Chapter 9
Alessandra Pov~
My father stood from his seat, his hard expression never leaving mine. My heart began pounding against my chest. I had never seen my father look so angry with me before.
My mother immediately stood, confusion clouding her features as she looked between us.
“Adriano? What’s wrong?” she asked, placing a hand on his arm.
My eyes widened as his face remained unreadable. He glanced at Mom before silently handing her the phone. I quickly looked away, unable to meet his intense gaze.
A moment later, my mother gasped. The confusion on her face quickly turned into anger.
“Why don’t you take everyone to the back for breakfast? I want to talk to my daughter,” my father said, his voice sharp and low.
Fear crawled up my spine at the sound of his voice. I had heard that tone before. I had seen him like this countless times when dealing with enemies or problems that needed to be handled.
But it was different when you were the person standing on the other side of it.
“Gladly,” my mother replied.
I remained frozen in place, unable to move a muscle. My mother gathered everyone together, and soon my aunts followed her out with all the children, leaving me alone in the room with my father.
I released a shaky breath as I slowly sat down in the nearest chair, bracing myself for whatever was coming next.
But then things became even worse. My father called Uncle Matteo and Uncle Gio into the room.
They walked in looking confused, but they immediately stood off to the side, waiting. I could only assume my father had told them about the messages.
I groaned quietly under my breath.
Just kill me now. Although, knowing my luck, that might actually happen soon. Why was I the one being scolded? This was happening to me. I was the victim.
Yet somehow, I was the one sitting here feeling like I had committed the crime.
Their heads turned toward me as they approached, and I sank deeper into my chair under the weight of their stares. Knowing this was how they made their enemies feel made my stomach twist.
No wonder everyone was afraid of them. I knew they would never hurt me. I knew my father and uncles loved me more than anything.
And yet, I was still afraid.
My father stepped closer, holding the phone out toward me. I looked down at it briefly before looking back at his emotionless expression.
When I hesitated, he motioned for me to take it. I quickly grabbed the phone.
“How long has this been happening, Ales?” Dad asked, his voice void of emotion.
I swallowed hard, lowering my gaze to the patterned carpet beneath my feet.
“Maybe about a week,” I whispered.
“And you didn’t think to tell anyone?” His voice was low, but the anger beneath it was impossible to miss.
“I-I…” I tried to defend myself, but the words refused to come out.
My face burned as guilt rose in my chest. I knew I was probably turning bright red, and all I wanted was to disappear into a hole and never come out.
I dropped my head into my hands, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I’m sorry.”
I heard movement around me, followed by footsteps. A moment later, I felt a hand gently rest on my shoulder.
I lifted my head and saw Uncle Matteo sitting beside me, a sad smile on his face.
“Ales, we just want you to understand that if anything like this happens again, whether you think it’s a prank or not, you come to us,” he said gently. “This is serious. We’re talking about your safety. Your life.”
His words made my chest tighten.
I knew they weren’t angry because they wanted to punish me. They were angry because they were scared. Because they loved me.
I nodded, releasing another breath I didn’t realize I had been holding.
“Go eat some breakfast,” Dad said, his voice returning to its usual authoritative tone. “We’ll try to figure this out.”
I nodded again before standing from my seat and making my way toward the back of the plane, where the rest of my family had gone.
I did feel horrible.
But if this was real and not some cruel prank, then that meant someone out there was actually sending me these messages. Some stranger was telling me how much he loved me, how much he missed me, like he actually knew me.
A shiver ran through my body at the thought.
It was disturbing. I knew my dad would find out who this person was. There was no doubt about that.
And whoever was behind those messages would face consequences far worse than they could imagine.
My father wouldn’t have it any other way.
I opened the door, and immediately every head turned in my direction.
I felt my cheeks heat under everyone's attention and quickly stepped inside, shutting the door behind me before making my way to the empty seat beside Dantae.
A plate of food was placed in front of me, and I looked up to see Aunt Yana giving me a small smile. She and Uncle Matteo were always the reasonable ones.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
I picked up my fork and started eating my pancakes, trying to push away the lingering fear from earlier.
A grape suddenly hit the side of my head. I looked up to see Cata staring at me.
“It was Isabella, not me,” she said quickly, a nervous smile appearing on her face as she pointed across the table.
“Hey, no it wasn’t!” Isabella exclaimed, grabbing a grape and throwing it back at Cata.
“Don’t throw food, girls,” Mom scolded, trying to keep Cata and Isabella under control while also dealing with Callie and Michel, who were arguing beside her.
“Marcio, can you handle your sister, please?” Aunt Yana asked while making sure Lia was eating her breakfast.
