I chewed my bottom lip as I looked over the files in front of me. It had been a few days since I found out about the situation at the foster care and I was determined to do everything I could to help. But there was only one thing I could think of that might work and not get me noticed by any unwanted spectators. 

I opened one of the files labeled "Finances" and laid out the papers. These all showed that the owner of the foster care center was hiding money, money he could have been using to pay back the gang but instead was using it for something else. The past couple of months I could see his deposits were getting hefty, but all of a sudden they stopped. Either he had an offshore account or he took all that money and put it into something. With a groan, I got up and headed to the kitchen where a bottle of Irish whiskey was waiting for me. I had been looking over the same things for the past four hours and it felt like my eyes were going to fall out of my head. As I finished filling my glass, there was a knock at my front door. Strange, I wasn't expecting visitors.

For safety purposes, I walked quietly over to my couch and reached under it to grab hold of one of the guns if placed there. I actually had weapons hidden everywhere in the house, not because I was paranoid but because I wanted to ensure I was protected at all times.

And okay maybe I was a little paranoid.

Walking to the door, I paused to check out the window beside it. The person was dressed in all black and was looking around, which didn't sit well with me. I placed the gun in my right hand, hiding it behind the door as I opened it with my left. The person was turned around looking out to the street, but when the door opened they turned around and I dropped my defense and opened the door further.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked as Miko smiled at me.

"What a lovely greeting." He said smugly and the gestured inside. "Gonna invite me in? It's pretty chilly at night." I sighed and moved aside as he walked in. Closing the door, I walked back to the kitchen and placed the gun on the counter so I could down my whiskey in one shot. I was going to need a lot more alcohol if people in the group kept showing up like this.

"I see you left the gang but the gang didn't leave you," Miko commented when he saw the gun. I glanced towards it and then back at him.

"Why are you here Miko? I have no connections to your family anymore; your brother made sure of that."

"Despite your relationship with my brother, I always considered us friends." Now that made me laugh and Miko looked offended. "Do you know how hard it is to find a partner, let alone a friend when your father is known for killing people that step on his shoes?"

"If this is your attempt to make me come back home—"

"It's not." He interrupted and then sighed, reaching for the second glass I had on the counter and filling it with some whiskey. "I do want you and Milo to talk things out, but I feel that pointless." He downed the glass in one go and fill it up again.

"Why don't you say this to him? I wanted to stay with him, but clearly, the feeling wasn't mutual."

"My brother...he's an idiot sometimes."

"You could say that again." I scoffed.

"When I was born, his mother wanted nothing to do with me. Of course, our father wanted us to all be a family, but Caterina would have none of it. So I was sent to live with my father's right-hand man, Leonard, at the time. That man was not a kind person, I should make that clear. I did not grow up with a loving mother and father that shielded me from the horrors of our world. I remember screaming in terror when he came home one time after a job. He was covered in blood and other matter and I literally thought he was a demon and then I was scared he was hurt. I tried to bring him the first aid box and help him, but he slapped me away and locked me in my room so I would leave him alone." Miko paused and stared down at his cup. While listening, I was beginning to realize that Milo never really told me about his childhood. I figured it was because it wasn't very eventful, but from what Miko was saying, his childhood might explain his behavior.

"As I grew up, I become cold. Menacing. I acted out and showed my ass in school and in public. I didn't care about anything or anyone. I was getting closer to the age that most men born into this family start to become apart of the business, and my father wanted to have me move back in with him. By this time though, I was so angry at him. I was furious that he didn't stand up to his wife and keep me there with him. So, I went to one of the shops he owned and I trashed it and then burned it to ash."

"Holy shit Miko." I gasped and he nodded his head slowly, taking a sip of whiskey.

"Yeah, I know. But can you blame me? He may have been the leader of the Mancini's, but he was also my father. And I thought if he cared about me like he tried to make everyone think, this would be a chance for him to come to see me. Maybe even ask me to forgive him, apologize to me. But no. Instead, I woke up in the morning to the sight of Milo. We're only a few years apart, so he was around twenty I believe. Well on his way to take over the business. And because of that, I'm guessing my father sent him to deal with me. He was very cold towards me. Beat me around a little, yelled at me and then said he didn't want scum like me living with him if I was going to act this way. Of course, this pissed me off even more, so I went around trashing more of my fathers business, because, you know, fuck the power."

"I think you were more of a badass back then than you are now." I joked and he laughed.

"No shit. Don't let my kindness fool you, though. I have to seem approachable in order to get what I want. But that's beside the point. After trashing what I think was the tenth business, I was grabbed by some men and taken to my father's house. It was there that my dad hashed it out with me and we had a big ol' crying sesh before I forgave him slightly and agreed to move in." He downed his glass and hissed as the drink went down.

"No offense, because it was a lovely story, but what does that have to do with me and Milo?" I thought his story was going somewhere, but instead, it just felt like I was getting his childhood and that was it. I'm not no damn detective, I can't context clue that shit out.

