Chapter Thirty-Six
A lick on the face wakes me from my sleep, and I know that Anubis is the one who stares at me, waiting for some attention.
The morning sun almost blinds me and I look confused at the clock.
15:35 PM.
Holy shit, how long did I sleep?
I put my focus on the bed, seeing Vince still sleeping, sprayed on Everette's side. I search for him in our room, but there is no sight of him.
Did he already leave to meet the Famiglia?
Anubis growls for attention and I roll my eyes at his dramatic behavior. I lower to kiss his head, scratching him behind ears. He's a sucker for attention.
There is something weird about my thoughts. About the way I woke up. I feel... calm. Rested. No nightmares or memories that make my head hurt, no bad actions that make me want to throw up. I feel at peace. Like a normal married woman that wakes up looking for her husband and looking forward for the day.
For the first time in twenty-four years, I have no demons in my brain that keep me awake at night, that
bother me throughout the day. And I know it's not going to last because soon I'll be the Donna of Famiglia, but the title won't bring me back the demons or the bad luck. It's going to bring me power.
1st September, three years ago, was the day I lost my last piece of humanity, when they stole my sanity.
1st September, three years later, I was reborn.
Now it's the time for me to start living. I have Everette standing next to me like my protector, I have Vince that feels more like my son then brother.
I have my life in my own hands.
The buzz of the phone is my wake-up call, because the moment I see Arius calling me, I know the whole speech I just did about peace is long gone.
Because Arius never calls me.
Because no one knows I know him.
I answer the phone, already on my feet. "How bad is it?"
"You put Gianna in a mentally ill asylum?" He hisses, and I try to keep my calm.
"How do you know?" The only people that knew Mamma is there is me and Keres.
"Because your husband put me to follow you, Althea. He saw you sneak out." I almost scream at him, but I remember the sleeping boy in my bed.
I leave the room, my skin feeling on fire. It's not a problem that Everette saw me sneaking because at a point, I would've told him about Mamma.
It's the fact that he might found out about her role.
"And you gave him the address just like that?" I snap.
"You never told me where you put Gianna." He simply says and I wish he was in front of me so I can punch the shit out of him.
"And where do you think I was going when I snuck out?"
"An art show or something. I don't follow you, Althea." Definitely punch him.
"Arius," I say his name with a sigh. I enter the kitchen, wanting to slam my face to the counter.
"He won't be mad. It's not your secret."
"I will be Empress sooner or later."
"But you're not yet."
"You know what happened this morning, Arius?"
"I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway."
"I woke up without any bad thoughts. Or demons. Or tensed muscles. I woke up with a content smile because I spent my birthday fucked by my husband, who by the way isn't mad at me, and then cuddled with both my boys. And now you've ruined my morning." I ramble my frustrations away.
"Then you better explain yourself before I'll spank your ass." I almost choke with my saliva when I hear that rough voice that I love.
Arius hangs the call with one last sighs, and my phone slips from my hold.
Everette looks at me with a raised eyebrow, his face full of annoyance. He opens the door that connects the kitchen with the backyard, and with small steps I walk outside, him following me.
Everette stands in front of me, looking like he wants to strangle me for all the lies I've hidden from him. I walk closer to him, pocking his face with my finger.
"Why aren't you mad?" I ask, and his laugh makes me flinch.
"Oh, I am mad, but my ways of being mad at you involves my cock chocking you, and I'm really trying to not do that."
My hand falls from his face. How the fuck should I response to that?
I know this time he'll be mad, but he doesn't look feral with anger. He looks mad because I broke his trust, again.
"It wasn't my secret to tell, Everette," I begin to explain, but he interrupts me.
"And I understand that. But you could've told me that your mother is fucking alive, Althea. You could've trust me with that, it's not like I was going to meet her."
"I know, okay? I trust you, Everette. Don't doubt that, but my mother is fucking the-" I stop before I let my anger scream the damn house and expose my mother in the worst way possible.
I know the people from this house are loyal, but with a piece of information like that they would betray anyone.
"My mother is the Empress, and since she left me and Keres, she's been reckless. There are mafias that are hunting her, who want her dead. I trust you, but I don't trust the world."
Everette's face turns redder and redder, and I don't know if I should stop talking or keep going.
"You are so loyal to her and in return she's playing mind games with you." He snarls at me, and I take a step back at his anger. I've never seen him so angry before. Not even when he found out about Keres being pregnant with Ivan's child.
Mind games? What is he talking about?
"You put her in an asylum because she would be protected there and because she's sick, am I right?" I frown at the true facts he's talking.
"How do you-"
"Gianna is faking everything, baby. She broke down
earlier when I talked shit earlier about you, she practically-"
"Earlier?" It is me that snarls this time. "You went to her?"
"Yes, I did, and you should thank me for that. She lying about being sick,"
I can't listen to this. I can't listen to him talking like that about my Mamma.
"Mamma would never do that to me." I scream and he stops talking, looking at me with pity.
I almost kill him here at the emotion he gives me. I don't need his pity. He doesn't know what he's talking about. Mamma is sick. For years, Keres tried to bring her memories back and when she died and I was the one who told her and Mamma didn't even flinch. If she was sane, she would've grieved her daughter, or show me some devastation.
My hands are tugging my hair hard, feeling how I'm tearing my hair from my scalp.
What if he's telling the truth? I hear my subconsciousness ask me.
Mamma is the Mistress of all the mafias. She's a manipulative, powerful woman. What if she faked it all?
"When I first moved here and went to her, I told her I'm her daughter who missed her so much. When Keres moved here with you, we decided to move Mamma to Chicago too. She wasn't protected enough in Italy." I tell Everette who is now holding my hands in his grip, trying to control my anger.
