Chapter 65.
Angel POV.
I'm sitting in the kitchen holding a cup of camomile tea, which has long gone cold. I look down at my hands and I can still see her blood on my hands. There has been no word as of yet about her condition, so I take it that is a good thing. No news is good news, I suppose. The mansion is a hive of activity, with men all running around carrying out my dad's orders. My brothers are in the red room, no doubt torturing our uncle. No, he isn't our uncle. He lost that right when he did this. He is a traitor. His death won't be quick, it will be drawn out. They will keep him alive, but in a constant state of pain. "Angel." I shiver as I look up and see Alessa and Cassandria DeAngelis walking towards me. Ryder is behind them both with a man I have never seen before.
I wipe my eyes and stand when Alessa engulfs me in a hug.
"It's ok, your momma is super strong, she will pull through this." her words should soothe me but they don't. I pull away and wipe my eyes with the heel of my hand. I look at Cassandria and she is stunning.
She is tall, elegant, with long black hair and the bluest eyes that even rival Ryder's. She has olive skin, her complexion is enchanting. But underneath those kind eyes is a stone-cold killer.
They nicknamed her the Onryo. Which is a Japanese vengeful spirit. Returned in ghost form to harvest the souls of those that have betrayed them in life. She is the first female Don, also known as a Donna. Apparently she is a force to be reckoned with and has mastered many kinds of self defence skills. But her favourite weapon of choice is the Katana. Hence the name. The last thing her enemies see is the look of death in her eyes as she takes her revenge.
"Angel, come here, child." She says her voice is like a soothing balm. I move to her and she hugs me.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. We didn't know what he was doing." I bow my head on her shoulder and she chuckles slightly as she caresses my hair.
"Shhh, now. Tell me what has happened?" she says and I pull back from her and look at Ryder and the man who is next to him. Ryder nods his head once to me and I look at the man and Cassandria sees me looking. She walks to him and stands beside him. "Angel, let me introduce you to my husband, the mafia king Matteo DeAngelis." She says and I stiffen before I bow slightly and he chuckles.
"We don't do that, Angel. It is nice to meet you. Now tell me what has happened." He says his voice is rich and deep. His hazel eyes have more green in them and flecks of gold. He is tall, broad, muscular with a narrow waist. His hair is dark brown and is tousled. Tattoos lick up his throat to his jaw. He is dangerous, and he knows it. His aura screams alpha male.
"He won't bite." Cassandria says with a chuckle as she leans into him. It is hard to believe that this woman, who has suffered so much at the hands of men, is so comfortable with him. He places his arm around her shoulder and kisses her on her head.
"I found out that my uncle is part of a trafficking ring and he was using my dad's name. We didn't know and today. He... He shot my momma and wants to kill us all." I say, as Ryder moves to me and wraps his arms around me.
"Your uncle Gianni? So let me get this straight. Your uncle has used your father's name and is involved in human trafficking? You know the penalty for this? If any family breaks this law, then it is death." He says and I shiver but nod my head and he sighs. I look up and see he is looking at me, and I gulp. His warm eyes are now cold. Cassandria slaps his chest.
"Stop scaring her. She has been through enough, Matteo. She is helping me bring them down. So stop your shit." She says to him and his facial features soften at her tone.
"Of course, my tesoro. Where are your father and uncle now?" he asks. Did he not hear me when I said my momma was shot so obviously my dad with be with her?
"Momma was shot by my uncle, so my dad is with her in the hospital right now. His subordinate is here with my brothers, who are currently in the red room with Gianni." I tell him and he smirks slightly, raising an amused eyebrow before his expression becomes stoic again. "Very well ..."
"Mommy, daddy." I look at the door and run to grab Rebel in my arms and kiss her all over her face. I look at Scar and she looks relieved to see us.
"Mommy, aunty Scar drove really fast. It was fun, we were racing." She chuckles and my heart finally calms down, having my little girl in my arms. Ryder takes her from me and kisses her too when she sees the new people.
