~ Luciana's POV ~

Alessio stood staring at the wall behind me reeling from the initial shock of hearing that one of his best friends was dead. I knew they were close, no matter what had happened between me and Rafael ages ago, he was still working with Alessio in the mafia because of their bond, they just weren't on the best terms.

But one thing I know for sure is if Alessio had any feeling that there was even the slightest possibility that Rafael wasn't loyal to him he would have done something about it back then. But Rafael was always going to be loyal to Alessio, they had a brotherly bond like that. They may have argued but they still loved each other, they were just too stubborn to admit it.

But now it was too late.

"Alessio..." I had no clue what I was supposed to say to him in this situation, the guilt I was feeling was enough to make me feel sick to my stomach. It was my fault they weren't as close as they used to be before Alessio met me.

Before I could say anything else the sound of Alana's small cries came through on the baby monitor. For a moment I was torn between the two but when her cries got louder I knew I had to go to her so I quickly turned around leaving our bedroom going into her nursery. I held my baby in my arms walking around the nursery with her while I tried to calm her down. She wasn't due another feed for about an hour and her diaper didn't need changing, so she was probably just fussing.

"It's okay my baby, go back to sleep." I bounced her in my arms gently in an attempt to soothe her as I walked back into Alessio and I's room to check on him. By the time I got back Alana's cries were slowing down and Alessio was now sitting on the bed with an emotionless expression on his face as he spoke to someone on the phone for a few minutes.

"Luciana." I turned to look at him in confusion when he paused his conversation to speak to me in a cold tone. "Pack an overnight bag for you and Alana. Do it now."

Without waiting for me to respond he went back to his conversation leaving me confused and more importantly, leaving me worried. If we had to leave so suddenly it only meant we were in danger where we were, because apart from the mafia house, this was the safest place to be. So if this wasn't safe right now, there was definitely a reason to be panicking.

It only took me a few minutes to gather some stuff for Alana and myself while Alessio finished off his conversation and by the time he was done I was sitting on the bed next to him waiting for him to explain the whole situation to me.

"What's going on?" I tried to keep my tone soft only to not aggravate him any more, especially after the argument we had earlier. Maybe after hearing about Rafael he's not as angry about it anymore?

"We need to go to the mafia house for the night. That's all you need to know."

So he was still angry.

I probably should have seen that coming, he's definitely capable of multitasking - he can easily be angry with me and sad about Rafael. This is Alessio we're talking about.

I watched him stand up still busy on his phone, now typing away, while I thought about the fact that we had to stay at the mafia house tonight, completely unprepared. They wouldn't have a crib for Alana for a start and she'd probably end up waking up the whole house every hour during the night when she woke up to feed or get her diaper changed.

Not to mention the fact almost everyone in Alessio's mafia hates me because of who my family are and if Alessio can't even trust that I'm not working with the Russians then neither will any of them.

"Ales-"

"Wait for me downstairs I'll be a few minutes. Take Alana I'll bring your bags downstairs and the Moses basket." With that he left me to go and pack his own things and with a sigh I did as he said knowing now just wasn't the time to argue with him. Not even five minutes later he came downstairs with our things and took them out to the car while I was busy trying to calm Alana who still hadn't managed to go back to sleep with all these disturbances.

Getting her in the car seat in the mood she was in was not easy let me tell you. I sat with her in the back of Alessio's car while he drove, trying to keep her quiet knowing Alessio was already in the worst mood ever. It was only going to take one more thing to push him right over the edge.

"Shut her up Luciana." My eyes snapped to Alessio's in the rear view mirror when he finally spoke for the first time during the whole ride when Alana started full on screaming again. Very loudly.

"Don't talk about her like that." He didn't respond to me instead he just muttered something under his breath as I rocked the car seat while whispering quietly to my two month old baby who just wasn't having any of it. She was usually fast asleep by now since she liked to have good nap before her next feed, but because of all this commotion she hasn't managed to fall asleep leaving her in a complete state.

After going through almost triple the usual amount of security on entry, ten minutes later we finally pulled up to the mafia house. Thankfully for those few minutes Alana was calm enough for us to get her out the car seat and while Alessio carried the bags into the house I carried her in my arms.

I definitely didn't want my daughter in a place like this but it's not like I had much choice at that moment, Alessio was trying his best to not even glance at me, there was no way I would be able to convince him to change his mind. I had no clue why we were here but I'm sure Alessio had a good enough reason, only because it meant he had to spend more time around me which I'm sure he wouldn't want to do.

I stopped behind him in the hallway and he turned around to lock the door ignoring all the people who were standing in the hallway staring at us. The only people I instantly recognised were Thea, Mason and Eli and of course Tomasso who was wearing the same impassive expression as Alessio and everyone else.

Apart from Tomasso none of them had met Alana before but this not how I thought it would go. Especially since none of them even smiled at me, of course because they now thought I was working with the Russians.

