- E l e n a F e r r a r i -
"Don't go out of the house." Marco ordered, "Ace and I will be there soon. Also, make sure that you have your stuff with you."
The urgency in his voice had me listening as I changed out of my comfort clothes and into ones made of black leather. Tying my hair into a ponytail, I looked normal, if it weren't for my red rimmed eyes as I strapped on my shoulder holster.
The click of the door opening had me tensing as I carefully whipped out a blade, making sure that I made no noise as I jumped to the ceiling so that I had a better view of who was inside the house. I may be pregnant, but I was not under any means, helpless.
"There's someone in the house." I murmured quietly, "Make sure to put your phone on mute. I'll leave my microphone open."
The phone went dead silent, and although I knew that Marco was tense and frustrated at my order, he knew better than to not listen, especially if even he heard the sound of someone barging in.
My breathing was slow and steady as my eyes wandered from corner to corner, no shadow left untouched as my eyes narrowed onto the door out of the master bedroom.
No one was in this room... Yet.
The sudden creaking of floors had me wincing at how amateur the person was, but it was kind of funny as it was so cliche. What I found surprising though, was that I was suddenly angry at the person who tasked this assassin to kill me.
Did they think that my skill level was that low, that they decided to send a fucking amateur to try and finish me off? Talk about insulting.
My ears were fuming smoke as my thoughts turned into one of rage and fury as the so called assassin made louder footsteps each stair he took. This guy is honestly a moron, and it wasn't just me saying it.
Was his ego so big he didn't even know which house he was breaking into? Did his employer think that this amateur would be able to kill me? I am disgusted at how low they thought of me, but a cruel smirk made its way on my face.
I may have been inactive as 'Red Death' thanks to me joining the Mafia, but that does not mean that I was in any way rusty with my killing skills. Samantha and I have been polishing our skills even after retiring as assassins, and our finesse at killing has only improved.
Thanks to living with Mafia members, they have perfected our techniques and we for them. Not only were we more proficient now, but we were the best of the best.
No one messes with a Mafia Boss, a Mafia Underboss, Red Death, and Silent Death.
Whispers made their way into my ears, and that only dumped fuel into the deep pit of anger. I had no idea why I was so irked, but it was probably my mood swings doing, making my hormones go haywire.
"Yes, I'm in." the person hissed, and my temper raised.
He was novice level at best. Did he not know who he was messing with, or was he too arrogant to care?
"Yes."
It seems as if the person was on the phone as he crept up the stairs, his steps making creaking noises as he gradually made his way to the second floor.
I put my dagger aside as I positioned myself right above the door. I knew that this person was no match for me, and that wasn't cockiness speaking, but facts. If I could detect him the moment he had entered the door, he had no chance to begin with.
The door opened and the guy stepped in, just as I made my move.
Silently, I jumped down onto the person's neck and straddled his torso as he jerked in surprise. Thank God I didn't have a big belly yet.
"Goodnight." I whispered maniacally, and in just two moves, the guy was slumped onto the floor.
~
"I'm insulted." I stayed bluntly as Ace and Marco made it into the house, guns out at the ready as they prepared for danger.
I felt Marco's shoulders relax at my voice as he turned around and pulled me in for a kiss.
"You okay?" he asked, cupping my chin with both of his hands.
"Of course I'm okay." I waved dismissively, "The idiots sent a beginner to try and take me out. The audacity."
I shook my head in disappointment and disgust as a smile tugged at Marco's lips.
"Only you can get angry at that." he joked, and Ace cleared his throat.
"Where did you put him?" Ace interrupted our lovely conversation.
"On the floor." I shrugged nonchalantly.
"That's good." Marco nodded, "He shouldn't be allowed to contaminate our belongings with his touch."
Dramatically, Marco shivered in disgust as Ace's mouth tugged the slightest bit upwards, but otherwise stayed in a firm line.
"Let's go."
Ace loved interrupting our fun. It's annoying.
Groaning out my annoyance, I led them to where I had the assassin tied up on the floor.
"You tied him up in a closet?" Ace raised a brow as I shrugged.
"No where else to put him." I said in explanation as I pulled the struggling man out. Giving him a slap to the face, I hissed at him. "Stop moving."
With those words, I dragged the assassin back down the stairs to the living room, his body rolling down the stairs like a sack of potatoes thanks to his lack of arms at the moment.
I heard the man moan in pain as I towed him into the basement and put him onto one of my favourite torture chairs.
"I haven't been here in a long time." Ace said as I tied the person onto the chair, restraining his arm and leg movement as Marco got out the equipment.
"That's because we never do anything here anymore." I pouted, "We always do the dirty work at The Shed or the warehouse."
"True," Ace murmured.
"Stop fucking moving!" I spat, and the man froze, his eyes widening in fear.