"Hello, Mamma." I whisper and I feel the tears falling down my pale cheeks.
I missed her so much. Three years without her felt like torture, and now she won't even look at me. She doesn't even hug me.
She just stares.
"I'm Althea, your daughter." I say with desperation. Mamma remained so beautiful; she looks good. Like she hasn't suffered one second.
Please just recognize me. Please, just for one moment be my Mamma again.
"I'm your second daughter actually. You've met Keres, she's your oldest." She keeps staring at me. "I missed you so much, I'm sorry I didn't visit sooner." I choke on the tears, my throat closing with each word.
"It's me, Mamma. Your Althea." I grab her hands in mine, and with wide eyes, she flinches.
I remove my hands too, putting my face in them, feeling myself lose in all the grieve. It's been so much time since I've cried that right now it feels odd for me to do it.
I see Mamma look at my wedding rings and I let out a long sigh.
"I'm married now. I married my Everest and I think he actually hates me." I laugh brokenly. "You remember him? I told you immediately about me saving him immediately after he was in the mansion."
She just stares at me.
A wave of frustration comes through my bones, and I snap at her. "Keres said you two always talked about different topics. Why can't you talk to me too?"
A sob wrecks my body and I almost faint in front of her.
"I'm your daughter too. Why is everyone choosing Keres over me? Why am that cursed? Why am that ugly?" I ask Mamma.
Please just give me something.
"I don't know you, girl. I might be your mother, but you are no daughter of mine."
I cry harder when I say to Everette the words
Mamma threw at me. The words that broke me until I had no other pieces left.
Everette slams my body to his, hugging me so tightly that I feel air leaving my lungs, but I don't push him away.
I will never push him away from me.
I hug him just as hard, burring my head in his neck.
"Mamma would never say that to me if she would be sane." I sob.
"Shh," His big hand makes circles on my scalp.
"I swear I wanted to tell you when it was time for me to take my mother's place." I hug him harder, scared that he'll disappear.
"I know, baby." He kisses my forehead multiple times.
How can she break me so easily? How can she look into her daughter eyes like she is a waste of space?
Was it really meant for me to suffer this much? Is it normal for one person to go through so many?
All these questions are making my knees weak. I look at Everette who still looks at me with the same soft, green eyes, and I want to cry harder.
I love him so much that I would put my life before him just to make sure he'll be okay. I love him so much that I consume myself for him every day and every night. Because he deserves everything and more.
"She loves you, Althea. But she wants you happier more." Everette whispers and kisses my puffy eyes.
I close my eyes and imagine her brown hair, skin and eyes. I imagine her when she looked at me so lovingly that it made my little heart beat like crazy.
Sometimes I blame her for my life, because she chose to hide and stay with Hanibal, but now that I have
Everette in my life, I can image the love she felt for him. She loved Hanibal and her lover, but she chose to stay with the safe option.
I feel my phone buzz again in the grass, and I groan.
Why is everyone calling me today?
I lean over to take the phone, seeing Venus calling me and another two missed calls from her.
My blood freezes.
"Venus?" I ask worried, seeing Everette's face darken.
"I found Keres's body, Althea." Both mine and Everette's eyes widen. I put my phone on speaker, feeling my body tremble.
"Where?" Everette demands, his fists ready.
"Seven miles west of Chicago. There is a minefield that has in the middle a rustic cabin. But be careful, there are grenades everywhere. I'll wait here." The call stops and Everette starts running in the house, shouting for his men.
I follow him in the kitchen where his men are ready to go hunting a traitor. Tons of guns, pistols and knives are displayed on the kitchen table.
I grab my favorite MK18 gun, feeling the adrenaline running in my veins, when my bubble is burst by Everette's hands.
"You're not coming." He says roughly.
"In your dreams." I shoot back.
"Althea, you are not coming." He growls and I want to shoot him.
"It's not up to you." I hiss.
"I'm the Boss," I almost gasp. He did not just pull that card with me.
"That's not gonna stop me." I warn him.
"I'm not going to lose you, Althea!" He screams.
"There is a literal minefield between us and Ivan, and I won't be able to focus if I have to worry about you."
"I can take care of myself."
"You can, but my damn heart can't take the thought of you there." He says with clear stress and my body softens.
I can't just stand back and do nothing while my sister is there in that bastard's hands.
But I don't tell him that.
"Come back in one piece," I warn and kiss him on the lips.
He kisses me back, pressing me hard to his body.
"Take care of our superhero." He smiles and I swear my heart skips a beat.
I've seen the way Everette softened around Vincent, and how Vincent is searching the house for him. I want to take my boys and leave all this chaos, but the world would be boring without us.
I kiss him again and this time, after our lips separate, he turns and leave, his men following him.
I go upstairs to check on my sleepy bug, but the bedroom is empty. I rush to his room and find Scarface on his bed.
"Vince? Where are you, bug?" I call for him desperately.
I search all the fucking house and he's not here. What if Ivan took him? What if he ran out of the house and now, he's lost in the woods?
My heart beats so fast that my chest starts to hurt, but I need to find Vincent. I need to make sure he's okay.
I open my phone and search the app Arius installed. When he was a newborn, I gave Vincent a bracelet that has a tracker in it, and Arius helped me find a way to
always know where he is.
I look at the blue circle and it shows that he's running a really fast phase. Only then I realize that he's not running, he's in car.
I look at the location, and my body trembles again.
He's into Everette's car.
"Fuck, Vince, what are you doing there?" I ask and I start running to the garage.
I look through the keys, trying to find the one to the Bugatti, but my eyes almost pop of from my head.
That's my damn motorbike.
Why is it here?
I shake my head and press my finger to the button, the engine purring beautifully. I take my helmet and I let the motorbike speed on the street.
Someone will die today and his name starts with I and ends with van .