by Anna Widzisz
She sighed, tired of the questions thrown her way. It had been more than enough.
"Why did you kill your father?" asked Noah, not really believing that the man’s deal had been enough to determine her to go to the prison and kill.
The silence extended over the room. Lynette regarded them for a second, clearly wondering whether she should say something or leave it be. After all, she didn’t use to involve people in her matters. It was her business and hers alone.
"Because he was holding the last piece of my old self. And I needed it gone," she admitted finally and went towards the elevator. "And seriously Noah, change your code to the penthouse because the date of your sister’s death was a piece of cake to figure out."
Noah rolled his eyes.
"Lynette," Drew finally managed to say. Looking at the girl in front of him, seeing her dramatic change. It was anything but normal. She was an entirely different person. In the worst way possible, but his feelings didn’t go away one bit despite all he’d seen.
"Don’t, Drew. I don’t care about four years ago. That’s not me anymore and you’d better realize it once and for all and move on. Honestly, you shouldn’t have ever been initiated. The job you wanted and were enlisted to do never really existed as you can clearly see. Find some new hobbies."
That was the last thing she said as the elevator door closed behind her, leaving them all shocked, confused and with too many questions.
CHAPTER 42
Since Lynette’s unexpected visit, no one knew what to think exactly. They hadn’t thought that getting in touch with the girl would turn out like this. She was a totally different person than she’d been four years ago. But while Noah saw a tough, confident and strong woman turning into who she had always been destined to be, Drew, Inéz and Isaac saw an assassin, a murderer and a mafia princess turned into a horrible person. Her behavior didn’t show any remorse as to what she had done over the years. Killing so many people, turning for help to the one person who’d hurt her, lied to her and wanted her gone for so long. The Lynette they had known would have never done that. She’d wanted nothing to do with the mafia and yet she delved right into it once she went into hiding after having faked her own death.
But as much as Drew wanted to believe that was the only thing that Lynette was now, he still loved her just as much. Maybe even more after finally seeing her for the very first time since he watched her die in his arms. She might have changed but in his eyes, she was still his first love, the one you never forget, and also no matter what everyone else said - the love of his life.
Noah on the other hand struggled with figuring out what to do about the situation she’d put him in. As the Capo dei capi he should have ordered his Enforcer to kill her but there were too many things that held him back from doing that.
She’d actually impressed him with her attitude. She was nothing like he remembered and he couldn’t help but curse himself for thinking that she would amount to nothing more than a girl too scared of the life she lived to grow stronger. Four years ago, she hadn’t been the girl he would have chosen to spend his life with. But now his twisted mind realized that she was the perfect match. The only thing was - he didn’t want the perfect match. As Lynette had pointed out - Inéz was his precious one. And that was the other reason why he hadn’t ordered Nicodemo to kill her. She had given him the one thing that freed Inéz from the awful job he had given her.
Looking at the information she’d sent to his phone, he had everything he needed against his Capodecina. He could have him killed on the spot without anyone going against him for treating his people unfairly.
"Flavio, arrange a meeting with my captains," he said to his brother after spending a long time in the office taking care of the paperwork. Flavio had been sitting on the couch nearby on his laptop.
He looked up from the computer with a curious expression and nodded, taking his phone out. "What are you going to do about Selvaggio?"
"What can I do? It’s not like I can kill her. That’s not why I looked for her for so long," he said standing up from his chair. "What would you do?"
Flavio laughed under his breath. "You don’t have to ask to know my answer."
"Putting your hatred for her to the side, if you wanted something from her which you could only get if she was alive, how would you handle it?"
"Noah, for fuck’s sake, if you don’t tell me what it is that you want exactly, I cannot help you. I am your Underboss, you know you can trust me with anything," he roared looking at his Capo with a mysteriously angry look.
The boss rolled his eyes. He knew that if there was one person he could trust, it was his younger brother, but it didn’t change the fact that he was not ready to involve anyone else in his plans. Not when nothing was certain. He wanted something to hold on to if things were to go badly.
"You don’t want to tell me, alright. One day you will need my help with whatever this is. For now, I think that as much as I don’t want it - you should hire her. We still have rats in our organization and she proved quite capable of handling things like this. After that, she might even be willing to help you with whatever it is that you need."
That statement was unexpected coming from Flavio. Suggesting to hire Lynette for an inside job as he would another man? People already hated the fact that he had initiated Isaac and Drew who were complete outsiders. They wouldn’t like it if they found out Inéz had somehow been initiated too. And most of all, they would throw a tantrum if they found out that he wanted to hire Lynette who was one of the main reasons why the Famiglia had problems in the first place. He would have to show a lot of strength to quiet down any objections his soldiers would have. And would it even be worth it? Was there really no other way to get rid of the rats?
He knew the answer but didn’t like it.
Yes. It appeared to be the only way out.
"After she told us about killing her father I was curious how she did it. Dude, I infiltrated the plans of the building, and it seems almost impossible to break in there, go to the most restricted area of the prison, kill someone in cold blood and not get caught. I hate saying it, but Venas must have trained her really well."
