𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲

11- 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗔 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁

"We can't keep this from him-" Amara spoke, keeping her voice quiet as she stood near a wall, engaged in a heated conversation.

"I don't want to, but we need to" Azaiah told her and Amara just scoffed.

"Yeah, and what if he finds out from someone else? What then?" Amara asked and Azaiah just ruffled a hand through his hair.

"I don't know, Amara, but I don't think he can handle this right now" Azaiah told her and Amara just let an empty laugh escape her mouth.

"Right now? He lost her seven years ago, and now he has to-" Amara started but she cut herself off.

He had to marry another woman all because of her. What did she do? Her responsibilities as the leader of the Italian Mafia had overshadowed her responsibilities as a sister- something she never wanted to do.

And something she was going to fix.

"Right now, he has the family I know he's always wanted. We find out what Darius has to do with this and get to the bottom of it before involving him, there's feelings in this, Amara."

Amara just nodded, hearing the mention of him having a family and immediately softening. She was yet to meet Axel in real life, the only image being the one she saw in Natalia's memories when he was merely a newborn.

Suddenly, as if her mind had been read, Axel walked through the main doors not far from her, followed by Elias and Luna.

Elias looked in Amara's direction briefly, and she was only met with a cold gaze. She didn't blame him, but she also hated it.

He bent down to let Luna off her leash, allowing her to roam the room. Elias picked Axel up, carrying him on his hip as he talked to him.

"You need to go talk to him" Amara told Azaiah, her voice now softer and Azaiah just furrowed his brows.

"Why me?" Azaiah asked and Amara just took a deep breath, blinking her tears back and trying to hide the glossiness of her eyes.

"Because right now he can't stand to even be in my presence. He'll refuse to hear me, but he'll hear you."

Azaiah just nodded slightly, noticing that Amara was refusing to make eye contact with him. He just placed a hand on her shoulder, stroking it in order to soothe her and her eyes immediately met his.

"He won't hold this against you forever, I know you did what was best for this Mafia."

The vulnerability in her gaze was something he didn't often see and, despite their indifferences, he saw a flicker of the woman he used to know. Yet, it was still just a flicker.

"Go, I'll cover everything for today" Amara told him, her usual facade being brought up yet again.

"Thanks" Azaiah muttered before moving his hand from her shoulder that perhaps lingered there a little too long.

Azaiah caught Elias up, deciding it was best to talk to Axel first in an attempt to put him in a better mood.

"Hey, Axel- want to spend some time with your Uncle Aze?" Azaiah asked him, putting his more high pitched voice on.

"I'm not talking about all of this" Elias told him, his voice firm and Azaiah just nodded.

"I know, I came to spend some quality time with my nephew" Azaiah told him and Elias let him off the hook.

They carried on walking, talking to Axel and finding a small ounce of happiness at the sound of his little giggles.

However, they didn't know that Amara had immediately gone to her room, searching frantically on her computer.