Chapter 41
Ales Pov~
As I walked out of the building with the rest of my family, I tilted my head back toward the sun and closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath.
In and out.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I could breathe. My father kicked ass in there. I squealed internally... and maybe a little externally. Who was I kidding? I was never really one for being calm and collected.
"I'm hungryyyy..." Dean and Michel groaned dramatically behind me, intentionally dragging their feet like two toddlers trying to prove a point.
I heard Aunt Mili laugh as she wrapped an arm around both of them.
"We will get food on the way home," she promised before turning her head toward the group of intimidating Mafia men walking behind us. "Because apparently your fathers don't want you dying of hunger."
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help smiling.
After everything we had just gone through, hearing them complain about food almost felt normal.
We reached the cars, and I was just about to open the door when suddenly someone kicked my foot inward. I spun around so quickly I almost lost my balance.
Only to find Raf sitting there with an apologetic look on his face while a certain annoying idiot behind him was laughing.
"Move aside!" AJ announced dramatically. "Invalid coming through."
Raf immediately dropped his head into his hand. I only caught the first part of his muttered response. "Piccolo scoiattolo con il cervello, pezzo di merda..." (Small squirrel-brained piece of shit...)
"Aye, you asshole!" AJ exclaimed with a smile on his face after hearing him. "You should be nicer to the person pushing your wheelchair."
Before Raf could respond and turn this into an entire argument, I stepped aside. "Just get in the damn car."
AJ gave me a ridiculous grin before huffing and walking around to the other side. I shook my head. Those two were impossible.
I climbed into the SUV after Kaia, and Uncle Gio took the front seat beside Aunt Leena. Slowly, everyone found their places until finally we were all packed in and ready to leave.
As we drove away from the council building, the main topic of conversation in the car was how Dad managed to get that information on Aldo.
The theories were absolutely ridiculous. From him supposedly murdering an entire village to buying the entire FBI agency, everyone had some wild explanation for how he pulled it off.
Obviously, none of those were true... probably. But I couldn't help wondering how he actually did it.
I knew how powerful my dad was. I knew he had connections in high places, people who owed him favors, and resources most people could only dream of having. I also knew one thing about him better than anyone.
He would do anything to protect his family and win this war.
And he did. But that didn't stop me from wondering what he had to sacrifice to get that piece of information.
"I WANT FRIES!" I was immediately ripped out of my thoughts by a tiny voice screaming from the backseat.
I blinked and looked around, realizing we were sitting in a drive-thru.
Of course. Dantae was practically halfway out of his seat, yelling loud enough for Uncle Gio to hear him from the front.
"I WANT A MILKSHAKE! AND NUGGETS!! PLEASE!!!"
I stared at the little menace. "If you don't sit down, little boy..." I warned, turning around to look at him. His eyes widened slightly before he shrunk back into his seat.
Then, because he was Dantae, he stuck his tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes. Everyone else immediately started shouting their orders at the same time.
"Uno alla volta," Aunt Leena exclaimed, raising her voice over everyone.(One at a time.)
The chaos continued until I heard Uncle Gio quietly mutter under his breath. "Perché sono rimasto bloccato con i pazzi?"(Why did I get stuck with the crazy ones?)
Since I was sitting right behind him, I heard him perfectly. I reached forward and patted his shoulder with the most sympathetic look I could give. "I know, unc. I know." He just sighed. Honestly, I felt his pain.
Somehow, we managed to get everyone's food ordered, including the people in the other vehicles, and about an hour later, we finally made it back home.
The second the estate came into view, everyone became a little quieter, a little more aware, because being trapped inside a car with this insane family for that long will do that to you.
The second we pulled into the driveway, everyone scrambled out. Shoes were falling off, bags were being dropped and picked back up, and somehow we all managed to make our way inside without completely losing our minds.
I tossed my things near the staircase before collapsing onto the nearest couch in the living room beside Marcio.
A few seconds later, Damien wheeled himself in before immediately standing up and carefully moving onto the empty spot beside us.
He let out a frustrated sigh, sinking into the couch.
