Isaac's POV

"You okay?"

I look up at the sound of my wife's soft voice, staring in her direction. "Mhm," I nod.

"You sure?" She pushes. "You've been staring at your phone nonstop for the last ten minutes."

Probably more and she's barely caught on. Sacramento texted me about fifteen minutes ago that my package was out for delivery and on route back to the warehouse meaning he has Robsciotti in his grasp, they finally found and got ahold of the mother fucker.

I inhale a deep breath, subtly releasing it, shaking my head. "It's nothing you gotta worry about, princess. Work stuff."

"Bad or good?"

"Good for me," I internally smile to myself. "Bad for the other guy."

"They got him? Robsciotti?"

I nod silently not knowing how much my wife really wants to know.

She stares over in my direction for a second or so. "What happens now? You go back and take care of it? Him?"

I shake my head, glancing down at Sacramento's second text message. "Shall I engage without you?"

I have "yes," typed out already, I just can't seem to get myself to press send. I want to be there. I want to put a bullet in his thick skull myself personally.

"Isaac?"

"No, baby," I sigh. "I don't go back and take care of it," I say to her while looking down at my phone and finally pushed send. I look up at her while tucking my phone away and smile. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here."

"If it's that important to you then go," she says softly, no snarky attitude in her voice whatsoever, she's being sincere. "I'll still be here when you come back."

I shake my head and reach for her hand, "you're more important."

And she is, she really is.

This needs to stop. I'm tired of letting my anger, my pettiness, my ego and pride always control me. I'm tired of following in my fathers foot footsteps. As proud as I am of my guys for finding Robsciotti so damn quickly, they're absolutely right, they're more than capable at handling my situations without me being there. Should they need any type of input and anyone to intervene there's plenty of people they can go to before bothering me.

My father being one of those people. Dion. Dominic. Sacramento.

There's actually nothing more that I wanna do than to go kill Gregory myself for everything he's put my entire family through, especially my wife, but the more and more I ponder on that shit, this isn't my war to end.

Granted I haven't been the best son since my fathers return from the dead but he's managed to pull me to the side here and there begging me to let him end everything that's going on, to let him take the reins one last time but I've been way too prideful to ask for his help. This war started way before I was born, it started because of him and his egotistic ways, I just got stuck in the middle of it for being his son and it dragged out this damn long but it's time to put an end to it all.

This is my city.

My fucking city.

My father built this entire empire through sweat and blood so that I can inherit it one day and come up on top. To carry on his legacy but he became a fucking legend for all the wrong reasons.

My son will not inherit any bad traits his grandpa passed down to me. My son will not be afraid of his own father, I will be his safe place, I will be his father and protector. Nothing less nothing more. Isaiah will know true greatness and become something far greater than his father and grandpa could ever dream off.

I'm not missing anything else, no matter how big or small. Missing this kill doesn't make me any less of a man, a weakened king, it will not hurt my pride or ego. It's irrelevant to me.

"Choosing to stay doesn't take away from how much of an asshole you've been these past couple weeks, months, Antonio. You'll be expected to do a lot more groveling, countless of begging before you get out of the dog house."

I feel my lip instantly twitch to the side, "if I have to get down on my knees, again, and bow down to my queen in front of my entire army just to earn her forgiveness and trust back, consider it done the second we get out of here."

Her cheeks instantly turn into a rosy pink color as she smiles and shakes her head, "you're an idiot."

I smile, bringing her hand back up to my lips and kiss it, "think you'll be okay without me for twenty minutes?" She frowns. "I wanna go check on my aunt real quick. See how bad it really is for myself."

She nods right away, "take as long as you like, not like I'm going anywhere, I'll be right here when you come back."

I smile again and get up from the chair I've been sitting in. I walk up to the edge of the bed and lean down to place a kiss on her forehead, "I won't be longer than twenty minutes, I promise."

"Can you bring me some snacks from the cafeteria when you come back?"

"Of course, anything in particular?"

She shakes her head, "surprise me," she smiles.

