by S. J. Smith
Well that is new information.
Tony took a step back, lowering the gun fully but never actually taking his finger off the trigger.
"That's a very interesting tidbit you've got Lou. However it does raise another question, how do you know that?"
It seemed to dawn on Lou in that moment that in his panic to stay his execution, he'd only signed his death warrant twice over.
"I don't- He- Ricky-" the stench of urine filled the immediate area causing Tony to roll his eyes.
"Ty! Get over here."
Ty left his spot against the nearby doorframe, where he seemed to have been happily enjoying the show.
"Make this testa di cazzo talk, but don't kill him until we've verified everything he has to say."
"You know your Italian always comes out more when you're riled up."
"Non essere una merda."
"Come ti pare, boss," Ty replied with a cheeky grin.
That was all Tony needed to hear before he holstered his gun and left the warehouse.
Part of Ricky's job had been running the freight company and maintaining the warehouse, as well as fudging a few records so no one was any the wiser about what the trucks were really hauling half the time. He'd been damn good at it too. Maybe that was why this mystery person had taken him out, because he was good at his job.
Tony had been trying to figure out the connections between all the men that had been killed across the country since the reports started pouring in. At first the deaths over East had happened so quickly that no one realised that the deaths in South Australia were being reported at the same time as the ones in New South Wales and Victoria. Once they crossed the border into Western Australia, the reports had slowed down significantly.
It was almost like this guy was playing with them.
But why?
By the time the first true screams of pain started, Tony had already considered a half dozen options for who could be coming after his Family and then dismissed them methodically. He'd even briefly considered it being an inside job, especially if a lifer like Lou could betray his capo so easily. What Tony couldn't figure out was who it would be if it were an inside job. His brothers didn't want the responsibility of being the mafioso. His sisters were the same. They'd always wanted the benefits of the life but never to actually be actively involved. Veronica was the only one he could think of who had it out for him, but that was only since her son died.
Wasn't it?
"Boss, you're gonna wanna hear this," Ty called from the doorway.
Tony had been pacing behind the warehouse, lost in his thoughts. His tracks were visible in the dirt, the laps growing in length.
When Tony reached the doorway, Ty didn't look pleased. If anything he looked ready to put a bullet in someone right then and there, if he hadn't already.
"What'd he say?"
"You're going to want to hear for yourself," Ty said through gritted teeth. Tony could've demanded that Ty tell him right then and there but rolled with it. If Ty said he'd want to hear for himself, he probably wanted to hear for himself.
"Alright, out with it mamaluke, what have you got to say for yourself."
When Lou didn't immediately start spilling his guts, Ty came up next to him and started pressing down on one of his already broken fingers.
"Non ti sento, Lou," Tony taunted when nothing but silence came from Lou's mouth. Ty let go of the broken finger and moved to one of the three unbroken ones, pulled a hammer from a loop on his belt and started lining up the blow.
"Agh! Ricky was a rat! Okay! A traitor!"
"Stronzata!" Rage course through Tony so quickly he didn't even realised he'd backhanded the asshole until his head was snapping to the side. Taking a deep breath Tony calmed himself, waving off Ty who had stepped forward to hold Lou in place.
"You're trying to tell me that my nephew flipped?" Tony walked around Lou, reaching inside his jacket for his gun.
"No. He had a side business with some Serbian and wasn't kicking up like he should've but he was my capo wasn't he? You put a goddamn kid in charge and look where he ended up!"
Bang!
"Alright let's get this mess cleaned up and get back to the city."
Ty just nodded and cut the duct tape keeping Lou upright in the chair.
◆◆◆
"How'd it go ciccino?" It had been late when Tony got in the night before and he hadn't been in the mood to talk business when Carmen woke up to greet him. But now in the harsh light of day, it was time.
The two of them were in his office, Carmen perched on the edge of his oak desk, the photos that had been left on her car the day before beside her, as Tony studied the map on the wall with all the pins.
"Not good. He said that Ricky-" Tony cut himself off, not wanting to disgrace the memory of his nephew by saying the words out loud. Carmen waited for him to finish but when he didn't she started putting the pieces together herself. The shame on his face at just thinking about what Lou said, only meant one thing.
"Ricky would never betray the Family. Whatever Lou said, he's a goddamn liar." Carmen had known Ricky almost his entire life. He was one of the first of the cousins to see Alexis when she was born. Carmen was there when he took the Oath. There was no way that he was a traitor.
No way.