"Did you also look for him? Lynette said that they came to the States together. So he must be around somewhere."
"I gave the job to Isaac. He might have more luck in finding him. Do you have plans for him too?" he asked lifting himself off the couch.
Noah shook his head. It was Emilio who wanted Luca Venas dead. He wanted nothing to do with it. The man wasn’t important enough and didn’t threaten his Famiglia. "But I am dying to know why he decided to train Lynette. He wanted her dead after all."
"Not hard enough as it seems," Flavio stated. "What about Ryder? I believe you didn’t miss the look he gave Lynette?"
"I didn’t but for now it’s not my main concern. I told him when I offered him a place in the Famiglia that there might be a way for him to be with Lynette. However, it’s probably the last thing she wants, so I don’t care for now. But I will need him once the rats are out in the open."
Flavio nodded. "Alright, I will arrange the meeting and let you know exactly when and where it’ll be," he stated, and as soon as he got the approval from his Capo, he left the office.
§ § §
As Noah got home there was only Inéz waiting for him in the kitchen. It was the first night she didn’t have to go to the club to do her work. She had resigned with Noah’s approval by calling Alberto, saying that she has to leave Las Vegas. She was immensely grateful to Lynette for being able to get her out of that awful job. She couldn’t stand Gastone anymore. The man was getting impatient and she believed it wouldn’t have taken long until he wanted to sleep with her. It was good that he enjoyed her playing hard because that had given her more time. But she couldn’t play hard to get forever. He was in the mafia after all and they weren’t good or patient men. Nothing close to it.
She was eating pizza for a late dinner. For the moment, she wasn’t supposed to leave N
oah’s penthouse until Gastone had been dealt with. It was the only place she was safe unless she was by the Capo’s side.
Noah came up to the barstool that she was on and wrapped his arms over her stomach, leaning over her shoulder.
"Smells good," he whispered in her ear.
She smiled breathing in the familiar scent of his cologne. She loved it. Maybe a little too much. Every time she smelled it, it gave her goosebumps and she immediately forgot everything else. That was his way of getting her to do whatever he wanted. Even if he didn’t realize it.
And such behavior got her thinking that maybe if they had been in a real relationship, he might have been able to handle it differently. Now that the spy job was behind her, it could all change. Go back to what normal should look like.
Inéz held up the pizza slice and Noah bit into it. "Good?" she asked.
"Yeah, but I can actually think of many more delicious things," he said in a low growl.
She rolled her eyes at his words. He had no filter. Especially around her. And she didn’t know whether she liked it or not. Sometimes, it gave her a sense of confidence, and joy but also anger and annoyance.
She turned around, facing the man. Her eyes looked tired but it was more of mental tiredness than a physical one. "What do you want from Lynette?" she asked again.
"Something."
He just loved giving her one-word answers that actually didn’t reveal anything at all. She rolled her eyes at him sliding from the stool and getting away from his grip. It wasn’t hard since he didn’t try to hold her back.
"Seriously, Noah what is your plan? I don’t work as your spy anymore. The boys don’t have to look for Lynette. So what do you want from us now?"
His eyes were intense. "We’ve been over this before. You can hardly be released from the Famiglia now that you were initiated. You knew that from the start. Just because you don’t have to work on Lynette's case doesn’t mean you won’t work at all. Ryder and Henderson are actually getting better and better with each job I give them. They are needed. And when it comes to you, I will figure it out. For now, you are to train as you were before."
Toxic indeed.
Anger welled up in Inéz revealing the scared child within, the girl who had been taught to fight and starved of the love she craved. Yet again she felt disappointment wash over her. Tears burned in her dark eyes, silently screaming the pain Noah had caused her. He wasn’t treating her as an equal outside of the bed and that hit deep. The Famiglia was always to be put first. Nothing else really mattered.
Without a word she went up to her bedroom, wanting to be alone, and Noah didn’t follow her.
§ § §
"Who has been training with Inéz?" Lynette asked when she entered the gym where they had all been training. She couldn’t believe how hard it was for the girl to fight back at least once. The moves weren’t that advanced and Nicodemo hadn’t even put any force into his attacks. She looked at the Enforcer’s annoyed expression. "Nevermind. You are not able to train her the right way at this point."
Nicodemo closed his hands into fists. He certainly didn’t like being scolded. Especially by a girl. "And why is that?"
Lynette smiled. "Don’t get too offended," she said taking off her jacket. She approached the ring and jumped in one fluid move. "You are training her as if she is scared of being raped. Believe me, she needs a different approach. She knows none of you will actually hurt her. She’s one of you so there would be no fucking way you would do anything to harm her. And she knows that" Lynette’s brown eyes went to the girl’s red face as she smirked. "I have no problem with causing pain."
She walked towards the girl grabbing her arm and pulling it to her back as she kicked her legs making her squeal in pain. Lynette was one move away from dislocating her shoulder and it had been done with such ease that if Noah hadn’t been furious at the girl’s roughness, he would have been impressed.
He moved towards the ring to stop Lynette but got held back by Flavio. "Don’t. Let’s see what happens."
