls, "I know it's prime time traffic hour so I only hope that bridge wasn't too jam packed for y'all?"

"It wasn't too bad. Besides, driving with Leya during traffic? Not only do you get out a lot fast but you also get to watch Prime time comedy TV." Rheah smirks, her comment earning her laughter from the boys and an eye roll from Cataleya.

"A-ki-ki-ki, next time you finna drive 'cus I ain't finna lose no more hair stressing over those useless drivers."

The room chuckles at Cataleya's frustration.

"See, that's what you get when you don't wanna follow instructions. I hope yo hard head ass caught a bald spot on the way down." Chris looks up from his laid position which was against Cataleya's chest, giving her a side eye.

Cataleya, who was playing in Chris' hair, aggressively pulls the curls that were within her finger tips.

"And I will rip yo shit out right now so we can be twins." She smiles condescendingly at Chris who was now sitting up, glaring at her. "Couple goals."

"Aye B, I think your wife tryna tell you something." Chris slowly draws his glare away from Cataleya over to Benny.

"Oh so she my wife now 'cus she wanna be violent?" Benny raises his eyebrow and scoffs playfully, "It's cool tho, my baby know I love her. Flaws and all."

"And this is why you are my king. Don't worry B, he may have my heart right now but we both know who gon' have my heart forever." Cataleya grins and gets up to move over to Benny.

But Chris' hand shoots out quickly to drag her back down by the hem of her jumper onto her seat.

"The fuck you going? Better sit your lying ass down." Chris turns his mug stare from her to Benny, "And whatever she just said was cap so don't get excited nigga."

"Yeah, yeah whatever help you sleep at night bro." Benny smirks.

The whole group breaks out into laughter once Chris stands up and Benny flies over the back of the chair for extra distance. 

"You gon' come back round to sit down eventually and Imma be waiting for you." Chris promises as he sits down, snuggling back up to Cataleya.

"Well jokes on you 'cus I'm going back to the bowling alley to play my game." Benny sticks his tongue out childishly before walking off, motioning towards Kyle. "C'mon Ky, come finish getting your ass beat."

"Yo delusion is real y'all," Kyles shakes  his head as he rises to his feet, following after Benny, "And B got a bad case of it. Yall pray for him fa me."

The group chuckles once more, watching as Kyle and Benny begin to go back and forth with smack talk about who was going to win the game.

"Aye, I just realised..." Rheah starts once they'd all settled down, "One part of y'all circus act is missing. He asleep in one of the rooms or something?"

"Funny..." Michael narrows his eyes playfully at Rheah for the shade she had just thrown, however his face falls into a more serious expression when realisation hits him, "And nah, come to think of it, Siah not even here..."

"Oh? He get caught in the traffic or something?" Rheah questions curiously, noticing how all the boys on the sofa were now wearing the same expression as Michael.

"I don't know." Michael pulls out his phone and begins to check for messages and missed calls. "He ain't even replied to none my calls or messages yet."

"Mine either." Jamal adds, now scrolling through his phone.

"Mase?" Michael raises his eyebrow at him.

"Nah." Mase shakes his head.

"I just called him." Rashaun frowns, lowering his phone from his ear, "Went straight to voicemail."

The four men glance between each other, passing on looks of confusion and worry while the girls begin to ponder further on Isaiah's absence.

"You think he may have fallen asleep in his car?" Rheah tries to reason more so for her own sanity, "I mean, y'all were up and out all night."

"It's a possibility and would make a lot of sense." Michael shrugs, "But even if he did, Siah don't sleep that hard. He'd hear the phone ring and pick up if he saw it was one of us calling."

The girls throw each other a subtle worried look before glancing back between the boys.

"Aye Ky, B?" Chris calls out as he sits up, grabbing Benny and Kyle's attention immediately. "Y'all here from Siah yet?"

"Nope." Benny shakes his head.

"Nah." Kyle replies with a frown as he and Benny begin to approach the group, "He still M.I.A?"

"Yeah." Chris replies, his eyebrows creased deeply with confusion. "He ain't picking up calls nor has he replied to any of our messages."

"Maybe his phone died?" Cataleya suggests.

"Maybe..." Chris ponders on the idea for a moment but shakes his head, "But if that's the case, Siah would have been made his way down here. It ain't like he don't know how to get here without directions or the address."

"Right, plus his car got GPS so he could've used that if he really wanted to follow a map." Rashaun adds.

"Aye someone trace his phone and car, see where he at." Michael orders, pulling out his phone. "Imma call round and find out if something went down where he was parked up this morning."

"Aight I'll do the trace." Benny walks over to his laptop sitting at the bar.

Naturally, the rest of the boys begin to do what Michael was doing. After simultaneously pulling out their phones, they all use various modes of communication to investigate if the streets had any word or sign on Isaiah. All while the men worked to find out what was going on with their friend, the girls grew cynical with their thoughts on had probably happened to Isaiah.

Had a certain someone caught hold of him while he was on patrol?

Was he being tortured for the information of their whereabouts?

"Aye, so I was able to track Siah's car," Benny calls out, grabbing everyone's attention, "It's tag is saying it's at his house."

"Don't tell me this nigga at home asleep?" Jamal says, getting annoyed by the thought.

Benny shakes his head with a deep frown on his face, "Nah son, I mean, if I'm going off his phone's last location before it shut off, then Siah meant to be somewhere out in Pelham Bay."

The girls' eyes widen slightly with fear, which Mase had managed to catch just before they removed the expression off their faces.

"The fuck? Ayo Kyle get someone to go over by his house to see wassup." Chris instructs as he heads over to Benny to take a closer look at the laptop screen. "Lemme see this."

"Aight." Kyle nods and begins to dial a different number on his phone to deliver Chris' order.

Michael also gets up and draws closer to Benny's laptop screen to see what he had pulled up. While the boys stand around discussing the location, the girls move closer to each other.

"Rhee, you know that area is Mafia territory right?" Cataleya whispers while looking around to make sure no one was watching or listening, "You think he has him?"

"Sis from the way it sounds, I know he has him." Rheah whispers back, being as vigilant as her sister.

"You think he's using Siah as bait?" Cataleya questions quietly.

"It's a possibility, I mean I'm sure he found out about Maria and Naé not being here so the next best option would be to take a–sis, Mase is looking at me."

Rheah stills as her eyes make contact with Mase who raises his eyebrow at her sceptically. Cataleya had to fight her natural urge to turn around. But before she could ask her sister if he was close enough to hear anything, Kyle's serious tone cuts swiftly into the air as he springs to his feet, catching everyone's attention.

"Yooo, y'all we gotta go!" Kyle's eyebrows pull together in anger and confusion, "KD and 'em said someone ran through Siah's crib!"

"What?!" Rashaun exclaims for all of them as they now draw closer to Kyle.

"Man look! They sent pics!" Kyle pushes his phone out in view for them all to see. "Shit fucked up in his basement, hella bodies, some of them our peoples the rest are some random girls."

Naturally, Chris and Michael's eyes dart towards their girlfriends to see if they were okay. While Cataleya seemed to look very out of it, Rheah's body language reeked of unease. But before they could go over and console them, Jamal's question caught their attention and froze their movements.

"What about Isaiah?" He inquires in a calm tone though his heart was pounding away in his chest in fear of the response. All the boys felt the same way.

Kyle shakes his head, "They said Siah ain't there."

The boys internally relax a little, though the fact he was still missing made them tense.

"But judging from the way he been M.I.A since this morning and what went down in his house," Kyle's jaw clenches, "The Italians have to be involved."

"Oh fa sho." Chris nods, "B, can you get an exact pinpoint of where his last phone ping was in Pelham Bay?"

"Give me a sec." Benny turns towards his laptop screen and begins to type away on the keyboard. Seconds later, he spoke up. "Got it, he somewhere up in the south of Pelham Bay woods."

"Okay." Michael nods and looks to Chris,  "So we riding out?"

"Hell yeah." Chris snorts and looks towards the rest of the Kings, "Y'all already know what to do. Round up the men, drop them the location and be ready to leave in 5."

"Yessir." The Kings reply and begin to move swiftly around the room carrying out their orders.

Chris and Michael then turn their attention towards the girls who were already staring at them with wide panicked eyes. Both brothers send each other a knowing, sympathetic look before making their way over to their girlfriends.

"Michael you can't go." Rheah states firmly as she stands up to meet him halfway.

"None of y'all can." Cataleya shakes her head as she stands up alongside her sister.

Michael sighs, "Ladies, I know y'all are  scared and worried about us, but I promise, no matter what happens out there, we'll all make it back here safely."

"You can't promise that Michael!" Rheah shakes her head in distress, "Especially when you don't know all that the Mafia King is capable of. Michael he is a very dangerous man!"

"I can and I will." Michael furrows his eyebrows at her with determination set in his eyes, "Look Rhee, I understand your concerns and I hear what you are saying but we have to go. Isaiah is our friend but most importantly he is family. We do what we have to do to protect our family."

"Facts." Chris says, glancing at Cataleya before turning his gaze back to Rheah, "Aye sis, I know you must be feeling all types of emotions right now, not just for you but also for Shortcake. But if it's one thing I can guarantee, is Mickey's safety. I'll make sure he gets back here in one piece."

"And what about yourself Christopher?" Cataleya's eyes dance with worry, "'Cus the way you're speaking, it's like you don't care what happens to you."

"I been told you Leya, this shit ain't new to us." Chris motions between him and the rest of the boys who were now drawing close, "I can handle myself and I know if I get caught up at some point, the boys got my 6."

Cataleya shakes her head. "You don't understand Chris, if you walk out that door right now, there's a chance you'll never come back."

"Leya listen to me." Michael speaks up before Chris could reply to her, "I promise you–no–I put it on my life that when I come back here later on, Chris and the rest of the boys will be right here with me."

"Period. Ladies, we got this okay?" Rashaun smiles warmly at them, "I know this is all new to y'all but we ain't lose one battle so far and we ain't finna start today."

"Facts." Jamal and Benny chime in confidently.

"And like Mickey said before, we all family and we do whatever to keep our family safe." Kyle glances between the girls with a comforting smile, "We got this."

The girls glance at each other for a moment, silently exchanging words through each other's eyes before they turn back towards the boys.

"Alright fine." Rheah nods, "Me and Leya are coming with you guys then."

"Right." Cataleya agrees firmly.

"Hell no!" Michael objects sharply with his brows pulled tightly together.

"Hell fucking no." Chris lets out a bemused scoff.

"What they said." Benny gives the girls an incredulous look as he spoke in agreement with Chris and Michael. 

"Rhee what the fuck? Are you high right now?" Michael gives her an incredulous look, "Why the hell would we take y'all when the whole point of bringing y'all out here was to keep y'all safe and out of harm's way?"

"Trust me Michael, it's not us that you need to be worrying about keeping safe." Rheah sighs.

Michael furrows his eyebrows, "And what's that suppose to mean, Rhee?"

Rheah glances away from Michael's confused eyes over to Cataleya who in turn, nods, giving her the go-ahead. All of the boys couldn't help but watch the exchanges between the two women, curious of what was going on between them, Chris and Micheal feeling more apprehensive than the rest.