"Don't be an idiot," my husband drawled. "She's having frequent mood swings these days thanks to the circumstances we are in. I believe you know what I am talking about."
"You mean how we have his wife?" the person smirked, trying to hide his fear as I ripped the duck tape off of his mouth.
"I don't know," Marco said, "Is that true, wifey?"
Marco turned to me, a warning look present in his eyes.
He didn't want me to say that I was pregnant. Not yet, at least.
"We can say that." I agreed, and the person let out a dry laugh.
"You know that I was tasked to kill you, right?" the person asked, and I gave him a tight nod.
"I'm not an idiot. You were a beginner." I shrugged.
"And you also know that since I'm a beginner, I wouldn't last long through the torture you are about to put me through."
"Obviously," I drawled.
"You are dumber than I thought."
With that, he stuck out his tongue, showing a blindingly white pill in his mouth, causing me to reach for him in shock. But it was too late.
The man dry swallowed it, and it wasn't even two seconds later that white foam started bubbling out of his mouth as his head slumped to the side. The fucking idiot suicided so that he wouldn't have to go through the torture we would put him in.
What a piece of shit.
"Fuck," I cursed.
"No duh," Ace drawled, a hint of deadness to his tone as he regarded me. "Why did you not check him for these pills?"
"Uhh," I racked my brain for an answer, only to find none.
"You are my Second's wife, Elena!" Ace roared, "You should know this crap! You should know that they always hold a suicide pill with them for emergencies! YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS!"
Oh I'm so fucked. Who pissed in his cereal in the morning?
"Sorry," I whispered, and he just shook his head in annoyance as my own husband let out an annoyed and exasperated sigh.
"Damn it, Elena." he groaned, "You just lost us our only chance at getting some information about their Mafia."
"I'm sorry." I said, and pulled out a dagger, stabbing the man multiple times in defeat.
"Whatever," Ace replied tightly, "He was a beginner. Recruit at best. We wouldn't have gotten much out of him anyways. Anyways, we weren't even going to come here if it weren't for me needing to show you something."
"What is it?" I asked curiously, leaving the dagger embedded into the body as I strode over to Ace who had his phone out.
"Samantha." Marco replied for Ace as he handed me his phone and pressed a play button.
"What's this?"
"Just watch."
With that, the video started as I held my breath in anticipation. I could already tell that this won't be good.
The video started, and the camera blinked a few times before managing to focus on a figure on her stomach, breathing heavily as her long black and burgundy hair fell around her face like curtains.
Samantha.
Samantha laid on the front of her stomach, completely naked as a metal whip cracked across her back. No sound came out of her though.
"Why isn't she screaming?" I asked in horror, and it was only after the one time she screamed did I find out why.
"I told you to not scream, bitch." A man's voice was heard as he stepped into the camera's view.
"This is going to be fun." he laughed, and without warning, he knocked Samantha across her head a couple of times before bringing a fist down the centre of her back.
Samantha's entire body arched at the impact, and I could already feel the start of a bruise forming.
"You don't want to scream again." the person warned, "The next scream will have me chopping off a few fingers."
With that, he walked away, and the whip was cracking once more.
Thankfully, Samantha made no more sounds, and by the time it was done, I was bawling my eyes out.
The camera was picked up, and I felt it position right at Samantha's back, leading me to gasp in horror beneath all the tears that were flowing down my face.
Samantha's entire back looked just like a slab of raw meat. Her backside was whipped raw, and no skin was left untouched by the whip as it cut through skin and caused blood to start seeping out of her wounds and drip onto the floor.
A girl untied the ball gag around her mouth, and Samantha spat at the girl's shoe, showing her defiance. What in the... Why did she look so familiar to me?
"You want to say anything about how your husband runs the Mafia?" the same man's voice was heard.
"Fuck you," Samantha spat, "I won't say a damn word."
"We'll have to rectify that," the person said lightly, as if he didn't just ask someone to whip her back until it bleed out flows of crimson.
"If you send that video to my husband," Samantha growled, "He won't say crap either. He knows that my life isn't worth the lives of the entire Mafia, so it isn't worth it. He knows better than to try and save one life at the cost of many others."
The words were like a knife to my heart as I understood what she meant. She probably wasn't going to make it out alive because she won't reveal any information. But, she wanted to make sure that her death wasn't in vain as she wanted us to extract revenge for her.
"Don't believe everything you see on this piece of shit video, or any other video this pig sends you." Samantha said slowly as her eyes looked deep into the camera. "Trust me."
"I think that's enough heart to heart." the same man interrupted. "Well, Ace Romano. You got an appetizer of what's to come to your wife if you don't say anything. Let's see who'll break first. Your wife, or you?"
With that, the video ended, and I was left shaking as I stared at Ace.
"Will you...?"
"No." Ace clenched his fists as he said it. "Samantha would never forgive me if I tried to sacrifice my members' lives for hers."
