~ Jordan's POV ~

"Adrian.." He quickly shook his head ignoring me and instead stood up facing Carlotta.

"No way. She wouldn't."

"You think I want to believe that she would do something like this? Of course I don't! You can't ignore the facts Adrian!" Adrian once again shook his head and began pacing around the room, ignoring my family who were silently watching this unfold.

"Dante wants her dead! He would stop at nothing to kill Jordan, and Leo if he was given the chance! There is no way she would kill her own nephew."

"Well let's ask her then." Matteo stepped between Adrian and Carlotta who were busy glaring at one another, as usual. "Now stop arguing, both of you." I rolled my eyes and stood up next to Adrian, this was taking too long.

"Let's go Adrian. We've got bigger problems to worry about. If they can hate me so much for protecting them then they probably didn't deserve someone to love them that much that they would sacrifice everything for them, in the first place. As long as my dad is alive and okay then I've got nothing left to be in London for. Leo's waiting for us, let's go."

With that I walked out of the living room and out the house without looking back at any of my so called family. I heard the others following behind me while I waited by Adrian's car for him to unlock it.

"Jordan wait." Grace slowly made her way over to me with Riley and my mother watching us from the front door. "Don't leave us again. We only just go you back. I know Riley said a lot to you but he was just hurt. You guys can make it through this if you just stay."

I glanced over her shoulder once again at my brother who was watching the two of us. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but from the expression on his face it didn't look like his anger would be disappearing any time soon.

"Maybe when he's ready to talk to me properly he can call me then, he's got my number. I love you both so much Grace. I never wanted either of you to get hurt or hate me so much. I had a decision to make in that moment and I did what was best for everyone. I just hope one day you guys can understand that, because I would really like for you both to meet your nephew properly; and to be part of our lives."

I gave her one last smile before getting in the car. Taking a deep breath I attempted to control the emotions inside me, I didn't want to cry in front of anyone but leaving my family once again was such a hard thing to do. "Ready tesoro?"

I looked over at Adrian who stretched his hand out to me. I took it in mine and squeezed it gently before taking a final look at my old house where there were so many memories - not just of my old life but the start of my new on as well. Things I would never ever forget.

"I'm ready, let's get out of here."

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"Mia!" Adrian's loud voice boomed through our suite when we walked in expecting to see her sitting with Angelo, Leo and Kaito.

"I swear Kaito, once I've found my sister I'm going to kill you." I tried to catch up with Adrian as he stormed over towards the couches where both Kaito and Angelo looked shell shocked.

"Where the hell is she?" Angelo quickly picked a frightened Leo up into his arms to prevent him from crying. "Adrian calm down you're scaring Leo." Adrian glared at Angelo before looking at the wide eyed boy in his arms. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat before he spoke a lot more calmly but the anger was still very much evident.

"Don't make me repeat myself Angelo." Angelo let out a sigh before shrugging his shoulders and placing Leo down on the floor in front of the TV. "She hasn't come back yet. She's probably out doing something Adrian, why?"

"She's the traitor. She told Dante everything." Angelo's eyes snapped over to mine then he turned towards Kaito just as Carlotta and Matteo walked into the suite. "That can't be true, she wouldn't try to kill Jordan. Especially not while she's pregnant."

"It's true Angelo. She went with him this morning to see my family and tell them all about Adrian being in the mafia and my part in my dads shooting."

I heard Matteo scoff when he took a seat next to Angelo with a glass of some sort of alcohol in his hand. "Matteo hurry up and finish that, I don't like alcohol around Leo, you know that."

"Forgive me Jordan, it's not everyday you find out your sister is the reason why your family are in danger." He quickly threw back the drink without wincing at all and placed the glass down on the coffee table in front of him.

"I want to know where she is. Now." I tried to take Adrian's hand to calm him down but he just pulled it away from me before I could. "Not now Jordan."

"I'll find her Adrian." Angelo took out his phone after passing Leo over to Carlotta.

