Her father tapped her a few times and she turned on her bed, pulling her pillow closer.
“Heyy, wake up.” her dad called lowly, but the urgency of his voice couldn't be mistaken. She fluttered her eyes open before staring at her father with sleepy eyes.“Dad. What's…”“Shhh. Be quiet, Cielo” her father interrupted. His tone was low, but strong enough to let her know something was wrong. She stared from her father to her brother that was standing a few feet beside him looking uninterested in what their father was saying. She sat upright on the bed, rubbing her eyes with her palms as she waited for her dad to speak again. She still felt sleepy.“Let's go." Her father stated matter of factly and helped her get out of the bed. She got down from her bed quietly and put her legs into her flip-flop slippers before her dad pulled her out of the room.They walked into the lobby where they heard a loud banging on the entrance door. She wanted to scream, but not for her father's hand that went instinctively over her mouth, muffling her scream. The banging on the door increased as her father increased his pace, making his brother quicken his steps too. They got to the back of the door and their dad looked back before pushing the wood aside, giving way to a secret exit. She stared at it in awe while their father punched in some codes. She used to play almost every day around that wall, but she never noticed it was a secret exit. She never thought of it.Her father pushed the door open and she peeped outside. It was still dark, though the moon was out in the sky serving as an illuminant.“Enzo, I want you to take your sister out and run until you are very far away from the house.” their father stated, kneeling to their level.“But why Papa?” She asked, staring at him with the beautiful eyes of a seven year old. She had the same almond eyes as her father.“No questions, Cielo. Just do as I say." Their father responded and they both nodded. He took out a gun from his coat and handed it over to Enzo.“Use it to protect yourself and your sister.” Enzo nodded at his father. He knew something was definitely not right. He knew they were in danger, but he also knew it was better not to ask questions.Their father pulled them into a hug and kissed them on their foreheads before pushing them out gently. He stared as they ran before locking the door. He knew that was going to be the last time he would ever see them again. He placed the wood back in its former position before going back into the house.The banging on the door continued heavily. They had been banging for over ten minutes and he knew that very soon, the door would give way. He always knew this day would come. The day when they would come for blood.Taking quick and quiet steps to his room, he went to his drawer beside the bed and took out his gun. His wife was still sleeping peacefully on the bed, oblivious to the death that was knocking at their door. She had been diagnosed with stress induced insomnia and had taken some sleeping pills to help her sleep.He stared at her beautiful face and was only interrupted by the noise of the door falling to the ground. He kissed his wife hurriedly, before taking out the safety from his gun. He slipped out of the room, locking it as he left. The entire house was still dark as it was night time and he had switched off the light, but he loved darkness. He loved the peace and calmness it brought to his soul. Moving stealthily in the darkness, he walked back to the sitting room where the men in black were.The order was clear. Take out Matteo Verrilli and his family, and so far, the men in black were known for keeping orders.Enzo and Cielo ran as fast as they could away from their house. It was still night, or at least, the early hours of the morning. It was still dark, except for the light from the moon that shone, leading them as they ran. They hadn't said anything to each other since their father told them to run. They knew something was wrong, but they never knew that that was going to be the last time they ever saw their parents.“I'm tired” Cielo, the younger child of the Verrilli family complained after they were at a safe distance away from their home.“Me too.” Her brother agreed and she sat down on the floor by the road.“Why did Father give you a gun?" She questioned her eyes on the gun in her brother's hand. She was quite young, but she knew what a gun was and what it was being used for. Her father made use of it a lot, and she knew that.“To protect you of course.” Her brother, Enzo replied and she scoffed arrogantly.“I can protect myself.” She stated, making her brother laugh. “We are going to see Papa and Mama again, right?" She asked after they had sat in silence for over a minute.“I Hope so,” he stated unconvincingly.