"Okay." Rheah heaves out a heavy sigh, "Leya and I have a lot of things  we need to tell you that we've failed to tell y'all before..."

"A lot of things like what?" Michael questions calmly though his heart was pounding within his chest.

The moment those words left her mouth, Chris' eyes had moved over to look Cataleya who was already staring at him. The moment their eyes connected, Chris could have sworn he saw guilt and pain swirling deep within her brown orbs but as quick as the look was there, the quicker it disappears.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Chris silently asks her what was wrong and in response, Cataleya mouths what looked like to be 'I'm sorry', causing Chris' eyebrows to fold even deeper with confusion.

"We haven't been completely honest about a lot of things and we pray that you guys will listen to all that we have to say." Rheah's voice wavers, wavers her now sweaty palms against her jeans.

Seeing Rheah's distress and growing even more nervous by her delays, Chris turn to his girlfriend for answers, "Leya? you gon' say something?"

Cataleya, now feeling put on the spot, opens her mouth and closes it a couple of times, her palms sweating and her heart rate skyrocketing. She was suddenly finding it increasingly hard to breathe and the walls of the large room were slowly closing in on her.

Noticing her sister was on the verge of a panic attack, Rheah grabs her hand, rubbing the back of it with her thumb and gives it a gentle squeeze.

Chris too, notices his girl's shift in behaviour and was even more confused, nervous and getting pissed off by the second. She needed to talk fast and explain what the fuck was causing her so much distress so he could handle it accordingly!

"Baby," His voice calls out soothingly, "Breathe, okay? I'm sure whatever it is you have to say is not as serious as y'all are making it out to be, so just breathe and when you ready, speak."

Cataleya closes her eyes, looking up to the ceiling as she tries to blink back the tears. Her emotions were running wild!

Eventually she shakes her head, letting out a bemused scoff and she wipes away the stray tears that had escaped from her eyes.

Seeing the girls so shaken up had definitely began to pull at the men's heartstrings even more than they already were. They were sure whatever the girls had to say wouldn't be as bad as they were making it out to be and even if it was, they all loved the girls so much they'd be willing to move past and forgive almost anything.

"Okay, take 2." Cataleya breathes in deeply, staring at Chris briefly before her glossy eyes glance between the men. "Rheah and I aren't from Canada and our last n–"

BANG!

The doors to the room suddenly burst open and slams against the walls, immediately catching everyone's attention. In the blink of an eye, all the men had their weapons drawn and pointed towards the entrance but lower it once they noticed the two guards that were positioned outside the door.

"Boss, there's been a serious breech at the front gates, the mansion is going to be under attack any minute now!" The taller security guard announces quickly.

"What?!" All the boys exclaim in both shock and anger while the girls almost faint.

"The Italians, sir! They took out the security towers with rocket launchers and broke through the gates with military grade trucks!" The second security guard answers in just as much distress as his colleague.

"Fuck!" Chris grits out. "How many men we got left on site?!"

"We're not sure boss." The first guard speaks up, "Communications are down. We were only able to pick up what we just said on the radio channels of our walkie talkies before before the towers were–"

The sound of glass shattering and loud crashes echoing out from below, cuts the guard short and causes everyone to tense up. Barely a second had passed when the sound of multiple guns going off and agonising screams filtered into the mixture of noise.

Like clockwork, Chris and Michael grab their girlfriends and send them an apologetic but determined look, before they begin to pull them towards the exit.

"Everybody to the Black Room now!" Michael yells out behind him as he moves towards the exit.

Wasting no time, the others follow swiftly behind the brothers and the girls. Keeping low and protecting the sisters as they move down the hall, the brothers, the Kings and guards had their weapons ready to fire while their eyes vigilantly scan around for danger.

After a few short turns, they end up at what looked like a steel elevator door. Quickly, Chris punches in a short code on the keypad and the doors slide open, allowing the group to pile into the room and the doors to slide shut behind them. Wasting no time, the men begin to dash around what looked to be a home invasion safe room, collecting the weapons that were displayed neatly around the walls.

"Shaun," Michael calls out as he picks up two bullet proof vests, "Call in back up now."

"Yessir." Rashaun straps on a belt holder filled with bullets and moves swiftly to carry out his orders.

"B, pull up all the security cameras around the mansion on the TV so we can see exactly where these motherfuckers at and how many." Michael demands as he throws the two vests to Chris.

"On it." Benny says, locking the magazine into the gun he had just picked up.

"Put these on now." Chris commands in a serious tone as he throws the girls a vest each.

Not arguing with his instruction, the girls pull the vests over their heads and watch as the men move busily around the room, collecting extra weapons and strapping on their bullet proof vests in preparation for war.

"Aight, it look like they in the main living room, bout 15 Italians against 10 of our men." Benny points out on the wide screen in front of them, "But there's more of them approaching from the gate so we gotta get down there fast if we wanna even out the playing field."

"How long 'til back up arrives, Shaun?" Michael inquires.

"Closest one is 15 minutes out, got two more incoming after that at 30."

Michael glances at his brother, sending him a quick look and in turn, Chris nods.

"Aight say less," Michael nods as he turns towards the two guards, "Tyrese, Reggie, stay here with the girls, everybody else, let's move out."

Wasting no time, all of the drug lords begin to head towards the exit. It was only when the doors slid open once more and the boys begin to pile out of it, did Rheah and Cataleya snap out of their shock. 

"What?! No!" Cataleya's eyes widen in panic as she grabs Chris' arm before he could leave.

"You guys cannot go out there!" Rheah exclaims as she runs to block the exit.

She'd manage to stop Michael and tries to grab Benny back but he'd already escaped her grasp by an inch.

"Rhee baby, everything going to be fine." Michael assures her as he pulls her away from the door, but Rheah was putting up a good resistance.

"No it's not! Call the others back!" Rheah shakes her head, "They're going to get killed out–"

A loud CRASH along with what sounded like a machine gun going off strangles Rheah's words in her throat, but what causes both girls' hearts to drop to their stomachs, were the agonising screams that pierced through the sound waves afterwards.

They prayed that none of those dying screams were their father, brother and friends.

"Shit!" Michael and Chris curse loudly.

"Baby I have to go." Chris pushes Cataleya off him roughly but carefully.

"No–"

But Chris' lips quickly pressing against hers cuts her off. "I love you, I'll be right back."

Simultaneously across the room, Michael had kissed Rheah's forehead, "Everything gonna be fine ma."

Shaking her head, Rheah uses her strength to tug Michael back, "No Mi–"

"Aye Reg, take her!" Michael orders sharply, giving Rheah sympathetic eyes as he pushes her into the arms of the awaiting guard.

"No Michael tell him to let go! I'm coming with you!" Rheah exclaims as she fights against the grip Reggie had around her waist.

"No you fucking ain't!" Michael snaps, sending a harsh glare her way. "Aye Reg, Ty, do not let them leave this room!"

Chris pushes Cataleya into Ty's arms, "Protect her with your fucking life." He grits.

"Yes boss." Both guards reply.

"If we're not back up in 15 minutes, take the girls through the emergency exit route, get them to the nearest airport and put them on the first flight out to Jamaica." Michael orders as he and Chris draw closer to the exit.

The security guards nod and reply in unison, "Yes sir."

"No stop! Come back!" The girls scream as they struggle to free themselves from Reggie and Ty's grip. "Get the fuck off of me! Let me go!"

The brothers couldn't help but look back at the girls with regret for placing them in such a predicament. But they knew it needed to be done.

With one last glance, determined to make sure their girls were not harmed by eliminating the threat below, the brothers slip through the door and allow it to slide shut behind them.

Inside the room, Rheah groans her frustration as she tries to pull herself out of the guard's hold. Cataleya was doing the same but Ty wouldn't let up.

"Ma'am please calm down, our bosses will handle everything!" He tries to reassure her.

"If you don't let us go right now your bosses are going to end up dead!" Cataleya grits out as she desperately tries to pry his fingers off her right arm.

Beside her, Rheah had given up trying to free Reggie's hand from around her wrist and was now trying to stomp on his foot, "Let. Me. Go!!"

"Ma'am please stop! Calm down!" Reggie moves his foot around in desperate attempts to avoid Rheah's frantically trying to crash down on his.

With each second that passed by, the sound of deafening gun shots, bodies dropping and people shouting grew more frequent and louder...Tipping the girls right over the edge.

In the blink of an eye, Cataleya suddenly grabs Ty's arm and flips it behind his back, causing him to let out a groan of pain.

Reggie didn't even have time to react as Rheah threw her head back into his face with great force, knocking him backwards slightly and busting his lip, causing him to release her from his strong hold to nurse his injury.

In the midst of her assault, Reggie's gun had fallen to the floor. Spotting it, Rheah quickly picks it up and hits him over the head with it, knocking him out instantly, just as Cataleya presses the pressure point on Ty's forearm, causing him to pass out.

Wasting no time, Cataleya steals Ty's gun before she and Rheah rush out the room. By now, the house was eerily silent and as the sisters rush down the halls heading towards where they believed the action was taking place, they could only pray they weren't too late.

Rounding the last bend in the hallway, the sisters look over the balcony above the main living room and their hearts literally froze at the sight below them.

Standing there, in an intense face off, were the Anderson Clan and the Italian Mafia.

Both opponents were a few meters away from each other, guns drawn and pointed directly at their enemy while their hate-filled orbs held each other's gazes. However, before anyone could press down on the trigger of their guns, multiple voices and footsteps immediately catches their attention and distracts them away from their actions.

"DON'T SHOOT! DON'T SHOOT!" Cataleya and Rheah scream repetitively, their eyes wide in fear as they race down the stairs in such a rush, they almost miss a few.

Though the men all had been distracted by their presence, no one moved or turned to look at the girls. So while all of their eyes remain focused on their targets in front of them, a few of their minds were set directly upon the sisters.

Chris was livid but scared. He didn't understand why Cataleya couldn't just listen to him for once! There he was doing his best to protect her and here she was, exposing herself like a lamb in front of a pack of hungry wolves! As he stares down the infamous Mafia Prince, Chris' stomach churns at the thought of him killing his girl.

Michael too, was experiencing the same anxiety and anger as his brother. He knew Rheah was determined to save his life but why was she being so reckless with her own?! With his lifestyle, Michael had already signed a deal with death, but that deal didn't include the love of his life!

Gabriel's heart skips a dozen beats but his cold blue eyes didn't leave the two brothers that he had set out to destroy. Hearing the sound of his sisters' voices calmed him almost instantly but the state of peace didn't last long as he remembers their betrayal.

Hardening his heart and furrowing his eyebrows with sternness, Gabriel sets the whole war back in motion.

"Insaccali! (Bag them!)" Gabriel yells the order.

The boys didn't know what was said but as soon as they saw two Italian men turn towards the girls, they instantly let off their guns, hitting a few of the men, starting off the shoot out.

Mase and Kyle turn back to shoot some of the men behind them, but it was too late. As two of the men take the bullets, another two shoot tranquillisers into Mase and Kyle's neck, causing them to instantly drop to the floor.

