Mena
Gian waved his injured hand in front of me. “This isn’t about me right now?” his voice rose as he yelled in my face, his brows creasing in anger.
“No, this isn’t about you right now,” I felt terrible that out of all the people in the room, I had to be the one to tell him-but it was true.
However, Gian wasn’t having it. He shoved his hand closer. “This isn’t about me right now?” he yelled again, his voice echoing off the walls of the warehouse. “Are your eyes not working?”
I felt a lump form in my throat, seeing the pain in his eyes. He must’ve felt as if I was dismissing his feelings.
“I think you’re overstepping,” his eyes narrowed.
Before it could go any further, Alessio stepped in. “Step back, Gian,” he sounded tired, the kind of tiredness that came from having too much weight on his shoulders.
I had unintentionally put Alessio in a position where he felt torn between his brother and me-and the last thing I wanted was for him to choose sides.
Gian and Alessio glared at each other for what felt like an eternity.
“You know what, forget it,” Gian backed down. He stepped back as Alessio had asked but clearly wasn’t happy about it.
Pilar locked her arm with his, trying to soothe him, but something told me this wasn’t the end of his rage.
“Continue,” Alessio commanded.
“Yes,” Isaac responded. “I had a pair of ears in the Baldini household and heard Leonardo wanted a Fanucci head.”
All eyes snapped back to Isaac. He paused, taking a deep breath as if bracing himself for what he was about to reveal. “That day your Uncle…the MISA was supposed to be there, to arrest Anson-”
“Arrest him?” Alessio interrupted him with a laugh of disbelief. “Along with Stefano and Gian?”
“No, they were supposed to do that before they’d get there, but there was a miscommunication,” Isaac hurried to explain.
“What were they going to arrest him for?”
“It was just to protect him for a while. It’s what we do when someone becomes a danger to a case.”
Alessio scoffed, “Why didn’t you arrest any of us? You’ve seen enough things happening.”
“Because you’re all part of the bigger picture, a larger web,” Isaac spoke. “Alessio, I swear, I never meant for them to get hurt-I didn’t even think he could make the shot, I-”
“I don’t believe you. We looked for them warehouse to warehouse, and you never said a word. Made me look like an idiot.”
The pain in Alessio’s voice sounded heartbreaking. To him, it was more than just a simple betrayal. Isaac had created a deep wound that might never fully heal.
He might never trust someone ever again.
“I know that candy wrapper was yours,” his eyes hardened. “Which means you were already there at some point, maybe even heard my brother beg for help-but you turned away and left!”
“No,” Isaac whispered. “After the miscommunication, I immediately went there to look for them-but I didn’t see or hear anything, I swear.”
Alessio gave him a skeptical look. Maybe I was going insane, but for a second it looked like he wanted to believe him.
“If I knew Gian was there, I would’ve saved him-but I thought he died,” Isaac spoke, desperately. “I swear on my daughter’s life.”
“Your daughter’s life?” Alessio let out a dry chuckle. “Kind of hard to believe. You haven’t exactly been the best father.”
My eyes flicked back to Gian who looked like he might explode at any second. He resembled a lion, waiting to attack his prey-but Pilar wouldn’t let him.
Her hands gripped his arm tightly, and I was grateful for that.
I was a strong believer that the biggest reason why we got all this information out of Isaac was because we didn’t torture him. He spoke freely, and I feared one wrong move would change that.
“You’d been preparing to do this for a long time, haven’t you? First the research, then get close to this family, to me, get yourself a promotion,” Alessio raised his voice with each fact he stated.
“And at the end of the day, all of it meant nothing,” Isaac said, his voice flat and drained.
“I came here hating you and your kind, but then we became close, and when I chose to protect you, I knew it would work against me one day-and I don’t regret a thing.”
Alessio sighed, looking away for a moment. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking, and if it was possible to look inside his mind, I would’ve done that.
Someone like him, raised to show no mercy and get the job done-was he even capable of feeling sorry one bit?
“How did you communicate with the MISA?” I asked, breaking the tense silence.
“Through calls.”
“Who did you call?” Alessio asked.
“No,” Isaac turned his head from side to side. “He got nothing to do with this.”
“Neither do Jessica and Sam,” Alessio reminded him. “They got nothing to do with this either.”
He was bluffing. I had good reasons to believe Alessio would spare them. One of them being he had made me a promise, but I hadn’t thought about the fact that more innocent people might’ve been involved. I had been so focused on Isaac, that it hadn’t crossed my mind that more people might lose their lives.
Isaac drew in a breath. “It’s a secret case. I’ve been communicating with one person only, and that’s my boss.”
“Well, your boss has a name, and we’re going to need it,” Alessio said. “I’m asking you kindly. Don’t ruin it for yourself.”
“Special Agent Matt…Matthew Pryce-he’s saved in my phone as MP,” Isaac sounded embarrassed sharing the information, yet he did.
“And only he knows you’re here?”
“Yes, there are other agents assigned to different families across the country-but we’re not allowed to disclose details with each other,” Isaac explained.
“Gian?” Alessio looked over his shoulder.
“Yes-I took all the contacts,” Gian spoke.
“Shit,” Dante mumbled. “He must’ve thought we’re so stupid he didn’t even mind saving his boss’ number on a burner.”
“Maybe,” Alessio spoke with a sigh, “Or maybe he’s just a bad agent. He exposed his boss so quickly, he’s not only disloyal to us but also to his own people.”
Alessio’s eyes found Isaac again as he shook his head in disapproval. “At least pick a fucking side and stick to it. You’re a disgrace.”
Isaac lowered his head. I bet those words cut deeper than any physical blow would. “A disgrace?” a weak chuckle escaped from his lips as he slowly raised his head.
“I’m not getting out of here alive. I know that-and that’s fine. Maybe it’s what I deserve, and maybe I am a disgrace,” he spoke calmly, fully aware this wouldn’t end well for him.
It was one thing for him to easily accept the words disgrace, but another to hear him accept his fate just like that.
“But no matter what you may believe-I do think of you as my brother, and I’m going to continue to protect you because even though all of this started out as fake, you and your family have always been good to me.”
“Don’t…” Alessio stopped mid-sentence, too pissed off to even finish what he was about to say.
“In case the operation fails, we have a code, code fallout,” Isaac mentioned.
“What about it?”