Kidnapped

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

-TATUYANNA TORRONO >

I refilled my glass with tequila, listening to my consigliere make my ears bleed out with his advice on how I could've handled the situation better.

My gaze tears away from the floor-to-ceiling window, to meet Leo's brown eyes. "I was excited to meet the head of the family that thought they could screw me over. Just to figure out he was a fake. I was rightfully pissed, Leo."

I point at him, using the hand that held onto the liquor bottle. "Did you want me to take that disrespect, Leo? Did my father ever?" I question, sipping on my drink.

He sighs. "No, he didn't. That's exactly why I'm worried." He says, adjusting his blazer and avoiding my gaze while he was seated on the black loveseat against the wall of my office. "Why are you worried?" I ask, a frown on my features as I leaned against my table.

"Because your dumbass is going to get us killed." Valentino bursts into my office, the rest of my cousins following behind, including my uncles.

I roll my eyes, placing the bottle back on my office table before running my fingers through my curls nonchalantly. "You do know that you've just declared war, right?" Fiorella adds, as her usual calm and collected features twisted into worry.

"Those bastards declared war the moment they planted explosives in a building my father died in." I spat. 

They found themselves a seat, some deciding to stay standing. "We don't have to continue arguing just as Uncle Luca said. Some of you may still not be fond of me, and that's fine. But I've said it before and I'll say it again, I will avenge my father, with or without your help."

Uncle Lorenzo walks across the room towards the mini bar and pours himself a glass of scotch. "It's as she said. You all have to make a decision right now." He says, turning around and facing them.

"Don't tell me you're with her on this ridiculous plan?" Valentino scoffs, disbelief in his green eyes. "I mean, from Uncle Luca's words she called us 'her clan'." Heathe's calculative honey-brown eyes find mine.

My eyes widen a fraction before I looked away, sipping on my tequila. 

"Did you really refer to us that way? You see us as family?" Fiorella asks, something soft about her tone, I'm lost whether she's hopeful or spiteful.

I give her a single nod.

Her eyebrows knit. "Why?"

Without any thought, I shrug.

She groans. "Don't give me that!" She abruptly stands. "Give me a reason." She demands, her expression faltering. "If you tried to use us to make yourself seem untouchable, you're wrong. We're fucked. Accept it." Her voice breaks as it fades in the end.

I cross my arms over my chest as I sighed through my nose. "You don't have to join me, Fiorella. You and anyone else can hide out in one of my dad's condos abroad while I handle everything here. You'll be protected." I twirl the alcohol in my glass with my gaze on the ceiling.

"Since I know that the Russian boss had a 'stand-in', I need to find out his real identity." I scoff a laugh. "Still can't believe the fucker tried to fool me." I down my glass, slamming it on top of the table.

"I've been meaning to ask how you figured out that he was a pawn?" Uncle Leonardo asks, speaking up for the first time today. I noticed he got a fade cut with his hair still long enough to be pushed back. 

"It was simple." I start, gripping the edge of the table. "Since I'm well-known in the game, I was protected. But he wasn't protected like I was. The way people spoke about him, I knew he was well-known too. He had to be important so why didn't he have any bodyguards?"