"Adrian, I swear I had nothing to do with this. I love Mia, that's the only reason I'm with her. I didn't know about any of this."

"Like I freaking believe you." Adrian stepped towards Kaito threateningly. "I promise you, I will kill you. No one threatens my family and gets away with it not you, Dante or Mia. You will all pay."

He sent Kaito one last glare but didn't even look at me before walking away towards our bedroom and slamming the door behind him. I visibly flinched at the sound of the door, my eyes still trained on it catching Carlotta's attention.

"Give him time Jordan. It's just a shock." She sent me a small smile before kissing Leo's forehead. "I'll take care of him for you. You just focus on looking out for Adrian, when he's in moods like this he becomes reckless."

"I've already proven my loyalty to you. I was willing to die for Mia, to prove to you that I'm not a threat to you."

"If it's worth anything I believe you Kaito." I gave him a small smile, I could tell he appreciated it but it didn't mean anything if I did, it had to be Adrian. "Prove it. Come with us. We can use the man power and if you're telling the truth, we'll see it for ourselves." Matteo held a gun out in front of Kaito who stared at it for a moment before taking it and tucking it into his pants.

It only took Angelo a few minutes to track Mia's phone before he called Adrian and the four of them began to get ready to go. Adrian wasn't happy about Kaito going with them but at that point he was past caring. All he wanted to do was end this once and for all.
"I'm coming with you Adrian."

My husband didn't even look at me while he was busy checking his guns to make sure they were all loaded.

"Jordan you have to stay here, you need to think about the baby. Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it." Matteo kissed my forehead before following Adrian and Angelo out the front door of our suite. I understand Adrian is upset about Mia but he shouldn't be taking it all out on me. He left with that many guns to most likely have a face to face with Dante and he didn't even say goodbye to me. I know for a damn fact if he makes it out alive it's going to take a lot for me to forgive that. Especially since I've already told him so many times about my fears of him leaving and not coming home.

~ Adrian's POV ~

I stayed completely silent the whole way to whatever address Angelo tracked for Mia. Twenty minutes later we pulled up to an old abandoned warehouse, at least that's what it looked like from the outside.

The four of us made our way inside, straight through the main front door. I know what you're thinking - how can you be so stupid? It's actually a funny point about Dante that I learnt from being so close to him at one point in the past when I was much younger. He always said no one will come through the front door because they automatically assume it will be heavily guarded, so they'll try and find an alternative hidden entrance hoping it won't be guarded. So instead he places all his men at those entrances instead. I guess he didn't think about the possibility of us one day being basically at war with one another.

The inside of the warehouse was nothing like you would expect. It looked like a warehouse but it had posh furniture, lighting and heating. The outside of the building was clearly just a way to hide in plain sight. You would never have expected this interior.

"Let's just find her and get the hell out of here." The four of us quietly looked around as much as we could downstairs without finding anyone, it was dead silent. We climbed the metal stairs leading upstairs where I'm assuming Dante's quarters were since there were no offices or anything downstairs.

Suddenly Matteo grabbed my arm to stop me going any further and nodded towards his left where there were four men sitting on a couch in another room watching something on tv.

"Is this what Portuguese do for fun? Watch porn?" I rolled my eyes and elbowed Matteo in the stomach; that fool was going to get us killed if he didn't keep his mouth shut. I shook my head at them indicating that we should leave the men and carry on looking for Mia. If we tried to kill them it would just alert Dante that we were here. For some odd reason no one seems to know that we're inside, and if they do they clearly aren't bothered or they wouldn't be sitting around with their hands in their pants watching stuff like that.

We looked around for another few minutes before coming across a large door. Among other sounds the unmistakable voice of Dante could be heard. I gripped the gun tightly in my hand while my other went to the doorknob when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Adrian..." I turned towards Kaito with my eyebrow raised waiting for him to hurry the hell up. "Don't hurt her, I know she screwed up, but I love her." Although I hated the guy, and I mean really really hated him, I knew he was telling the truth. I knew because I could sense the same emotions that I felt when I was worried about Jordan.