"Oh right! I got carried away." Miko laughed. "When Milo came to see me the first time and told me those nasty things, I learned it was because he didn't know what to do. That's how my brother is. When he's faced with decisions and can't figure out the right way to handle them, he tried to distance or push away the things involved so he can focus."

Yeah, cause that made sense. "That's great and all, but there wasn't anything going on. We were fine! Everything was fucking perfect! And then he just decided all on his own to fucking ruin it all." I was becoming angrier. "I can't do anything anymore because I'm always thinking of him! I'm almost positive that one more drink and I'll be labeled an alcoholic. I sleep, wake up, go to work until it's very late, come home to drink myself to sleep and then wake up to repeat. So while I'm over here suffering and struggling to pull myself together, he's probably out there having a fucking blast!"

"But he's not Alec!" Miko yelled. "I don't even know who he is anymore. He's not thinking clearly anymore and he keeps doing shit that's messing with the group." I rolled my eyes because I felt like I'd already heard this same sob story from Alfie when he visited. Miko saw me and He's expression immediately turned dark.

"Do you want to know what he did last week?" He asked, his tone taking on a more menacing sound. "He got a tip that another member of our group was conspiring against him. So he went to the man's house and killed his family. My father was fuming and demanding a reason behind it and all Milo had to say was that the member had an older son who could take our revenge on us, so he did what was necessary to protect our family." It felt like I had just been punched in the gut. Milo was never like this. Even with the label of a merciless mafia leader, he still allowed families to live and helped pay them so they would be able to support themselves after the death of the husband and/or father. But this? This was different.

"Don't you get it, Alec? Something is seriously wrong. I know my brother still loves you. But something happened that is making him act like this and we either figure it out soon or...honestly I'm not sure what's going to become of him."

Now I felt like I was left with an ultimatum. Either go back to Bristol and figure out what's happening or stay here in London and let Milo fall.

"If I agree to come back with you after we figure this out and Milo still doesn't want to be with me, I'm allowed to come back here?" I asked, deciding to set my own terms. While I did believe there's something darker happening with Milo, there was also a tiny voice telling me this wouldn't change our current situation. I broke up with Milo through a note and disappeared, only to tell him I already had someone else when he came to tell me the baby wasn't his. And then after getting back together, he's suddenly arrested and then is supposed to forgive me after he gets out? He may have been in jail for two years, but the look of heartbreak and betrayal that filled his eyes that day still haunts me. I've tried to pretend like I didn't see it and that we could move past it. I took care of Rudy, I handled all the business while he was gone to prove I didn't betray him but was it enough? I played around with his heart like it was a schoolyard game and I just expected him to come back to my arms unscathed.

"I'll keep the payments on the house and bakery while we're gone," Miko answered my question and I sighed because there's was only one answer to this. "Give me two weeks and I'll be back to get you. That gives you enough time to make sure the bakery will be in good hands while we're gone."

"How long exactly do you plan for this to take?" I only expected it to be a month or so, but something told me it would be longer.

"I honestly don't know Alec. This is something bigger than I think both of us has experienced." Great. So that meant more time spent around him. If he still cared about me like Miko claims, I feel like this reunion is about to become extremely uncomfortable. I took a glance at the table and noticed the files.

"Shit." I hissed and Miko followed my eyes.

"What's all that?" He asked, walking over to the table and picking up on of the papers to read.

"The local foster cares owner owes money to some gang here. One of the employees said she's worried that the gang will come after the kids if the owner doesn't pay back the money, but it looks like he might be planning to skip town." I joined Miko as he picked up another paper to read. "I may need longer than two weeks. I can't leave these kids here to suffer, they don't deserve that."

"I think I know what's going on here." He finally spoke and I was taken aback. He literally looked at the files for a few minutes and had it figured out, while it's taken me almost a week. "It looks like he was gaining money, but then it just disappeared. This transaction here has the routing to an offshore account I've used in the past. Its a way for the bank to keep track of things, so most routing numbers begin with the same four digits."

"So he has the money, but is planning to keep it to himself and run off? Just like I fucking thought." I wanted to hit something, I was so angry. I decided to walk away and take a few deep breaths because I was two seconds from grabbing my gun and going to that scums house.

"You have a lot on your plate and a lot that needs to be done before we leave," Miko spoke and turned around to see him picking up all the files. "I'll go handle the owner and talk to the gang."

"But I need to handle this! I promised them—"

"I know Alec." Miko interrupted and then gave me a sad smile. "Whatever happens, those kids will be safe and well off, I promise you that. Now you go get some sleep. You've got a lot to take care of starting tomorrow morning. I'll keep you updated in everything." With no room for objections, Miko left the room and I stared after him, only reacting when I heard the front door close. Letting out a large sigh I grabbed the bottle of whiskey and headed towards my room. I was going to need a few more glasses of this before I could actually get some semblance of sleep.