****“Matteo, I know you are somewhere in the dark, and you can hear me, so come let's wine." One of the men in black said while the other moved silently in the dark. He could see both of them from where he hid. The men in black were known to be a very deadly assassin duo. They were based in Venice and executed high profile cases, but this was the first time in as long as he could remember, they got to Palermo, and he was the one to be taken out.Matteo Verrilli was the two sides of a coin. Vicious and deadly when he needed to be, peaceful and living when the situation demanded. He was the head of one of the biggest crime families in Palermo, The Verrilli family. Palermo was known for three crime families who marked territories and controlled the city. The Cherisi, Rossi, and the Verrilli families. They never maintained a peaceful relationship with each other, but somehow, they never went to war.Rossi had always been the deadlier of the three families until their current heads took over.Matteo was a very ambitious young man. Growing up in one of the deadliest crime families in Italy, he was a visionary young boy with dreams. At nineteen, he had already cleared a drug shipment worth over five million euros, he had killed more men than most of the men at forty so it was just right to hand over the running of the family crime business to him. But that was where the trouble all began.He had an older cousin who had wanted to ascend the throne. Older than Matteo with a five years gap, but he was weaker in strength and achievement. It was almost like comparing a child at five to a crawling infant. Alessio, Matteo's cousin was a lazy drug abusing adult. His father was the head of the family and when word got out that his father was considering voluntarily stepping down, he set his greedy eyes on the seat.Matteo fired the first bullet at his paid killers, missing one of them by a margin. The noise of the gunshot woke his wife up. She picked up a gun from the nightstand and hurried downstairs to her bed wears. She walked quietly into the sitting room and when she locked eyes with her husband, he signaled her over. She had barely covered half of the distance between herself and her husband when a bullet caught her in the stomach.“Nooo” Matteo yelled shouting sporadically as he watched his wife down by the gun of the assassins. He walked out of the hiding, firing with every step he took forward. One of his bullets caught one of the assassins and he groaned loudly. His partner noticed and ducked under the furniture. From his new position, Matteo stood vulnerable against him. He fired a quick bullet that caught his abdomen, making him drop down, groaning painfully.“Where are the children?” he asked, standing over Matteo who was writhing in pain.“vaffanculo” Matteo responded in Italian and he released two quick bullets into him. He searched every part of the house and when he couldn't find the children, he returned to his partner who was almost bleeding to death.“I can't find the children anywhere,” he reported to his partner who hissed out in pain.“Fuck the children. Get me out of here, I'm dying. " The bleeding partner replied.All that happened sixteen years ago. Matteo Verrilli and his wife were murdered in their house while his children were nowhere to be found.Sixteen years since that incident occurred, nobody heard anything about Matteo's family. Alessio had since taken over as head of the Verrilli family.Enzo and Cielo weren't killed that night, but nobody knew if they were alive or not. Nobody cared.“How are you preparing for the charity event?” Angelo Cherisi asked as he walked into his brother's office. His hands were tucked in his pockets as he walked over to the large oak table in the room.“Why do I need to prepare?” His brother asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow at him. Angelo plopped down on the seat in front of his brother before taking out a stick of cigarettes from his breast pocket.“Because you are Giovanni Cherisi, head of the Cherisi family and mob boss of Palermo,” Angelo stated with a boyish smile, making his brother smile widely. “Do I need to remind you that you would be delivering a speech and making a major donation?”Giovanni faced turned sour at the sound of that. He hated making those public appearances, especially one that involved him meeting with the corrupt officials of the city. He hated the city politicians, he hated the city people, infact, there were only a few things he didn't hate. Family and wealth topped that list.“Why can't you make the speech?
The Charity event soon ended and the crime families soon returned to their base. There was only one thing on their agenda. Find Mr. Anonymous!The Charity event had realized up to twenty million dollars that were to be used to carry out projects in the city.“What the fuck was that?” Alessio screamed at his underboss as soon as they stepped into the foyer of the house. “Who is the anonymous person?” he questioned, walking to the bar and taking out a bottle of whiskey. He turned a quantity into a glass, drinking from it before turning back to face him.He had donated the least amount of money. The Verrilli family wasn't even financially buoyant to make such donations, but it was mandatory for all the crime families to donate. The Verrilli family had lost a whole lot of money in the past two years. After a drug deal with the Venice mafia had failed to pull through and their parcel was intercepted by the federal cops, they had hit the rocks of financial crisis. Alessio was prone to making
In a dark, almost empty room, a man sat in the center, in front of a computer set. He was dressed in a black expensive suit and his face was covered in a mask. A glass of wine and a cup were on the same table as the computer and a piece of paper carrying a long list of items.He stared at the video footage of the charity event, watching as Giovanni gave his speech before zooming in on the female that was moving. Somehow, she looked too familiar, but after looking at her face for some minutes he couldn't place where he knew her from, so he swiped, continuing with the video. Nothing looked suspicious so he ended the video, relaxing into his rocking chair. He popped the wine into the glass and took a quantity.He had made the donation the previous day for multiple reasons. He knew what to expect. He had studied the dynamics of the Palermo crime scene and he knew which card to pull and when to pull it and he had just pulled his first card.Giovanni Cherisi, Alessio Verrilli, and Romano Ros
