Alina

Alessandro

The man's screams of agony echo throughout the room. It's a truly beautiful sound. But nowhere near as beautiful as the laughter and voice of the girl he tried to take from me.

Allow me to list everything this man has lost:
- his teeth
- tongue
- all nails 
- his consciousness multiple times
- a few fingers and toes
- an eye
- some skin here and there
- a tiny bit of blood
- the ability to ever have children :)

And the list goes on. I think we've done quite well. Grandfather hasn't given us the order to stop yet so I'm more than happy to continue.

My phone starts ringing and I excuse myself for a moment.

"Paolo, what is it?" He's the head of my tech unit.

"We've found something on your sister, sir. The anonymous source sent us something."

Of course, they found something. For almost 4 years, an anonymous source has sent us messages. We've been trying to track them since the first time but they still remain unknown. They've really saved our asses on more than one occasion but they're also a pain in the ass as well.

"Look at what I sent you."

"Thank you, Paolo." I hang up the phone. I go to my email and click on the most recent file.

Hello Lombardi. We meet again. Congratulations on your newest member. She's a ray of light and a true beauty; just like her name means. Alina is such a lovely name.

All I will give you is her birthday. She deserves to celebrate. The girl will be 4 very soon. She was born on December 29th, 2018. She was a very adorable baby. She deserved the world, her family didn't think so though.

You are working so hard to find and punish the ones responsible for hurting your own. I understand the feeling of revenge very well, but stop before it's too late. Stop the search. It will only lead to more pain and suffering and knowing you, war. You saved a girl from truly evil people. Raise her and make sure she's happy. You've done enough.

I will not tell you who she really is no matter what. I will die with the secret to protect you and her.

Take care of our girl.

- Your Messenger

What the fuck.

"We need to talk," I say looking at grandfather as I enter the room. He nods.

"I think we've done enough. Stop boys." Grandfather says. I look up and see what's happening. The Roman and Matteo carved many things into the man's chest. I see a few games of tic-tac-toe and currently, they're playing hangman.

"No! I'm a letter away!" Matteo says.

"Sorry boys." Dad shoots the guy in the head. "That felt good. Ok, let's go." We leave as a cleanup crew enters.

"Can this happen at home or should we go to the office?" Uncle asks me.

"Office," I say.

We get into our cars and drive to HQ. As we enter the building, the lobby quiets and none of us fail to notice how women slightly stick their chests out as we pass. Nasty.

We go to a soundproof conference room and sit around the table.

"The Messenger reached out again."

"How long has it been since the last message?" Grandfather asks.

"Almost 4 months," Dad replies. He nods signaling for me to read it.

I begin.

"Hello, Lombardi. We meet again. Congratulations on your newest member. She's a ray of light and a true beauty-"

"True." A few of them say. I roll my eyes and continue.

"just like her name means. Alina is such a lovely name."

You can feel the atmosphere of the room change and you could cut the tension with a knife.

"All I will give you is her birthday. She deserves to celebrate. The girl will be 4 very soon. She was born on December 29th, 2018. She was a very adorable baby. She deserved the world, her family didn't think so though."

I look up from my phone and everyone looks like they could kill somebody.

"Alessandro, continue." My father says.

"You are working so hard to find and punish the ones responsible for hurting your own. I understand the feeling of revenge very well, but stop before it's too late. Stop the search. It will only lead to more pain and suffering and knowing you, war. You saved a girl from truly evil people. Raise her and make sure she's happy. You've done enough. I will not tell you who she really is no matter what. I will die with the secret to protect you and her. Take care of our girl. Your Messenger."

"What the fuck!? This guy knows her!?"

"How else would he know her name? We're the only ones that do."

"I think this confirms that Allie isn't from a normal background. There's no way someone like the Messenger personally knew an average family in the middle of no where New York." Uncle says.

"Grandfather?" I say.

"Hm?"

"What do you think?"

"I think that my granddaughter is a very lucky girl. I'm also trusting the Messenger's advice to stop the search. I'm not letting anyone take her from us. No risks. We'll make up a story for when her origin is questioned.

Her father is your cousin Francesco and Antonio. She was born a Lombardi. They died and their daughter was left to Antonio. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes." We all say.

I'll die before I let anyone take my sister away from me.

"Well, at least we know her birthday."

"Shut up Roman."