"I can do that," I say and lean one last time to place another kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back," and begin to head out of the room.

Closing the door behind me, I stick the back of pinky into my mouth and whistle at my guys down the hall. Specs, another one of Sacramento's guys, is the only one who heads over. He's actually in charge of Hailey's floor for the time being. All of Sacramento's team are either assigned to a floor here in the hospital, on Robsciotti, or with my mom and family back at home. MK being of Isaiah's floor and Marcus of Veronica's.

"Yes sir?" He stops a few feet ahead of me, both of his hands on his automatic weapon still. His entire face was covered in his black gator sleeve and black sunglasses. All of Sacramentos team covers their actual face, only they know what each other looks like, Sacramento is the only one who goes unknown at the end of the day.

"Who's here?" I questioned.

"As in to who boss?"

"Hailey's team. Anyone left here?"

Specs nods his head and is pulling his phone out of one of the many front pockets he has, "Emiliano just checked in down stairs. He has nuggies and cheese according to Mrs. Matteo's request."

I snorted softly, of course she requested chicken nuggets and cheese. "Have him stay put and keep her company until I get back on the floor."

"Yes sir."

Five minutes later I'm back on the fourth floor making my way towards my aunt Veronica's room, spotting my guys in every other corner that I look in.

I find my uncle Sal slouched in one of the chairs, asleep, his arm on the arm rest holding his head up. I walk over him lightly tapping him on the side of the arm and he's instantly waking up, sitting up right.

"Go get some decent rest, Sal. She'll be fine while you're gone."

He shakes his head inhaling a deep breath and is standing up stretching his body, "what if she becomes lucid and I'm not here?"

"Then you rush back, zio. Get a room across the street so you don't go too far, how do you expect to take care of your family if you can't even take care of yourself."

"It's been years since you've called me that." I frown tilting my head to the side. "Zio. You've been referring me to Sal for a while now."

"I didn't even catch that," I mutter.

"What? Calling me Sal or uncle?"

"Uncle." I answer honestly and inhale a deep breath. "I'm tired of things being how they are. I'm tired of who I am. If I don't change then nothing else will, things will stay in the same cycle so I'm trying to be a better person, a person someone Isaiah can actually look up to."

Sal smiles and places a hand on my shoulder, "kids, they change you for the better."

"You go back in there yet?" I tilt my head towards Veronica's room.

Sal inhales a deep breath, "not since last night. She keeps freaking out when she sees me. She thinks I'm one of Deroma's guys screaming for help."

"I know. Her doctor came to talk to me a while ago. She's staying here Sal. I don't care if I have to fight you for power of attorney, but she needs to stay here. The doctor said her staying is our safest bet at making a full recovery."

He nods looking off to the floor, "I know," his voice cracks. "I finally get her back, I finally have my wife back, but a part of her is still missing, I'm still losing the person I fell in love with."

I placed my hand on his shoulder this time. "I can't begin to imagine how hard this must be for you and Nate, Sal, but let's be grateful that she's still breathing, she's still on this earth. We'll take it day by day, not everyone's lucky enough to get the second chances we've been getting." He nods

"Come on. Come in with me."

"I don't think I can handle another panic mode, Isaac. I'll wait out here."

I nod not wanting to push him. "I'll be out in a bit," I say and begin to head towards the door.

I reach for the door handle softly tapping my knuckles on the door while slowly cracking the door open and peek my head inside to find my aunt laying on her side, her back towards the doorway.

There's a soft sound coming from her direction, soft voices from the tv that she has on.

I walk deeper into the room, around the bed to find her asleep, her breathing pretty even from her deep sleep. I don't bother waking her up afraid of her panicking from seeing a male in the room in case she doesn't recognize me.

I stare down at her. God she already looks so much better than she did last week. She's still thin as fuck from the malnourishment but her face finally has some color to it, she no longer looks sucked up and pale, she finally has some life in her.

