<-I-L-A-<<< "I didn't know that they made planes like these," I said to Marcella as we walked into our room. Reaching the bed to the far left, I placed my bag at the foot of it.

Taking the other bed on the right, Marcella explained, "They don't. We bought them and had all eleven planes customized and modified to fit our needs."

"Eleven planes?" I began to wonder how seriously materialistic the mafia was.

"Big mafia, big means of transportation," Marcella shrugged, saying that as if it was nothing. "Now, hush up. I want to sleep."

Marcella plopped onto the bed and snuggled in under the covers. Then, she pulled the sleeping mask that laid on top of her forehead to rest on her eyes. I was astonished to see someone sleeping on a bed in a room inside a plane that was soon going to be in the air. We were currently in the first room upon entering the plane from the rear. My guess was that it's first class throughout the whole plane.

Wanting to explore more of the foreign aircraft, I left the room. Across from us was one of the plane's bathrooms. Taking note of that, I ventured forward. Every so often, the rooms that are next to each other would be broken apart by a lounging area. It consisted of leather seats and couches and a minibar stocked with drinks. No bartenders were present and some people were serving themselves to their leisure.

I reached the very front of the plane just in time to see Aiden and Giovanni open the door to the cockpit. Immediately, I thought of the worst. I quickened my place in order to reach them before they could walk in further into the most critical part of the plane.

"What do you guys think you are doing?" I asked, grabbing them by the ears and pulling them right back out of the room. I saw the door closed shut behind Gio and Aiden and I let go of the two to hear an explanation.

"It's our turn," Aiden said.

Not comprehending, I questioned, "For what?"

"To fly the plane. Leo and Lorenzo did it last time and Melvin promised us that we could do it next time. Next time is this time," Aiden elaborated.

Thinking that the conversation was done, Aiden and Gio turned around to go back into the cockpit. Hearing that the two were going to be flying the airplane was nowhere near pleasant. I grabbed them at the ears once more, " Oh no you guys don't!"

"Ow ow ow," Aiden whined as I began to drag them away from the front of the plane.

"Honey, that ain't my sweet spot," Aiden said, making me pinch harder in disgust.

They leaned their heads towards the grip of my hands so they wouldn't deal with much pain. Inevitably, in order to not fall, their legs followed the direction I was pulling them towards. We got stares as we passed by but no one stepped in to stop me. I managed to get them to the very back of the plane and pushed them inside the room. I locked the door for safe measures. Marcella was still in bed, sleeping where I left her.

"You guys aren't licensed, no plane flying," I said, taking the bed as the boys took opposite sides of the couch.

"Melvin isn't either," Aiden muttered under his breath like a little, petty child.

"For some reason, I trust Melvin more than you guys," I said. I haven't even met Melvin but his name sounded trustworthy.

Right at that moment, the intercom turned on, "Melvin's speaking... flights gonna start... in about... uh... 5 minutes... okay? bye."

I recognized the type of slurring that Melvin was doing with his words. Shocked, I asked, "Is Melvin drunk?"

"He's most definitely wasted," Gio smiled. "Can we go?"

I frowned, "No, I'm going to find Leo and Lorenzo."

If they managed to fly last time and everyone ended up okay, Leo and Lorenzo must know what they were doing. I used Marcella's phone to dial up Lorenzo and ignored Aiden whines of it being unfair.

"Lorenzo, where are you?" I asked as soon as he picked up. I glanced at my watch, four minutes left.

"Ila?" He asked. He must have expected Marcella.

"Yeah, I just wanted to know if you can fly the plane. I think Melvin is drunk."

"Melvin? I'm with Remi. You must be on plane three. I'm on the plane behind you, four."

My heart dropped. Dying in a plane crash is not a desirable way to go.

"You're on plane four?" I asked in disbelief. There was one minute until take off.

"Alright!" Giovanni said, giving Aiden a high five.