"How did you-"
"Know? Because of the look on your face. You were ashamed to even be thinking it and I know you, you're not ashamed of much."
Carmen was right and they both knew it. Tony had long ago accepted all aspects of this thing of theirs. He took the Oath seriously and he expected the same of everyone else who took it.
"So we agree, Ricky wasn't a traitor." Carmen nodded in agreeance. "Then that means Lou was," Tony concluded.
"Or someone convinced Lou that Ricky was," Carmen suggested.
"Honestly, I'm not sure which one is worse right now."
"We need to call a meeting," Carmen realised.
"I'll call Emilio and the others."
"And I'll run to the store."
Tony just looked at his wife like she'd grown a second head.
"You're thinking about dinner right now?"
"No ciccino, I'm thinking that this meeting is going to be going for hours and eventually you're all going to be hungry and I haven't done the food shopping yet."
Chapter 32
Suffice it to say that the meeting did not go well. As soon as her dad's crew left, Alexis had been called down to his office and told that she wasn't to leave the house until this mess was sorted.
From the look in his eyes she knew better than to object. He concocted some lie to tell the school that she'd gotten sick and would be out until further notice. Even had the Family doctor sign a certificate for the front office records. No one was allowed in or out of the compound without a heavily armed escort. She wasn't allowed out – at all.
Alexis could've survived with a little time off school, except for the fact that none of her friends were allowed to visit her, Emilia being the only exception. She wasn't even meant to tell the Lucas the truth, in case he let it slip that she wasn't actually sick.
Seven days of being locked up in the house with only her parents. Even the housekeeper had been given paid time off.
Five days of having nothing to do because she'd finished all of her school work. She'd even worked ahead by the second day.
None of her favourite shows could distract her from the loneliness that she could feel creeping in.
It was one thing to isolate herself, but when isolation was forced on her it was just suffocating.
Sunday night Alexis came to a decision. She was going to school the next day. She was going to see her friends and be bored by her teachers and sit through the ridiculous school assembly that was the literal definition of 'this could've been an email'.
She found her dad sitting in his study, pouring over files and a map.
"Daddy, can we talk?"
He didn't even look up from his desk, just waved her forw
ard.
"What's up princess?"
Maybe it would be easier if he wasn't looking at her.
"I want to go to school tomorrow."
"Well we both know that's not going to happen."
"I'm sick of being locked up in this house."
That made him look up. She hadn't meant for her tone to become so clipped.
"In case you've forgotten Alexis, you are locked in this house for your own safety."
Safety.
The thought was almost comical to her. In what universe did he actually think that she was going to be safe? She was the daughter of the Mafioso. She may not have experienced a threat quite like the one they were facing now, but she remembered times as a child when her mum would keep her home from school, distract her with games and movies. She remembered her dad coming home limping, or favouring some part of his body, blood drying on his clothes. She remembered her uncle going to prison and the cruel taunts of people she once thought were her friends.
She remembered it all.
She would never be safe from the risks that came with being a member of the Family. It didn't matter that she hadn't made the oath. She was a target purely by association. Not everyone had a code like her dad did. Not all rival families were against hurting kids or women.
"Someone threatened me, didn't they? That's why you and mum were freaking out after the meeting last week. That's why you haven't let me leave the house. Isn't it?"
He didn't say anything, he just stared at her. The silence in the room was deafening and it was only broken when he finally got up from his chair and made his way across the room to her. Alexis wasn't sure what she was expecting until he pulled her into his arms. Instinctively she wrapped her own around his waist, her face against his shoulder.
"Daddy, I refuse to live my life in fear."
"But at least you'd be living."
"No, I wouldn't. Because living in fear isn't really living, dad. You and mum taught me that."
With a kiss on the top of her head he pulled away, a sad smile on his face.
"Yeah, well I regret it. At least if you thought living in fear was okay you wouldn't fight me about keeping you safe."
"You can keep me safe and still let me go to school. Besides if you keep me home any longer someone is going to call child protective services, and then where will we be?"
"I think once I explain the situation to them they'll understand."
"Yeah, somehow I don't think that informing them of the threat of some unknown assailant will sway them to see things your way," she said, quirking her left eyebrow.
"You are aware that if I let you go to school tomorrow you're not going to know a moment of peace. I'll have guys trailing you from class to class. You might actually wish that you'd just stayed home."
Alexis gave it some genuine thought. She knew that he would make good on his promise. Her miniscule amount of freedom would come with consequences.
"Fine, but they need to blend in, at least look like they could pass as year 12's, or teachers even. No one else should be able to pick them out of a crowd."