I'm about to step away from the bed and head back out of the room when she begins to stir in her sleep, slowly peering her eyes open and brace myself for her reaction.

She blinks a couple times, staring in my direction, and frowns.

"C-Carmelo?" She croaks.

I immediately begin to smile and shake my head, "close, but no."

Her frown and stare deepens as she stays looking in my direction. I grab the chair behind with my foot pulling closer to me and take a seat.

I reach for her hand and she's immediately pulling it away from my touch.

"I'm sorry," I apologize softly. "I shouldn't have."

"I-Isaac?"

I quickly began to nod my head, "yeah aunt Vee, it's me Isaac."

She slowly reaches a hand out and I'm instantly sitting forward letting her cup the side of my face. She lets out a tiny sob, tears now running down her cheek, "y-you look so different, s-so grown."

I nod my head immediately feeling a knot get stuck in my throat,"alots happened since you've been gone Zia."

She removes her touch away from my face, another sob escaping her lips. "I keep expecting him to walk through the door but he doesn't."

"Who?" I frown.

"Sal," she sobs. "Why hasn't he came to see me?"

"Vee- he's been here the entire time, he hasn't left your side since we rescued you."

She shakes her head, more tears running down her face, "mientes!" She raises her voice. "You're the first face that I recognize out of my family. No one has come to see me. I woke up panicking not knowing where I was. What took you so long?!"

I cautiously place my hand on top of her arm. "You haven't been alone, Vee, Sal's right outside of that door waiting on you."

"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!" She snarls, pulling her arm away.

I inhale a deep breath, my heart beginning to slam in my chest, letting out a long sigh. "We didn't know," I answered her. "I didn't know you were still alive. I thought we buried you."

She lets out another few sobs and cries, "where's Nate? My baby Jessica?"

"They're fine, they're okay, ma's been taking care of everyone."

"I wanna see her."

I nod, "I know, Vee, all in good time. I don't wanna overwhelm you with a lot, the doctor says we gotta take it slow, okay?"

"P-please," she cries, reaching for my hand.

I glance down at the contact immediately feeling guilty for keeping her daughter away from her but we haven't exactly told her that her mom's actually still alive.

I nod, placing my other hand on top of hers, "let's start with Sal first, and well gradually move down the line, okay?"

She nods in agreement with me. I let go of her hand and stood up from the chair, making my way back over to the door. Cracking it open I whistle in Sal's direction tilting my head, calling him over.

He's standing next to me a few moments later.

"What's wrong? Is she okay?" There's an instant worry in his voice.

I shake my head, keeping the door closed beside me, shielding him from her where she's laying, "she's fine. She's lucid, but I don't know how much yet. She doesn't remember you being with her but she's asking for you and the kids."

Sal nods his head and is inhaling a deep breath. "Okay." I nod silently in return and take a step back allowing him to push the door open as he slowly enters the room.

I watch my aunt go into full panic mode and see the genuine fear in her eyes as she tries to scoot back on the bed, shaking her head.

"Hey," immediately get in front of Sal and rush over to my aunt. "Everything is fine, aunt Vee, it's just Sal, your husband."

She continues to shake her head, "h-he was there, he was at the house."

Both Sal and I glance at each other confused.

"We were both there, Vee," I pointed back and forth from Sal and I. "He got you out of that hell hole," I told her. "You probably remember his face because you opened your eyes for a mere second when he had you in his arms."

I watch her fear quickly get replaced with confusion as she begins to try and remember her husband.

Sal takes a step closer.

"You actually opened your eyes a couple more times in the truck. You even recognized me in the back seat of the SUV on the way to the hospital, even if it was just for a second, baby."

Instant tears begin to stream down her face. "S-Sal?"

I watch my uncle take a couple more steps forward, as he nods his head, "it's me baby, I'm here."

My aunt Veronica inhales a deep shaky breath, "Salvador," she sobs.

He immediately rushes over to her and is reaching for her hand. To my surprise she doesn't pull her hand away and that immediately relieves me that we're definitely going in the right direction, rather than backwards.