"She's my sister, I would never want to hurt her. But I'll do what needs to be done to protect my family." Kaito nodded in understand and pulled back the hammer on his pistol. "I know I've been the cause of a lot of the pain between you and Jordan, so I'm here now, and I'll do whatever I need to do to make up for that Adrian."

I didn't really know what to say to him, it was hard for me to trust him, but that just came from my own personal trust issues. I wanted to though. It's extremely rare to see someone show the amount of loyalty that Kaito was showing me - I just hope it's true.

With one final look at the three men behind me I turned around and twisted the door knob pushing the door open. My eyes roamed around the unfamiliar room scanning over the desk in the corner followed by a huge bed. My eyes locked on the two figures on the bed staring right back at the four of us in the door way.

"Mia..." I stared wide eyed at my baby sister dressed in bright red lacy lingerie, her face caked in a thick layer of make up. She sent me a sickening smirk and traced her hand over Dante's bare chest who was laying next to her also smirking in our direction. I really didn't know her anymore.

I felt Kaito stiffen up next to me, no doubt staring at Mia with anger and hurt rushing through him. Thankfully he didn't say anything without thinking while acting on the rage he was feeling and instead let me do the talking.

"Dante, stand up and face me like a man." The Portuguese mob boss let out a deep chuckle and placed his hand on my sister's bare shoulder before standing up, thankfully wearing a pair of boxers. "You took your time Adrian, I was beginning to think you weren't going to show after my little trip to the Emerson's place this morning."

"That's because my wife was my top priority." Once again he let out a callous chuckle while he started to dress himself in a shirt and pants. "How is she? Is the baby doing well? Oh and Leo, he must be what three now?"

Before I could respond to Dante's obvious goading I heard Matteo mumble to himself behind me. "Enough of this crap." The hammer on his gun clicked but my hand instantly went to his arm to stop him. "No." I sent him a warning glare before turning back to an amused Dante. "What are you planning Dante?"

"What makes you say that Adrian?" I let out my own dry chuckle while grabbing a robe off the chair next to me and throwing it, not gently might I add, to my sister who was still watching the exchange with a smirk. Thankfully her disgusting smirk dropped once the robe hit her in the face.

"Don't mess about Dante. You knew we were coming, just say what you want or whatever bullshit it is that you're planning. I don't have all day." He nodded and took a seat at the end of the bed while his eyes roamed over the four of us.

"Well, if you want to know what it is that I want from you, I'll tell you." I had to resist the urge to let out a sarcastic comment at this, I mean, I did just ask him to tell me.

"As you know Kaito stopped working for me, he became to soft. I want you Adrian. Leave Italy, come and live in Portugal and work with me." I scoffed and shook my head at his absurd request, there is no way I would ever leave everything I've ever worked for, the mafia was my life before Jordan. I put everything I had into becoming this successful.

"No. No way Dante." He nodded and let out a sigh before picking up a phone off his bed. "It's a shame, that baby hasn't even had a chance to see the world yet, but I guess it is your child, your call."

"What the hell are you talking about Dante?" I growled out the words as I took a threatening step towards him which didn't seem to faze him in the absolute slightest. Instead it seemed he was enjoying it. "You have no choice Adrian, do it, or your kid is dead, along with the bitch."

I knew I wasn't the only one at this point absolutely raging, I could physically feel the anger radiating off the others behind me - Matteo in particular was close to losing his temper. But we didn't do anything, we knew better than to do that.

"Dante..." I had to take a deep breath to stop myself from doing something stupid. Before I could respond to what he said, the door on the opposite side of the room opened revealing the last person I wanted to see.

Antonia.

"This conversation is taking too damn long. You've got two options Adrian, come to Portugal, or be the reason the bitch dies with your unborn child." Her familiar voice echoed through the room.

"The conditions are that you leave your family Adrian, they're a distraction to you, we've seen it over the last few years. They cloud your judgement. You're not as ruthless as you once were."