"What's she doing here?" I rolled my eyes at Mason's angry glare and instead focused my attention on Alana in my arms who was looking around at all the new faces with curiosity.

"Sadly she's the mother of my child, I have no choice." My eyes snapped to Alessio when he spoke in a cold tone and I didn't even bother to hide the pure hurt on my face when he said that. But he didn't care.

They started talking about what happened with Rafael, only speaking in English because of Eli, Mason and Thea who didn't speak Italian. From what I gathered from the conversation Rafael's body hasn't been found but gun shots were heard outside his house. All the evidence is pointing to his body being taken by those who shot him. They're not exactly sure who did it but they think it was the Russians which didn't help my case at all. I know they know more though, they just didn't want to say too much infront of me.

Just as their conversation began to come to an end Alana felt it was the perfect time to start crying again. Very loudly might I add. I winced at the sound of her screams as she cried, adjusting her in my arms as she flailed her tiny arms around.

"Alessio I need to feed her." I gave him a pointed look since I obviously needed to go somewhere private but all he did was glare at me. Instead of saying a word to me he just gently took her from my arms leaving me standing there awkwardly as he held her, and within seconds her cries subsided.

Just another reminder that her bond with Alessio is much stronger than with me. Like I needed anymore pain at that moment.

"Luciana." The sound of my name being called moments later caught my attention and I turned towards Tomasso. "Come with me."

He mumbled something to Alessio before taking Alana out of his arms and gesturing for me to follow him upstairs, which I did. We went up two sets of stairs to the second floor and then through many hallways until we finally stopped at a door. Tomasso opened the door and we stepped inside the huge bedroom.

"You can feed her in here, this is where you'll be staying." A small frown made its way onto my face as I turned to look at him.

"Thank you." He nodded without speaking but he didn't make any moves to leave just yet, telling me he probably wanted to say something.

"I'll wait outside, call me when you're done." With that he finally left me alone for a few minutes giving me a chance to pull myself together after all the craziness of the past hour. I let my thoughts wander back to earlier this evening as I breastfed Alana. I was planning on finally opening up to Alessio and moving on from this awkward phase in our relationship and instead he hates me even more than he did when he found out I was pregnant with Alana. It's like every time we make any progress there's always something that takes us straight back to where we were before or even worse in this case.

Once Alana was finally done and almost about to fall asleep in my arms I got up to call Tomasso back inside just so I didn't wake Alana by shouting his name. We both took a seat on the bed as a silence fell around us for a few moments.

"I don't believe it." I frowned at him in confusion prompting him to continue speaking. "About you working for the Russians, I don't believe it."

Well I didn't expect that. Especially from someone I was so sure didn't like me. Tomasso and I had the weirdest relationship.

"Why?" He shrugged at my question keeping his eyes focussed on his hands instead of looking at me. "It wouldn't make any sense. Why would they be coming after you and Alana? If you already belonged to them you would have gone back the moment you found out you were pregnant with Alessio's baby."

Tomasso's words seemed to touch something inside of me and suddenly my eyes filled with tears.

"Don't cry Luciana." He moved closer to me wrapping his arm around me as I rested my head against his shoulder, the tears leaking out of my eyes silently.

"Why does it hurt so much when he treats me like this?" Tomasso let out a small chuckle as he rubbed my back soothingly, still being careful with Alana who was in my arms. "Because you love him."

"I thought he loved me too, but now I'm just the mother of his child to him." The tears only cascaded down my cheeks faster when I thought back to the remark Alessio made downstairs when we first came into the house.

"One of his closest friends was just killed Luciana, he was angry at you before it happened but now he's just going to take it out on you even more. That's what Alessio does. Let me tell you something...when he broke things off with you before he knew you were pregnant, for those months you were separate he took all his anger out on me everyday. We argued more than ever before. But I love him like my brother so I stuck with him through it because I knew why he was doing it. He missed you. If you love him, please don't let it get to you, it won't last as long as it did with me. He's just hurt Luciana. He only just got you back and now he's lost Rafael."

I let out a shaky breath struggling to get my emotions under control as I kept my head against his shoulder. Pulling away from him I wiped my eyes before looking down at Alana to see her still sleeping peacefully.

"Here." I gently passed Alana to Tomasso, a soft smile forming on my lips as he stared lovingly down at her, rocking her gently in his arms. It was weird seeing him, and Alessio for that matter, so soft and gentle around Alana when I'm so used to them being cold, hard Mafia men.

"How are you holding up?"

"What do you mean?" Both our eyes were on Alana as we spoke quietly. "Rafael was your friend too."

It fell silent for a moment, probably since Tomasso was having an internal battle of whether to give in and tell me his feelings (for the first time ever) or go back to being closed off. It seemed the former won when he let out a tired sigh before looking at me. "I really feel like killing someone right now."