"I'm here mi Reina, aquí estoy."

***

Slamming my door shut to my car I storm towards the double doors to my building, my annoyance and anger already at bay that I had to step away from my wife.

Gregory's been in my men's custody for two days now, two. I say my men's custody because I have not left Hailey's side like I promised I wouldn't.

She got discharged from the hospital early yesterday morning but we've spent most of our time at the hospital still so she could be near Isaiah and spend as much time as they'll allow us to be with him, granted it's a very long time on account of who we are.

Just like I promised her, I rented a room out for us at the hotel across the street from the hospital so we could be at our son's arm's reach should anything happen.

Luckily, Isaiah's done nothing but improve these past two days, thank God. He's improved a lot more than the doctors expected him to and said if he keeps up the good pace then there could be a possibility that he'll be able to come home at the beginning of next month.

Everything's been fine. Everythings been going smoothly.

None of my men, and I do mean none of my men have bothered me for anything. The only one who's reached out a couple times actually is Dion, but only because he's concerned for Hailey's and Isaiah's well being.

He didn't give two fucks about me at the moment so I finallyc alled him a couple nights ago when I got off of my high horse and apologized to him for my behavior and treating him like shit.

As per usual Dee didn't make it a big deal and said I had nothing to apologize about, he knew the place I was coming from as a new father as well, regardless I proceeded to apologize for a second time.

Robsciotti is basically still alive because apparently my fathers too preoccupied with patching things up with my mom and Ayra. Not that I blame him, I'm actually a little proud of him for finally putting my mother before ego and pride.

Ma's actually been refusing to give up the six year old. She wants to keep her, adopt her, and I think Pops is actually starting to crack because I got a notification from my tech team yesterday afternoon that the little girl genuinely has no living relatives, meaning no one out there is looking for her.

I didn't care what they did with the little girl to be honest, I trusted Pops to make the right choice, whether that meant giving her up for adoption to a good home or them legally adopting her, lord knows my mom always wanted a little girl of her own.

It wasn't till this afternoon that my men started to reach out to me because apparently my dad was fucking offline and Robsciotti was beginning to have one last dying wish.

He wants to speak with Cris, who's been staying in the warehouse where we can keep a close eye on him until he's fully recovered. He's doing it better than he was a couple days ago but he definitely still has a long way to go before his stitches fully heal.

So here I am, dealing with my family's fucking pest problem, because of course it gets to fall back on me since I'm head boss around here.

Everyone immediately comes to a quick halt and stops whatever they're doing as I step into the building, the door shutting loudly behind me.

"At ease," I shout loudly, letting my men relax and fall back into their normal routine as I make my way over towards the back door that leads to the lower decks.

I'm on the third level in less than five minutes, entering the same exact room where we bring all the other dead idiots that leave here in a body bag.

Sacramento's men, Lino and BX, which is short for Bax', Baxter, are the only two other men in this room with Gergory.

How these men pick out their own nicknames to keep their names hidden from the rest of my men I'll never guess.

Lino and BX are standing towards the back of the room, a few feet away from Robsciotti, rifles in their hands, their faces covered as usual.

I clear my throat as I step into the room and both men are instantly tilting their head, silently greeting me as they take two insync steps forward.

"There he is," Gregory lifts his head up. "There's the new king of New York City," he smile, his teeth coated in a red orange stain from either fresh or old blood from the beating he's been getting. "Surprised to see you down here, you've been missing all the fun, Mr. Matteo."

"Cut the shit, Robsciotti. Why the fuck are you asking for Roxwell."

"Just trying to use my one phone call before my time expires," he sneers.

"The fuck we look like? Genies trying to accomplish your last dying wish?"

He chuckles deeply, "hey, how'd you do it?" I frown, arching an eyebrow, instantly confused at the instant change of tone in his voice.

"How'd you convince my nephew to turn against his own blood?"

"I gave him something even his own uncle couldn't give him." Gregory frowns. "I offered him true freedom, an escape from all this, in exchange for your life."