"Fight, Inéz! Think of every single time your precious brother got into your face stating that you must be weak just because you’re a girl. How he put you down when you wanted to be my friend." she stepped with her foot on Inéz stomach. "I forgot, that’s where the spleen is, right? I mean, you don’t need it that much anyway," she snarled, pushing her high heel into her skin.
The pain reminded Inéz how tired she was of feeling so vulnerable all the time. Using that anger, she grabbed the heel with the hand that was free, rolled out from the hold and made Lynette stagger. But she regained balance quickly enough that if she wanted, she could have attacked again. She didn’t.
"They don’t know what you’re so angry about to use it against you in a fight. Most girls are not afraid of the rape itself, but of being seen as the weak gender. Nicodemo doesn’t know that Francisco made you feel throughout high school as if you were less of a person just because you are a girl. He might have loved you like a sister but it didn't change much."
Lynette explained, extending her hand for Inéz to grab. She helped her get up, supporting some of her weight as she’d been hurt pretty badly. Her arm wasn’t dislocated as Lynette had aimed at, but it still hurt all the same. Not to mention the bruise from the heel on her stomach. It was quite surprising that she was wearing a leather skirt and high heels, and could still do all those moves without any problem.
She looked at Inéz.
"You’re not weak because you’re a girl. You’re weak because you don’t know how to channel all the drama that you’re involved in. To be honest, you could have used some more of that work as a pole dancer and a spy. It could have made you remember the kind of difference girls can make. The things we can do, that men have such problem acknowledging. We can manipulate them at will if we know how to do it."
Noah smiled at the words. He knew that Lynette was right in most cases. That’s what he had considered as well when he had mentioned the job to Inéz. She could be still doing such things for him, if not for his hatred towards the way men acted like animals around her. He was responsible for her and until he was sure that she could take care of herself, he wouldn’t involve her in any businesses that had her directly in the line of fire.
"It’s impressive how well Venas trained you," said Noah helping Inéz out of the ring. She needed a break.
Lynette shrugged. "He knows me better than anyone else, so he knew how to train me from the start."
Her smirk grew as she looked at the Capo. "Want a go?" she asked seductively. It was meant to be with double entendre. It was surprisingly pleasing to Noah to see her become so much like him over those four years.
"Want to make it more interesting?" he asked.
"Let me guess. If you win, I have to agree to your ridiculous plan," she stated knowing the Falcone too well not to realize what he really meant.
"Scared?"
The girl chuckled, shaking her head. "No, but I am not suicidal either, Noah. You know well enough that I won’t get married, which would be the easier way to accomplish what you want. Marching into Seattle to take it from my zio is hardly reasonable. Even with me at your side."
Silence fell upon everyone. Only the quiet gasp that escaped Inéz’s lips was heard. She muffled it with her palm not sure what to think. She was still trying to figure out what it actually meant to be a part of the mafia. She hadn’t been born in it the same way that Lynette and Noah had. It was anything but normal for her to think the way they did. Where they saw barriers to overcome and rules to follow, she could only detect a problem. Without the extension of what it actually was.
She looked at Drew and Isaac, seeing that they too weren’t sure what to think of it. However, in Drew’s eyes was something more. Something that made her throat dry and heart beat faster. He had been promised Noah’s help at a future with Lynette. There was nothing that made them suspicious of the Capo’s motives. He wanted to find Lynette. They knew he had a reason for it. The one thing he wasn’t
keen on sharing. But never had they thought that he would want to find her in order to marry her. Let alone do that just because he wanted to rule over the west side of the States. That idea was insane as it was. It didn’t make it easier that Noah was the mastermind behind it. And that Inéz was in love with the man.
"You want to take over Seattle? That’s the reason why you have been looking for her?" asked Flavio shocked at his brother’s plan.
"You want to marry her?" added Drew, angry.
"As if I would marry Noah. That time is long gone, along with our fathers’ plan. He knows that. If I was to guess, he wants to initiate me into the Famiglia. So that he has the right to take the city." She laughed. "Kind of ironic how the tables have turned."
Inéz looked at Noah with true suspicion. He had always been hiding things from them. Ever since they met four years ago, but it never bothered her that much till this point. He was thinking of making life-changing decisions that could affect them all.
There was no way that his people would be alright with having Lynette initiated. Noah still hadn’t officially introduced her as a member. It would be hard as it is. But Lynette was part of the family that had almost destroyed them. She was the enemy. And if the Capo wanted to act on his plan, there would be hell to pay. Including a probable mutiny. Noah was a strong Capo. One of the best there was, but even he should have realized that there was only so much he could do before people started rebelling against him and his rule.
She looked at Flavio. Judging by his face he was thinking the very same thing. "What makes it ironic?" asked Isaac.
"The fact that Lynette called his plan out to her father way before Noah probably wanted to actually do it."
A low male voice sounded near the entrance. Guns were drawn almost immediately.
Lynette rolled her eyes sighing deeply. "I told you not to follow me," she said looking at the person standing by the door. There was no mistake as to who it was. Tall, dark hair, broad shoulders, wearing all black. It was Luca Venas.