“I want an alliance. An alliance between the Verrilli family and the Rossi family. An alliance until we find the anonymous man.” Alessio stated with an impeccable tone. “Why?”“Why? Cos I think we should be united.” Alessio answered, still holding his gaze. Romano cleared his drink, drinking from his glass again. He relaxed into his chair, picking up a stick of his favorite cigarette from the table.“These things don't work that way, Alessio,” he said, his voice coming out unusually calm. “It should be a beneficial relationship, grattami la schiena, io gratto la tua.” Romano spoke up.“It would be quite beneficial for both of our families,” Alessio argued, making him scoff.“Do you have access to the dock? How many businesses do you have, real estate, gold? Do you have a relationship with the Russians?” he questioned, all in a bit to spite him. He knew the Verrilli family lost all these. They were the poorest of the three families, plus they were already in debt with the Italian godfa
She stared at him, gulping as she took in his features again. He was standing very close to her, she could feel the heat radiating from him.“Or maybe I was looking for you,” she replied flirtatiously. She had to put her plan in motion. He stared at her with interest. What did she mean by she was looking for him? Did she know who he was? Of Course, she knew. Everyone in the city knew.“Do I need to make an introduction?” he questioned.“Yes. Not everybody crawls on your feet.” She replied, her tone challenging. He gave a small laugh at her audacious tone before walking closer to her, placing his head near her ears.“I am Giovanni Cherisi, you don't want to mess with me,” he said icily and chills ran down her spine. This was the first time she was standing very close to a very handsome man like him. Her targets were always older men. He looked dangerously at her, his features hard, yet soft. She Shook slightly as she stared at him before clearing her throat to clear the awkward silence
Cielo sat up from the bed, resting her back on the headrest. Her head was pounding slowly as she stared around the room. It looked strange to her. This wasn't her room. It was beautifully painted and decorated with white and a touch of light blue. The pieces of furniture in the room were made of maple and gold. Her head was blank as she stared at the round in awe.“Finally awake?” that one voice she was trying not to get used to asking. She spun and saw him sitting on a chair by the edge of the bed. How didn't she see him since?“You. What are you doing here?” She questioned and he chuckled.“You are in my house. This is one of my guest rooms,” he answered and she almost screamed. She was in his house!She stared at his face for any sign to show that he was joking but found none. His face was hard as stone. She looked around the room again. The blanket she was covered with was all soft and smooth. It all made sense now.“How did I get here?” She questioned.“You passed out.”“What?” Sh
“I've found everything about her,” Angelo announced, stepping into the room. Giovanni turned quickly to face him, his glass of drink whirling in his hand.“Who is she?” he asked, sudden panic surging through him. He could explain the feeling he suddenly felt at the pit of his stomach.“Mia Dante, born February, nineteen ninety eight, She's twenty three. She's from Florence, works for the government, and is an orphan.” Angelo listed out and he heaved a sigh of relief at his revelation.“Any bad records on her?” he questioned.“None that I can lay my hands on,” Angelo replied, watching his gaze. He watched him relax after the statement.“Good.” He replied, drinking from his glass. Angelo stood there, watching his brother, his mind going into wavy thoughts. He still didn't trust the girl, but he had no say now that he could find nothing on her.“Are you gonna let her stay here?” he questioned after Giovanni had dropped his glass.“Huh? She's gonna stay until she's fit to return,” he repli
“Who are you?” he asked and a chill ran down her spine. She looked him straight in the eyes. “Did he find out about her?” she thought, trying to read his eyes. “What do you mean?” she asked in a low tone.“I want to know more about you. I found your card, it states your name is Mia, but I'm curious. I want to know more.” He replied and relief washed through her. He was yet to find out anything. She just had to be careful.“Yes, my name is Mia, Mia Dante. I work for the government.” She replied.“I know all of that already. Tell me what I don't know,” he replied and when he noticed the uneasy look she had, he added. “Let Me leave you to rest, we will talk later.'' With that, he walked out of the room, closing the door softly.Cielo heaved a sigh of relief as he walked out of the room. She had thought he already found out her secret. She closed her eyes to relax and fluttered them open immediately. She had to contact her boss immediately. She searched for her purse on the table and when