That catches Michael's attention just as Benny drops down next to him. Chris shoots a guy who was about to sedate a a distracted Michael, who had turned to the girls.

"RUN!!" He yells.

But before he could see if they actually listened, he felt a sharp sting to his neck. His vision suddenly blurs and his body felt heavy as he crashes to the ground, meeting Chris who was already laying on the ground with a tranquilliser in his neck, his eyes slowly closing.

Michael desperately tries to reach out to Chris but he was too weak. His eyelids soon grow heavy until they finally shut him out from the world.

o~O~o

Staten Island, New York📍
1:30 pm
April 12th'19

Feeling as if he was being hauled out of the depths of a deep dark well, Michael slowly begins to regain consciousness. He could feel the lull of the drugs in his system, tempting him back into the unconscious, but the throbbing pain in his neck that seemed to sting harsher by second helped push him back into reality, forcing him to open his eyes.

However, as quick as he'd opened his eyelids, he shut them back tight, groaning slightly against the unwelcomed attack from the light. And after taking a brief second to catch himself, Michael opens his eyes again, adjusting to the light a lot better this time around and becomes more aware of his surroundings.

The first thing he noticed was his inability to move or speak which quickly led him to look down and see that he was in fact, bound to a chair by his hands and feet with a cloth tied around his mouth. The second thing he took note of was the unique patterned carpet on the floor, letting him know immediately that he was in one of the meeting rooms in the West wing on the mansion's ground floor.

With his eyebrows knitted together in annoyance and his brown orbs swirling with unease, he naturally looks to his right in search of his brother.

Michael spots Kyle and Jamal bound in the same manner as him, distanced a meter away, sending him looks of both concern and relief. However, his gaze doesn't remain in their direction for long as he sharply turns his head over to his left. He visibly relaxes when he sees Chris awake and unharmed, though his eyes grow deeper with annoyance once he notices that his brother along with Rashaun, Mase and Benny were all tied up and distanced in the same manner.

However, unlike Jamal and Kyle, their eyes were glazed with anger and set in the direction in front of them. Like clockwork, Michael turns his gaze in the direction of what they were looking at, only for his eyes to darken with the same anger he saw in theirs.

There, leaned against the round table that was once in the middle of the room, was the Mafia Prince peeling an apple with his knife and eating it while two guards stood armed and vigilant on either side of him.

"Capo, l'ultimo è sveglio (Boss, the last one is awake)." The guard on Gabriel's right informs, finally drawing his boss' attention away from his apple over to the boys.

"Fantastico (great)." Gabriel's piercing blue orbs dance with amusement as they lock on to Michael's fierce brown ones. "Ora possiamo portare questo spettacolo sulla strada (Now we can get this show on the road)."

Instinctively, Michael begins to speak but it came out muffled due to the gag in his mouth.

"What was that, doggy?" Gabriel furrows his eyebrows as a playful look of confusion takes place on his face, "I can't hear what you are saying. You have a lil something in your mouth." He points out with the knife.

Michael shifts aggressively in his chair as he, along with the others, raise their voices, throwing muffled, incoherent death promises Gabriel's way.

"My, my what an aggressive bunch of little puppies I have here, boys." Gabriel frowns though his eyes glow with amusement, "They continue on like this and I might have to put them down a lot quicker than planned."

Beside him, the two guards begin to chuckle, however, more laughter could be heard joining in around the room. Michael looks around to see where the other voices were coming from, only to finally take notice of the 3 armed guards positioned behind them.

The rest of the boys remained with their glares trained on Gabriel, Chris internally planning out how he would make Gabriel's death painful and slow... one to remember for the history books.

"But," Gabriel leans off the table, causing the men to quiten down, "I did promise to play a few games with them and you know a Mafia King always keeps his word." He taunts slowly, stalking closer to the boys as he spoke, twirling his knife around in his hand and holding his apple in the other.

"Sì Signore." The guards respond.

Gabriel stops in front of Michael and looks down at him with a cynical glint in his eyes. "So Mr Anderson, how about a game of 21 questions?"

Michael doesn't attempt to speak this time around. Instead he just glares up at Gabriel with so much hate in his eyes. He didn't have time nor did he care for the Mafia Prince's games right now. All he wanted to know was if the girls were alive and okay and how much longer he had to sit in this chair before he could get up and kill the bastard in front of him.

"Hmm that's strange, boys," Gabriel playfully mimics concern, "The little doggy won't speak now."

"Maybe the cloth in his mouth is finally bothering him, Signore." One of the guards behind them suggests.

"Sì, that may be it." Gabriel nods. "Well how bout I help him with that."

Swiftly, Gabriel places the knife at the base of Michael's neck and trails it agonisingly slow up his throat. As the knife dances lightly against Michael's skin, Gabriel's eyes grow even darker when the knife trails above a visble vain, wishing to press harder and pierce into it.

Below him, Michael stares up at the Mafia Prince without a hint of fear internally or externally. He would never let a bitch-made nigga make him sweat. He was a King Pin, a Boss, a real hood born nigga.

He was down and prepared for whatever.

Finally coming to the end of his journey, Gabriel slides the blade under the cloth and cuts it open along with Michael's lip, as he frees the restraint from his mouth.

Michael didn't waste the opportunity to spit the small blood that was dropping from his lip at Gabriel.

Looking down at the small crimson splatter that had caught the back of his hand, Gabriel's eyes glint with amusement. In the blink of an eye, with the same hand that Michael had spat on, Gabriel forcefully backhands Michael, sending his face swinging to the left and splitting his already cut lip even further.

Immediately, Chris and the boys begin to shuffle in their chairs with aggression, angered by Gabriel's assault. Gabriel smirks at their pathetic attempts to shout and attack him as he wipes the rest of the blood on Michael's shirt.

"Suck yuh mudda, pussy bwoi." Michael grits out, glaring up at Gabriel as blood drips down his mouth.

Gabriel rolls his eyes and motions for the guards behind them to to cut off the boys' mouth gags. Without hesitation, the guards move to do what their boss had instructed while Gabriel went back to the office desk.

As he leans against it, he twirls the knife, admiring the blood that was on it before he cuts into his apple, taking a slice out and eating it.

"Now that shit's just nasty." Benny mumbles with his face scrunched up in disgust.

"So, tell me," Gabriel speaks up, chewing on his apple, "Did you guys actually think you could shoot the Mafia King and get away with it?"

None of the boys respond. Not only did they have no idea what Gabriel was talking about, they didn't care to play his games.

"Oh, was that question a little hard to comprehend?" Gabriel muses, "I'll make it simpler."

Across from him, the boys' faces grow with irritation.

"Between the two of you." He points the knife at Chris and Michael, "Whose dumb idea was it to send that idiotic weasel into our camp to pose as an informant and carry out a hit on the Mafia King?"

While the brothers kept glares on their faces, the rest of the kings' brows furrow with confusion.

"Yo, what the fuck is this nigga talking bout son?" Rashaun whispers to Mase, who in turn frowns with a shrug.

"Or was it one of your other pets?" Gabriel looks towards Rashaun, catching him whispering before turning his gaze upon the rest of the men with a playfully deciphering look. "'Cus it was one you, after all, that was stupid enough to carry out the job."

"Man," Kyle groans, extremely fed up, "Ain't none of us know what the fuck you talking about nigga!"

"Forreal!" Jamal smacks his lips, "You saying a whole bunch of something and it still sound like a whole bunch of nothing."

Gabriel smirks. "Wow, it seems like slowness is a quality all you 'kings' share." He turns his amused gaze over to Michael and Chris, "You two need to do better when hiring your employees. They all seem to lack comprehension skills and finesse."

"You need learn how to shut the fuck up and do better to try and leave before I kill you." Michael claps back aggressively.

"Please." Gabriel scoffs with a chuckle, folding his arms across his chest, "Enlighten me on how you are going to do that."

"Look man ain't nobody got time for this shit," Chris kisses his teeth, thoroughly pissed off, "Where the fuck my girl and sister at?!"

Gabriel's eye twitches, "Your girl?"

"Don't play fucking dumb, bitch." Chris' jaw clenches, "Word to my muva if you hurt her, Imma make sure ya daddy ain't the only Giovanni to get shot up today."

Without warning, Gabriel lifts his gun and shoots Chris in the shoulder, causing an uproar of reactions from the others.

"Fuck!" Chris grits his teeth, looking down at his bleeding shoulder.

"You little bitch!" Michael spits furiously as he tries to break free from his restraints, "I swear Imma fucking kill you with my own damn hands when I get out of this shit!!"

While the rest of the boys mimic Michael's reaction, yelling their insults and threats as they try to break free from their bondage, Gabriel could only smile wide with amusement.

Seeing them all finally riled up and struggling against their restraints like rabid dogs, only added to his entertainment. He didn't want it to end, and he knew exactly what to do to stir things up even more.

Turning his attention away from the boys, Gabriel motions one of the guards closer and lowly delegates instructions to him. Shortly after, the guard nods his head and gives Gabriel a verbal confirmation in Italian before leaving the room.

"Okay," Gabriel announces loudly, looking back towards the boys who were still cussing at him and squirming in their restraints, "Since you guys seemed to not get the hang of the first game, I'm going to move on to the second."

Just then, the door opens and the guard who had left the room returns. But what had grabbed all of the boys' attention was the two women following closely behind him. Swiftly, the boys quieten down, watching intently as Rheah and Cataleya were being lead straight towards Gabriel.

For a moment, all of the boys could feel a wave of relief wash over them, seeing them alive and seemingly unharmed. But as quick as the relief came, unease and panic claimed their spaces within them all, especially Chris and Michael.

For the girls, as soon as they had entered the room, their eyes quickly scanned over the men to make sure they were okay, particularly lingering their gazes when it came to their boyfriends.

The first thing Rheah noticed was the blood on Michael's white shirt. Her eyes quickly scan over him, attempting to find the source of the bleeding when she notices his lip, swollen and dried with blood.

Annoyance pulses through her body at the sight of it and in turn, Rheah couldn't help but direct that feeling towards her brother as she turns her gaze towards him.

Cataleya on the other hand, was bubbling with anger as she watches a trail of blood drip down Chris' arm and add to the pool that was forming slightly on the floor. Instantly, she snaps her head towards Gabriel, mentally strangling him with her eyes.

"I even thought to bring in some special guests to play along with us." Gabriel turns his amused orbs away from his sisters' angry ones, "This one is called Guess Who."

"Look man," Michael's jaw tightens, glaring fiercely at Gabriel, "I don't give a fuck what game you wanna play, but those girls," He nods his head towards Cataleya and Rheah, "You need to let them go."

Silence lingers in the room as Gabriel stares at Michael for a moment, a little impressed by his affection for his sisters.

But he wasn't that impressed to actually follow through with Michael's request.

He then turns his gaze towards Chris, to find him staring intently at something, well rather, someone...

Gabriel follows Chris' line of sight to see that it stopped right on Cataleya. Instantly, he could feel a trail of jealousy run through his body as he quickly picks up on one of the emotions evident in Cataleya's eyes as she stares back at Chris.

