I am so punctual right?? I am going to vanish again since I have exams.!! I am so sorryyyyy!!!

We finally made it to Chapter 40.

Thank you all so much for the support.❤️❤️

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Niccolo's POV:

My gut reaction to this was adverse. Because of my prior mistakes, I've learnt to always follow my instincts, and this time, something is wrong. I put my gun in my coat and conceal it there. I choose a couple of daggers and put my socks up over them before strapping them to my ankle. I took care to keep all of my weapons hidden, and just then there was a knock at the door. My mother showed up with her signature grin on. Immediately, I stand up. Grandma included, she detested it when we left on a mission. they said they were unable to breathe till we arrived safely. As soon as she entered the room, I inquired, "Mom, what's up?"

She gave a stern "Come back safe son" command. I simply chuckled and gave her another embrace.

We both go downstairs, where all of our family members were there except for Isabella and Max. Daniel, Leo, Victor and Antonio were prepared and equipped. Our younger brothers, dad, uncle, mom, aunt, and grandmother hug us and threaten to annoy us when we get back.

Grandpa remained silent on the other hand. He added, shocking us all, "I agree with you Niccolo, I have an unpleasant feeling about this. That explains why I learned this expertise from him. Leo jokingly said, "You are just getting old Grandpa," and we all grimaced. He was now doomed. Grandpa pulled his ear, calling him a "piece of shit," which made everyone laugh.

Isabella arrived downstairs a little while later and didn't appear to be in a good mood. We became pale as she commented that "Where are you all going?"

"Office" uncle was a master of deception.

Victor responded right away, "Yeah, important meeting. All of us adored Bella, but Victor treated her more like a daughter than a sister.

We all exhaled in relief as she scowled and headed upstairs.

"What will she do when she learns our true identities?" Maximo wondered. Until Dad spoke, everyone had their heads down, worried.

Dad said, "Well, the mission boys."

We were going to depart shortly when three people approached us and bowed. Along with Salvestro and Emmanuel who was Antonio's second in command, the gang member we saw last time was present.

"Will you be joining us?" Leo smirkingly asks.

"No sir, I'm here because my boss asked me to inform you that our adversary, the commander of the gang's "triads," Felix, has allied himself with Ivanov. You should exercise caution since the man has no moral principles and would stop at nothing to further his personal interests. He always comes from behind to attack". She forewarned, bowed, and then she departed.

Victor smirked, "I want to meet that boss of hers once," while the rest of us exchanged looks. The phrase "One day we will" was spoken by Antonio as Daniel went on to brief our men on the safety strategy.

After giving our guys instructions, we departed for the location of the meeting, an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts. we decided to meet on neutral territory as it was safer.

I had a horrible feeling when the gang leaders Felix and Diego reached the area. My instinct tells me there is a severe issue.

"Dons" Sylvie was correct, this man had no regard for the mafias. Victor and Antonio appeared to be making every effort to keep their rage under control.

"You want us to stand by while your guys take from us, "Your men are stealing from us. "We're not cowards," Antonio sneered.

Felix simply grinned and said, "Oh well," as Diego glared.

"We need more profit, Don, and our soldiers follow our commands, not yours," snarled Diego. Even I was losing patience, and I was the most patient of the four. Daniel stopped Leo as he recklessly attempted to advance.

"I don't believe you don't realise that you are disrespecting the most powerful mafia in the world, just ask your soldiers to do their fucking job," Leo yelled angrily.

"Ah, well, how precisely are you the most powerful I don't know. Ivanov, our boss is," Diego stated sarcastically.

Felix pulled out his pistol, grinned, and pointed it at Victor's forehead, saying, "You all are really foolish to come here." This scumbag's betrayal was apparent to me.

Daniel grinned as he motioned for our reinforcements to enter, which they did at the same moment as the enemy's men arrived. We all pulled out our weapons and began to fire, and when they began to fire back at us, we swiftly found cover before eliminating as many of their soldiers as we could. This continued for a little while, and we were obviously winning. Their men were falling victim to gunfire when suddenly we heard a scream.

