The Seventh Family

Chapter Two

(Audrey's POV)

When the four of us walked in the front door, the atmosphere inside the manor was so tense it was almost suffocating. We followed Reece into the Family Room and my eyes immediately found my parents.
They were standing by the fireplace at the head of the room. Both of their faces were grim, but when my mother's eyes met mine the cold edge surrounding them softened slightly.
My gaze landed on my father, but aside from a brief nod in my direction, he avoided my eyes.
My siblings and I took our seats in the circle of armchairs and couches. I sat beside my youngest brother as Reece crossed the room and took his place in the chair to my father's right, next to the other Capos.
I glanced around the room. Everyone was here.
Or at least, everyone of relevance. Almost all of the Capos in the city and some of their most trusted soldiers. The only one who was missing was Stephen, but he hadn't been around for a couple months now. I had no idea where the man who had become like another father to me disappeared to, but it was one of the few things my actual father refused to talk to me about.
Before my father started speaking I leaned over to my youngest brother.
"Have you heard anything?" I asked in a whisper. Rex turned his head slightly towards me but other than that, didn't react.
"No, nothing more than you have." He whispered back. "All I know is that our psychopath of an uncle is back in town."
I nodded and pressed my lips together, my eyes finding Reece's across the room. He gave me a subtle nod and a reassuring look before he skillfully hardened his features into the unreadable, stone cold expression I'm convinced all of the Capos practice in the mirror at least three times a day.
My head snapped towards my father as he started speaking, and everyone in the room automatically straightened up at the sound of his voice.
"I think you all know why we're here." He said, his voice full of authority. The intimidating tone was a far cry from the playful, teasing father I knew most of the time.
Everyone in the room nodded their agreement, and my father went on.
"My twin brother, Roberto Russo, has decided to sign his own death warrant and return to our city, despite our many warnings. Somehow he's managed to keep himself hidden from our eyes on the streets, except for one occurrence, to prove to me, to all of us, that he is truly back in town."
My father reached into the pocket of his business jacket and pulled out an envelope. It was made up of thick paper, and I immediately recognized the red wax seal stamped onto it.
How my uncle had gotten his hands on a Russo Family signet ring to stamp the wax with, I had no idea. I didn't know a lot about what happened when my uncle was banished, but I did know that my father stripped him of everything except his life, wife, and the clothes on his back.
Taking a Family signet ring was not something my father would have allowed his psychopath of a brother to get away with when he was forced to leave.
"I'm still not entirely sure how he managed to pull this off," my Dad said, opening the envelope and unfolding the message inside. "But he jumped through some complicated hoops to deliver this into my hands, without leaving a traceable trail. In this letter, which sounds just like his idiotic, crazy, entitled self, he demands that I turn over the power of the Family business to him, or suffer the consequences. In short, he says we have 48 hours to surrender, or, and I quote: 'pay the price for your beloved Family'."
My father looked at the letter a second more before replacing it in its envelope and stuffing it back in his jacket pocket. He pressed his lips into a grim line and studied the people seated around the room. The air filled with silence for a few moments, before one of the Capos spoke.
"Well, sir, what's our course of action?" He asked. I turned my head to study him. He looked familiar, I'd probably seen him at many Family Meetings, but I couldn't quite specifically place his name and face.
"Nothing." My father responded, and I felt the shock slowly rippling through the room. I focused on making sure my features stayed neutral, despite my surprise.
As some people started mumbling their shock or protests, my father raised his hands for silence. Everyone immediately complied, though I could still feel the restlessness in the room.
"I realize this may seem slightly against our protocol. As you all know, usually, with a threat like this, we would retaliate immediately. We would track the threat down and have it dealt with swiftly. However, I know my brother better than anyone, and ignoring him is what is going to get under his skin the most.
We're going to heighten security around the manor, around our safe houses in the city, and around my children and yours at their schools during the day. But other than that, we aren't going to do anything. The angrier he gets at being ignored, the more rash his decisions will become, and the sloppier he'll get. Once we can track him down, we'll deal with him."
My father met the eyes of every person in the room. After a few moments of silence he took a deep breath.
"For now, this is all the information I can give you on these new developments. Capos, make the needed adjustments to your areas and soldiers. All of you except for my Inner Circle are dismissed."
Most of the people in the room, including my siblings and I, stood simultaneously and saluted in the direction of my parents, then filed out of the room. I glanced at Reece, who nodded at me once before turning back to my father.
I led my siblings out of the room and towards the stairs. Even though we were the Boss's kids, we still weren't a part of the Inner Circle yet. Those spots have to be earned through more than just a bloodline.
All four of us trudged up to the second level of the house and down the hallways towards our rooms. With an unspoken agreement, all of us filed into my room, shutting the door behind us.
I flopped down on my bed, my sister sitting down gracefully beside me. Ryker sprawled out on an armchair and Rex plopped down right in the center of the room on the floor.
I took a deep breath and listened to the silence for a while, before my brother spoke.
"Sooo...that was kind of an intense meeting." Ryker said, raising his eyebrows. I scoffed.
"No kidding."
"So what are we going to do, now that Uncle Rob is back in town?" Rex asked, rocking back and forth. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Exactly what Dad said to do. Nothing." Amira answered before I had the chance.
"But do you really think he's going to let that faze him? He's a Russo, he's our relative, he can't be that stupid. He stayed away for all of this time, why come back now, just to lose his temper at a lack of attention for 48 hours? He has to have some kind of plan." Rex said, staring at a random spot on the wall, seemingly lost in thought.
Ryker, Amira, and I exchanged looks. Even though Rex was only 11, he was probably the smartest of us all. While the rest of us attended public high school, Rex was homeschooled, since he was two grades ahead. Going to a public school with a bunch of older kids would draw too much unwanted attention to him.
"Well, that's certainly one way of looking at it." I told him.
"Ooorrr...Uncle Rob really did get the short end of the stick in terms of Russo genetics and is truly just an idiot." Ryker chimed in.
"That's also a possibility." I responded.
None of us had ever known our Uncle Rob personally. I was only a baby when my father banished him from the city, but we've heard enough of the stories. It's not a subject my parents are particularly fond of talking about, but many of the older Capos and soldiers were there for the blowout between the Russo brothers, and tales of those times have become like campfire stories in the manor.
"Our life is about to change." Ryker said after the longest stretch of silence yet, all of us caught up in our own thoughts. "A lot."
I took a deep breath and nodded, a million things running through my head, and hardly any of them good.
Later that night, as I lay in bed, I couldn't help but think about Ryker's statement. He was right. I knew things were about to change.

But I had no idea just how much.

A/N: Okay so this chapter was slightly shorter, it was also kind of rough to write, and it's probably a bit boring, but in the next couple chapters things should start amping up a bit!

ALSOOOO...I would like to give a HUGE thank you to imani_cole_xo , the very first person to vote and comment on this story. It means so much to me that you actually took the time to read it and let me know what you think! Thank you! If this chapter wasn't so bad, I would dedicate it to you!

Hopefully I can start updating more often now that I'm back from youth camp. But until next time...
—Love, Hannah♥️