Adelina's POV

We promised like all the older siblings to keep them safe. Then it was them crying and then being taken away. They didn't remember like we did. They were molded into the very thing we wanted to stop them from becoming and enjoyed it. Then they were taken away for 'special training' if we wanted to see them we had to be better. Stronger.

Then it was the yelling. The instructions. The dead body of the girl who cried instead of fought. Throwing the knife at the person's head because I had to survive. Watching my brothers slash throats because that was the order. The pain. Excruciating pain. Failure rewarded in the cells. Teaching us not to fail as well as how to survive torture. Then how to torture. Other children. Adults.

It didn't matter. We did what we had to in order to survive and get back to our room each night. We became the best so we could stick together. Everything else didn't matter. We had three things in mind. Stay alive, get back to our little siblings, and then find our family. We managed all three but it still seemed to be a failure.

_______

I only slept a few hours before waking up. I didn't feel tired. Years of being trained to work on little to no sleep made it impossible too. Santiago and Luka were both awake in Santi's room when I walked in. "Can't sleep?"

I shrugged, they knew the answer already. I pull my hair out of my face and sit on the bed watching the other two. Luka was working on his computer most likely tracking The Nightmares while Santiago worked on cleaning a gun with various weapons scattered around him. "What do you think is up with The Aces?"

Luka shrugs, "Honestly nothing, I mean are they psychotic absolutely, however, I think this whole family thing is more of an interest to understand than anything. Today it kind of seemed as if they were trying to understand the whole dynamic rather than plan out all their deaths. And Emmy seemed actually excited to shop with our moms at some point."

Santi nods in agreement and I shrug the three and their motives are a mystery to me and everyone else. Whatever training they went through to become who they were fucked them up majorly and no one was completely safe around them. Not even themselves. Most teams learned to protect one another to some extent. The Aces never seemed to have an interest in that rather seemed to focus on killing the most people no attention put on if their team, the only thing close to family for most of us, was okay.

Luka sent me some files to look through and that's how we spent the rest of the night into the morning. That was until Valentino and Leone burst through our door screaming about how me and Luka were kidnapped. We stared at them as they stared at us and screamed that it was a false alarm.

_______

Somehow the 'girls shopping trip' became a family shopping trip as I followed everyone around with Santi and Luka. It started with Emmy declaring we were going shopping and insisting Ezequiel and Emilio were going. That then led to all the guys insisting on going and the three of us were just drug into the fun.

Emmy was loving the attention she was receiving. One dress would get her over twenty compliments and she soaked them up. She was beautiful and knew how to pick clothes. Once she was satisfied with her clothes selection she then helped the others pick out clothes. Our family's people were struggling to hold all the bags her shopping amassed. A mini fashionista and everyone was showering her with compliments. As always she accepts them smiling. Once she was satisfied shopping she led us to the food court where she spun looking disappointed in the options it held.

Once Valentino and Leone got excited about McDonald's she agreed to get food from there. We all felt the eyes on us. Following us. None of us paid it any mind as Dad found us tables his people put together before disappearing into the crowd again.

We ate in peace, well, relative peace, as various brothers and family members attempted to steal one another's food leading to squabbles that The Aces watched in interest. When Emmy stood to throw away some trash that was when they struck.

The first shot rang out over the crowd hitting Em in the shoulder and chaos ensued. The first shooter was shot immediately by Emilio before any of the rest of us had time to register what was happening or the fact that all the civilians were fleeing the scene. It was a smart move on the attacker's part, going after Emmy first that is. She was known for being the best fighter, the most deadly.

The next attacker came close up focusing on Luka, he slashed the guy's throat and my two teammates watched my back as I pulled the man's mask away. As expected it was a Nightmare, he and his team were high ranking meaning they probably took this as a bounty from the Nightmare leaders. He was part of a team of six however none of them were known for their skills with guns rather his team primarily specialized in close combat meaning they most likely teamed up with another team to complete this mission.

They were probably only meaning to target The Aces however because they were found with us the entire family became targets. As I stood more annoyed than concerned I threw a knife into the back of someone about to attack Valentino. He turned to look at me shocked and I shrug in response.

The whole scene was over before it really began. There were fifteen total people dead. Eleven of which found their deaths at the hands of The Aces. The three of us Roses killed three and the other two were killed by our family and their people. Our dads were already ordering for people to clean up the mess and our eldest brothers were already figuring out how to cover the whole thing up with the press.

The shit we never have to concern ourselves with. The aftermath of our actions. We kill and leave. That's the job. Watching the scene unfold was strange. Some of these bodies were once inhabited by those who we trained with or associated with and now they were dead.

Emmy, Ezequiel, and Emilio didn't even seem all that bothered by the events pissed if anything. Emmy's shoulder was bleeding and she was whining about how the blood ruined her dress. She then switched to complaining about Emilio's lack of talent when it comes to patching up bullet wounds when Matias cut in and offered to help. She accepted glaring at her twin as Ezequiel ignored the two clearly bored with the events.

I sighed, the three most caring children I knew became the most apathetic due to the lives we were forced into. Our family seemed to catch onto that fact too. The fact that Emilio and Ezequiel were more focused on killing than seeing if Emmy was okay. That even when it was over the two didn't show much concern for her well-being other than asking if she wanted help patching the wound.

They were slowly seeing what the six of us were turned into by the assassins and I felt a slight twinge of worry for what they would do when they found out everything. The brief emotion passed quickly, the past memories too strong to let it linger any longer than that.

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Hey, so I think I am going to pause the upload schedule for this book for a little while as I focus on getting my other book, The Mafia's Missing Triplets, completed and edited, and prepare for its second book. Basically, the updates for this book will be more sporadic for a little while however, I swear I will do my best to keep updating when I can and this book won't go away.

-Lovefire