After all, she used to look at him like that very often.

However, Gabriel's jealously didn't last long as he remembers that Chris still had no idea who Cataleya really was. That was enough to bring a devious smirk back on Gabriel's lips as he glances back at the clueless men that sat bound in front of him.

When he had ordered his men to grab his sisters, they had also been tranquillised as well. Not only did Gabriel not want to face them trying to fight back, but he also didn't want them trying to run away.

Unlike the boys, he'd kept the girls in better care in one of the bedrooms upstairs and waited with them until they woke up. As soon as they were up, the girls spent 10 minutes arguing with him for tranquillising them and demanded to know if the boys were still alive.

Shortly after apologising to them for the sedation and getting them to calm down by telling them that their 'precious Andersons' were alive, Gabriel got started on his own aggressive line of questioning regarding the girls treacherous behaviour.

Obviously feeling very guilty about what they had done, the girls didn't hesitate to answer any of Gabriel's questions; one of them revealing to him that they still hadn't told the boys the truth about their real identities. But before Gabriel could smite them with the news of their father, a guard had informed him that one of the boys had woken up and he abruptly left his sisters in the room.

Now, here he was, geared and ready with even more ammunition to make these men suffer more than they had so far.

"Now why would I do that?" Gabriel's eyebrows furrow with confusion, "Especially when I've only just got them back."

Cataleya and Rheah's eyes widen in panic as they shift their gazes towards Gabriel, quickly noticing the amused smile on his face and evil glint to his eyes.

"Gabriel..." Cataleya calls out warningly.

While most of the Kings' eyebrows furrow in confusion at Gabriel words, Mase's rise with realisation as he begins to put most of the pieces together.

Chris too, couldn't help but stare closely at Cataleya with a questioning gaze. He had picked up on the way she had called out the little Italian prick's name and something didn't sit right with him at all.

Michael on the other hand, was still too caught up in his anger to even begin to decipher what Gabriel was trying to hint at and just continued ranting.

"Word to my muva, If you hurt either one of them I'm going to–"

"Wait," Gabriel frowns, "You think I would hurt my own sisters?"

As if the world had stopped spinning and all life had died on the outside, the room and everything in it grew extremely still.

"The fuck did you just say?" Michael asks dangerously slow after a while as he stares at Gabriel.

"Oh yes! You haven't been properly introduced!" Gabriel smiles as he throws his arm around Rheah's shoulder and one arm around Cataleya's waist, pulling them closer into him, "Everyone, meet Cataleya and Rheah Giovanni, daughters of the Mafia King himself and his greatest weapon of all, The Angeli Della Morte."

Hiroshima 1945.

Atomic bomb.

Total chaos and destruction.

That was the only way to describe the atmosphere in the room the moment the words slipped out of Gabriel's mouth.

All eyes were glued to the sisters as the crew, speechless, struggle to process what they had just heard. Jaws had dropped while others had wide eyes. Two in particular barely moved a muscle. They only blinked ever so often, their eyes locked onto the two women, completely stunned. Even the guards were shocked by the news.

The Mafia King has daughters?!

These two women are legendary Angeli Della Morte?!

From the moment the bomb had dropped, Rheah found herself caught in a stare down with Michael. While her eyes held guilt and regret, his held anger, shock and heartbreak.

Cataleya on the other hand, couldn't bring herself to even look at Chris. She knew that if she did, all she would see was hate. That the light that was always there whenever their eyes met, would be put out forever.

Mase scoffs, breaking the silence, "Yo, I told y'all there was something off about them!"

"Oh... shit..." Benny and Jamal utters slowly, finally picking his jaw from off the floor.

"Now I know, I didn't hear that right." Rashaun shakes his head in disbelief.

"This is a fucking joke right?" Kyle raises eyebrow, glancing between the sisters.

But no one was laughing...

...except Gabriel.

"Guess who!" He cackles, shaking his head as he wipes away a fake tear, "This game me gets every time."

"Gabriel!" Rheah hisses in a warning tone.

"What?" Gabriel muses. "You don't think it's fair to tell your new found family that you were in fact were sent by your REAL family to kill these bastards?" He points between Michael and Chris with his knife. "Though, on the subject of that, I'm still confused as to why you guys haven't done so yet..." He turns his gaze over to the girls, sending them a very apparent glare.

"Okay Gabriel," Cataleya grits out at him. "That's enough."

"Oh Leya, I've barely even begun." Gabriel's mischievous smirk only widens. "I mean, telling your lil boyfriends the truth was the least I can do for them before their skins were turned inside out over their bodies."

Cataleya opens her mouth to lash out at him again when Chris' deep cold tone stops her in her tracks.

"Is it true?"

Cataleya's head snaps towards him, her eyes finally connecting with his and her heart breaks at the emptiness she saw in them.

"Is. He. Telling. The truth?"

She stares at him for what seems like a lifetime until she reluctantly nods her head.

"Yes." She whispers.

All the boys couldn't help but react once again to the news. It was one thing to hear Gabriel tell it, but to have finally had a verbal confirmation from the girls was mind blowing!

"Wow..." Rashaun and Jamal voice in unison.

Kyle and Benny shake their heads, staring at them with disappointment and anger. "Damn..."

Mase smacks his lips, "Bitches ain't shit!"

"Hey! Watch your fucking mouth bitch!" Gabriel snaps at Mase.

Suddenly, Michael laughs.

Everyone turns to him but Chris who was still glowering at Cataleya who was crumbling beneath his dark gaze.

"Oh boy..." Jamal mutters.

"And what the fuck is so funny?" Gabriel's murderous glare shifts to Michael who was shaking his head as he tries to calm down from his laughter.

"The fact that I actually fell in love with this bitch." He spat venomously.

Rheah's heart felt like it had been pierced with a knife by Michael's bitter words.

"Wow... And to think, I was going to marry the devil herself." He peers up at Rheah who was already staring at him with glossy eyes, "There really is karma out there huh."

"Mic–"

"DON'T FUCKING SPEAK TO ME!!"

Rheah flinches at his sudden outburst. She was breaking down inside, feeling the venom and hate behind every word he had spat at her a moment ago. But she had to stay strong.

"Michael I didn't want it to come to this, trust me!" She tries to reason.

"TRUST?!" Michael bellows, "You been fucking lying to me since the day I met you! If I hadn't taken that fucking paternity test I would think that Cienna ain't even mine right about now!"

Rheah's lips quiver and her heart drops as tears roll down her cheeks.

"Speaking of..." Gabriel's voice interjects, turning to his sister, "Rheah, what the fuck is wrong with you?! You knew this is your baby father and you didn't say shit?!"

Michael looks at Gabriel and laughs. "Damn...your own brother ain't even know?" He sets his eyes on Rheah again. "Whew, you are one fucked up bitch huh... you really just be lying to everybody!"

Squeezing her eyes shut, Rheah tries to ignore his painful words. "Michael you need to calm down okay?"

"Calm down?! CALM DOWN?! I been fucking with a snake for months now and you ah try fi tell ME fi calm dung?!"

Michael was so heated and so heartbroken, his native heritage seeps through his tone and words.

"Yuh better pray mi nuh get up from ya, cah mi promise ah yu bloodclart neck mi ah bruck!" He rages.

"You don't mean that..." She whimpers.

"Come close nuh and find out." He threatens.

Gabriel shakes his head, "Signore, aiutaci (Lord help us) Rheah, why the fuck would you keep something like that from us?! We're your fucking family!"

Rheah swivels her head back to him, "Gabriel now is not the time okay!"

But he throws his hands up in frustration. "Non è il momento giusto? Altri segreti! Credevo che non fossimo tra noi! (Now is not the time?! More secrets! I thought we didn't have those between us!)" He shoots a quick glare at Cataleya, letting her know he was referring the last part to her.

"Sta' zitto Gabriel! Ne parleremo più tardi! (Shut up Gabriel! We will talk about this later!)" Rheah snaps at him.

Gabriel shakes his head but stays quiet, still reeling in disbelief.

Michael scoffs. "Wow... you really about this life and the whole time you holding that shit down. So, since you're a fucking assassin, why you ain't do your job already huh? And don't say it's love 'cus you don't love me. You never did." He glares at her.

"That is not true, Michael and you know it!" She argues.

"No I don't 'cus you been lying this whole fucking time!" Michael yells back. "Is Rheah even your real name?!"

Rheah takes a few steps towards him with pleading eyes, "Michael I know I have been lying to you this whole time, but if it's one thing I haven't lied about, it's the way I feel about you!"

"BULLSHIT!"

Rheah sighs. She knew it was no use trying to convince him now. He was enraged and his mind was already set.

Michael glares at her. "That's what I thought."

Rheah stares at Michael but all she could see was anger burning in his eyes. Even his aura had shifted and she could feel the bitterness pour out of him into the surroundings.

"So, was how you felt was all a lie too?"

Chris' voice grabs everyone's attention.

"No, Chris, all of it is true!" Cataleya tries to convince him with pleading eyes. "Everything I felt for you was real! It still is!"

Gabriel's head snaps towards Cataleya. "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Gabe please do–"

"You broke up with me for this sick fuck?!"

All eyes almost pop out of their sockets at the revelation, the boys each displaying various expressions of shock, disgust and confusion all over their faces.

"Say what?!"

"Oh hell no!"

"What in the Jerry Springer is going on?!" Benny's bewildered eyes dart between brother and sister.

"Wait...." Chris furrows his eyebrows, "This is the nigga you were playing me for? YOUR FUCKING BROTHER?!"

"Chri–"

"Nah don't fucking try to explain shit to me!" Chris snaps at her, causing her mouth to close shut.

With his mind still caught in a spin cycle as he struggles to wrap his head around everything he had just heard, Chris glares at Cataleya and all she wanted to do was dissolve on the spot.

"You know, you are one sick, twisted bitch!" He glares at her with narrowed eyes filled with nothing but pain and disgust.

Cataleya clenches her jaw, trying to keep her emotions together. "You don't know what you're talking about, Chris."

"No I fucking do!" Chris snarls, "Y'all deadass a bunch of fucking dirty ass people! I can't believe I actually thought you were any different from these toxic hoes but you're fucking worse!"

"Stop fucking talking to her like that!" Gabriel growls at him.

"Oh my bad bro," Chris' disgusted glare turns to him, "I didn't mean to offend your sick freak girlfriend!"

"I'm not his girlfriend!"

"Like hell you aren't!" Gabriel's jaw tightens in irritation.

Cataleya glares at Gabriel.

"Damn, this nigga really fucking with his sister!" Jamal mumbles, still trying to come to terms with all this.

Mase smirks, "Told y'all white people be crazy..."

"Oh I can't wait to get up from here and kill all y'all!" Michael growls.

"Go ahead and try." Gabriel smirks, "I will cut your fucking legs off before that even happens."

Mase smacks his lips, "Man you been saying you gon' kill us for the last hour! Nigga if you feeling froggy, jump!"