"I hate that fucking chair," he muttered, running his fingers through his hair. I reached over and patted his hand. "I know." And I did, because none of us liked feeling weak.
None of us liked being reminded that even with all our training, all our weapons, and everything we had been taught...we were still human.
I looked around the room as everyone slowly gathered together, waiting for Dad to finally explain.
Because after everything that happened, we all wanted answers, especially about the mastermind himself.
Gianna Pov~
Adriano kissed the back of my hand as we walked into the living room, and I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. He only smiled. That man knew exactly what he was doing.
I couldn't help smiling back before leaving him to walk over to Yana and take a seat beside her. Matteo perched himself on the arm of the chair, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression already telling me he had questions.
Adriano loosened his tie and took a seat in front of everyone, looking more relaxed than he had been all day.
"Alright, ascoltiamo la storia fratello." (Alright, let's hear the story, brother.) Matteo's voice held a teasing edge, but I knew him well enough to understand there was something else underneath.
Yes, he was happy Adriano had gotten the results he wanted. But the other side of him, the side that was Adriano's brother, his partner, the person who had stood beside him through everything, was frustrated.
He had been left in the dark again. Especially after the argument they had recently about keeping secrets between them.
Adriano took a deep breath and nodded. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, rubbing his hands together before finally looking up at everyone. "It goes way back to when Gio and I went to Philly to visit the club and found Clara."
The room immediately became more serious. "When we captured her, we took her to the warehouse. Gio was..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Emotionally compromised at the time."
Giovanni's expression shifted slightly at the memory of their first encounter with Clara. Leena immediately reached over and grabbed his hand, grounding him. "I was the one who went to talk to Clara," Adriano continued. "I made Giovanni sit that one out."
His jaw tightened slightly as he remembered. "My intention was to make her confess to everything she had been doing all these years. I went in there with fire in my ass, ready to do whatever it took to make her talk."
A small, humorless smile tugged at his lips. "But the second I walked in there... she just started talking."
Everyone stayed quiet.
"Of course, my first thought was that she was feeding me a bunch of bullshit. Trying to make me believe whatever story she wanted me to believe. But I had the guys cross-reference everything she was saying."
He leaned back slightly. "And sure enough, she was there. Those places. Those times. Everything she claimed happened over the years."
"Clara was one of our best undercover agents," Stefano added from his place against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "She obviously wanted those cameras to pick her up."
Adriano nodded. "Exactly." His eyes narrowed slightly as he thought back. "I knew she had an ulterior motive. I just couldn't figure out what it was yet."
"So what did you do?" Mili asked, leaning forward slightly.
"I made her start over." I answered. "From the very beginning this time."
The room fell quiet as everyone listened. "Before she left us, she was sent undercover to Miami. Remember? Our father sent her there because he was getting reports about that Mafia selling secrets to other families."
"Yeah," Leena said softly, trying to remember. "She was gone for almost six months."
I nodded. "And she found out the rumors were true. They were selling information."
I paused, looking around the room. "Somewhere along the way, she heard whispers about a council member hiding something. Something that could destroy them if it ever came out. At first, she didn't know if it was real or if someone was feeding her lies. So when she came back, she started digging."
"Then she disappeared," Matteo finished.
"Exactly."
Ales frowned slightly. "Wait... so you're saying she left because of a suspicion about someone she didn't even know? Someone who wasn't directly affecting her?"
I looked at my daughter. She wasn't wrong. There was something about Clara's story that didn't make sense at first. "What aren't you telling us?" Yana asked. I took a breath. "She said she had a duty."
Everyone looked at me. "She said she had a duty to protect the Mafia she was raised in. Her family. Even if they never understood her. Even if they never forgave her."
The room became silent. "She wouldn't tell me what exactly scared her enough to leave. She wouldn't tell me what she found that made her believe disappearing was the only option."
I looked down for a moment before lifting my eyes again, my voice quieter now as I repeated what had been stuck in my head since the beginning. “But she kept saying the same thing… one last mission.” No one spoke.