"I'm not leaving her!" I aimed my gun right at Dante willing myself to pull the trigger. Every thought, urge and impulse was telling me to pull that trigger, but I couldn't. I couldn't do it. Dante's smirk broadened while he watched me point the gun at him.
"You're not going to do it Adrian, you can't. You love her too much."

Eventually my grip on the gun slacked and my arm dropped to my side in defeat. For once I couldn't find a solution, there was nothing I could do. My love for Jordan was too strong, I could never risk her getting hurt. Mostly for my own selfish reasons, of course this would hurt her, but knowing she was dead because of me would kill me - at least knowing she was alive with our baby and Leo would be enough to keep me going. To know she was with Matteo who undoubtedly loved her and our children, I knew she would always be in good hands.

"You'll let my children live? You'll let her..." My voice broke off at the end and Dante nodded clearly enjoying my pain. "You have my word."

"Okay." Matteo let out a scoff and shook his head. "No, no way. Adrian snap out of this. Just kill the freaking bastard."

"You know he'll have someone kill her Matteo. It's over." He shook his head and aimed the gun at Dante. "No Adrian. That bitch over there may have betrayed this family over and over again but you're not like her. You're the beating heart and soul of our family. We can't lose you. I can't.."

"Matteo. No." He ignored my warning tone, his aim was still focused on Dante, I couldn't even tell if he was going to pull the trigger, he was right on the edge.

"He'll kill her Matteo." The desperation in my tone was too much for him and eventually he dropped the gun, finally turning to face me properly. "Adrian." I kept my eyes on his for a moment, we didn't have to say anything, he knew exactly how it was between us. He knew how much I loved him.

"Go Matteo. Get Jordan back to Italy." He shook his head before turning towards Dante once more but eventually turned around.

"Adrian, kill him." I sighed and turned towards Angelo who was staring at his phone. It's really the perfect freaking time to be texting.

"Have you been listening-" Before I could get the words out of my mouth three gunshots rung out in the room. Screams erupted from Mia as I slowly turned around to see Antonia standing behind Dante's dead body, aiming her gun at him.

I swear in that moment my heart dropped. Thoughts of Jordan getting hurt flooded my mind, he was the only one who could call off his men. She killed him. I couldn't find any words to say to her while I glared at Antonia, my thoughts were so incoherent and jumbled nothing could come out of my mouth.

"I'll call off the kill Adrian. Just go."

"I don't trust you." Matteo stepped towards Antonia who had a defeated look on her face. "Do or don't, I couldn't give a damn. Those children don't deserve to grow up without a father. Someone has to realise this involves children now, it's no longer about a power struggle. It might have been when Jordan slapped him, but now it's not. So go, but I'm not doing it for you. Remember that."

I had no reason to trust Antonia, after all she was my ex and she did try to break Jordan and I up, but she was right. One thing I knew about her was that she always wanted children, she had a soft spot for them. And she was right, this became more than just a game the day Leo was brought into this world. Someone had to end it.

I stared one more time at Dante's dead body and Antonia's impassive face staring right back at me. I turned towards Mia who was staring at the lifeless body in front of her with tears streaming down her face.

"Mia, if I ever see you again. I will kill you, I may have gone soft for my family, but you're not my family. I promise you, I will put a bullet between your eyes. And a De Mancuso never breaks a promise."

I grabbed Matteo's arm and pulled him towards the door when a shrill scream came from behind me before another gun shot went off and a body fell to the floor. I stilled, dread filling me as I turned around to see Mia's lifeless body lying on the floor, a gun lying next to her hand. My eyes instantly drifted over to Antonia but she was staring wide eyed at Kaito.

"I'm sorry... but your kids need a father... I didn't have a choice Adrian." He dropped the gun out of his shaking hand while staring at Mia with a pale face. I guess he really was on our side. He was on my side.

One more chapter to go 😭😭😭 Do you guys want an epilogue? I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you so much for reading! ❤️ Now I shall go and get some sleep 😊