Alina

Stefano

I can't believe I'm actually here. It's been almost 17 years since I've seen everyone. I never thought that I'd reveal myself to them like this, without Alina.

"Surprise." My eldest says, grinning at his uncles.

"Before you start yelling again. We've been in contact with Stefano since the start. He was never a traitor." My father informs the bewildered group.

"We've met all of his kids, his dogs, stayed at his villa for a while. I wish you could've come it was lovely." My mother adds with her classic attitude.

"How?" Francesco asks.

"Valentina was a bitch to say the least. We met before we got married, and she was amazing at first. A beautiful lady, kind, and a union would benefit both of our families. We started dating and I got her pregnant. That's when her true colors came out. She said she'd harm the baby unless we got married, so we did. Valentina made me keep him a secret even after the birth so she had something to control me with. I was too afraid to say anything to anyone. For months at a time she'd hide Alfonzo from me. She did this for years. I couldn't look for him, she always had eyes on me.
That bitch pulled the same thing when she got pregnant again with Andreas. Only this time she forced me to help her in killing her brother. I did. And when she was pregnant with the twins, she told me to kill you. I couldn't do it. I could never do that."

"That night he came to us and told us everything. From Alfonzo to what she was planning. We couldn't stop her, she had Alfonzo held captive somewhere with our grandsons in her stomach. We had to listen to her demands." My mother adds.

"So I planted the explosives that day, but they were faulty and would never go off. She didn't have to know that though, all she saw where what appeared to be bombs attached to your cars.
I left a clue that the cars were rigged so there would be a reason you survived. I still suffered the consequences when we arrived back in Sicily."

"We were able to find Alfonzo about two months later in some shit hole and took him back to Italy for the time being. She went into labor prematurely and died, we took him back after that." My father says.

"But if you were innocent, why didn't you reach out after she died?" Bianca asks.

"There was more to gain on the opposite side. Nikolai took great interest me since he thought we shared a common enemy." I explain.

"So you became the Messenger once you gained his trust?"

"Not exactly, Francesco. I was never even supposed to become the Messenger. A few anonymous tips over the years was all it originally was. But when Alina came into the picture, I knew I had to become someone you trusted."

"But that was twelve years apart. You had time to make amends. Why not come back?" Mariana asks.

"Well I had a source of information practically no one else in the world had access too which was something that was too beneficial to give up. Also leaving the Bratva is dangerous. It didn't matter what my position was, I knew too much to simply leave. I had family to think of."

I look over at Antonio who's just staring at the ground. He hasn't spoken a word yet. I can't read his expression at all.

I sigh and continue.

"So I took on the identity of the Messenger, giving you information that would lead to Alexei and Dimitri's presence in the states and therefore, Alina as well."

Mentioning her name immediately changes the atmosphere. I just got here, I don't know if it's even been spoken yet.

"I didn't know where Al- she was, all I knew was that she was with them. You guys would have to find the complex where they were hiding and I was counting on that to get the brothers to bring her out into the open. I assumed that she'd be with them, not in a fucking decoy van!"

"You didn't know she was being abused?" Bianca asks.

"No. Nikolai painted a whole different picture to me. He said he had a beautiful daughter growing up in the states for safety reasons and that she would return to Russia for her social debut when she came of age."

"Why would he lie?" Mariana questions.

"He knew how much I valued family. If he came across as a family man too, I'd probably think differently of him and trust him more. He had fake photos and everything. I believed his act. I thought she was safe.
Not long before the raid the truth was revealed. Hidden files were recovered of security camera footage from her time in the estate. We went into action immediately and were ready to go."

"My brothers and I were in the country during the raid. We were ready to get her out. It would've happened if the rat was right, but you arrived early. I was in the estate when the handoff happened. I saw Alexei hand her over to Igor and put her in the van.
The signal was out and I couldn't reach my brothers, as far as they knew they were still going to follow the brothers. Their eyes were on them, not Alina. When they didn't see her, they assumed I had her already.
I did the best thing I could think of which was take the spot of the driver. I shot him and pulled out of the gates.
I was waiting to get off of the road and make it to the rendezvous point when the first van blew up. I  booked it before I saw Alina get thrown into the woods and I was about to jump out of the car when your son shot my tires then shot me too. I tried to run towards where I saw Alina fall out before I collapsed. Andreas found me not long after. He realized something was off and came to get me. We heard your sons find her body and we realized we were too late."

"Why are the Ivanovs so obsessed with her now if they treated her like that?" Francesco asks.

"Their family is very traditional mafia. They don't like emotions, they believe it's a sign of weakness. Family is merely to continue the legacy and nothing more.
From what I've gathered, Alina got to Nikolai. I don't know how, but she did. He couldn't take it so he sent her off to the states with Alexei and Dmitri who also fell for her. So they hurt her for whatever reason. And now that they've lost her, they don't know how to handle it.
They've been going crazy over it. Obsessing over her. Nikolai thankfully isn't as bad as his sons. They didn't tell a soul of what would happen here, not even me. The soldiers you encountered have most likely already been executed. I don't know what they plan to do with her now."

"Why didn't you just tell us about who she was?"

"How would you react, Bianca? How would you react if your daughter was abused by your greatest enemy? Tension is high enough, you people wouldn't stop until all three of those bastards were dead." My father says.

"Where was Tatiana in all this?" Mariana asks.

"Dead. Nikolai killed her to cover up his infidelity and disguised her passing as a death during childbirth for his inner circle. The majority of the Bratva doesn't even know of her existence."

"His infidelity?"

"Yes. Alina's illegitimate."

"A Kuzmin?"

I meet my son's gaze, he knows what comes next.

"What happened to her mother?"