XXXIII

It's currently day two of this 'plan' we put together and things have already begin taking a toll on us.

To start, Luca and his men are slowly closing in on New York and considering the fact that he believes my empire is now 'weakened', he could attack the Cortez's at any given moment.

But we are practically prepared for anything, so if he makes the first move we wont hesitate to step in.

God I hate this bittersweet feeling.

I will be finally able to take Luca down, but at what cost? Even my own best friend thinks I'm fucking dead. I can't let my own feelings jeopardize me, my family are my number one priority at the moment.

My thoughts are interrupted by the front door swinging open to reveal Fran in a panic. I squint my eyes as she turns her head to look behind her several times and pulls me into a separate room.

"What is it?" I ask, giving her a knowing look.

"Marco and the others are here, Mom invited them. Stay upstairs until I text you, okay?" She explains, her voice fading into a whisper.

Marco's here?

"What? Okay but why would Mom not tell m-"

"Im serious, Lana, just please go upstairs." She cuts me off, before putting a finger to her lips.

Her finger doesn't move from her lip as footsteps and voices begin to echo throughout the mansion. I nod in understanding and sneak upstairs, making sure not to make a sound. I turn around to Fran once more but her presence has been replaces by complete emptiness.

I roll my eyes to myself, in the fact that I don't have a clue what they are discussing downstairs. I have to find out, I can't wait until later.

I make bad choices all the time, may as well make another.

I stare blankly at the wall for a moment for no apparent reason, before curiosity gets the best of me and I sneak downstairs. I'm sly, and devious, and if I play my cards right, I can eavesdrop without being discovered.

I position myself perfectly in between the dining room wall and the doorframe, then lean over and rest my ear on the wooden paneling.

It takes a minute, but my ears eventually adjust and I can finally make out the voices from within.

"So what do we do?"

"Kill him."

"No shit, we all want him dead. Lana especially did."

I can instanly tell that voice belongs to Marco.

From the warm and inviting tone of his voice and the thick Italian accent lacing each and every word, hearing him speak surfaces memories from the past.

Rather... unholy ones.

I smile amusingly to myself and continue listening.

"An eye for an eye right? They really thought they could get away with killing Milana without any consequence." A raspy voice mutters. I am unable to make out who it is but I can clearly tell it came from one of the italians.

This conversation is more boring than I thought it would be.

I sigh in defeat and sneak back upstairs, not even bothering to be noiseless. As soon as I enter my room I practically flop down on my questionably large bed and bury my head in my pillow before a loud thud bellows from downstairs.

What the fuck?

My reflexes instantly send me through my bedroom door to check whats going on, but I stop in my tracks halfway down the stairs when I realise I can't blow my cover.

I'm seriously thinking fuck this whole thing. I'm being kept in the dark. I should have the power over this situation, I should think the ideas. I clench my left fist before tightening my ponytail and creeping back down the stairs.

Whispered voices have now turned into hollers, as tension grows inside of the room. At least this makes my job of listening in easier. "Don't fucking disrespect her." Says a voice clearly belonging to an enraged Marco. "She deserved to di-" Is all I hear before a gunshot silences the room.

Okay they are definitely talking about me. But why did Marco shoot someone over it?

My gut and head fight for what I should do but I just retaliate and remain stationary by the doorframe. "Marco you need to calm down, what the hell has gotten into you?!" His mother voices. Silence engulfs the room once more before I hear a slight "I don't know." from Marco.

After hearing this I decide to wait the rest of the night out in my room and at least try my best to remain undetected.

***

*Later that night*

After I hear the front door slam and receive a confirmation text from Francesca, I make my way downstairs with a lot of questions lined up. I immediately spot Mom, James and Fran seated on the sofa as if they are awaiting my arrival.

"So what the hell was that all about?" I ask curiously.

My eavesdropping didn't really get me anywhere. All I found out was that Marco has a serious case of anger issues and someone triggered them. I don't even know why Mom invited people over in the first place.

"I invited them here but they reached out to us first, they wanted to talk about the whole situation. The Cortez's, Marco specifically, don't seem to be handling your death very well and wanted to ask a few questions." Mom explains.

"Okay, and?" I ask, instructing her to continue.

"We told them exactly what we rehearsed. The whole story on what supposedly happened to you." She adds, placing her wine glass down onto the table next to her.

I nod slowly, but a few more questions linger and haunt my brain.

"What was Marco angry about?" I ask, the curiosity overwhelming me.

"Oh, you know Marco, he has power and takes advantage of it. I guess he's just projecting that anger into violence."

"Makes sense for him." I reply.

Mom opens her mouth to say something before a strangely noisy notification stops her. She immediately looks down to her phone and freezes. I move towards her and seat myself in the gap between her and James.

"What is it?" I ask, looking down at the red screen on her phone.

"It's a tracker... For Luca." She replies.

I almost snatch the phone from her, but my eyes are so fixated on the screen and what it beholds. A moving pin is displayed on a map of the US, at the border of New York. It moves ever so slightly every couple minutes or so.

"Wait what? No. He shouldn't be coming this soon." James exclaims.

"Who would have sent this to you?" Is the question that was first raised in my mind. She looks at me. "I have no idea."

At this moment I couldn't give less of a fuck about the tracker. I care about WHO sent this to Mom. Anything anonymous is a danger. You don't know whether it is a reliable source or if it's a trap of some sort.

"Why is he mov-"

I cut Francesca off.

"Fuck that. What we should be asking is who the hell sent it is." I snap.

"Lana I already said I have no clue, don't push it. We will have someone look into it but for now, just stay put." Mom says before she egresses the room.

James sighs and waits a moment before following her out, leaving just me and a yawning Fran alone. I stretch my arms out before proceeding to my bedroom, closing the door behind me.

"You're supposed to be dead." A voice calls out from the other side of the room.

A voice that I can almost immediately pinpoint to be Marco's.

------------------------------------------------------- I appreciate all of the votes guys, thank you they give me motivation 🤍