The life of a Mafia princess

• t h i r t y f o u r •

Third PoV

"Sir, there's something you need to see." Emiliano says as soon as he enters the office. All three brothers immediately look up at him.

"What is it?" Santino asks, standing up from his seat.

"A man came up to us with a text from you. It stated that he's there to take Eleonora with him." Emiliano explains, following the brothers out of the office.

Santino walks towards Cedro's office with quick strides. His heart stops beating when he sees Dante's unconscious body laying in front of the open door. He casts another look at him before stepping over his body and walking into the office. His eyes quickly roam around the room. He almost runs around the office after that. Every little thing is thrown on the floor with the hope that his sister is hiding behind one of those.

The twins stand in the doorway, observing his actions. Behind them, Emiliano is helping Dante sit up against the wall with a solemn look on his face. On the inside, he's losing bit after bit of his sanity and guilt gnaws at him.

Even before the Mancini brothers tell him, he knows that he fucked up. He never should have left his place. He should have called for one of them and killed the man for even daring to come close to Eleonora.

"Where is she?" Dante quietly slurs out, moving his hand up to his head to cover the wound.

"I'd like to know that." Marcello growls down at him. Giovanni glares at him, pulling his gun out together with his twin brother. Both hold their guns against a head of either bodyguard, waiting for Santino to say something.

The oldest brother though, is still desperately turning everything in the office in search of his little sister. By now, Cedro's office looks like someone broke into it and trashed it. The thought of Cedro murdering him for the current state of his office crosses his mind. Any other time, the mental picture would have made him smirk but not this time.

This time, he doesn't feel like laughing or smirking. Now, all he feels is the anger Ivano has been carrying with himself for years. And for what might be the first time, he can truly see things from his brother's view and understand those views.

All the times Santino had to clean up after his little brother enter his mind. Whether it was a dead body on one of their properties, countless of threats directed at everyone and the kidnapping of total strangers. In all of those situations, he let his anger overtake his rational thinking side and lashed out at Ivano.

For not being careful and discreet, for blatantly disrespecting him and everything their father worked for. Or even for putting their sister in danger by trying to contact their mother.

For years, he took all of his anger out on his brother with the claim that it is to protect their sister. But now, as he is standing in the mess he created, he realizes that it wasn't.

He wasn't able to protect his sister but in the attempt to do so, he pushed his brother away. Who, just like Elena, is gone now. And the guilt is already gnawing at his consciousness.

Maybe, if he would have allowed Ivano to pursue everything the brother considered to be a threat, they wouldn't be in this situation now. He should have listened to Cedro all the times he tried to convince him that Ivano's actions were pure and not a threat. Maybe they would all he together then and he wouldn't have to worry about when - or if - he will ever see his three younger siblings again.