A devious chuckle rumbles out of Gabriel as he paces in front of his hostages. "Be careful what you wish for," He smiles sinisterly, "I told you guys I would make it special. And I think it's only right if I let the angels do what they do best."

"And what's that? Lie?" Michael scoffs, "I ain't see how that's gonna work out right now."

"No." Gabriel snarls, "They're going to calve their initials deep into your flesh and cut you into tiny pieces from the bottom up, feeding you the pieces as they go along.

"I'm sorry Gabriel," Cataleya shakes her head. "But we can't do that." She says defiantly as she turns towards him.

Gabriel's jaw tightens as he frowns, "Yes. You. Will."

"No," Rheah sends him an apologetic stare, "We won't."

Gabriel was about about lash out at them when Michael's chuckle interrupts.

"You heard them." He smirks mischievously, "Looks like yo lil "angels" ain't all what they made out to be after all."

"Shut the fuck up!" Gabriel redirects his anger towards Michael, "You will pay for what you have done to our father, you idiotic bastard!" He sneers. "Even if it's not by them!"

"Wait, what happened to Papa?" Rheah's eyes widen with confusion and worry written all over her face. Cataleya's held the same expression.

"Oh, your lil boyfriends didn't tell you?" Gabriel turns to them, "They sent one of their little guinea pigs to pretend he was an informant just so he could take us out!"

"Nigga we told you we ain't do shit!" Chris snarls.

"STOP LYING!" Gabriel bellows at him. "Because of you, my father is in a fucking coma!"

The girls almost faint right there on the spot.

While Rheah felt her heart plummet to the centre of the earth, Cataleya's stomach twists into the tightest knot.

It couldn't be true! It just couldn't be!

"Gabriel, please tell me you're lying!" Cataleya stares at him for answers.

But her brother's face twists into irritated offence. "Why the hell would you think I would lie about a thing like that?! I'm not like you two traitors who seem to be lying to everyone they claim to love and care about!"

The brothers scoffing in agreement catches the siblings' attention. They turn towards them and while Chris saw hurt and shock in Cataleya's eyes which was slowly darkening into anger, the rage in Rheah's eyes were already there, burning into Michael's whose own dark orbs matches her own.

Gabriel rambles on about how he took care of the informant, revealing to the girls that it was Isaiah. But at this point, Rheah had drowned him out, approaching Michael.

"Is this true?" She asks him.

Michael scoffs. "Look who's asking me for the truth." He kisses his teeth and rolls his eyes.

Rheah's anger continues to grow by the second.

"Michael did you or did you not send Isaiah to take out the Italians?!"

His dark gaze never falters on her. "Maybe we did, maybe we didn't." He taunts. "But it looks like the bitch got what he deserved anyways."

Gabriel was ready to pounce but Cataleya pulls him back, Chris silently glares down the two with so much hatred it would set them on fire.

"Michael. You are playing a very dangerous game here." Rheah's jaw clenches along with her fists. "Now I don't care what you gotta say to me but you will not speak on my father!"

Though her tone was cold enough to send shivers up a grown man's spine, Michael looks at her straight in the eye with an equally icy glare.

"What? Did I strike a nerve on Daddy's little princess? Your father ain't shit!" He spat. "And even though we ain't send that hit out, it's good someone got to him before we did 'cus I guarantee you we woulda did shit properly and his old ass wasn't finna be in no co–"

A loud SLAP echoes throughout the room as Michael's head flung to the side and Rheah's hand returned to her side.

Everyone looks at the two, completely stunned! All except Gabriel, who was smirking, Cataleya who was still glowering and Chris whose jaw clenched with anger, itching to be let out of his restraints.

Michael turns his head slowly back to his front to come face to face with Rheah's furious eyes as he stares back with equal aggression. Crimson liquid was slowly oozing out from the side of his mouth again as her slap was so powerful, it had made his lip bleed once more.

"I said do not speak. On. My. Father." Rheah growls, her voice slow, low and deadly.

Gabriel shakes his head, "Looks like you've upset her."

While Mase, Chris and Michael send Rheah a murderous glare, the other boys look on in shock!

They couldn't believe that the sweet caring mother of Michael's child was now a cold, violent woman with a mean swing.

But despite the assault, Michael still had more pettiness in his system.

"I hope that nigga dies." He chuckles.

Cataleya, who was pulling back a seething Rheah away from Michael, felt the knife of his words. She suddenly lunges for him along with Rheah but Gabriel pulls them back just in time.

"I SWEAR IF HE DIES, SO HELP US GOD!" Cataleya screams.

"Calm down Angeli!" Gabriel tries to de-escalate. "As much as I would love to see you fuck him up now, a simple beat down's not good enough for these bastardi. They will pay for what they've done slowly and painfully. I want y'all to enjoy ripping them apart." He smirks sinisterly as he looks to the crew.

The girls stop squirming.

"Fine." Rheah huffs. "Leave. We will handle this."

Gabriel frowns, "What?! No! I want to se–"

"Just go!" Cataleya orders. "We'll have our fun first, we'll make sure you don't miss out."

Gabriel notices the dark look in their eyes and a devious smile etches across his face. He was no longer staring at his two sisters but was instead, face to face with the Angeli Della Morte. And they were hungry for the souls of their next victims.

The girls weren't triggered easily, neither were they the type to kill for sport; they only exterminated threats to their family and their empire. That was one of the reasons why they had spared Stefano that day.

But when you crossed the line and spoke ill of their father, it was like signing your own death wish.

"Very well then. I'll be waiting downstairs." Gabriel smirks. "Just so that when the screams sound, they would be even sweeter from far away."

He hands Cataleya his knife and Rheah his gun before motioning towards the two guards on his side of the room to follow him. The two guards follow Gabriel out, the last one locking the door closed behind him, leaving the hungry lionesses to glare at their prey while three guards still remain.

"Now I'm going to ask one last time," Rheah looks at Michael dead in the eye. "Did you or did you not send Isaiah out there to kill our father."

"Unlike you, I don't lie to the people I claim to love so for the last time we ain't do shit!" Michael snarls.

The two stare each other down for what seemed like an eternity.

Rheah tries to read his eyes. They were filled with so much hatred towards her and hurt.

But in the midst of it, she could also see the truth hidden within his orbs.

"Rheah," Kyle speaks up nearby, "We didn't know anything about what went down earlier."

"Facts." Jamal pipes in, "Whatever shit Isaiah was up to, he did that on his own accord."

"Dumb ass nigga." Mase scoffs, referring to Isaiah.

Rashaun notices a trail of blood beginning to slide past his feet and he looks across to see the blood trail that ran down from Chris' arm. Chris was now also sweating profusely but his eyes and facial expression remain cold as ever and unfazed as his glare stayed glued to Cataleya.

"Fuck! Ay Chris is bleeding out here yo!" Rashaun exclaims.

Everyone immediately looks at the floor to see the trail that had run down from Chris' side. It was like he was lost in a dark trance as he stares motionless and empty at Cataleya who was now staring down at the floor in shock.

She looks up at him, only to be met with the same gaze he had fixed on her the moment the truth about her real identity was out.

"Fuck!" Michael's eyes grow with panic, "Aye look, I don't care if you wanna kill me or torture or whatever it is that y'all  wanna do but one of y'all need to help him!" He pleads. "Cataleya. If you really did care about him, please I'm begging you to do something!"

Time was ticking away and Michael's fear was growing by the second. He couldn't lose his brother. He just couldn't!

Cataleya turns to Rheah who was already looking at her. They didn't need to speak.

From the moment they realised that Michael was in fact telling the truth about the brothers not being involved in their father's incident, the sisters already knew what they had to do.

Slowly, Rheah begins to move closer to Michael. He watches her carefully, anticipating her force.

Everything became a blur after that.

Rheah slips past the brothers, reaching one of the guard standing behind the boys. In one swift movement, Cataleya grabs the pen that was resting on the table nearest to her and throws it over to Rheah.

As Cataleya hurls the knife she had in her hand directly into the first guard's heart, Rheah catches the pen and stabs it into the throat of guard infront of her. While he chokes on his own blood, Rheah lifts her leg and swoops it in the air into a roundhouse kick, knocking out the last guard.

All three guards drop to the floor and the boys look around as much as they could to get a better view of the scene behind them. They couldn't see much but the legs of one of the guards and could hear the choking sounds of the other.

Rheah turns back around and begins untying Michael from the chair. "We don't have much time," She says, "We need to get out of here fast before Gabe realises what's going on."

Cataleya rushes around to help untie Benny and Rashaun. Soon the boys are up and out as Benny helps Michael release Chris from his restraints.

While Rashaun unties Jamal, Rheah assists Kyle and Cataleya frees Mase. Soon, all of the remaining Kings were up and begin to collect the guns off the guards, arming themselves.

Michael holds Chris up as Kyle tears the cloth off a nearby curtain before heading back over to his godbrothers as he and Michael both try and stop the bleeding.

"Man the fucking bullet is still in there!" Chris grits his teeth in pain.

"Fuck...you gotta hold on bro!"

Chris chuckles at his brother's words, "Don't I always?"

"You need to get backup here ASAP!" Rheah tells them.

"And make sure there is a medic in there. He's gonna need that bullet out and fast, he had about 15 minutes before it gets lost in there or probably touches a vessel and pierces it with all the movement he's about to be doing." Cataleya fusses.

Jamal pulls out his phone from his pocket. "I'm on it."

Michael and Kyle had just finished wrapping up Chris's arm as best as they could for the time being. As they help him up, a wave of dizziness suddenly catches Chris, causing him to stumble slightly. But Michael holds him up.

"You alright bro?" Michael looks at him, concerned.

"Yeah yeah," Chris nods and takes the gun from Michael's hand, "Let's just get the fuck out this place."

Michael nods and throws Chris' arm over his shoulder as Mase hands him one of the guns he had in his hand. All the boys check their weapons to see if it was loaded and ready for use.

While Cataleya and Rheah walk towards the door, Jamal ends the call, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "Alright y'all the van is about 8 minutes out," He informs.

Chris nods, "Alright, text them and let them know we gonna meet them on the east side of the estate near the pool house."

"Damn that's a bit far, you sure you can make it there?"

"Just send the text, Jamal."

"Yes Boss."

Jamal sends the text and a few seconds later it was confirmed.

"Okay let's move!" Cataleya orders.

But just as sisters turn to open the door, they hear a few gun clicks behind of them, causing them to stop in their tracks. Slowly, they turn around, raising their hands in surrender once they notice all guns were aimed at them.

"Who said anything about y'all coming?" Michael glares at them.

Rheah rolls her eyes, "Look, right now this isn't about us, it's about Chris and you guys getting out of here alive."

Chris scoffs, "Who said we needed y'all to do that?"

"No one needed to say it because it's obvious." Cataleya talks back.

Chris scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"Look," Rheah stares between the brothers, "We ain't saying y'all gotta be buddy buddy with us and shit, we'll hold our own. But you guys need us if you're going to make it past all those men out there."

Michael takes the gun off safety, pointing it at Rheah. "I'd rather take those chances."