"Lessy! Lessy!" she wiggles to be put down like we are chopped liver and runs to Alessa, who scoops her up and twirls her in the kitchen as she laughs and Rebel squeals.
"Wow, you have gotten so big, little princess. Look how long your hair is now." Rebel giggles as she hugs Alessa. Scar walks to us and hugs me and tells me it will be ok. I just nod my head.
"Who are they?" Rebel asks, pointing to the two strangers, and I turn and look at Cassandria and Matteo. They are smiling at her. Cassandria has her hands over her heart. I go to tell her about manners.
"Hello, little one. My name is Cassandria, but you can call me Cass, and this is my husband, Matteo. You can call him Matt. Who are you?" she asks as she walks closer to my daughter and I watch the interaction.
"I'm Rebel. She is my mommy, and he is my daddy, oh and aunty scar and my dog, big brother Boomer." She says as Boomer walks to the new people, growling. Matteo looks at the huge Cane Corso as he stalks closer. "Boomer lasciare." (Boomer leave) I tell him and Matteo looks at me and smiles.
"You kept his tradition?" he asks and
I nod my head, feeling proud. Cane Corso's originally came from Italy, so I kept with tradition being from an Italian family. He chuckles as he watches his wife talking animatedly with Rebel. Who is telling her about swimming and having a steepover with her aunty.
"Angel, do you mind if I head to see him, please?" I look at Alessa, Cassandria, and then at Matteo.
"Not at all. Rebel, why don't you ..."
"We are going to make unicorn cupcakes. Come on, little princess. We will make a start now." Scar steps in and Rebel squeals in excitement, completely unaware of the tension in the kitchen. Scar takes her from Cassandria and I kiss Rebel on her head. "Don't make a huge mess. I love you make sure to keep some for me, daddy and our new friends, ok?" I say and she looks at me with a little smirk.
"Ok. No mess." She exaggerates a wink well a big blink as she makes an ok sign with her fingers. We all chuckle at her. She is the cutest little girl and I don't give one shit that I'm being biased.
We leave the kitchen and walk
through the mansion and out. Ryder takes my hand in his as we walk in front to show them where the red room is. The red room used to be in a brick barn type building before the mansion was under attack by my grandfather, Alejandro Rodriguez and so the red room was destroyed in his attempt to rescue my momma. This was long before I was
born.
The red room is now in a bunker. The closer we get, the more nervous I become. Am I walking to my death? Have I stupidly just signed all our death certificates?
"Don't worry, it will be fine. If he wanted us all dead, we would be before now." Ryder says, but that does nothing for my nerves.
As we approach, I see two gigantic men that I have never seen before. On closer inspection, they are identical twins. Only difference is one has throat tattoos and the other doesn't.
"Igor, Ivan. Let me introduce you both to Angel Moretti and Ryder Savage Jackson." Cassandria says, and they look us over and smile slightly, giving us a slight head nod.
"These two are known as my mountains. They helped train me when I came here. They are part of the Bratva. That is run by Dimitri Volkov." I thought Ivar was the head of the bratva? I look at Alessa and she smirks.
"Just like the mafia, the bratva have many families. The Petrov's and the Volkov's are part of different factions. But all members of the bratva listen to the Volkov's and, in turn, the DeAngelis's. I know it's confusing." She says with a chuckle.
But Cassandria is right in calling these men her mountains. They are fucking huge. Taller than Ryder and Matteo, they are broad, full of power. I gulp. I wouldn't want to encounter either of them in a dark alleyway.
"Are we ready?" Matteo asks them and I just stand there holding Ryder's hand so tight I'm cutting off circulation.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
"Da. We are ready." I think it's Ivan who speaks, and Matteo has a gleam in his eyes. A promise. The promise of pain and it excites him.
"Very well. Angel, Ryder. Please lead
the way. I think it is time I speak to
your uncle about the law he has broken. But know this, it won't be pretty." He says and I feel the colour
drain and I shiver. I walk towards the door and punch in the code and use my palm print on the panel as the light goes green, and the Pock disengages.
No going back now.