I know it's been a while and I'm really sorry, but college has literally been killing me and I'm so stressed out. I lost my phone along with my credit card, license, and college ID, so that doesn't help either. I literally write on my phone which is why it pushed me wayyyyyyy back and now I'm using my mom's old samsung. Trying to get a bit used to it before I get a new one on black Friday.  Hallelujah. I'm sorry if I put my depression into this chapter lmao.

Anyhow, I hope you guys like it and let me know what you think. Also point out my errors and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Been waiting for a break for a long time now. 😂

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(Athena's POV)

(Now let me see those hands high up if you think he's hot! 😍🙌)

           "Leo!" I acknowledge the man, jumping out of Mr. Azallion's arms and landing on my injured feet. I wince at the surge of pain that jolts through my wobbly legs brutally while keeping the smile on my face intact in order to not worry Leo who's already in a conflicted place as it is.

           Leo narrows his sea blue eyes at me whilst raking a hand through his dark mane. Rising from the sofa, he trudges over in my direction in slow, tired steps. Exhaustion is almost palpable on his face, his usual powerful stature a bit slouched, and his body showcasing nothing but weary. I frown at his unusual state that claws at my heart.

           "Athena." The sides of his mouth twist up softly as he wraps his strong arms around my body and places a tender kiss on my forehead. "What's going on?"

           "Her feet are bleeding," Mr. Azallion decides to open his filthy, babbling mouth again.

           "Can you shut up?" I look behind to glower at the idiotic imbecile.

           "How about you shut up?" Leo scolds me before lifting me up like Mike did earlier and placing me on the sofa to prop my feet on his lap. "How reckless are you?" He fumes, scanning his eyes over my injury. Anger and worry seeps through his pores, radiating outwards. "How fucking reckless are you?"

           I flinch at his tone, swallowing hard and readying myself for his wrath. "I didn't realize I was hurt until everything calmed down."

           "Did you plan all this?" Frustratedly, he pulls out a phone from his pocket and pins it to his ear. "Ray, get to my location right now." He hangs up on his cousin and turns his attention back to me. "Answer me!"

           "I did," I retort in a little voice, my eyes refusing to meet his. "Our people weren't supposed to get hurt, but I got a bit distracted." The distraction being Mr. Azallion who's currently looking at me with worry and fear clinging from his brows by a frail thread.

           "How many times did I tell you to stay away from all this?" He yells, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket. "I told you if you have any problem, just let anyone know and the job will be done. I don't want you diving head first into trouble." The soft fabric begins wiping away the blood from the soles of my feet. "What's the count?"

           "One dead, three injured."

           "Who died?" His eyes solely focus on the task at hand of cleaning my wound.

           "One of the grooms."

           Slowly, he elevates his gaze to meet mine. Disappointment is quite evident on his face as he shakes his head before looking back down. "Athena, what were you thinking?"

           "Damien Rowry threatened me, so I did what I do best."

           "You should've told me," he exhales. "I could've handled it and insured your safety in the matter of a couple minutes."

           I laugh bitterly, peering down at him as he continues cleaning the blood. "Have you looked at yourself, Leo? You look like hell. You and Mike, both."

           "Yeah, rub it in my face," he retorts with a frustrated chuckle, his eyes still fixated on my feet.

           "Whatever happened, happened. I know it hurts, but stop sulking over it. I cannot see you like this." Pulling my legs away from him, I sit up straight and force his scrutinizing gaze to me as I cup his face. "This isn't you. Stop being this man."

           His somber eyes stare at me in utter defeat against the world and I can feel a part of my heart shattering. All they reflect is sadness and heartbreak, but I know he's trying to hold on with everything he has. "It hurts too much," he mutters softly, removing my hands from his face and looking at the other men standing that I completely forgot about. "Ours?"

           "Well, one's the escort and the other one is his brother. Oh, and also that annoying dog of course."

           "So, they weren't supposed to see any of this." Leo nonchalantly pulls out a gun from the waistband of his trousers and places it next to me. "You do it."

           Smiling to myself, I pick up the gun and motion Mr. Azallion and Rome to take a seat on the large sofa opposite us. With the fear of getting shot running wild in their minds, they oblige without a fuss and hurriedly take a seat. But before I can start the talk, Mike drags in Maddox's unconscious body which stops my heart altogether. Damn it!

           "Do you mind explaining this, Athena?" Mike slides the body to my feet that are now dangling off the sofa, hovering over the cold marble floor. "How the fuck is he alive?"

           His bellowing voice rattles my ears and heart as I stare at the unconscious form. My heartbeat is anything but calm as I look at Mike whose jaw is clenched tight in rage before directing my fearful gaze to Leo who just slumps back in his seat. Though I'm good at reading faces, Leo is brilliant at masking his emotions when needed. All I'm getting is a poker face in return and nothing else. Turning back to Mike, I gulp at the sight of the fuming man. Only Mike, Leo, and his father intimidate me to an extent and I can't help my fingers that fiddle with one another in anxiety.

           "I don't know how he's alive myself, but I've tried finding out."