But Kyle lowers his gun and taps Michael on the shoulder. "Hey man, she has a point."

"Forreal," Rashaun follows suit, "And who's to say there aren't more of them out there now than there were before? We need all the help we can get."

"I'd rather die than let those bitches live." Michael grits.

"Look, Michael. It's not about us right now. I made a promise to our daughter that she would see both parents soon and I intend on keeping that."

Michael clenches his jaw.

"Now it's up to you to decide, if you wanna make that promise stand."

Rheah stares at him and she could tell the wheels were turning in his head. He shifts his eyes over to Chris who was still glaring at Cataleya.

Feeling his brother's gaze, Chris turns to look at Michael as they have a silent conversation. A few moments later, Michael breaks the silence.

"Alright." He gives in, "But when we get into that van, we will deal with you two accordingly."

"And what does that mean?" Cataleya narrows her eyes at him.

"Just what he said." Chris answers.

His blunt, curt tone did not sit well with either of the girls but they didn't have time to sit and argue, their lives were hanging in the balance.

"Okay on 3." Michael commands.

Everyone takes their guns off safety.

"1..."

"Wait! I don't have a gun!" Cataleya's eyes widen.

"2..."

"I don't either!" Rheah voices.

"3!"

Just as Michael hit three, he turns around and shoots each guard already on the floor in the head.

Like expected, the door burst open and three guards charge in, ready to shoot. But they didn't get the chance as Chris, Rashaun and Benny shoot them down.

"Go go go!" Michael shouts.

The boys began to move swiftly out the room as the girls stay back to pick up the hand guns from the fallen guards.

o~O~o

"Any updates, Uncle Dino?" Gabriel asks with the phone pressed against his ear.

"No son," He hears Dino sigh. "But you know you will be the first person I call when I hear anything."

A sad smile rests of Gabriel's face. "Thank you, Uncle."

But just as he was about to say something else, the sound of gunshots and shouting coming from upstairs grabs his attention.

"Uncle, let me call you back. There is a matter I need to attend to." Gabriel tells Dino as he rises from his feet.

"Okay, son. Be careful." Dino warns.

"I will. Ciao Uncle." Gabriel answers before the phone call was ended and he could listen much more closely to the gunshots and the rumbling of footsteps.

Realising what was going on, Gabriel's eyes widen with anger as he begins to shout his orders.

"Stanno cercando di scappare! Muoversi! (They're trying to escape! Move!)"

The 16 guards in the room begin to pile out of the foyer and split into two, half going up one set of stairs while the others climb up the other way. Gabriel heads out the front door, watching the 15 men who were outside hanging around the cars.

"I prigionieri stanno fuggendo! Non toccate le ragazze, uccidete gli uomini sul posto! (The prisoners are escaping! Don't touch the girls, kill the men on site!)"

At Gabriel's command, the men outside begin to scatter around as they get to different positions and spots in hopes to catch the men. Gritting his teeth in irritation, Gabriel turns back around, pulling off his tie before he loads his gun as he enters the house, making a beeline for the stairs.

o~O~o

Upstairs, the crew and the girls were racing down the hallway, shooting anyone that got in their way. Bullets were flying everywhere from the Italians to theirs. As they tried not to get hit reaching the end of the hallway, the crew take a sharp right, running down another long corridor with the Italians hot on their heels.

Just as Kyle was about to lead them round the other bend, a rain of bullets fly past his head, causing him to halt. Assessing the situation, he realised that the Italians were coming up from both angles, heading straight towards them.

The crew were stuck.

"Fuck! I'm out!" Michael throws his gun down after shooting his last bullet, hitting a man straight in the head.

Kyle and Mase kill a man each. "Shit same!"

"Give me your gun." Michael orders Rheah.

Rheah swivels her head round to him and stares at him sceptically for a moment. But sensing danger behind her, she tears her eyes away from him and shoots a man approaching them from behind before turning back to Michael.

"No."

"Are you trying to get us killed?!" Michael hisses, "Give me that shit!"

"No!" Rheah rebuts stubbornly, "You guys focus on getting out to the meeting spot, me and Leya got this."

"Like hell I'm finna trust you with shit! Give me the damn gun!"

While they were arguing, Kyle punches one of the guards that had ran up on them, following up with an elbow to the throat before twisting his arm around and pushing him to the floor. A powerful kick to the face knocks the guard out cold.

Mase throws a few jabs at the second guard who had gotten closer to the crew. Grabbing the guard, Mase uses him as a human shield, just in time as 3 bullets flew his way, landing in the guard's chest.

"Y'all, it looks like we gonna have to jump it." Rashaun points to the window opposite them.

"Aye we gotta move fast yo, I'm almost out!" Benny exclaims.

Chris hands his gun to Michael, "Here."

Michael takes the gun from Chris, still holding him up and begins to move into the centre of the bend, shooting a few men down from his right side while Cataleya and Rheah keep the Italians on his left at bay.

Jamal shoots a few rounds into the window, causing the glass to shatter before using his foot to kick away the shards. Him and Kyle stick their heads out the window to inspect their route of escape.

It wasn't looking too good.

They were on the second floor so they were quite high up. To make matters worse, there wasn't much below to break their fall so the probability of sustaining a few injuries from the jump was high.

"Shit..." Jamal curses.

Kyle looks across at the tree that was bending close to the window. A light bulb instantly turns on in his head.

"Alright, if we use the tree, we can hang on to the branch and cut the drop by a few feet." He calculates, "But I don't know how Chris is gonna do it with his fucked up arm."

Chris smacks his lips, "Man Imma be alright, let's just go."

"If most of you go down first, y'all could help catch him." Cataleya suggests.

Chris glances over at her with the same cold glare as she looks away from him.

"That could work." Kyle agrees.

"Alright move! Move! Move!" Michael hustles.

Jamal, Mase and Rashaun climb out one by one. Just as Michael was about to help Chris out the window, a bullet flies past his hand and Chris' arm.

"Shit!" They both curse.

Cataleya and Rheah instantly turn back, in fear that one of them had been hit. But they breathe a sigh of relief when they notice that they were both still okay.

"Michael, Benny give us your guns." Cataleya requests.

"Fuck no!" Michael objects.

"Look, we can handle this," Cataleya states, "Give us the guns and you guys focus on getting out!"

Michael mean mugs her. "Why should I trust any of you two?"

Cataleya's eyes briefly shift to Chris, who was still glaring at her, before they fall back on Michael. "Because we never took the opportunity to kill you the many times we had them." She answers.

"And we're not about to start now." Rheah inputs.

Michael looks between the two of them, sceptically and untrusting. But he looks at Chris who turns away from his stare off with Cataleya to look at him. No words were mentioned between the two of them until reluctantly, Michael hands his gun to Rheah.

"Benny, hand yours over." He orders.

Benny gives his gun to Cataleya.

Bullets began to fly past them, hitting the wall and the window frame.

"Oh hell no."

Cataleya steps forward and sends straight head shots into the guards. Rheah does the same on the opposite side.

"Damn..." Benny stares at the girls in awe.

An irritated Michael smacks his lips. "Man help me get him out the window." He refers to Chris.

Coming out of his mini daze, Benny helps Michael lift Chris out the window and close to the tree. Chris uses his upper body strength in his good arm to shuffle across the tree as much as he could.

And then, he lets go.

Below, the boys catch him, slightly cushioning his fall. Benny climbs out next, leaving Michael and the girls.

He turns back to see their progress but the girls were already facing him.

"Let's go." Rheah says.

Michael curiously looks behind them in either direction to see no more men shooting at them and bodies piled in each direction. He didn't get to see the action but the bodies were enough to impress him.

If they were really the Angeli Della Morte then he knew they had skill. But to what extent, he would never know.

"Uh, I hear footsteps guys let's go!" Cataleya hurries them.

Michael jumps out the window followed by the sisters. But just as Cataleya was shuffling out to get on the branch, a guard comes running down the hallway, shooting.

Not even having time to grab the tree, Cataleya jumps. Luckily for her, the crew were looking up and catches her, Benny being the one to gently put her down back on her feet.

"Thank you." She smiles.

Benny nods. "No worries."

Cataleya turns to look at Chris to see how he was doing but was met with the same cold glare. She quickly looks away to the rest of the boys.

"We better get going, they're–"

Before she could finish her sentence, bullets begin to rain down. Some of the Italians had reached the window and were now shooting out of it at them.

"Go Go Go!" Rashaun yells.

Everyone begins to sprint across the mansion grounds. Running past the pool, they make their way over to the small bridge arching across the pond.

Soon, an array of bullets begins to spray at them as three guards situated near the pool, fire from their machine guns.

The crew and the girls immediately start to duck and run low, trying their best to avoid the bullets. From inside the house, Gabriel and a handful of men run out the back door to see the crew and the girls running over the bridge.

"Non lasciare che quei bastardi fuggano! (Don't let those bastards escape!)" Gabriel roars.

The guards begin to run after the crew, shooting at them as they did so. The crew and the girls make it to the first fence,  swiftly scale over it and continue to run while Gabriel and his men chase behind them.

At the sound of his phone beeping while he runs, Jamal pulls out his phone. "Alright the vans here y'all, just a few more feet to go!"

That put motivation into the crew as they power the last couple of feet until the mansion's boundary wall came into view where the van would be behind of, waiting. The guys help Chris climb over the wall first before Benny and Mase follow next.

As they begin to help Kyle up, bullets begin to hit the wall around them.

"Shit! Hand me a gun!" Kyle demands.

Cataleya hands him the one gun she had left with bullets. Kyle sits ontop of the wall, firing back and hits a few men in the process.

But time was running out.

Soon, more men would draw close and by then, anyone on the other side of that wall would be dead.

All at once Cataleya, Rheah, Michael, Jamal and Rashaun begin to climb as Kyle did his best to stall a few of the men by gunning them down.

As the five begin to scale the wall, more guards emerge and more bullets hit the concrete barrier. Michael got to the top first and was about to head over when he notices Rheah close to the top as well. When a bullet came inches close to her head, Michael instinctively pulls her up and pushes her down over to the other side. She hits the ground with a thud.

Feeling pain shoot up her hand and arm, she knew she had probably sprained her wrist but still pushes herself up off the floor.

She wanted to cuss at Michael, knowing he did that on purpose but she knew it had good intentions behind it so she lets it go. Instead of running across the road to the van, she peers up, waiting to make sure her baby daddy and sister were okay.

o~O~o

In the back of the van, two of the Cartel's medics were tending to Chris' gunshot wound. Using a sterilised tweezer, they dig into his wound before pulling out the bullet while Chris bites back the pain.

"Fuck!" He winces, throwing his head back in agony.

Soon the medics were cleaning the wound, stapling it together and wrapping it up.

Mase grips Chris' good shoulder gently, "You alright, bro?"

"Yeah," Chris nods. "Another day, same old shit."

Mase chuckles as he looks out the van to see Rheah now over the wall and Michael and Kyle sitting at the top of it. Chris peers out the van too. He could see Michael and that was all that mattered, though his eyes still subconsciously survey for someone else...

o~O~o

Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, Cataleya panics as her hand slips from her grip. She clings onto the wall for dear life but as if things couldn't get any worse, the bullets seemed to aimed more at her.

