CHIARA
Two days have passed since the accident and let me tell you this, the man hasn't left my room unless to get me food or when he needed to visit the bathroom to change. He decided to work from home until I recovered. I returned from the bathroom only to not find him in the room. I went to lock the door and then unlocked my phone.
The news of the explosion had spread on almost every news media that existed, with my face printed in it.
I knew he would find me but what he didn't know was that I chose the most secure place on earth for him to openly attack me. Conti security was known for its exceptional skills. It was a mistake on my end to go out thinking I was safe outside the estate.
However, one thing was eating me alive. How did he find out that I was in Portofino? In fact I was scared of the answer. The thought that he might've tortured my brother or mother to get that information out of them made my blood boil and my heart clench. It was a risky move to ruin his stocks' worth especially when I knew that he had leverage on me, but it had to be done. Only when he had nothing left would he realize how it felt. Now I just needed to find a way to protect them before I moved on to my next striking plan. I texted Xander and he called me right away.
"Tell me you're alright."
"I'm alright."
"Goodness, I was so fucking shocked, chichi."
"Get over it. How are they?"
"I couldn't reach your brother and haven't seen him at any of the recent events throughout the month. But my Intel told me that they were unharmed."
"You have an insider?"
"Uh, yes."
"Are you sure they can be trusted?"
"Well, it's a fed undercover if it worries you so much. And she has been working for Antonio longer than you can imagine."
"She?"
"Yeah. Fuck. I reported about Enzo and the evidence we gathered to my SSA, but the higher ups turned us down as usual. Man, I fucking hate the system. People are literally getting shipped as we speak and they don't give a shit about it."
"Yeah, it sucks. That's why I told you to just use the list we robbed. It's time to follow my plan. You followed the procedures and what did it get you?" It's high time Enzo goes down. I didn't endanger my life to rob those items for nothing.
"Nothing. But I'm getting that sick psycho and the rest of them either way."
"Now you're talking. Oh, and actually, I… might have found a way to protect them from Antonio for the time being."
"Really? What is it?"
"Just…something."
"Fine, don't tell me. Just be careful."
"Always." I hung up the call and went downstairs.
Thanks to some of the medications, the pain was tolerable now. He was not in the living room so I went to his office instead. I pushed the door open. "We need to double the security, especially for Celia since she won't be stopping school because of Marino," Carmelo said with a serious face.
"Hey there," Junior waved at me. Carmelo rushed towards me and helped me to the couch like a mother hen. "You can't just move around, tesoro, you had a—"
"Yeah, yeah, I had a concussion. Bad news, I can't just lay down all day and do nothing. I was born to get hectic." I said, relaxing on the couch. "You are healing fast, impressive. Do you train with the avengers?" Said Junior.
"No, I fuck with them every night." I replied to him before facing Carmelo, "So what did I miss?" I asked, ignoring Junior snorting. "We received invitations a day ago from Viva, she is holding her summer fashion show. But she knows you are sick so we don't have to go." I shook my head "Absolutely not." I refused to let Antonio dictate my life any longer. If he thought I was going to cower away and hide deep down a rabbit hole, then I had the need to reintroduce myself to him. He didn't own me and I was not his puppet anymore.
"We're going," I said. "But—" He frowned, "We're going to the fashion show, Carmelo. I won't hide from him anymore." The two brothers looked at each other as if they were communicating through their eyes.
He at last sighed, "Alright then, tesoro," exhaling and rubbing my cheek, "We're going."
"Bro, call Biggy in. I have a serious conversation with your head of security." Uttered Junior. I cracked my itchy fingers, "And I need a laptop." It was about time Antonio had a taste of his own favorite card in the game. Manipulation.