by BSmith
Kayla never felt like she was a part of this family. Even knowing she was Marilyn’s daughter, she didn’t feel that way. She wanted to, because she’d loved her mother fiercely. Her father’s words stirred up unexpected emotion inside of her, sitting quietly behind her programming. She smiled tremulously up at Marcello. “Really?”
Marcello returned her smile, nodding slowly. “Especially when you smile.”
Kayla watched Marcello, the faraway look that leaked into his eyes. “Do you miss her a lot?”
Marcello pulled away from some fond memory and brought his gaze back to her. “As much as I know you loved her, I’d have to selfishly say, more than you can imagine.”
Kayla had believed him. She would have believed him, even if she hadn’t seen him the day her mother had died. But, as horrible as that day had been for her—for Marcello—it was on the night her mother died that, for whatever reason, Kayla’s aversion to being touched by Marcello had vanished.
Kayla remembered waking up screaming. She’d never known what for; the moment consciousness took hold the images of the dream vanished, but her feelings of terror lingered. Usually, her mother was the one to chase those nightmares away. She’d been surprised when the door to her room opened, and Marcello was there. His arms folded protectively around her, and Kayla remembered that her reaction shocked her. She didn’t like it when men touched her, not even her gentle, half-brother Demetrius. The man with the funny smell that had been her initial teacher had taken care of that. But when Marcello stroked her hair and hugged her tightly, she did not feel her skin crawling or that flair of panic that told her to get away from the touch as soon as she possibly could. Instead, she’d burrowed into his chest and pretended that she was his daughter, he was her father, and that she was safe. The only thing in life that she had learned to look forward to after her mother died, was a hug from Marcello.
Kayla sighed into the empty space and ran her fingers over his desk. His daughter. That’s what he’d called her. Except she was not his. She was not made in the act of love. She had been made in a violent act of cruelty and cunning. She was a product of rape; her mother drugged and taken by a man Marcello had tracked down and killed. Yet, knowing that—knowing that she had been part of Project Mannequin, sent there to keep Marcello in check and to possibly kill him, they loved her. Both of them. Her mother had been an incredibly strong, gentle woman. Marcello was a quietly imposing man, quick with affection, especially in the privacy of his house. It was because of them that Kayla knew the definition of love; that it was real and existed as palpable as the breeze carried off the ocean. Kayla could recall in great detail how her parents looked at each other, how a man who ran an empire would find time for family, specifically for his wife. Kayla vividly remembered mornings when she’d woken to the sound of their laughter and crept downstairs to watch them engaged in some mundane act of early morning domesticity, teasing each other, touching, or simply quietly existing in the same space.
It was those memories that made her want to do as Marcello had asked her.
Maybe the NWO’s programming was breaking down. Except Kayla knew that was not the case either. She felt compelled, even while visiting the past in her mind, to destroy the Terenzios. That was, after all, what she was made for. She could not deny that something inside of her thrilled at the game she played against them.
“Do you miss him?”
Kayla turned around sharply. Vasco stood in the doorway.
It was a distinct possibility that Vasco knew about her; that Marcello had told the triplets. If they wanted, they could take her into custody. Kill her, if they so choose. It made the game she played even more dangerous. If they did know about her, but left her in play, the why was a very, very important question. She would have to be even more careful than she had been.
His question, though, was easily answered. “Yes,” she said truthfully.
“Me, too,” Vasco said quietly, trailing those family eyes around his grandfather’s—son’s—space. After the brief silence, he looked back at Kayla. “Everyone’s moving into the boardroom now. Meeting is in five.”
“I’ll walk with you.” The memories vanished in the wake of Kayla’s job, and her ultimate motive. Marcello, like her, mother was dead. There was no one left to stop the nightmares, now, and she could not do as Marcello requested of her. Even if she wanted to, Caesar would never allow it.
“I hope you don’t feel stiffed, Aunt Kay; that we’re in a place you probably wanted,” Vasco said as he held open the office door for her, pulling it shut once she had stepped through.
Kayla shook her head. “Not at all, Vasco. To be honest with you, I didn’t want it. Not the stress of all this. I’m too old to take those reins. You, your sister, and your brother will handle it just fine.” She smiled convincingly.
“I think we will, too.” Vasco shot her a sideways glance, returning her smile. “Thanks, for the vote of confidence, though.”
Inwardly steeling herself for how uncomfortable the contact would make her, Kayla looped her arm through Vasco’s as they stepped into the elevator. “Of course. Isn’t that what family is for?”
Amusement flickered through Vasco’s eyes. “Amadeo and Olivia must have missed that lesson.”
“They’ll learn. Eventually.”