Robsciotti scoffs, "of course, that kid was always a pain in my ass, too much like my sister and nothing like his father."

"Guess he learned to turn his back on his own blood, family, from his uncle."

"You gotta admit though, I had you and your father scared, even if it was for a second," he smirks.

"It took the help of three other families for you to get the slightest reaction out of us, Gregory."

"Two other families," he corrects. "I never had Roxwell in my corner."

"Can't imagine why you did," I turn to look behind me to find Cris standing in the doorway, his hand holding his side where his stitches are at.

Gregory chuckles deeply, "well if it isn't the half breed, I knew you weren't dead when Valentine didn't find your body after sweeping the house. They tried lying to me saying you were dead. How's Uziel?"

"Alive, no thanks to you," Cris grumbles, limping into the room slowly.

"Aren't you guys some of the luckiest sons of a bitches."

I fold my arms along my chest and turn to look at Cris, speaking in Italian. "You shouldn't be down here."

He replies back in Italian. "Where should I be, little bro?"

"Resting," I gritted my teeth, speaking in English again. "Healing."

"Wouldn't want to rip your stitches open," Robsciotti comments in Italian, a smug look on his face.

Lino immediately steps forward and smacks Gregory in the face with the end of his rifle, busting his lip reopen.

"Okay I get it," he spits blood onto the floor. "Speak only when spoken too."

"You think this is a fucking joke?" Cris grumbles beside me, shifting his weight. "Acting pretty bold for someone who's strapped down to a chair."

"And you're acting as if you're someone that matters," he fires back. "You think just because you've sided with these people that they've truly accepted you?"

Lino takes another step forward, lifting his rifle to smack him in the face again, I'm quickly lifting up my hand causing him to stop.

"You don't matter to them, kid. You don't matter to anyone. You never did and never will. You're still the same bastard kid no one wants. Face it, you don't belong anywhere, Roxwell, you're still the outcast and will always be the outcast in people's shadows."

My hand immediately twitches and I'm reaching for my pistol behind me but I'm quickly coming to a halt.

"Cristofer."

Both Cris and I turn to look at Pops behind us.

"Move," he inclined his head to the side.

Cris and I both frown looking over at one another. I follow closely behind him as he begins to limp out of the way a second later, standing off to the side.

Robsciotti scoffs, "well I'll be damned. You know what they say, Carmelo, two's a party, three's a crowd. I think your boys can handle it from here, there's just not enough room for all this testosterone down here."

Pops snorts softly and shakes his head as he steps deeper into the room, his gun now in his hand. "Let's see how much you're laughing, joking around after I put a bullet in your face, Gregory."

Robsciotti smiles, "gotta admit, Matteo, even I impressed myself keeping Veronica hidden that long."

"That's because you've actually never achieved anything, Greg."

"Oh come on, admit it, I had you running scared for a second, hiding in fact."

"Technically- that doesn't count. You didn't know I was in hiding," Pops points his gun in his direction. "Just like everyone else you also believed that I was dead. Why else would you leave Veronica behind when you decided to run?"

Gregory stays quiet.

"Your definition of scared is completely different from my definition, Greg. You feared for your own life when you knew my son was coming for you.You went into hiding afraid of what might happen when you got caught. I, on the other hand, am not afraid to die. Yeah I was terrified for my family's safety and well being. I hid in order to protect them. I don't mind sacrificing myself for those I love. That's the difference between you and me. So no, you didn't have me scared."

Pops quickly picks up his right hand, the hand that's currently hanging onto his gun and aims it at Robsciotti. Pulling the trigger he shoots him on his left shoulder blade.

He's instantly crying out in pain, stomping his feet on the floor.

"That's for coming after my wife."

Pops shifts his aim to the other side of Robsciotti and Lino and the other man towards the back are stepping out of bullets reach. Pulling the trigger, my dad shoots Greg for a second time, on his right bicep this time.

"That's for Veronica."

