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Chapter 41

Valeriana's pov

Devyn, Kian and Verena were in my car as I followed Matteo. We pull up to the warehouse. We got out of the car. Devyn and Kian walk on both sides of me. I roll my eyes at them. Matteo leads us to Aurelio's office. The door was already open. Aurelio, Zario, and Tino were all looking at Aurelio's computer. They look up when we walk in. Aurelio's eyebrows furrowed.

"Valeriana is a Halo member!" Valerio shouts. I shake my head before smiling.

"Dude," I say. Valereico gave me an apologetic smile.

"What are you doing here?" Aurelio asked. I place my hand behind my back.

"Well," I start. How do you ask for help? Do you just come out and ask or work up to it? I was glad my hands were behind my back because they started to shake. "You don't want me to do stupid shit and get hurt so I uh... I need your help," I finally say. Aurelio looked at me, his eyes squinting slightly.

"That was hard for you to say wasn't it?" Aurelio asked with a small smirk.

"Can I take it back?" I asked. Aurelio chuckles before shaking his head. My hands stop shaking. Aurelio smiled at me.

"Do we still have popsicles?" Valentino asked. Santino looks at him.

"You six are the only ones that eat them. So if you didn't finish them off they should still be in the freezer," Santino says. Aristo, Lucian, Matteo, Valerico, Valentino, and Verena rush out of the room. My eyes follow them before I look back to my older brothers while shaking my head.

"What is it you need?" Aurelio asked.

"There is a bounty on me," I say. My brothers look at me. "All three of my identities to be exact. The only people who know I'm also Valer and Echo are from Chris' mafia. It could be anyone in the mafia. They preferably want me alive but death is the last option if they can't get me alive," I elaborate. Aurelio nods his head.

"I know there are a lot of members in the American mafia but any ideas who could want you?" Nazario asked. I blow air out of my mouth.

"Well, there is j-man, we don't really get along unless we kill together. Though that is just how we are, it's a fake hatred we agreed upon. We don't actually hate each other. There are a few people I threw knives at but is that really something to get pissy over? Trey, I don't think I pissed off but I can't leave him off the table. Monroe is dating my ex. She is also high half the time so being turned against me is possible. Chris, might not be ok with me ditching them over the last assignment he lied to me about. He's always trying to get me to join him. It most likely could be him. Then there is..." I stop talking. My brothers look at me curiously.

"Who?" Santino asked. I bite my lip. Do I really say it? Will it make me look bad if I say my dads. I can't really trust anyone I knew from the American mafia at the moment, but they're my dads. Could they really be on the list of suspects? My eyebrows furrowed.

"My dads," I say. I take a deep breath. "If it's them I wouldn't know why. I can't take any chances right now. I hate throwing them out there but I have to," I mumble. Aurelio nods his head.

"It's best to not trust anyone right now, V," Aurelio says. I nod my head.

"Don, this was left at the club for you," A guy says walking into the room with a package. He sets it onto the desk before walking out. Aurelio opened the box. He pulled out a usb.

"Who is it from?" Santino asked.

"I don't know, the whole box is filled with them," Aurelio says. I step forward and look in the box. They had dates written on them. "Get me a laptop not associated with the mafia," Aurelio says. Nazario left the room before returning a few minutes later.

"These go back years," I say. Aurelio gets the laptop before plugging in the usb. My eyebrows furrowed when I saw a date on one of the small sticks. I grab it and look at it. My body froze. This handwriting was mothers. This one was my 12th birthday.

"Don't," I say but it was already too late the video was already playing. My chest tightened. The sound of my screams filled the room as Mother was torturing me. Aurelio stopped the video immediately. I was staring at my brothers. They were frozen in their seats before they looked at me. My hand was clutching the usb in my hands still. I drop it in the box. I pulled out a usb that was a different color than the rest. I handed it to Aurelio. He hesitated before grabbing it and switching them out. He went to play the video but stopped before looking at me. I nod my head. He plays it.

"Mia portatore di lacrime, it's been a while hasn't it?" Mothers voice started, my gaze hardened. Of fucking course the bitch isn't dead. "I see you're doing well thinking I'm gone. Did you honestly think this was over? You are as dumb as you look. Happy early birthday, portatore di lacrime. My gift to you this year is a trip down memory lane. I hope you enjoy I know I sure did," She laughs evilly before the video cuts off.

My eyes are casted down on the floor. How did she fake her own death? The police were involved. Did she pay them? Was this her whole plan? It can't be, she isn't fucking smart enough for this. Who is she working for? Maybe she is the mastermind and she had people work for her. Was she ever really on drugs? I'm questioning everything right now. Chris, Trey, Damien, Kolton. Maybe they were plotted in my path by her. I mean Damien and Kolton never went to the authorities when they found out about my mother. They never even tried to hurt her either. They claim to be there for me but continue to let me go back to that house. They are in a mafia and didn't even try to kill the woman to keep her from hurting me.

"Valeriana?" Aurelio called out.

My dads are a part of the plan. Why? Did they even love me? They were there my whole life but it wasn't by choice. Were they paid to do it? Why would they take orders from her? It had to be something bigger than that. They introduced me to Chris and Trey. Chris. He is their boss. What connection does he have with mother? Was he the reason behind my brother and father not being able to find me and mother? That would make sense. Having a mafia hide your location.

"Valeriana," Nazario says.

Is Trey involved in all of this? Pretend to be my friend but then what was his goal? For my dads I could see having me trust people only to be let down by them later. Trey could be for the same thing but I don't think I would be hurt by him.

"Valeriana!" Aurelio says louder. My eyes snap up to him.

"What?" I asked.

"You shut down for a long time. Are you ok?"

"We'll take it from here. It's just that bitch. We can take care of it," Devyn says. I look at her.

"No, we need them," I say.

"I can't read minds, Echo. You have to explain," Devyn says. I let out a sigh.

"It's all of them," I say. A frown appears on my face. It's fucking all of them! I walk out of the room. My friends follow me.