           "How long have you known about this?" He asks, his arms tightening across his chest. What's bothering me the most is Leo's silence which is definitely the calm before the storm.

           "More than a week now," I answer, disguising my obvious fear with leisure.

           "And you didn't bother telling us?" Disappointment screams loud on his face before he turns to Leo. "You knew about this?"

           Tiredly, Leo looks to his best friend and nods before directing his gaze to me. He knows? "Vince tells me everything."

           "You're welcome," Vincent makes himself known with a massive grin plastered on his face as he leans against the large archway. "He would've found out anyways."

           Anger explodes in me at that man's idiocy. Picking up a heavy vase nearby, I throw it at him with all my might and knock his drunk ass down immediately. Blood begins to trickle down his head and paint the floor in thick, burgundy fluid.

           "Now tell them about this," I mumble under my breath, raging like a bull before turning back to Leo. "I'm surprised you haven't done anything yet."

          "I have men trailing him, and in all honesty, I've been sitting back and watching the show," he shrugs, cocking his head to the side. "My patience is up now, so you better tell me what you've been planning."

          "You knew he was alive and you didn't tell me?" Mike interrupts, raising his voice at Leo.

           "What were you going to do?" Leo scoffs, propping his elbows on his knees and leaning forward. "You've been on a killing rampage after Arie and Wendy got kidnapped. Look at your fucking self. You can barely hold yourself together and sane."

           "Have you taken a look at yourself in the mirror?" Mike snorts, flinging his arms in annoyance. "I promised that I'd kill everyone that was on watch that day if even a little scratch is found on the ladies." His jaw twitches in rage as he breathes out a ragged breath. "If I remember clearly, a lot more happened."

           "I'm not oblivious to what happened that day, so how about you shut the fuck up before I blow your brains out," Leo mounts from his seat like a lion, and cocks his gun, aiming it at Mike. "Tempt me and see what happens."

           "This is what I call zero to a hundred real quick," I hear Rome comment under his breath as my heart pumps faster than ever.

           Bitterly, Mike laughs and steps forward, pressing his chest against the muzzle. "Go ahead and end my miserable life. You'll be doing me a favor."

           "Stop it!" I finally scream, hoisting to my feet and ignoring my injury. "Stop fighting like dogs." Leaping forward, I snatch the gun out of Leo's hand. "Look at the both of you, how toxic and ignorant you've become." I remove the magazine and throw the gun aside. "If you both don't stop this nonsense, I won't mind calling Federigo or Belle. Or maybe your mothers will knock some sense into the two of you."

           They both glare at one another for a good second, shoving daggers down each other's throats before taking a seat on the sofa side by side as if nothing just happened. Stupid men... Annoyed at their idiocy, I sit back down next to Mike as we all look at Maddox.

           Pulling out a gun, Mike aims it at Maddox's head. "I still don't get how he's alive."

           "Apparently, he lost his memory after what Athena did to him," Leo yawns, rubbing his eyes with his palms. "Athena, did you get anything out of Odalis the other day?" Of course he knows about that too. Vince is definitely a dead man.

           "I'm pretty sure I killed Maddox." A sharp inhale forces my eyes to the Azallion brothers who watch me, baffled. Ignoring them, I turn my attention back to my brothers. "Maxen is all Odalis gave me before I gouged his eyes out."

           "Oh my fucking God!" Rome yelps. "Sorry, I thought I saw a... bug," he clears his throat loudly, looking at Maddox's body. "By the way, he was crying like a bitch when the bullets were flying around which is why that Vince guy knocked him out," he shifts in his seat when all our eyes train on him.

           "What the hell is Maxen?" Leo queries, ignoring the boy.

           "Beats me," I reply, shaking my head and trying to subside the pain in my feet by punching my long nails into my palms.

           "I don't buy his act," Mike declares.

           "I say we kill him and end it all right now," Leo suggests, turning his gaze to me. "Athena?"

           "Though I don't buy it myself, he hasn't done anything shady as of yet. I want to observe him for a while and destroy his will to live slowly." I gingerly take the gun out of Mike's hand and place it aside. "Please let him live for now."

           "This will bite you in the ass if it all goes south," Mike informs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

           "Trust me on this one." I borrow Mike's phone and quickly call up a few men to take Vincent and Maddox's unconscious bodies to the hospital. After that is taken care of, our attention fixes on the two brothers sitting quietly opposite us.

           "You two," I lift Mike's gun that I placed aside and dangle it between the two. "You've seen a lot."

           "I think I have to bleach Diggy Azalea's eyes now. Poor baby has seen too much," Rome pouts like a child, petting the dog's head and kissing it, causing Leo and Mike to chuckle, but Mr. Azallion to groan.

           With a hint of mischief in my eyes, I smile and look at the two. "I hate to do this, but I have to kill you both. You guys weren't supposed to see or hear any of this."

           "Oh c'mon, Athena!" Rome yells in fear. "You know how much I love you. You can't kill me." Hugging the pup close, he looks to his older brother who stares at me blankly. "And you definitely can't kill the man who ate you out this morning."

