ALESSANDRO'S POV

Aurora picked a seat between me and Armando, where on my left sat Akila, gazing and glaring whenever she wished.

Everyone was ignoring that one topic, that one which either ended with death or a little more understanding of her backstory.

But Avena DeVille was one fierce and bold woman who liked danger and enjoyed it bit by bit. "So you really are Teresa's daughter." It wasn't a question nor was it a pure harmless interest, it was an attempt to drag her into this, to force the words out of her mouth but how little they knew.

Akila met her eyes, considering her form up and down, and with a slight head tilt, she grinned and didn't negotiate.

Avena took the challenge and drove further, "Pity, such beauty wasted and hidden for decades." She narrowed her eyes, hoping for a reaction out of a murderer who'd been heartless for years, who'd been cruel and deadly to those who laid an eye on her. A woman the whole world feared, the earth and skies erupted at her command.

Sometimes I liked to think Akila ruled underground, the mystery veiled beneath the ground we stood in. And sometimes, so often, I thought about it so much that I started wondering which was reality and which was fable.

I'd think she was slowly dragging us with her, to her.

The subject changed as the wind crossed paths, the father of eight sons and daughters kept a close and careful eye on Akila which she noticed, never acknowledged.

One hour past midnight, we decided it was time to go back home before all the blood and training started.

Avena pulled me into a hug, secretly whispering into my ear, "Sleep with both eyes open, I know Dianna is proud of you." She released her grip and held my hand for a moment, with a genuine smile on her face, she let go and walked away to their cars.

Aurora was next and last, giving me a side hug just like her mother. She spoke three words I didn't expect from her, "I like her."

She winked at me and closed the door before Alessio drove them off.

I heard the rest get into their cars and prepare to go home, "We'll meet back at the house, Al." They took off one after another, leaving behind only the two of us.

Gradually, I turned around ready for an I'm going to kill you Akila glare but there she was, calm and peaceful as she could ever be.

"You must have stopped loving me." I dared to say, looking into her eyes shifted into colours. She crossed her arms and went on with my little game, "And why do you say that?" Her lips twisted, aggressively sending chills down my neck.

I moved my head to where the car just left off and waited, "I heard what she said." Of course she did.

"So?" I wasn't letting it go. She playfully rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Stop playing around, Alvaro, I know you see her as a sister, try harder next time if you want to make me jealous."

My eyebrows flew to the top of my forehead, "I'm allowed to try then?" She bit on her lower lip and drew a very, very deep breath. "How about you try, and find out." 

She walked away, shoving my shoulder along the way before I caught her. I lift her in my arm and cup her ass for support, "I would rather die and burn through hell and back, before ever getting with another woman."

[V]

Back home, the original six of us, including Akila, sat down in yet another meeting to back up all the plans and success we had for the day.

Our allies were willing to help, to sacrifice and rebel against our shared enemies no matter the shaky history we may have had with one another in the past because, at the end of the day, hatred reunited us, formed us into one-to-fight-together and destroy the one thing we could all agree on.

Forces from around the globe offered their time, their money and men and I knew that wasn't going to believe just for a second, the Romanians didn't have any backup either.

"We wait until they cross our borders here, we hide in the mountains and attack using the element of surprise." Adriano pointed to a map rolled on the table we sat around.

"Are you mad? We will not wait like pussies and hide, we go to them before they come to us and enter our land." Emilion argued back, Armando agreeing with a head node before they started disagreeing, turning every small and big into a problem.

When I got bored of their whining, I slammed a hand on the wooden table, silencing them at once and for all.

"We meet them in front of our gates, right before they step into our territories in the east. We will protect our home from every inch and every minute." I grabbed a sharpener and marked the map, "Here, we start the war and spill the blood of those who thought they have what it takes to bring us down."

The room settled in agreement and we focused more on the Romanians and any information we could use against them. "Why don't we bring in that bloody white boy, I'm sure he got something," Armando suggested and within the following two minutes, Whitie was standing in the room with his sweet guardian Narcisa.

"Sit, boy," Armando ordered him, gesturing to a chair next to Dante. Narcisa clenched her jaw and curled her fingers as she threatened, "You don't talk to him like that."

Armando smiled and leaned in, "I talk however I want beautiful."

Adriano and I sighed in union and told them both to shut up. Emilion twirled the white head in his seat and tried to scare him, "Speak."

His eyes travelled between me and Akila for help, but when he received none, he shook his head swiftly, repeating over and over that he knew nothing and Emilion kept putting more pressure on him.

Narcisa had her hands locked together, holding herself back from swinging at Armando who was grinning and staring back at her.

After work of threats and attempts, Emilion finally gave up. "Akila, you know this boy, make him talk and give us something please." My eyes widened in absolute shock, for the first time since I've known Emilion, he actually said please.

I wasn't the only one to notice as Dante looked at me a bit confused before Emilion realised and glared at both of us to keep it to ourselves. Someone must be intimidated by her. But then when you think about it, who isn't?

Akila scoffed and laid back in her chair, "He's not lying, he knows nothing." Adriano stood up, almost knocking over his chair in frustration. Armando snapped his head to Narcisa, "Then who does?"

She looked at him in disgust and swallowed a mouthful, dragging her gaze from Armando, slowly glancing at Akila as she quietly whispered, "I bet she does."  

Narcisa couldn't meet her eyes, she sat there, discovering the ground, the walls, anywhere but the burning hazel ready to cut through her with lethal flames.

And when I fixed my attention on her, she looked up, grinning like the devil and said, "I do."