Upon hearing the "good" news, Gio and Aiden quickly left the room.

"I have to go, we are about to start," Lorenzo said in a hurry. "Have a safe flight."

"There's no way of me being able to control that, Lorenzo," I said, worrying.

<--->

The flight ended and I quickly piled out of the plane as soon as the door was opened, holding in my vomit. Already outside, Aiden and Giovanni were there to greet me and Marcella.

"It was a rough landing, but, hey, we're still alive," Aiden said, optimistically.

"Barely," I said, trying to hold my bile down.

Marcella walked to our group and told us, "Let's get to the car."

"Wait," I said, recognizing what type of airport we were at, "Why are we in a public airport?"

"It's Italy," Aiden explained, "We don't have to worry about getting caught here."

"The police wouldn't dare," Giovanni said, pridefully.

I hung onto my suitcase as I walked. My knees were weak for I was still sick from the landing. It was almost a plummet to the ground rather than a glide. I took in and let out long breaths until my queasy stomach settled. As we stepped into the airport, my stomach lurched for a different reason. Looking around me, my fellow criminals were relaxed. I, on the other hand, was feeling everything but calm. Nervous, I still tried to look composed. People with luggage, people who were waiting, and the staff weren't even the slightest interested in us as we walked past by.

I let my guard down once we reached the garage of the airport. The whole parking lot on the floor was filled with the same-looking black cars. All were already running with a driver inside, ready to go.

Walking up to a car of Marcella's choice, she knocked on the trunk. A few minutes later, after Marcella stepped back, the trunk opened and lifted. Marcella tossed her suitcase in and I followed her action. I, then, moved aside for Aiden and Gio to place their things inside. Marcella took the passenger seat and I sat behind her. Aiden was placed in the middle as Giovanni took the very left of the car. Leaving the garage of the airport, I finally got my first look of Italy.

"Where are we?" I asked, unfamiliar with the beautiful sight that I saw.

"Veneto," Aiden said in his Italian accent.

"We are heading north, by Trieste. We have a villa in the vineyards there," Marcella said, checking her makeup in the small mirror connected to the visor of the car.

My eyes never left the window. I was sightseeing in the car. The baroque structures that were placed all over Italy couldn't scream out more authentic. The villa, however, was the most stunning. Driving on the dirt road and passing rows of grapevines, we reached a house. I didn't expect it to be one story since I knew how much the mafia liked space. Once I stepped inside, I understood that space was placed somewhere else. Rather than up, it went out. The villa was long and wide, built as if it was a grapevine itself.

"Everyone is outside in the back," Aiden said from behind me.

"Where is that?" I asked.

Aiden quickened his pace to get in front of me in order to lead us to the backyard.

"Beautiful," I said as I admired the open space behind the glass door. Giovanni, who had appeared by my side as the word slipped through my mouth, winked. "I meant the place."

Giovanni winked again, "Sure you did."

Marcella pushed him outside, "She did."

People were gathered outside. Some were seated at the tables that were under the big canvas awning while others were standing about.

"Mingle around until everyone else gets here," Marcella told me. She left me to go talk to a group of older ladies, leaving me with Aiden who later left to go talk to his cousin. Giovanni was already talking to a group of girls. Upon scanning to see who looked most approachable, I spotted Kianzo grabbing a drink from the outside bar. I searched around him and saw, unusually, that Adriano wasn't near him.

I walked up to him. Kianzo smiled, noticing me from the distance. I reached him and asked, "Where's your silent buddy?"

"Adriano? Oh, he's watching over Serena back in New York. They aren't going to come until tomorrow. Marcella doesn't want her getting involved."

"Why tomorrow?" I questioned, "Isn't that too early, considering that we just got here and it's five in the afternoon?"

Kianzo shook his head, "No, because it's all happening tonight. "

<~> Please show much love ❤️ Guys, I think the next chapter might be the last chapter... I'm excited :)