The Ones Who Saved Us

Chapter 28

Alessandro's POV

The house was quiet when we entered, which was unusual for noon on a Saturday in the Russo household. We should have heard arguing between the twins and Ava and Teddy about what to make for lunch or what to watch on the TV. No, the absolute silence that engulfed our lively home was far from normal, and the worry was starting to show on each of our expressions.

Elijah closed the front door, the slam echoing through the house. "Ava? Teddy? We're home." The four of us walked through the entrance to the living room, but there was no sign of our younger siblings

Dad's and my eyebrows were both furrowed, prominent lines on their forehead visible, as confusion built in us upon realizing that Ava didn't come running to greet us like she always did after one of our trips. How her eyes would search for any injury on our bodies that needed attending to and the relief that would wash over her when she realized that we were fine.

Because more than anything in the world, she was scared of losing us as much as we were scared of losing her.

Leo dropped the satchel from his shoulder to the ground, grabbing the gun that was tucked in the back of his waistband. The rest of us followed suit as I led us up the staircase with our guns raised, ready to shoot. We started with Teddy's room at the end of the hallway only to find it empty. The same was seen with Ava's and Matteo's rooms, causing the worry to further build.

But we relaxed when we reached Emilio's room, lowering our guns at the sight of our four youngest siblings asleep on the bed. Teddy's entire body was face down on top of Matteo, his head on Matteo's chest with a noticeable drool stain on Matteo's shirt. Ava was lying on her back, the large comforter almost entirely covering her face. Emilio was on his side with an arm laying loosely over Ava, a small smile on his lips.

We left the room, and I closed the door behind me.

"Thank God they're okay," Leo said. "I was starting to get worried."

"They're not okay," Dad and I said at the same time.

"They look fine to me," Elijah said.

Dad shook his head. "Ava is exclusively a side or stomach sleeper. She would never sleep on her back unless she was hurt or something."

Nodding in agreement, I said, "And Teddy wouldn't choose to sleep on a bed with that many people. Four people on a queen sized bed? Does that look comfortable?"

"You're right," Leo sighed. "Should we wake them up and figure this out?"

"No," Dad said. "Let them sleep. We have some things to figure out if I'm not mistaken."

We made our way down the stairs and to the living room. Our trip to Chicago in hopes of capturing Cameron hadn't gone as planned. It was as if he knew of our plans before we had even executed them and was able to ensure his safety.

Or maybe we were lured there by a false tip so that our younger siblings would be left home by themselves.

Another issue we were having is that a lot of our weapons and drug shipments were being tampered with, and this had started a little before Cameron met Ava. It was too suspicious to be a coincidence.

"Whoever Cameron really is, he has a personal agenda against our family," Dad said. "Why else would he go to such great lengths of scaring Ava and Arya? He could have easily kidnapped Ava at the museum, so why didn't he?"

"Maybe creating fear was the objective," I said. "But what's the point if you're not getting anything out of it? Everything Cameron has done so far just seems impulsive and without purpose."