Mafia Principessa

Chapter 26

Andrea's pov

" I had given you my word.They are both six feet under. I took pictures as a souvenir." Ace said as he showed me the pictures. I think the pictures were more of proof than a souvenir. I needed to be sure that they are really gone. Ace decapitated them as he had promised.  As I'm looking at the pictures I can't help but smile a little. Who knew how easy things could be when you have family behind you. I have never been more glad to see a corpse. Even Poncho's death wasn't this satisfactory. Leonidas's death has been avenged and now I have to focus on finding him. Looking at what I've been through in the last couple of weeks I think peace is overrated. I may not be at peace but I have hope, my brothers brought it back. I will win this war at any cost and that is guaranteed.

"You know Lucas had suggested we bring Sophia and Diego along to Russia so they can be the ones to kill Viktor and Dimitri but Sophia refused, she claims she is not intending to seek revenge and she would rather stay out of this. Diego also said he could not make it though he did not specify his reasons. From what I hear Diego was to occupied with you here. And here I was thinking I'm the reason for you sudden improvement," Ace says with a smirk. So the idiot can smile.

" Come on Armani's chicken soup played a part, so did Mama and Allesandro with their therapist. Though I do agree both you and Diego played a major role in helping me crawl out of that dark hole. My mental breakdown was bound to happen, I had been holding too much in for way too long. I was bound to lose it at some point. I think now I'm stronger than ever and more determined. Thank you Ace, really. I would have expected this kind of loyalty and devotion from Lucas, Antonio and Alex not from you. In fact I thought you hated me," I say with honesty. My relationship with Ace has been rocky since day one. I've tried to kill him, he has insulted me on numerous occasions and we have just never gotten along.

"I have never hated you principessa, I was angry, not at you but at life for separating us. I felt like we never had a chance with you from the beginning since we couldn't even meet you when you were born and when you returned you were no longer our Aurora. I was angry because I felt like a stranger had more claim over you than us, you use the name he gave you and his surname. I was angry because too much time had passed, we only had four months with you and then we lose you once more. Your birthday is next week, will you stay?
This time we are giving you a choice unlike the first time when we brought you here by force. Will you choose us?" Ace expresses.

" Ace....I(sigh) all I can promise is after I've brought the Russian mafia down I will try to give this family thing a shot. I don't know how long the war will last but when it's all over we can have this conversation again. I know I will have the answer." I say, trying not to disappoint him. I need to be on my own when I face him. My only goal now is finding that man and sending him to burn in hell

" Well at least you didn't say no straight up. I believe when all of this is over you could be happy if you choose happiness. Make the right choice Principessa, regardless of where your happiness may lie," he says in a sincere tone.
I chuckle a bit from just thinking about it.

" Happiness, I don't think I know what it feels like. Even as a child when I was living with father I don't think I was happy, he was all I had, I had to love living with him, I had to love his ideals. If I've ever had happiness it was when Leo was still alive and it lasted a fleeting second because the circumstances we lived under killed the happiness everyday.I don't even believe I would recognise it. To be happy, it sounds so distant, so imaginary and out of the ordinary. What would it take to be happy, everything has a price right? I'd pay whatever price to have him beg me for mercy. The therapist and I had been working on identifying what in my dreams or flashbacks is real and what is a figment of my imagination. I had to go back and relive that life. The other kids in the compound including Sophia and Diego used to get punished by either Dimitri or Viktor and it was never as terrible as my punishments. They treated me differently, I was the only one who would be dealt with by the Russian Mafia don. Dimitri and Viktor always had orders to train me harder and be tougher with me. With him it was personal, I could see it in his eyes. He hated me, I used to think it was because I was Zeus's daughter but now I doubt it. They all knew who I really was because they know the Italian mafia. Whoever orchestrated this hated me for being a Bianchi, being raised as Zeus's daughter was irrelevant. I remembered his brown eyes, he had a scar on his left eye. The rest of his face is still a blur but I am certain that very soon I will remember his face and I will unmask him once and for all,"

" We will be right besides you principessa, always." Ace proclaimed

" Andrea, Viktor said something when we were about to kill him. His last words were- he is coming for you. The war has long begun, you need to be careful," Ace tells me with concern. I know he is scared, we are not really sure what we will be dealing with here.

" Good. He will find me ready when he comes for me. I am not a little girl anymore, I am a woman and a leader. I will bring everything I have got. He shouldn't underestimate me because the tides have changed."