Gabriel, who was now drawing close to the wall, notices the 2 figures sitting ontop the wall and the two still climbing it. Realising one of them was Cataleya, he starts to feel panic and anger rise up within him.

"Smettila di sparare alla ragazza e punta gli uomini! (Stop fucking shooting at the girl and aim for the men!)" He screams at his guards.

As Cataleya finally finds her grip, she latches her other arm back on the wall, a bullet hitting the spot her hand was just in. But now that the bullets seem to turn from her, she could now pull herself up the wall with ease.

Michael jumps down off the wall onto the other side, landing near Rheah before he turns back to look up. Kyle had ran out of bullets and was now making his way off the wall as Cataleya and Rashaun finally got to the top.

As the three got ready to make their leap, bullets fly through the air like a sprinkler. But as the three bodies jump, one came crashing down, landing face first onto the floor with bullets to the back.

"NO!!!" Michael screams.

Rheah's hand fly up to her mouth as her heart stops.

The men in the van look out in horror. Jamal runs out towards the body as Michael turns the person over to check for a pulse.

He shakes his head, looking up at the faces staring at him.

"He's dead." Michael pronounces.

Hearts broke at his words. But they weren't even giving time to grieve as the sound of bullets drawing closer to them grabs Jamal's attention.

"Fuck, man we gotta go." He warns them and begins to help Michael lift the body.

The girls follow behind the boys to the van and watch solemnly as they lift their fallen friend into the vehicle before Michael, Jamal and Benny make their way to the front of the van.

Just as the doors were closing, bullets fly down from the top of the wall as a few of the Italian men had made it up in time to let a few rounds hit the van as it speeds away from the the scene.

In the van, the crew was silent.

The girls stare at Rashaun's lifeless body with their hearts filled with sadness. Out of all the boys, he was one of the first to make them feel welcome and was always there to make them feel involved and comfortable. Just like his nickname, he was easy to talk to and just a joy to be around.

He had a good soul. He was just caught up in the wrong things.

Cataleya hadn't realised a tear had fallen down her face until it hit her chin as she reaches up, wiping it with the back of her hand.

Michael glances back at the sisters to see them staring at Rashaun with sadness and guilt in their teary eyes.

His blood boils. The way he saw it, Rashaun would still be alive if it wasn't for them and their wicked lies.

He meets eyes with Chris who was already watching him, giving Michael a short nod. Michael returns the gesture before he turns to the two medics in the car.

"Handle them."

His words grab the sisters' attention, causing them to look up to figure out what was going on. But just as quick as their confusion came, it left once they realised what was about to happen.

"Wait! No don't–"

"Hold them down!" Michael orders.

Kyle and the first medic grab onto Rheah while the other medic and Mase grab onto Cataleya.

"What the fuck?!" She yells, "Don't fucking touch me or I swear I–"

Rheah's eyes widen at the sight a needle getting close to Cataleya's neck yet again. "No! Don't fucking inject her with that shit! She–"

But it was too late.

Painful jabs were delivered to the side of the girls' necks, warm liquid injected into their veins. Immediately, their bodies turn limp and their eyelids flutter until they close.

o~O~o

Queens, New York📍
3:00 pm
April 12th '19

Rheah begins to stir awake, only to be met with a wave of dizziness and shooting pain in the back of her neck. But when she tries to reach out to tend to it, She found that she couldn't.

It was only then, when her blurry vision begins to clear, she realised that her hands were cuffed to the railed headboard of the bed she was lying on.

Turning her head to scan the room, Rheah finally takes notice of a familiar face sitting on a chair opposite her bed.

His brown eyes that once looked at her with nothing but joy, now stare blankly back at her, his face stoic. He seemed to have aged within the past few hours since the bombshell had dropped. The light within his orbs had dimmed and he looked tired, confused and mournful.

"Kyle." Rheah opens her mouth to speak, her voice coming out slightly hoarse and cracked.

He continues to stare at her silently and the hurt in his eyes causes her heart to ache with pain and guilt.

Rheah knew the truth was going to hurt the brothers, but she didn't quite take into account that her one of her best friends would also feel the pain her lies had now inflicted on him.

"I'm so sorry Ky." Rheah frowns, looking down. "I know you probably hate me right now. But–"

"Rheah just stop." Kyle interjects. "I don't wanna hear anything you gotta say to me and I sure as hell don't wanna hear your bullshit apology. The way I see it, if your brother hadn't exposed y'all, y'all would've still continued to lie to us!"

"That's not true!" She argues.

"Yes it is!" He snaps back, his face twisting with anger and hurt. "Rheah, I wanted to be with you! But I let you go to be with Michael because I thought you two were perfect for each other and would never do anything to hurt each other. But you go ahead and pull this shit?!" He stares at her and she stays quiet. "Not only did you lie to him, but you lied to me too! To everybody!"

"Kyle," Rheah blinks back tears, "Please believe me when I say I never wanted things to turn out like this. I never wanted to hurt you too!"

Kyle glares at her. "It's too fucking late, Rheah. I trusted both of you, we all did!But I don't think y'all even understand what that word even means."

Rheah looks down with a frown. She had a feeling that he too, would have a hard time forgiving her. And he has every right not to. She had broken his heart and  ruined the close friendship they once had with each other.

Silence lingers between them as they dwell on their thoughts and emotions until suddenly, someone crosses Rheah's mind, causing her to gasp.

Cataleya!

Scanning the room, her eyes instantly fall on another bed with Cataleya cuffed to it the same way she was, still asleep.

"Leya? Sis wake up." Rheah tries to stir her sister out of her slumber but there was no response. "Why is she not waking up?" Her worried eyes divert back to Kyle.

"She's probably still under the effects of the sedation, Rheah." Kyle replies in a dry tone.

"But she should be awake by now!" Rheah panics. She tries to wriggle out of her cuffs but the searing pain throbbing in her wrist causes her to wince and remember that she had fallen on it when Michael had pushed her over the wall. But as much as her wrist was killing her, she knew it didn't seemed to be fractured as she could just about move it.

"Cataleya wake up!" Rheah shouts as she swings her leg over, trying to kick her bed.

"Rheah stop!" Kyle scolds her.

Eyes filled with fear, Rheah faces him again. "Kyle get a medic here now!"

Kyle scrunches up his face, "For what? She'll come around eventually." He dismisses her with a small tut.

"No you don't understand! She needs to be seen by a medic now! It's a matter of life and death!" Rheah flusters, squirming in her handcuffs.

Kyle continues to stare at her with sceptical eyes before his gaze shift to Cataleya. She seemed fine, sleeping peacefully, oblivious to her sister's distress. But after his gaze diverts back to Rheah, he couldn't deny, the fear in her eyes pulls on his heart and sparks his curiosity.

Smacking his lips, Kyle rises to his feet and strides over to the door. He knocks on the wooden barricade and it opens for him. Rheah could just about make out a guard standing outside before the door was shut closed again and locked.

Rheah was left in her panicked state, confused on whether Kyle had actually gone to get help.

o o o

Two minutes ticks by and Rheah was losing her mind.

What if he doesn't come back?! Cataleya should've have been awake by now but who knows what kind of chemicals were in the tranquillisers she had been injected with?! Not only were they two different kind of sedatives, but there were also very high doses!

If anything was to happen to either Cataleya and her unborn children, Rheah wouldn't know what to do with herself!

Before her growing impatience could brew into anger, she hears a set of keys twist and turn in the lock before the door swings open once again and in walks Kyle, followed by the brothers and the rest of the Kings.

Rheah didn't know if she should breathe a sigh of relief just yet.

"You know for a hostage, you're pretty fucking demanding." Michael scowls at her. "The fuck you need a medic for? You're fine."

Rheah glares at him. "It's not for me, it's for Leya! You never should've tranquillised her!"

"The fuck she need a medic for?" Chris furrows his eyebrows, his eyes shifting to Cataleya. "She'll wake up eventually. You did."

"Unfortunately..." Michael grumbles.

Rheah ignores the sharp sting she felt in her heart from his words and continues to focus on Chris. She notices they had changed the dressing on his arm and have given him a black sling to use to support his injured shoulder.

Rheah suddenly hesitates.

She desperately wanted Cataleya to be checked out and medically assisted, but that would mean revealing that Cataleya was pregnant without her sister's permission.

"Look, I'm just worried okay!" Rheah fusses, "She should be awake by now."

Chris glares at her. "She will wake up when the sedative wears off, Rheah. She don't need do damn me–"

"She's pregnant." Rheah blurts out, squeezing her eyes shut. She peeks them open to meet 6 different version of stunned facial expressions.

"Oh shit..." Jamal voices what everyone was thinking as they face Chris, anticipating a reaction from him.

But he doesn't give one. Instead he remains frozen in his place, staring at an unconscious Cataleya laying in the bed, oblivious to the world around her.

"Jamal get the medic." Chris orders after a moment of silence, his eyes still glued to Cataleya.

Jamal nods. "On it."

"Thank you!" Rheah finally breathes a sigh of relief. But it was short lived when her weary eyes follow Chris as he takes a few steps closer towards Cataleya's bed.

He stares at her with so many emotions bubbling up inside of him and coursing through his veins. He was enraged, hurt, betrayed, humiliated, the list goes on...

He couldn't believe that she had been lying to him this whole time, pretending to be someone she wasn't! He couldn't believe he had this woman around his family, entertained their friendship and against his better judgment, fell in love with her, something he swore he would never do again after his last heartbreak.

And now to add more fuel to the fire, she's pregnant.

"Hey boss, what's the issue?"

The new voice in the room turns Chris' attention away from Cataleya and towards the door where a Paramedic stood, looking for his patient.

"We sedated them both but we didn't know that she is pregnant." Michael answers her, pointing to Cataleya. "And she hasn't woken up yet."

The Paramedic nods and makes her way towards Cataleya's bed.

"How far along is she?" The Medic asks as she shines a light briefly in Cataleya's eyes."

Everyone looks to Rheah for answers.

"A month." She sighs, knowing she was going to get an earful from Cataleya for spilling all her tea once she wakes up.

While the Medic proceed to run a few tests on Cataleya, Chris' eyes wonder over to her torso where he knew his child was warm and safe, growing inside of her.

Damn. He was going to be a father!

His mouth suddenly pulls into a frown as he suddenly begins to regret sedating her and putting his child at risk.

The Medic continues to ask Rheah a few more necessary questions on Cataleya before she pulls out another needle from her medical bag.

"Wait wait wait what are you doing?!" Rheah's eyes widen when she moves the needle close to Cataleya's arm.

"Don't worry, I'm only giving this to her to counteract the effects of the tranquiliser." The Medic reassures her.

"But is it safe for her and the babies?"

"Babies?!" Benny and Kyle chime in synchronised surprise, causing Rheah to cringe after realising her slip up.

"Yeah..." She confesses, "She's having twins."

While Michael's eyes bulged out at the news, Chris almost collapsed.

TWINS?! He was going to be the father of twins?!