After shooting every man we could see, the others and I exit the residence to find Antonio holding his bloody shoulder. we all raced to him and carefully lowered him to the ground, my heart stopped for a few minutes. He was barely awake. While we attended to Antonio, who was severely bleeding, neither of us gave a thought to Felix or Diego.

Victor begged, "Brother, no, please," attempting to prevent Antonio from passing out.

"no, no god" Daniel mumbled, taking off his coat and applying pressure to Antonio's wound. Leo hurried out likely to fetch the vehicle while I urgently tried to secure our brother's head on my lap.

"Tony, please keep your eyes open", Victor pleaded in agony.

Seeing our pale faces, he gasped, "I will be fine."

"Take care of the younger ones, especially Isabella if.." "Don't you dare finish that sentence" I threatened.

"Life is unpredictable just promise me to take care of...." "Nothing will happen yeah we won't lose you," Daniel stated firmly while wiping away his tears.

No, we cannot lose him. If he were to pass away, we would never be able to forgive ourselves.

When we got to the hospital, our clothing was stained with blood. Salvestro's ability to drive the vehicle at such a high pace made me grateful for once in my life. Antonio was unconscious and had a very feeble pulse when we got there.

I examined the blood on my hands as Victor slumped against the wall and dropped to the ground and Daniel hugged a crying Leo to his chest while trying to manage his own emotions. The men dispersed, likely to notify our family, and headed outdoors. We remained in this position for an hour until family members showed up.

Grandpa questioned, "What happened ?" and we all turned our heads away, afraid to respond.

Leo could only manage the word "Antonio" before he again burst into tears.

"What happened to him?" Romeo immediately questioned.

"Why is blood all over you?" Giovanni worriedly questioned.

"What happened there? asked Armando.

Dad asked, clasping his trembling hands, "Son, say something."

Uncle Leander, clutching Victor's shoulders out of terror, pleaded, "Victor, say something."

It just took the words "h..he got shot uncle" for all hell to break out. Uncle exhaled before almost passing out. Victor was thankfully close by, so he managed to hold him. He mumbled, "No, no, my son, my child," as though in a nightmare, and we all hastened to be at his side.

"Uncle, he will be alright, I promise," Victor comforted.

"Son, he will be alright," Grandpa assured Uncle. Dad was shaking with rage, which I could understand since I was also enraged. Maximo finally said, "It's good that aunts Max and Isabella and Grandma are at home."

I turned to face my loved ones. Maximo was walking from the left to the right, and Romeo was presumably on the phone telling grandmother the news while Armando sobbed on Enzo's shoulder. Romeo gave me a wordless hug while Dad was busy comforting Uncle, Grandpa looking after Victor, and Leo was still with Dante, who appeared to be enraged and burning with anger.

"He will be fine bud" I promised Romeo.

"I am scared Nicco" he muttered.

We had to wait a few hours before we saw Aunt Luna and Isabella. Isabella glanced at Victor, then at us, as Uncle embraced his wife gently, allowing her to sob.

"Nothing will happen to him he has to be a pain in our asses for a long time" Victor assured us. "Gio come," I said softly and the next second he was also hugging me and sobbing into my chest. I rubbed his back trying my best to comfort them.

"What happened?" Isabella said, observing Leo's tear-stained face and everyone's reaction.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Leo's tear-stained face and everyone's response caught Isabella's attention as she spoke.

"Antonio was injured in an accident," I lied effortlessly. She nodded, sat next to Leo, and laid her head on his shoulder before saying, "Grandma and Aunty Sofia have to stay with Max they will be here later."

Before anybody could reply, the doctor and the rest of the medical personnel emerged from the operating room with gloomy expressions. The doctor was immediately barraged with inquiries.

"Is he okay? What happened to him?"

"He is still alive, right?"

"if anything happens to my grandson you all will die."

"Speak up doc," I said, losing patience,

"I'm so sorry sir, but we couldn't.."

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I just adore cliffhangers and of course, massacring characters.