§
June 20, 2012 - 11:00 AM
Alcyone Island
Dion Corporation Headquarters
Seated around the long conference table was every blood Terenzio. Isabella sat at the head of the table, opposite the triplets. Christopher sat on her left. Agata came in with her father, Dominic, and they chatted quietly while the others filed into the room. Nicholas came in shortly after his father and sister, smiled briefly at Agata, ignored Dominic, and sat down. Kayla sat next to Simone, and the two talked about mundane things while they waited for Olivia and Amadeo, who both arrived ten minutes later.
“Nice of you to join us,” Lucien said.
Amadeo rolled his eyes. “Some of us work, Lucien.”
“All right, Vasco, we’re all here. Why?” Dominic asked, lacing his thick fingers together and looking pointedly at his cousin.
“To inform you all of the new direction this family will move in.” Vasco flicked his eyes around the table.
“Well, it’s not really new, but we’re bringing it out in the open,” Lucien amended.
“What new direction?” Agata asked.
“This is going to be a lot to swallow all at once. It should come as no surprise that there are some very powerful men who control the world, and they use criminal organizations like us to do their bidding. They call themselves the Brotherhood. Stefano Terenzio obtained this island by making a deal with them. His end goal, however, was not subservience. He joined them so that, one day, we could turn around and beat them. That time is now.”
Agata’s brows arched. She appeared to be the only one outwardly affected by this news. The rest of the family didn’t look so surprised. Only Olivia’s gaze darkened slightly.
“We’re listening, Vasco,” Isabella said quietly.
Vasco nodded once at the eldest Terenzio. “Stefano set the foundation. Grandfather—Marcello—spent his life collecting information on them. Eventually, something pushed him to turn his hand against them openly.”
“Why did Dad do that?” Kayla asked, her impenetrable gray eyes studying Vasco.
“We don’t know,” Simone easily lied. “That was never made clear to us.”
“We know that before Julian and Dom Jr. died, the family did a lot of jobs for the Brotherhood. After they died, that all seemed to stop. We can speculate that something happened during that period,” Vasco said.
“What type of work did we do for them?” Dominic asked. He knew, of course, but he wanted to know how much the triplets knew.
Lucien looked over at Dominic. “After WWII, top Nazi scientists were smuggled out of Germany into the U.S. and United Kingdom. They called it Paperclip, and we assisted with that.”
<
br /> Dominic whistled lowly. “My, my, when you said controlling the world, you weren’t kidding.”
Vasco nodded. “Our entire existence, we’ve done as we pleased, or thought we have. We’ve battled petty, criminal groups for a piece of the pie and muscled out the weakest links. We set our sights on the world, because our ambition just runs that high. Now, we’re going to use everything we’ve built up to help humanity.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “We, the Terenzio family, are going to save the world?”
“Well, at least give them a shot at saving themselves,” Lucien said.
“We’re on a deadline, too,” Simone said. “December 21, 2012 something massive, and a little on the mystical side, is going to happen. What we don’t exactly know, but we do know that the Brotherhood wants to stop it. And we’re the only ones who can stop them.”
“This Robin Hood approach is pretty fucking stupid, if you ask me,” Amadeo said, lacing his fingers behind his thick head of graying hair. His goatee made him look more like a pirate than an army general. “Why aren’t we supporting this Brotherhood? Underboss to the Don?”
“That’s funny, Amadeo, I don’t think we did ask you.” Lucien leveled a hard gaze on him. “But to answer your question, that’s not how we operate anymore. Not when it comes to the freedom of the whole world. We might not be saints, but there’s a line.”
“With all due respect, Lucien, I have to agree with him,” Dominic said calmly. “You’re talking about going up against what is apparently a major force to be reckoned with and one that’s been in place for what, centuries? If we already have connections with them, I don’t think it’s wise to continue to spit on that.”
“Too late,” Simone said.
“This isn’t a discussion on whether or not we’re doing this,” Vasco interjected. “This is to inform you all what the real goal of this family has been since SVT ran it.” It was weird, very weird, to talk about himself in the third person, but he continued unflinchingly. “Marcello believed this was the right thing to do, and we do as well. We’re going to end this and find out just how good we really are.”
Christopher’s blue-gray eyes lit up. “You tell us what you need, Vasco, and you’ll have it. I, myself, haven’t been in a good fight in years.” Before his retirement, Christopher had followed in his father’s footsteps and served as General of the Air Force. It was rumored that he was a better fighter pilot than his father had been, especially in combat. If anyone asked him, Christopher would tell them that it was his mother’s fault. Instead of being a great shot with handgun, like she had been, he preferred a 20 mm cannon.
“I heard you got into one last night, Uncle Chris.” Lucien grinned lightly. Even though they were all cousins, Lucien and the rest of his siblings had always called Isabella and Christopher Aunt and Uncle, respectively. Isabella and Christopher had been authority figures in the triplets’ lives— parents, almost—especially Christopher to Lucien.
Christopher shot Lucien a heatless glare.
“Xavier works for Homeland Security. Is he our man on the inside?” Olivia asked, watching the triplets closely.
