MARENGO

10 | Allies

Alejandro's POV

"Your sister has gone crazy," Dad scurried around the foyer. "I don't know what to tell your mom."

"Dad, anyone would have done the same," I scoffed. "At least she traveled within the country. Mom went to Russia for Christ's sake."

"Alejandro, do not compare Victoria to your mother," he barked. "Scarlett's father wasn't present. However, I am."

"Dad, I don't mean to disrespect but-" I started before my mom came downstairs from all the commotion.

"What's going on?" She inquired, watching my dad stress out. Stares were distributed around the room and then mom eventually fixated her stares onto me and there was no way out of it.

"Victoria's in Florida with Jackson," I blurted out. I expected a change in her facial reaction however I saw nothing.

"I know," she replied, hugging herself tightly. "I can feel it."

"Babe," dad grabbed mom. "Can you feel anything?"

I knew mom was like a semi-psychic but this was just strange. I heard that our late-grandmother was like a fortune-teller or something of the sort, but that type of voodoo just seemed odd and unrealistic.

"No," mom spoke monotonously. "I can just feel that she's in danger."

Victoria's POV

"So grandma Katherine killed Luna, another leader," I sighed. The thought of the majority of my family being murderers baffled me because I wasn't shocked. I hated how I was always the last to know anything and the fact that my 'parents' hadn't mentioned anything about being part of drug-trafficking mafias to me at this age. They needed to understand that I was going to find out someday.

"Luna wasn't just another leader," Jackson explained. "Luna was Popita's mother, from her relationship with Alejandro... who I killed."

I already knew that Jackson confessed to killing Alejandro, but I don't know, hearing it just made my stomach turn. Any normal person would be scared of Jackson, but for some strange reason I felt at ease. Maybe it was because I was raised around a family involved in mafias already, or because I knew that Jackson had risked his life by outing his previous cartel to the authourities. It was all a confusing concept to me, because I was just placed right in the middle of it with no escape.

"So Popita's mother was alive the whole time? Because Popita has always told me that her mother died whilst giving brith to her." I replied, confusedly.

"That was a lie that Luna created to go and live a life in the cartel with Santos, your grandfather. They were having a secret affair."

"Wow," I scoffed. This wasn't a shock to me, considering all of the other shit I had heard from Jackson's mouth. However, I just wanted to know how this would impact me right now. "So what's going to happen now with the Mexicans? Are we in serious danger?"

"They've been targeting your family for a while. They are the new Bronze Dragons, the mafia I was in, before I outed them to the police for a lower prison sentence. They offered me protection, but no one can protect you from this new group in Mexico."

"You said that my dad had upset a lot of people and that the Mexicans turned on him. How come? What happened?"

Jackson sighed. "Santos was the leader of the Russian Roulettes along with Luna, the mafia your grandfather owned before he was killed. The Bronze Dragons and the Russian Roulettes allied together against the Ivory Lions, the mafia your father was in. When Nick killed Santos, and your grandmother Katherine killed Luna, the Bronze Dragons died out since the leaders were dead. A couple of the guys came back together a formed a new version, this time in Mexico, ready to avenge their leaders' death."

Wow. All this talk about mafias and death, it seems like everyone that I was related to had killed someone. It suddenly became a situation where I didn't know who to trust anymore.

Suddenly, my phone rang, and it was Alejandro. He was the only one I trusted.

Scarlett's POV

"We have to contact Jackson," I suggested, watching Nick pace around the room with his hand of his head, worried sick. "Victoria won't answer her phone anymore."

"Honestly, after what you've told me, it's not just Vic in danger. We're all in danger." Alejandro stated. To tell you the truth, he was right. Both Nick and Jackson were being targeted.

"There's no way in hell I'm calling that pendejo," Nick growled. "There must be another way to reach Victoria."

"Clearly she doesn't want to talk to you," Alejandro stopped Nick in his path of pacing. "Don't worry, I'll call her."

I took a sigh of relief as I knew that Victoria would never decline her brother's calls and that we'd be able to make sure that she was safe. I could feel in my heart that my daughter was safe, and as hard as it was to admit it, I knew that she was safe with Jackson. I knew that he'd protect her with his life.

Alejandro began to dial Victoria's phone, and she picked up almost immediately.

"Put it on speaker," Nick whispered to Alejandro. He procceeded to do so.

Alejandro: Hello?

Victoria: Alejandro.

Alejandro: Vic? Are you okay? Are you safe?

Victoria: None of us are.

Alejandro: I know. Dad told me everything about the Mexican Bronze Dragons. It's lucky that they're on the other side of the border.

Victoria: Here's the issue. They're not. They know my location and tracked me down to the Orlando Airport.

My heart dropped.

Alejandro: So they're in the US?

Victoria: Yeah. Right now Jackson and I are trying to figure out a plan to get out of Florida safely because they're on our tails.

Nick stormed up to Alejandro and grabbed his phone out of his hand with brute force.

"Victoria," Nick yelled. "Pass the phone to Jackson, now."

The room was silent for a good ten seconds, and to my surprise, a deep reminiscent voice from the past grew loudly in the room.

Jackson: Nick.

Nick: If anything happens to Victoria I swear I'll kill you.

Jackson: You know that I'll protect her with my life. She's my daughter.

Nick: She's also my daughter. Therefore I'm also protecting her with my life. And I'm man enough to realise that she was going to be in danger either way. Whether she was with me or you, the Mexicans are after us.

Jackson: So what do you propose we do?

Nick: There's no limit as to what we can do for our children. It's either those Mexicans or us.

Jackson: So we're going after them.

Nick: Like I said, there's no limit.