“Bella, eat,” Marcio commanded casually as he continued eating.
“She isn’t a dog, dipshit,” A.J. said, reaching over and flicking Marcio’s ear.
“Ow,” Marcio complained, glaring at him.
“Language,” Aunt Mili scolded.
“Sorry,” A.J. muttered.
He turned toward Bella with a more patient expression. “Bella, can you please be a good girl and finish your breakfast? I’ll give you $20.”
Bella’s eyes immediately widened. “Deal,” she exclaimed before happily stuffing food into her mouth.
Leo scoffed from beside them.
“That wasn’t fair,” Marcio complained.
“You guys would make great fathers one day,” Mom said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
Aunt Mili and Aunt Yana chuckled, shaking their heads. “Well, I don’t plan on becoming a father anytime soon,” A.J. replied, leaning back in his chair.
“You better not. I’m too young to be a grandmother,” Mom warned, narrowing her eyes at him.
“Why are you going to be a grandmother?” Dad asked as he walked into the room with Uncle Matteo and Uncle Gio behind him. “Damien, you better not have knocked up some girl.”
Damien immediately scoffed as Michel and Antonio burst into laughter.
“Me? What about A.J.? He’s older than me!” Damien defended himself, looking offended.
“Nah, you’re the feisty one,” A.J. said nonchalantly.
Dad sat down beside Mom and glanced over at me. For a moment, his expression softened, and he gave me a small, lopsided smile before picking up his fork to eat.
A little bit of the tension in my chest eased. Maybe I wasn’t in as much trouble as I thought.
“What about Kalani and Kaia?” Damien said, pointing toward the twins. “They’re the ones you have to worry about.”
The twins immediately turned their attention toward him, both glaring. And somehow, them being twins made their identical deadly stares even more intimidating.
“Don’t mess with us,” Kalani warned.
“Damien, I would drop it,” Uncle Gio said, patting him on the shoulder.
For once, Damien actually looked a little nervous.
“Anyways, no one is allowed to have babies,” Mom announced, looking between A.J. and Damien. I rolled my eyes at my crazy family and continued eating my breakfast.
Honestly, I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
~***~
Afterward, everyone dispersed and went off to do their own thing.
I ended up watching a movie with Antonio and Dean on the iPad. I didn’t even know what the movie was called, but surprisingly, it was actually pretty interesting.
I was completely invested until A.J. called me over. I groaned and excused myself from the boys, reminding them not to spoil the movie for me.
“If we tell you the ending, it’s not our fault,” Dean said with a smirk.
The expression reminded me so much of Uncle Matteo that I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes at him. “You better not, little boy,” I warned, pointing at him as I walked away.
Dean only laughed. I made my way over to where A.J. was sitting and dropped into the seat beside him.
“What’s up, twin?” I asked, picking up the folder sitting on the table in front of him.
“What’s this?” Before I could open it, A.J. quickly snatched it out of my hand.
“None of your business,” he replied, placing it back down on the table. I raised an eyebrow.
Must be mafia-related.
“So… what happened earlier with Dad?” he asked.
I sighed, not wanting to relive the entire situation again. “Rather not talk about it.”
“Okay,” he said, but his expression remained thoughtful. “The reason I asked is because Dad told me to watch over you. Make sure nothing happens while we’re in Italy.”
Confusion was written all over his face. I let out a frustrated sigh and glanced down the hallway toward my father.
Of course. Even when I thought things were getting better, I was still being watched. “Fine. Whatever,” I muttered. “At this point, I’m so over it.”
I stood up and walked away before he could respond. I took a deep breath, trying to stop the sting building behind my eyes. I refused to cry. I was more angry and upset than I was afraid. I hated feeling like I constantly needed protection.
For once, I thought I had finally proven myself. I thought I was finally strong enough to protect my siblings. I thought they finally saw me as more than just the fragile one who needed saving.
That was all I ever wanted.
To be trusted.
To be seen as capable.
But now this stupid person had to come along and ruin everything.
I groaned quietly, wiping away the traitorous tear that escaped anyway.
I found an empty booth and sat down, curling my legs up and wrapping my arms around them. I rested my head against my knees, trying to hide from everyone.
I felt like such a burden. Is this what an identity crisis felt like? I shook my head at the thought and let out another sigh. I didn’t know who I was supposed to be anymore.
~***~
Unknown POV~
“They’re headed this way, Aldo. T-minus four hours,” my guard, Lanzo, informed me.
I nodded, picking up the document from my desk and flipping it over as I scanned through the information in front of me.
Everything was falling into place.
A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
“Good.”
I set the papers back down, leaning into my chair.
“Maybe this will be easier than I thought.”