A small smile tugged at my lips at the clear frustration on his face. Such a classic answer from someone in the mafia. When something bad happens they react with violence or by pushing those closest to them away and taking their anger out on them like Alessio does. Most of the time it's both though.

"I know we haven't been close over the past year, we haven't been close since he chose Daliah's side but..." His sentence trailed off and instead of speaking he let out a shaky breath clearly trying to keep his emotions in check. Instead of letting him finish I just leaned forward pulling him into a loose a hug like earlier. I was never one of those people who would look at someone who's just lost someone close to them with that pitiful look and tell they were sorry for their loss. It never really helps the person who is suffering, sometimes saying nothing and just being there is better.

I don't know how long we stayed like that but the sound of the door creaking open caused us to part and my eyes soon met Alessio's furious ones.

"Well this is cosy." I rolled my eyes as he spat the words at me taking in my close proximity to Tomasso who quickly handed Alana back to me before standing to his feet. He gave me one last glance before he quickly made his way out of the room passing a furious Alessio who was keeping his glare focused on me.

It's always me.

He made his way into the room putting Alana's Moses basket down next to me which I only just realised he was carrying before he stepped away once again putting distance between us. "Tomasso's upset about Rafael, that was all."

He let out a small scoff telling me straight away that he didn't believe me not that I expected anything different to be honest.

"Trust me or don't Alessio, I don't care I'm too tired for this." I put Alana into the basket making sure she was comfortable before I made my way over to the bags he'd just brought in which he left next to the door and started unpacking some of the things I would need tonight for Alana and myself.

"Rafael is dead Luciana."

"I know-"

"Because HE was the one looking into your family." I turned around to face Alessio who was shooting me a cold, accusatory glare.

"And you think I had something to do with this?" I rolled my eyes only causing his anger to flare as he stepped closer to me. "Maybe not you, but your family definitely."

"Alessio get this through your head. I haven't spoken to anyone from my family for months, I have nothing to do with it! I love you, you're my life and you're Alana's father. If I was going to double cross you I'd be putting her in danger too. Something I'm not prepared to do." It seemed like my words were finally starting to get through to him but as I expected he was too stubborn to admit it. Instead of responding he just left the room closing the door behind himself, probably going to sort out what was going on or going to give Tomasso hell for hugging me.

After having a bath while Alana slept I got changed into my pyjamas and got into bed, taking out my phone. I tried to keep myself busy for a few moments before I eventually went onto my
contacts, my thumb hovering over my brothers number. It took me a few moments before I managed to get the courage to call it again but once again it went to voicemail.

At that moment the only other person I could think of was his girlfriend, so I tried calling her to find out what the hell was going on.

"Hello?" I let out a deep breath when I heard her answer unexpectedly. "Gina? It's Luciana."

The phone went silent for a moment before I heard shuffling on the other side and moments later she spoke again, this time in a hushed tone. "Why the hell are you calling me?"

"Tell me what's going on." I tried to keep my cool knowing that giving into the anger and frustration I was feeling wouldn't get me anywhere. It took me a couple minutes to convince her to speak before she eventually did.

"All I know is that Carlos dragged me out to Moscow and now I'm stuck here with your mom and your father. I don't know what they're planning Luciana but it's not good, for you or your baby."

So it was true. Everything Alessio said was true.

"Can I speak to him?"

"Luciana I can't-"

"Please Gina. Just give him the phone." Once again she fell silent for a moment before she finally gave in.

"I'll call you back in two minutes, I need to go and find him." With that she hung up. I let out a sigh and glanced down at my phone for a moment, weighing up my options in that moment.

Either I could wait for her to call back and speak to my brother myself or I could take the phone to Alessio. Of course both options had pros and cons, the most significant being that showing any signs of me being in contact with my brother will only make me look more guilty. But if Alessio found out afterwards, there would be no way I'd ever be able to convince him I wasn't double crossing him.

The thought of that told me what I needed to do and without a second thought I quickly put a hoodie on over my tank top and shorts before grabbing the Moses basket which Alana was sleeping peacefully in and went off to find Alessio.

I made my way through the same hallways Tomasso took me down before I reached the stairs, making my way down I noticed the hallway was completely empty of everyone who was there earlier when we arrived, but now there was a guard stationed at every single door I passed on the ground floor. Even if the cold glare wasn't etched upon each and every one of their faces, the huge guns in their arms were enough to to send a bone chilling shiver down my spine.

The looks I received from the men I passed and the guards at the doors were making me second guess my decision but by the time I was considering turning around I'd already made it to Alessio's office where there were two guards stationed outside. I tried to reach past them to knock on the door when the one on the right caught my wrist before I could.