"I could never forgive myself if I didn't try." I muttered.
"No." Marco said, cutting off my chain of thought. "Don't even think about trying to look for her. You should know better than that."
"Bu-"
"Enough." Ace demanded, "We came here to show you the video because I felt like it would be something Samantha would want you to see. I also wanted to ask you if you recognize anything in particular about the person talking, the setting, anything that'll give us a clue on her whereabouts."
"I don't really know." I murmured, and clicked the replay button.
Though it kills me to watch this again, I knew that I had to put my feelings aside at the moment. This was not the time and place for it.
"My God..." I murmured when I finally recognized the familiar face of the girl.
"What?" Marco asked urgently.
"That girl," I murmured, and looked at Ace, terror filling my eyes. "Is my younger sister. The sister I thought was killed during the last war between us and the Irish. Alicia."
~
"Elena?"
Marco's voice of uncertainty reached through my brain, and I blinked at him, my vision hazy and unfocused.
"Yeah?" I murmured, my voice wavering as my brain still tried to process what had happened.
"Are you..." He trailed off, his tone hesitant and unsure about my mental status.
"I'm alright," I answered the unspoken question, "Just... Just trying to process everything."
Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I realized that my throat felt dry. Dehydrated.
"That's your sister? Alicia?" Ace asked me, and I nodded my head in an affirmative.
"I thought she died," I whispered.
"But she doesn't look anything like your sister."
"I know," I agreed, "Which is why I didn't recognize her at first. But the eyes, I can't be mistaken. For sure."
I handed the phone back to Ace as his eyes narrowed onto the girl who whipped Samantha. The cold, unfeeling, hazel eyes that had speckles of green and gold in them.
"That's her alright." Marco muttered as they replayed the video a few times.
"Mhm," I couldn't say anything else as I got up, taking a glass of water and downing it in one shot. "Remember? When Salvatore and Alicia were taken during the first War, Salvatore said that she was taken away. No body was ever found."
"Salvatore will be happy," Ace said quietly, "He hasn't been the same since she died. Well, I guess the term 'disappeared' will work better in this case."
"But are we sure, like absolutely sure that that is Alicia" Marco piped up.
"No doubt about it," I uttered, "I would recognize those eyes anywhere. Anyways, Alicia's body was never found, we just assumed that they killed her when both Salvatore and Alicia wouldn't reveal information about us."
"You should give him a call then."
"No," objected Ace. "Do not call him. Even if that is Alicia, we don't know for sure unless we do a blood test. Even then, Alicia has been there for years. Who knows if she still wants to be with him?"
"But are we even sure that Alicia is still on our side?" I countered, "She should've run by now. She's got the skills. I didn't leave her unprotected and useless."
I was angry, no, that didn't even begin to describe what I am I'm feeling right now. I was furious in fact, that my sister was working with the Irish and was willingly whipping the woman who helped her when she was depressed and in need of help.
"Although I have my doubts, I don't think she changed sides..." he trailed off, giving me a look of absolute seriousness. "If Alicia still hasn't run away yet, it means that they are holding something of importance to her as bait. Alicia doesn't look willing to whip her older sister's best friend and my wife. Look closely at her expression, you can see her slip up."
He slid the phone back to me, and I observed Alicia's face one more time, only to not see anything.
"I don't see crap." I said, and Ace sighed.
"Stop your mood swings, Elena, and put aside your anger." he said, "Look closely. I know you can do it. If I can, you can. Look at her eyes."
I grumbled my annoyance but replayed the video, watching Alicia's movements carefully.
"She seems reluctant," I observed, and Ace nodded his head.
"Yeah," agreed Marco, his body hovering over mine. "Her movements when she pulls back the whip. It's hesitating, making the impact of the whip on Samantha back weaker than usual."
"But why is she still there?" I wondered aloud, and Marco snorted.
"That's what we're all wondering." he muttered, "So, are we still going to be calling Salvatore about this new revelation?"
"Who knows," I murmured, "Things are going straight to shit in front of our faces."
"No shit." snickered Marco, "First with Amara appearing out of thin air, then with the Irish rising and more frequent attacks, and now this? Everything is blowing up straight in our fucking faces."
"Everything we built up is breaking down." I uttered under my breath. "There are still so many things unknown to us. We still don't even know who is siding with the Irish, and why Alicia is still alive. What's the point in keeping Samantha alive as well?"
"This is a disaster," Ace muttered, shaking his head. "How many more secrets are we going to discover by the end of this?"
Hopefully no more. I don't think my brain would be able to handle it.
***
BOOM! Look at that! I'm literally the best Author ever (not), doing that to all of my beautiful readers. Anyways, how did y'all like the chapter? Did you like Elena's POV? Did you not like it? Let me know in the comments cause I'm really curious to know your opinions!
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