"You drive a hard bargain."
◆◆◆
He could've locked her in her room. He could've had a guard at her door and outside under her window. He could've kept her in the house until the end of times. But he'd chosen not to. Or rather his wife had told him not to. She'd known that Alexis would only humour them for so long before she started chomping at the bit. Carmen had told him that when Alexis finally wanted out, he had to let her out. Didn't mean that they wouldn't watch every move she made.
Alexis was aware of the threat on her life, and yet she still wanted to go outside where it wasn't safe. He marvelled at her sometimes. Back when his youngest sister had been Alexis’ age there had been some particularly violent threats made against her. No one had known until then that she’d been dating a boy from a rival family. She had broken it off when he tried to get her to betray Family secrets and feed him information.
His sister had hidden in her room for weeks. Even after they dealt with the threat she hadn't left the house for another month. Maybe it was knowing who it was that was threatening her that had scared her the most. Then again he would've thought that the threat of the unknown would be worse. Never knowing who it was that was out to get you, any stranger in a crowd could be the one to pull the trigger.
Alexis was either brave or in denial.
Chapter 33
Three weeks.
It had been three weeks since they'd gone into DEFCON 3.
Two weeks since Alexis had been on constant high alert, not allowed to go anywhere without a team of bodyguards. Just like the house arrest, this had grown tedious. Every corner Alexis turned at school she spotted one of her dad's undercover bodyguards. They blended in well enough, except for the fact that sooner or later everyone would start wondering why there were so many new 'students' and 'teachers' in the middle of the school term. Also why no one seemed to actually have a class with any of these new people.
Her mum kept reminding her that it was for their own good. Dad just wanted to make sure they were protected.
Alexis had been quick to point out that her mum could protect herself, that she was a weapon all her own. Alexis had watched her train with the guards. She moved with a speed and grace that only came from years of dedicated training. Her skills with a gun were surpassed only by her skills with a blade. She was like some kind of lethal anti-hero. Alexis hoped that one day she'd be half as good as her mum.
It was as they drove home from one of their few approved outings that her mum once again tried to convince her that this was all for the best.
"Sweetheart, I know you hate not having your freedom, but trust me when I say that this could be so much worse. There was a time before you were born when the Family was under threat. All of the women and children were ordered to go into hiding. For months I couldn't come home." The gentleness in her mum's voice didn't detract from the seriousness of the words.
"I love your dad's family, but I never want to be cooped up with them like that for any period of time ever again,” she said as they pulled into the garage.
Alexis laughed, imagining her mum and aunts stuck together for that long. It was lucky they had all come back alive. As she got out of the car her mum’s phone rang. Looking back Alexis saw the troubled look on her mum’s face and felt the tension come back into her shoulders. Her mum just waved her away.
“I’ll be in in a moment,” she mouthed.
There was a feeling in her stomach, like she should stay and listen, but at the same time she knew her mum wouldn’t be happy with her if she did. So she left, the feeling in her gut eating away at her with each step.
Chapter 34
"Hello, Carmen."
Her heart stopped in her chest. The air around her turned thick and heavy. Dread settled in her stomach like a rock. Of all the voices she could've heard over the phone line, why was it his?
"I know you recognise my voice. Have you dreamt about me since we parted ways? See I've dreamt about you, every night in fact. Do you want to know what I dream about?" There was something in his voice that screamed 'unhinged'.
"What do you want?" Carmen spat, finally finding her voice. He just continued on as though he hadn't heard her.
"I dreamt about your world falling apart, like mine did. I dreamt of all the fun ways I could destroy everything you have ever cared about. I think I'll start with Alexis. After all wouldn't it be fitting for you to lose her like I lost my father. Though... I didn't really lose him, rather I killed him. I think you're going to do the same."
"My parents are already dead Stefan."
"No, no, no. Oh my sweet, beautiful, stupid Carmen. Not your parents. Your daughter. Your sweet pretty Alexis. She doesn't look a thing like you by the way. Perhaps that'll make it easier."
"I'm not killing my child you lunatic."
"Think of it as a mercy Carmen, because if you don't kill her, I will. Then I'll kill y
our husband. Then his family. But I won't kill you, not at first. You'll watch them all die, and I'll make you wish that you had ended their lives yourself."
Carmen could barely contain her shaking. She hadn't felt fear like this since she was nineteen years old. Pushing all of those old feelings back down into the hold they'd tried to crawl out of, Carmen steeled herself.