Armando gritted on his teeth, so hard, they might have shattered. Unlike him, the rest of the room seemed relieved to at least have some sort of statistics about the Romanians, what they didn't know was that they had all aspects and dimensions of secrets and knowledge sitting right in front of them, breathing the same air and playing with their minds.

Dante was the first to break the silence and asked, "What is it?" Despite Armando's rage and annoyance, his hate for lies and secrets, he listened to Akila, he listened and paid attention because he needed every second and word that came out of her wicked mouth.

And she knew she enjoyed every beat, every instant Armando wanted to scream and punch a wall because of her, because of the effect she had on him.

She grabbed everyone's attention, with her power and great skills, it seemed like even the earth was listening as her lips separated and her voice rang through the walls.

Her leg crossed over the other, she ran a hand full of fingers through her hair. "Before King Mihai's death, he'd make a nasty deal with the Romanian mafia, one which they kill and get rid of his council who overruled him, controlling his throne behind closed doors and unspoken history.

"But the former leader of the Romanians mafia wasn't about to kill royalty and get himself into politics for kindness, so they asked for authority and land. The king was foolish enough to accept, tying himself to the trap he threw himself into. He gave them lands surrounding every inch of Brasov, he didn't care who roamed outside, he only wanted to command the castle like the idiot he was." She stopped then as if recalling a memory, she chuckled and went on, "The king may have been reckless but at least he demanded proof and evidence that he can trust them with such trade. He knew at the time they were defeated by many, weak and desperate so he asked for one leader, one heir from another realm that would stand by their side, show their true loyalty to the Romanian mafia the way he was supposed to.

"The Romanians first brought Nikolai, the previous leader of the Russian mafia before his son recently took over after his father had gone missing." Akila linked her eyes with mine, ripping through my soul, "the one you met underground."

It clicked in my head, that old man, locked up and imprisoned within their castle after taking what they wanted.

Nikolai was announced dead years before I was a leader. I knew little of him yet there he was, somewhere alive and kept to die in his cell.

And I didn't understand why he'd help me find Akila. He must've known she was there, I was coming for her, how.

"King Mihai saw through their tricks, both allying but not for loyalty, for vengeance and death upon their shared enemy, The Italian Mafia."

I felt Adriano's gaze still on me for a while when Akila stole our breath away, suffocating the air, "The King couldn't possibly ask for Enzo, so he asked for me."

The room shrinks in size, slowly—rapidly—closing on us, helping oxygen escape and leaving us to rot in place. "Well, not until he knew of my existence.

"One way or another, the old king and queen of the Romanian mafia discovered the little secret my mother had given birth to and helped runaway thirteen years later.

"That year, I had just abandoned Amelia and her sickening household. I wanted assurance, protection and a quick way to gain some money. They offered me safety all around Europe, gold and jewellery in exchange for telling the king how amazing and trustworthy they were.

"I got sent diamonds and rubies, piece after another until I said yes and landed on the Peles Palace. The king was very, very happy to see me but sadly, his joy didn't last for long.

"They killed the king, I watched the life get sucked out of his body and I knew, I knew I was next.

"I ran. Thanks to my thin and starved body back then, I managed to get away. They didn't stop at the king, they killed everyone, there was no royal blood left in that castle, no counsellors and no servants. They covered the whole city and hid their secrets with their twin children and me.

"As you can already guess, The Twins' first and only task was to find me and serve my heart to the king and queen in honour of taking the throne after them." Her voice broke, finally looking at the white head shaking in fear, unable to choose between life and fiction. "That was the night you met me, the night I broke in and heard their order to kill me, the same night you offered me a way, a path to free and never look back, so I did.

"I travelled to Saudi Arabia while The Twins hunted animals and humans for any sign, any proof that I was real and not just a myth created by their parents.

"When they couldn't find a trace after me, they went back with an intention, a plan that was set for two reasons, one, they knew there was no other way to claim their leadership as long as I lived. They went back home and murdered their parents.

"The king and queen died, but the queen died with her own demons. A year or two before she became queen, Dorin, her father didn't trust young princess Iolanda with the throne because of her pure, kind heart, so he forced her into a marriage with a ruthless family friend.

"But future queen Iolanda was in love, with a young man who helped her breathe, helped her live through the misery the world and stars gave her. He gave her new stars, new dreams and hope, he gave her everything. He gave her a child.

"On her wedding night, just a couple hours after the marriage ceremony, her new king and husband found out she was present with a child that wasn't his.

"He couldn't kill her, he couldn't snap her neck and swim in her blood when he had just become king. Therefore, he brought her lover, the father of the unborn child growing up in her womb. He also brought in her best friend and forced them to fuck in front of Iolanda.

"He made her watch them have sex, her best friend and the father of their forbidden baby. She couldn't block the scene, the noises and the sobs. They couldn't deny or refuse the betrothal because if any of them resisted, they'd all be dead.

"Queen Iolanda ended up giving birth to her prohibited son. Her husband separated them, he kept them close but never close enough for a mother to her newborn, a newborn to his mother.

"The following week, her best friend gave birth to twins and the adamant man Queen Iolanda married forced her to take care and raise these twins instead of her own baby boy.

"Her best friend was found dead after her labour, next to the man who had three new children.

"The Twins grew up as royals, as rightful heirs after what they called parents until they'd found out the truth they'd had the second reason to kill them.

"Queen Iolanda had many secrets, she was a smart brilliant woman who got exposed and unravelled. But she managed to die with one last—small—secret, her hair wasn't pitched back, it was cold, it was ice and snow, and it was WHITE.

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