Without even sparing me a glance the other one put his hand up to his mouth speaking into the radio tucked into his sleeve in Italian. Seconds later the door swung open revealing a room full of people who hated me. I slowly stepped inside, my eyes landing on Tomasso first who was standing off to the side away from everyone with a furious glare on his face. This instantly told me I'd just walked into some sort of disagreement.

Brilliant timing Luciana, just brilliant. Give them another reason to hate you why don't you.

My eyes then went over to Thea, Mason and Eli who were all glaring at me and then finally Silvana. She looked like she was absolutely ready to kill me, and if it wasn't for the baby in the basket I was carrying there's no doubt in my mind she would have. She was never shy to pull a gun on me when we were super close when I was staying with her, I'd hate to think about what she would do to me now that she thinks I'm betraying her family.

Betrayal is the worst thing you can do to someone in the mafia.

"What do you want Luciana?" My eyes shifted over to Alessio who was sitting at his desk now with a cold impassive expression on his face. I knew it was no time for me to get distracted but it wasn't the easiest atmosphere for me to just open up and tell him why I was there. But I didn't exactly have a choice.

"Here." I tossed my phone on his desk before putting the Moses basket on his desk too. I watched his eyes go from me down to my phone before he looked at me in confusion.

"My brother is going to call, you can talk to him." He seemed confused for another moment before he slowly stood up, the glare coming back onto his face, this time much harsher than before. "So I was right? You'd only be able to contact him if you were working with him."

"Oh give it a rest Alessio, I called his girlfriend. I didn't know if she'd even answer or if she would know anything but she did. She said she'd call back in two minutes-" My sentence was cut off when my phone started buzzing on the desk causing both of us to look down at it before Alessio glanced at me again.

"Go on." He rolled his eyes at me before picking up the phone and hitting answer, leaving it on loud speaker for us all to hear.

"Luciana?" My brothers voice came through the phone, reminding me just how real this was. He really was on the other side, it wasn't just a theory any more. His voice came out curt and hard but it was no match for Alessio's, when Alessio was pissed you could hear it in his voice and if you weren't an idiot you would run in the opposite direction.

"Try again."

"Ah, Alessio." His voice now came out amused once he realised it was Alessio he was speaking to and not me. "I was wondering when the next time I would speak to you would be after our little stunt tonight."

It only took seconds for realisation to dawn across Alessio's face when he realised Carlos had just admitted to killing Rafael and any composure he previously had flew out the window.

"You son of a bitch. I don't give a damn who you are to Luciana, next time I see you I will kill you." Alessio's words only made me frown and Carlos laugh, not taking Alessio's threat seriously in any way.

"How is Luciana by the way? I was meant to be speaking with my sister, not you." I rolled my eyes at his smug tone knowing it was only going to piss Alessio off even more and I was the one who was going to be on the receiving end of his anger. Carlos was just going to hang up the phone how ever many thousands of miles away he was perfectly happy after knowing he'd just riled up his enemy.

"Forget about Luciana, you're speaking with me." Alessio carried on with his threats while Carlos only responded with a few of his own threats or some jokes trying his best to get under Alessio's skin. My attention was taken away from their back and forth conversation when Mason came through the door causing me to frown. I didn't even notice him leave.

I watched as he stopped next to me placing a laptop on the desk next to the phone, taking out a wire he plugged it into my phone before running some programme, the screen showing that it was searching for something. I only realised what he was doing when he gestured to Alessio to keep the conversation going when they must have been about to end it.

He was trying to trace the call.

"I have a question for you Carlos." Alessio took a seat on his chair, the phone still on speaker for everyone to hear while his eyes now remained fixed on me. "Luciana. Is she working with you?"

The room was silent while we waited for his reply, both Alessio and I refusing to break the cold stare we had. Eventually I was the first to look away when I heard a loud laugh sound on the other side of the line which went on for some time before Carlos finally calmed down.

"That was funny. There's a reason we didn't tell her any of this Alessio. She was a mistake, a liability. She never had the guts for this life, my parents knew this when she was young. So they kept her in the dark."

Listening to his words all I wanted to do was react and say something to him but even if I was allowed I wouldn't have been able to. I was in shock.

"A word of advice Alessio, don't trust my sister with this. She won't be able to handle it. Any little thing will tip her over the edge into depression. Like I said, she's a liability."

Alessio looked more deep in thought with a glare on his face but before he could respond to my brother, Carlos beat him to it.

"We're coming for her Alessio - my sister and your baby, prepare yourself because once I'm done with you, you'll have nothing left to fight for. I'm going to take your life apart piece by freaking piece until you've lost everything and everyone, then you'll be begging me to put a bullet in your head as you watch me take over the last thing. Your mafia. Don't bother trying to trace the call, it's not going to work."

With that he hung up, leaving us in a deadly silent room, his last words the only thing running through our minds.

Sorry for the delay 🙈 I really am trying to get better with updates! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment xx