Vasco shook his head. “No. In fact, I’m not sure he’s aware of the potential mess he’s sitting in the middle of. We broke ties with DeMarco a few decades ago, and we have every reason to believe they are supporting the Brotherhood. I haven’t involved Xavier, yet, because I don’t want to put him in compromising position or endanger his life.”
“I appreciate that,” Christopher said. Xavier was his son. “But he can handle himself. You need to use him, use him.”
“Thank you, Uncle Chris.” Vasco tipped his head in his direction, and then looked at the rest of the family. “We need every ones support on this.”
“You have it,” Isabella said easily. “I never could see my mother, or Uncle Stefano, being subservient to anyone. If this was the plan, then it’s a good plan.” Her eyes faintly gleamed with the love of a good challenge.
Simone quietly flushed with pride. She could almost see the battle-ready instinct light up Christopher’s eyes and the love of the game burn like a flame in Isabella’s. Thank God no one on her side of the family had wound up working with The Brotherhood. The Liliana in her would have been pissed.
Lucien was pissed as he watched Amadeo and Olivia. “And you two?”
Amadeo shrugged. “Seems I have little choice, doesn’t it?”
“If you want to burn this family to the ground, fine. Do it. I’ll be standing on top of the rubble shouting I told you so.” Olivia leaned back in her chair, folding her arms over her chest.
“How can you be so fucking self-serving?” Lucien snapped, his temper rising.
Amadeo smirked unkindly. “Because you’re the epitome of one for all, and all for one, playboy.”
Vasco reached out, putting a staying hand on his brother’s arm. Olivia snickered.
“My affairs lie in the company dealings, as does Agata’s, but if you need us, Vasco, of course we’ll assist,” Dominic said smoothly, purposely failing to acknowledge Nicholas’s involvement in Dion Corporation’s dealings. Agata was the current CEO of the Dion Corporation.
Nicholas, who ran the Eastern sector of Loyalty Airlines, wasn’t surprised. His father’s treatment of him still pissed him off, but he hid it, like he normally did, and looked over at the triplets. “I don’t see any problem with this. Why the hell not, really. I’m in.”
“Thank you, Dominic,” Vasco said, “And Nicholas. This operation may call for the use of our military, and we need someone in charge of them that’s fully committed to this task.” Vasco traded glances with Isabella and Christopher. “Isabella, because you are the Governor of Alcyone, would you have any objection to your brother coming out of retirement and assuming full command of the Alcyone Island military?”
Amadeo blinked, and then he bristled. He shot to his feet, pressing his palms into the conference table. “Excuse me?”
Simone barely contained a grin at the furious expression on Amadeo’s face. Asking Christopher to assume control of the military had been her idea.
Isabella flicked a disapproving glance at Amadeo. “Sit down, Amadeo. For the duration of this exercise, given your obvious reluctance to participate in it, you will accept a temporary demotion to Lieutenant General. Christopher—”
“Will gladly take control of our military,” Christopher said, watching Amadeo with hard eyes.
Amadeo’s neck turned red, but he swallowed down the biting retort, tipped his head in the elder Terenzios’ directions, and sat back down in his chair.
“Thank you Aunt Isabella, Uncle Christopher,” Vasco said. “Olivia, we see no reason why you can’t keep control of your SVT office, but you’ll be reporting directly to Lucien.”
“How wonderful.” Olivia’s voice dripped with sarcasm, and she refused to even look at Lucien.
Vasco continued: “We’ll be using Loyalty a great deal over the coming months. Nicholas, get with Simone.”
Nicholas nodded. “Of course.”
“Agata, your days will continue as normal. Keep the company moving.” Vasco gave her a small smile.
Agata nodded. “That’s what I do.”
“Are Robert and the Think Tank involved?” Kayla asked.
Simone nodded. “Yes. That’s why he’s not here. Our geek squad is in the process of building a device that will make our jobs easier. Well, my job, at least.”
“Which is?” Olivia asked.
“Need to know,” Vasco said. “For security reasons.”
Olivia frowned. “You want us to help you take on the powers that control the whole fucking world, but you won’t tell us how?”
Lucien threw up his hands. “You don’t even want to help, but you want to know how? Make up your fucking mind.”
“Enough,” Christopher interrupted. “We’ve always been a need-to-know family. That’s nothing new.”
“And you three—” Isabella eyed the triplets. “—will keep me in the direct loop
of your activities. I will not fish around, nor come hunt you down for answers. Understood?”
Simone’s mouth twitched. “Crystal clear.”
There was a faint curve to Vasco’s mouth. Isabella was so much like her mother. “Yes, ma’am.”
“You will be the most in-the-know member of this family.” Lucien gave Isabella a little salute.
“We’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time, so everyone keep their phones on, please.” Vasco looked around the table. “This meeting is adjourned. Aunt Isabella and Uncle Christopher, please stay. We have a few things to go over with you.”