           Horror engulfs my face in paleness as Mr. Azallion facepalms. Mike bursts out laughing as Leo nudges his chest, asking him to shut up, but he himself has a hard time stifling his laughter. Before I know it, they're both having a blast cackling.

           "I got here just in time." My eyes find the source of the voice and watch the man wobble in holding his stomach and laughing like an idiot.

(Ryan Guzman as Augustus Bonferroni. Another hottie! 😍🙌)

           My cheeks flame up in rage and embarrassment, and I know I'm growing red by the passing second due to the unimaginable heat coursing through my body.

           "Freaky Athena," Augustus taunts, walking further into the room with a smirk on his face. He leans down and places a kiss on the top of my head. "You've been up to a lot since I last saw you," he laughs.

           "Shut up!" I scream, simmering down their laughter. I raise the gun and aim it right between Rome's eyes. "I'm going to kill you."

           My index finger tweaks the trigger and ejects the bullet through the muzzle, but to my disappointment, someone cocks the barrel up just in time to save Rome. "Athena, leave the boy alone. He was just telling the truth, although he shouldn't have said it," Mike laughs to himself, snatching the gun from my hold and tucking it between his trousers.

          "Did I just miss all the fun?" Wren declares his presence by sauntering into the room with his hands in his pockets. "What's happening?"

          (Steven R. McQueen as Wren Bonferroni. Jeremy anyone?😏😍🙌)

          "Let me tell you," Augustus offers with a wicked grin and paces over to his brother.

          "Gus, don't," Leo warns as I glare at Augustus who wiggles his brows and leans down to whisper in Wren's ear. Compared to his brothers, Augustus' maturity level is moderately low. Perhaps being the youngest one of the boys makes you idiotic.

          The two Bonferroni brothers begin laughing their ass over to me as I look around for an object to hit them with. "I will bust your heads open if you both don't stop."

          "Belle deserves to know," Augustus pulls out his phone, quickly snapping a picture of me and typing away. "I can already tell you what she's going to say."

          "Well, ain't this bloody something, yeah," Augustus and Wren imitate Belle in a high pitched british accent.

          "Knock it off," Leo finally intervenes, snatching the phone and breaking it like a feeble bone.

          "Are you fucking kidding me?" Augustus looks at his older brother, dumbfounded by his action while Wren snickers to himself like a child. "Shut up, stronzo (asshole)."

          Wren just goes on to laugh louder, ignoring his younger brother's demand. "Vaffanculo (Go fuck yourself)!"

          The two don't waste another second to throw the nastiest Italian profanities at one another. Leo pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation while Mike on the other hand enjoys the verbal fight as always.

          "You know it's a family reunion when you hear Italian curse words flying around," Ray sniggers, strolling in. "Who do I have to patch up this time?"

(Hallelujah! 🙌)

          "This reckless one right here," Mike points to me as he follows Leo over to the bar resting in the corner, giving Ray some room to work on me.

          Ray leans down to hug me before settling on the sofa and lifting my feet to examine the wound. "I think the shard tore through my hypodermis which explains the incessant bleeding," I lay it out him.

          "I'm still wondering why you aren't a doctor," he chuckled to himself, his hands warily moving my foot from side to side. "The family could use another personal one."

          "And they can also afford millions of ass-kissing doctors. Anyhow, I prefer breaking bones than mending them."

          He laughs. "Other than the nasty appearance and the partially deep laceration, it isn't severe. It should be fine in a couple days." His eyes dart to the commotion. "What are they fighting over anyways?"

          Groaning inwardly at Augustus and Wren's loud, irrelevant banter, I draw circles into my temples. Ray injects Lidocaine to the soles of my feet to numb the pain while he works his magic to heal me. My feet start slipping into the numbing process, cold sensation erupting like a volcano, then calming slowly.

          Gazing up, I watch Rome enjoy the live drama in fascination. My eyes maneuver to meet Mr. Azallion's at a leisure pace who I know has kept his focus on me for a while now. Those marbles study me, trying to finally solve the puzzle and I know the opacity on certain things is beginning to become clearer. Yet, the man is still very puzzled and drowning in the secrets that are right before his wondering eyes. The intense heat from his gaze is almost tangible. My face can strongly sense two glassy holes being dug deeply into my flesh. Amidst all the nuisance with the bantering brothers, clinking glasses, and loud chatting, my mind decides to solely focus on the man daring to hold my gaze.

          "What are you?" Mr. Azallion mouths softly, his brows furrowed and loads of questions reflecting in his eyes.

          Smirking, I tilt my head and mouth, "Are you scared?"

          He shrugs, slouching back into his seat. "Should I be?"

          My mouth curls up into a massive grin at his ignorance. They say it's a bliss. Well, not anymore. I'm going to enjoy this thoroughly.

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Yay or nay?

I originally wanted to get so much in here, but I'll save that for the next chapter. I know this chapter was boring and not interesting at all. Sorry.

What do you think will happen now with Eros and Rome?

Is it a good call to leave Maddox alive?

Much love ❤
~Reet