"Okay, the mothers vitals are stable so she should be okay." The Medic announces after placing a band-aid on Cataleya's arm where she had injected it. "Just give the treatment a few minutes to run its course and she should wake up very soon."

"But what about the babies?" Chris asks.

"Well, from what we used earlier on, it shouldn't be harmful to the babies but because she was sedated twice, I will come back later with better equipment to check on the health of the babies." The Medic answers.

Rheah nods, "Okay, Thank you." Though she was still worried.

The Medic nods and leaves the room.

It didn't take long for the tranquilliser to wear off and soon, Cataleya stirs in her sleep, slowly becoming conscious again. Opening her eyes, she squints a little as she adjusts to the light in her new environment.

"Where am I?" Cataleya's hoarse voice asks, her head throbbing in pain as well as the back of her neck where she had first been injected.

When her vision finally clears, she almost jumps when she notices all eyes on her.

"You're up!" Rheah grins.

"Yeah...What happened?" Cataleya's confused stare, diverts from her sister immediately towards Chris who was staring at her with the usual dark glare he had given her since the moment their truth was out. But there was something different to the look this time. It was softer, less intimidating.

"So when were you going to tell me you're pregnant?"

Cataleya stares at him, dumfounded.

How did he....? Who told.....?

Her eyes dart over to her sister who was giving her a sheepish smile.

"Rheah!" She hisses.

"I'm sorry, I had to!" Rheah apologises, "You weren't waking up from the tranq and the Medic needed to know."

"Everyone out the room." Chris orders. "I want to speak to Cataleya alone."

Michael nods at his brother before he strides his way over to Rheah.

"Let's go." He orders after unlocking her handcuffs.

But Rheah doesn't budge. Considering the fact that the girls were not in the brothers' good books right now, Rheah wasn't too keen on the idea of leaving her sister alone with the most impulsive one of all.

"No. I'm not leaving my sister." She says defiantly.

But her stubbornness only earns her the barrel of Michael's gun pressed to her temple.

"I'm not finna ask you again." He glares at her. "Move."

Staring into his eyes that once looked at her with love and adoration, Rheah's heart broke in two. But it damn near shattered when he takes the gun off safety and presses the cold barrel deeper into her temple.

Defeated, Rheah sighs and stands up, taking one last look at Cataleya. Her sister gives her a small reassuring nod and that was all she needed.

She steps in front of Michael and walks towards the door, feeling the barrel of the gun now pressed against her spine. Mase, who was nearest to the door, opens it for her and she walks out as they all follow behind, leaving Cataleya and Chris alone in the room.

The two stare at each other. Cataleya tries to read his face but it was like reading a blank page.

"So what other secrets you been hiding from me?" Chris questions after a moment of awkward silence.

Cataleya sighs, "Chris I'm sorry I–"

"Bitch I don't wanna hear your fucking apologies, I didn't ask for that shit!" Chris sharply interjects. "I want you to tell me if there's any more lies and secrets that I need to know about 'cus based on everything I've learned today, I don't even know who the fuck you are!"

Cataleya drops her head down and heaves a small sigh. She was expecting this hostility but her heart aches from the venom and pure hatred in his voice directed towards her. It pierced through her like a knife.

"I don't have anything else to hide." She responds when she eventually meets his gaze again. "But Chris I never wanted to–"

Kissing his teeth, Chris swiftly rises to his feet and heads towards the door.

"No Chris wait! Please!" Cataleya pleads. But he doesn't. Instead, he walks out of the room, slamming the door on his way out.

The air in the room felt lighter and less tense as soon as Chris left. But the floodgates broke immediately. Cataleya's hot tears rolls down her cheeks like waterfalls while a wave of the guilt, shame and regret washes all over her, drowning her in her sorrows.

She expected this reaction from Chris but the intensity of it was far from pleasant. Her heart clenches just thinking about the way his eyes looked so hurt, betrayed and disappointed. And it killed her to know that she was responsible for it all. She was the reason why he looked at her in disgust. She was the reason why he would never ever trust again. She was the reason for it all.

The knowledge of Antonio's current condition only adds more tears to her eyes and guilt to her heart. If she had just did what she was supposed to do, her father wouldn't have had to fly out to America and take a bullet! It was all her fault. She had never failed a mission before and this was why!

But, thinking back to the pain Chris was showing in his whole demeanor, it seems as if she had indeed completed her mission. Chris may physically still be alive, but because of her, he was now dead inside. 

o~O~o

Just outside the door, Rheah was having her own problems. After she had walked out of the room, a large force hurls her roughly to the side and she was suddenly pinned against the wall with Michael's hands gripping her shirt.

"Don't you EVER in your life raise your hand to hit me again! Yuh understand?!" Michael sneers furiously.

Rheah's eyes widen in shock as she stares back into his rage filled orbs only inches away from her face.

Michael glowers at the woman in front of him until he reluctantly loosens his grip on her. He watches as she tries to recover from the assault, fixing up her ruffled shirt.

"Rheah how could you?!" Michael glares at her.

"Mickey I–"

"DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT!"

Rheah immediately shuts her mouth, lowering her gaze from his rage filled eyes.

"You came into my life, introduced me to the daughter I never knew I had! Made me fucking fall in love with you!" Michael seethes, advancing towards her. "Only to find out you've been sent here by your father Antonio fucking Giovanni to kill me this WHOLE time?! Bitch I could kill you right now!"

"So why haven't you?" Rheah asks, taking a step back with each advance he took towards her.

Michael suddenly pins her back against the wall. "Because of Cienna!" He sneers in her face again, "I want to give her one last opportunity to see her mother before I kill her!" 

Rheah's eyes full with horror, "Michael I know you don't mean that..."

"You sure I won't?" Michael growls as he raises his eyebrow, backing away from her, still reeling in anger. "Especially now that I know you're the enemy and you were sent here to kill me?"

"Michael," Rheah's voice cracks, "Do you really think you would be standing here right now if I wanted to kill you?! Yes, I was sent here to take you out but I fell in love with you Michael! You showed me what true love felt like, you gave Cienna her father back and I couldn't take her away from you or vice versa! You need to believe me!"

"Believe you?!" Michael stares at her incredulously, "How THE FUCK do you expect me to believe ANYTHING you say when you've been lying to me for months?! Don't tell me what THE FUCK I need to believe!"

Again, Rheah flinches at his outburst, lowering her gaze from him and the other men who could only watch quietly on the sidelines.

"How could you do this to us Rheah?!" He asks after a short moment of tense silence passes between them. "I let you into my home and gave you all of me! I fucking loved you! I still fucking do and that's the fucked up thing about this all mess! But you?! You never loved me!"

"I do!"

"No you don't because you don't lie to the one you love, especially with a secret as big as this!" He bellows. "Rheah, I asked you time and time again: do you have anything that I need to know about? And each time I asked, you told me no! You lied to me. Each. Fucking. Time!"

Rheah tries to fight back her tears. The pain in his voice was enough for her to know that this man was breaking.

"Michael I was going to tell you everything yesterday because I couldn't keep this from you anymore." Rheah's voice wavers, "But then you proposed. But I-I couldn't say yes to you."

It was then the penny finally drops and so did Michael's jaw.

"So that's why you were saying all that shit to me yesterday in the car?!"

"Mi–"

"I fucking apologised for something I had no control over just to make you feel better, all because you wouldn't tell me the TRUTH?!"

"Michael I'm sorry!" She cries, "There wasn't a better time to tell you before because things were just too complicated! But I tried to tell you Michael!"

Michael scoffs, shaking his head in disbelief. "I can't believe I trusted this bitch!" He grumbles to himself before fixing his eyes on her again. "I truly thought you were the one for me, Rheah. But you're just another fucking snake who doesn't give a fuck who she hurts."

Rheah hangs her head low again. She was naive to think Michael would listen to her reasons. It was stupid to think their love for each other would be strong enough to diminish the harsh truth. She betrayed his trust, his love. She betrayed him.

Chris storming out of the room, grabs everyone's attention. He sends Rheah a menacing glare and she lowers her gaze once more.

"Benny," She hears him say, "Call up Aunty Tiffany. We gotta tell her about Rashaun."

Benny nods, "Aight, say no more. But damn, first her sister and now her nephew? Shit's gonna break her heart."

"Yeah. It fucking hurts. Rashaun was like a son to her." Chris clenches his jaw and glares back at Rheah. "But she'll have these bitches to blame."

Rheah tries to swallow the lump growing in her throat under his murderous glare before Chris turns to the rest of the Kings.

"Mase and Jamal, get an update on the Italians. Kyle, inform Rashaun's workers about their boss."

"Yes boss." They respond before the walk away along with Benny.

Chris's eyes divert back to Michael who shares his look of pain, before Michael shifts his eyes towards one of the awaiting guards.

"Take her back to the room." He orders one of them.

Rheah peers up into Michael's the cold, dark eyes as the guard escorts her back into the room.

Once inside, she was taken back to her bed where she was cuffed to the railings once more. Cataleya, still in tears, looks over at her sister as the guard leaves the room.

"We fucked up, Rheah." Cataleya cries, "We fucked up big time."

Those were the words that broke her sister. Rheah had been holding her own tears in for long enough, trying to stay strong.

But now the reality of it had really hit home and she couldn't hold it in any longer. Her own tears begin to stream from her eyes and her lips quiver as she reflects on the harsh reality: They had broken the Andersons' hearts and have lost their best friends and lovers in the process.

As they continue to fill the room with their tears, both sisters were tormented by the same question.

How long until the brothers finally decide to kill them?

....................................................................................

The Staten Island Safe House

....................................................................................

A/N:

Hello everyone 👋🏾 how y'all doing? Haven't chatted to you all in a while and as you have read, we have A LOT to discuss!

Please, have a seat.

So, where do we even begin? 😩🤔🥴... there's soo much to say! I guess we'll just have to pick out the highlights...

**Roll Credits** 🚨

GABRIEL TAKES OVER THE STATEN ISLAND SAFE HOUSE!

GETS PHYSICAL WITH MICHAEL!

REVEALS ISAIAH'S BETRAYAL TO THE BOYS!

SHOOTS CHRIS IN THE SHOULDER!

REVEALS THE GIRLS SECRET IDENTITIES!

SPILLS THE TEA ON HIS AND CATALEYA'S PAST ENDEAVOURS!

TELLS THE GIRLS ABOUT THEIR FATHER'S CONDITION!

RHEAH GETS PHYSICAL WITH MICHAEL!

THE GIRLS HELP THE BROTHER'S ESCAPE!

CHRIS FINDS OUT HE'S GOING TO BE A FATHER!

MICHAEL GOES OFF ON RHEAH FOR THE THIRD TIME AND THIS TIME ROUGHS HER UP!

*End Credits*🚨

So, what are y'all thoughts?? What do you think will happen next ?

Also, we wanted to make a separate announcement to commemorate the memory of Rashaun 'Easy' Edwards🤧😭 We lost a true King and may his soul rest in eternal peace 🥺

Hope you enjoyed the chapter lovelies and we'll see you again soon x ❤️