He lowered his aim, firing another two shots into his left and right thigh. "For my sons."

Cris and I watch Robsciotti's entire body tremble as Pops continues to empty his clip into him. Cris never once tearing his gaze away from my father. Pops grip's his gun with both hands, firing two more rounds into Gregory's stomach. "That's for my daughter in law and grandson."

Gregory begins to cough, wheeze, as blood starts to spill from his mouth and pops is firing another round into his right shoulder blade, closer to his chest.

"Lastly for the little girl whose life you guys destroyed," Pops points his gun towards the doorway. "She's only six years old, Gregory, SIX!" My father shouts as Robsciotti fights to stay conscious, his eyelids half closed, he's bleeding out pretty bad.

My dad takes a couple steps forward instantly reaching for Greg's face, tilting his head up. "Wake up," my father snarls, shaking it. "I am not done with you."

He immediately coughs up blood as he attempts to keep his eyes open, looking over at my dad.

"Where's the witty remarks now, Robsciotti?" Pops smiles, "things aren't so funny now are they?"

"F-f-," Gregory attempts to say something but ends up choking on his own blood as he continues to cough up some more.

My dad tilts his head to the side, "I'm sorry I didn't catch that?"

"H-he a-alw-ways k-knew," Gregory manages to rasp out in between the coughing. He shifts his gaze from Cris and I then back to my dad and smiles, or at least attempts to. "H-he w-as'nt h-his s-s-on. H-he k-ne-w."

Gregory's head is flying to the side a second later as another loud gunshot goes off in the room but Pops isn't the one pulling the trigger this time.

I turn to my right to find Cris' arm extended in front of him, his gun in his hand, his shaky hand at that. I glanced over at him, placing my hand on his arm, putting it down to feel his entire body shaking, his eyes brimmed with tears.

"Let it go man," I say softly. "Don't hang onto that anger, don't listen to him."

He nods his head, the tears spilling down his face now as he hands me his gun. I take it from him and frown when inspecting it and reach to feel behind me to realize my gun is missing.

I quickly look over at him and down at my gun. What the fuck. I didn't even feel him reach for it, sneaky bastard.

Pops makes his way over to us. He stands in front of Cris staring at him completely quiet as Roxwell keeps his attention down at the ground.

"Look at me, Cris," Pops commands.

It takes him a second or so but Cris finally decides to look up at our father, his eyes still glossy from the tears.

Pops inhales a deep breath but doesn't say anything. He places a hand on the back of Cris' neck and is pulling him in for a hug.

Cris doesn't engage my father back for a couple moments and slowly begins to crumble and break down in my dads embrace as he wraps his arms around him.

I stand perfectly still, quiet, letting Cris have his moment, feeling an instant ache in my chest that he's never had anyone else's comfort but his mothers. How he's felt entirely alone most of his life and begin to realize just how alike we are in similar situations. It's definitely gonna be a work in progress for sure but I couldn't be happier for him to gain the father he always wanted, plus a half brother.

My father looks over in my direction, a hesitant look on his face and I'm instantly relieved that I don't feel an ounce of jealousy or envy with their interaction.

I nod my head one single time and watch my fathers facial features quickly relax as he nods back in return, pulling apart for Cris.

"You matter kid, a lot more than you probably like to believe," Pops says. "You matter to me."

"And me I guess," I mutter, crossing my arms along my chest.

Cris immediately lets out a breathy laugh and I'm smiling over in his direction.

"Hey." Cris turns back to my father. "Don't let some dead man's word haunt you, you hear me?" He nods. "You wanted to come out on top now look at you, the last of your function still standing. You wanted to build a name for yourself well you got one hell of a name behind you now. Granted this family's a little dysfunctional and needs a lot of patience but it's something we'll take day by day, learn together, the three of us," Pop shifts his attention to me for a second.

"You're exactly where you need to be, Cris," I say. "You are not an outcast, dude, you are not alone. You've found your ground, a family, a home."

"Your home," Pops chimes in. "You're not lost, you're home kid."