𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 |𝟏𝟖+ (#𝟏)

𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈-𝚂𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽 |

37
ALESSANDRO VITALE
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"Abandoned shipping yard, we all know Gabriella would never step foot here on her own so who made this plan?" Dimitri asks as he loads magazines into the guns laid out on the floor in front of him. Maxim not far from his side helps him out. My office was packed and despite its sheer size similar to that of my master bedroom, it felt smaller with all the bodies standing inside it.

Franco, Gianni, Maxim, Dimitri, Ariana, my father, and myself with Luka's boisterous voice through my phone. Our plan was clear - get Amber back. Five against one trained FBI agent and a girl that's never thought it mattered to learn to use a gun despite being raised around them - this would be done in five minutes. Ariana and Gianni would take one of the highest points in the shipping yard which happened to be in the middle giving them vantage points to block the escape of anybody trying to leave.

Franco, myself, Dimitri, and Maxim would case out of the buildings for movement. I'm more than sure Gabriella didn't have the patience to not show up tonight after everything that played out less than an hour ago. The call to drop the money would or should be held tomorrow and honestly, I would've waited and hijacked that event but knowing the impulses of two people in this situation made this now plan the perfect workaround. Callahan wanted to win, so having control of the situation made him think he was ahead of me.

I had people who I paid in the FBI and most have said he comes to work late, sometimes wearing the same clothes from the day before. He was skating a thin line with the director because of his focus on only getting me rather than following through with other aspects of his job. Gabriella just hated rejection and hearing the word no - she was easy to manipulate.

"Probably that FBI agent. He grew up close to there." Ariana states as she flips through the file on my desk. "He doesn't have much ambition or notoriety working for the agency maybe because he's too focused on you Alessandro. That also probably explains why you didn't see shift changes for the hours you watched the shipment yard. He has no friends at work." she says looking at me and the twins.

"I'd say he has too much ambition - aiming for big fish when you can build a resume starting small. He doesn't know you have his bosses, boss in your pocket does he?" Luka and I pay the director enough untraceable money in an offshore account he could simply retire from working a government job - but he hates his wife enough to want to leave every day for work.

My eyes flit to Ariana, questioning just how she knows this. "Luka will say a lot of things when I promise to have my hands down his pants. Don't you?" she asks. He groans expressing his slight discomfort that she had him wrapped around her finger pulling him along like a dog on a leash wanting a treat. "Yeah, you only know that because you were getting as sloppy as a pig with your kills. Don't forget how Alessandro and I found you and the exact reason why." He tells her in a stern voice to which she rolls her eyes.

"So fatherly, but I'm sure your curiosity about who was killing all those people overrode your reasoning. I know your plans changed when you confirmed it was me - had it not they'd be indebted to both of you for the tip about international and domestic agency threats," she says looking specifically at me to gauge my reaction. It's not that I couldn't keep a straight face - it's that I didn't need to and when I look away from her and towards the wall and hear her laugh it puts me a bit at ease. "Thank you, Alessandro."

Before I can answer the jealous rage in Luka's voice interrupts. "Ariana, what the fuck, you've never told me a thank you."

We had all the time right now to listen to this tangent of an argument about to happen because the several trackers on Gabriella's person showed she was still home. Also without my directive, Luka had assembled a team to watch Gabriella's home but also Callahan's home and job. Given her father was still at her home, Gabriella wouldn't be leaving till he did.