New Neighbors

Playlist for this Chapter: When the Party's Over by Billie Eilish, Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift.

I looked at my watch one more time. It was 8 pm. We were outside the Giovanni's mansion, my men hidden in different areas.

"Showtime." Jake said into the earpiece and gave me a nod while we waited in the van that was safely hidden from view. The lights were on meaning someone was home. Just then Abigail and Cole, Dove's friends, made their way to the front door with a tray of brownies in their hand.

Classic neighborhood gestures.

They rang the doorbell and the door opened a few minutes later, revealing a plump lady in her 40s or 50s.

"Hi, I'm Stella, and this is my husband Carter. We're your new neighbors and bought the estate next to this one. We just wanted to come say hi." Abigail's voice came through the earpiece and Cole shook hands with the lady.

"Oh! That's so lovely, good to have neighbors around. My name's Geneva." The woman said and Jake and I glanced at each other.

She was lying.

"Hello Geneva, it's nice to meet you. Are you the owner of this house?" Cole asked looking around and she shook her head.

"I'm staying here for a while. This is my nephew's house." She said and Abigail and Cole nodded in understanding.

"Well why don't both of you come on inside?" She asked and they smiled at her, leading them in the house and closing the door behind them.

"There, zoom the camera." Jake told Lucas who nodded and we all looked at the video of Geneva leading them to what I assumed was a dining room. Lucas had expertly inserted a camera in a necklace which Abigail was now wearing, giving us a clear view of everything.

"That place seems to match the description of what Dove told us." Jake said and I nodded.

At first I was surprised when these two approached me and demanded that they be part of our plan. But I valued their loyalty and friendship for Dove. They were willing to do anything for her as well.

"Your house is absolutely breathtaking! Does your nephew live here alone?" Abigail asked as they sat on one of the couches.

"Thank you dear, and yes. He lives alone, unfortunately. Although I think he might get settled soon."

"Really?" Abigail asked and the woman nodded.

"So he is engaged?" Cole asked them and the woman chuckled, shaking her head.

"Oh no, not yet, but he has his sights set on a beautiful young girl. An angel, she is. I keep forgetting her name...." She thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"I'm seriously forgetting things now, blame it on my age. But that girl is a beauty beyond compare." She gushed.

"Wow, your nephew must be lucky!" Abigail exclaimed and the woman nodded.

"He is. I've never seen him so adamant on anything before. But who can blame him? She's got the most beautiful pair of bright blue eyes that could draw anyone in! And her long beautiful hair, I was shocked at first because of their color, but she told me she had colored them." She exclaimed and in that moment I tensed all over.

No... It can't be her... Could it?

Jake and Lucas gave me a confused look that I'm sure matched mine too at the moment.

"She looked so fragile, like an angel... Was so kind too. It's a shame I don't remember her name but it matched her personality very well." She said and Abigail laughed a bit out of politeness.

"Well I'm sure she will agree to be with your nephew." Abigail said and the woman nodded.

"Speaking of, where is your nephew? I believe I heard his name but I can't quite remember it now." Cole said sheepishly.

"Ah, well it's a shame, my nephew, Valore, had to take care of some business so he isn't in the country, but he'll be back in a few days." She smiled apologetically.

Valore... It's him.

Both Jake and I glanced at each other, realization hitting us.

"Oh no worries, it's alright. We'll meet him another day." Cole said.

"Yes, that's good. Why don't you tell me about yourselves? You are not Italian, are you?" She asked them.

"Oh no, we're American... We came from the States because Carter got a job here. We got married last year, and we absolutely loved the estates here so we moved into one of them." Abigail said excitedly.

If I didn't know she was acting, I would've believed her.

"Ah that's great cara mia." (My dear) The woman said and looked at Cole suspiciously.

"Please don't mind Carter, he's a little quiet especially because he has a hearing problem and has to wear hearing aids." She said, and the woman nodded while smiling.

"It's quite alright dear. Would you like to have something? Tea?" She asked and I knew it was time to leave.

"Leave now. We got everything we needed." I spoke into the earpiece.

"Oh no it's fine, my parents are coming over today so I have to prepare for their arrival. But thanks anyway Geneva." Abigail said and all three of them stood up.

"It was lovely to meet you dear, come by any time, and take care." She said and walked both of them outside.

"Thank you for your time ma'am." Cole said and the woman gave them a quick hug before both of them walked out of the gate and the metal doors closed.

After a few minutes we heard the knock on the van twice and Cole and Abby were let in.

"God that was so intense." Cole exclaimed as he sat down and Abby reached into her purse and gave me the gun we had hid in there.

"I'm just glad it didn't come to this." She said gesturing at the gun and Cole nodded.

I may have taught them both how to use a gun for their protection. But it was necessary and they both knew it.

"Good job. We've confirmed what we needed to." I said, giving them a nod and they gave me small smiles.

"That lady, Geneva... was she?" Abigail asked.

"Lying. Her name's not Geneva. And she's the housekeeper." Jake told them and they frowned.

"What about her so-called nephew, Valore?" Cole asked and I clenched my jaw shut.

"It's Giovanni. He used Valore as a code name." Lucas said.

"How are you sure?" Abby asked.

"Because believe it or not, we used to be friends and played a lot of video games. This one time he entered his name Valore, meaning valor..." Jake said and they nodded.

"He loves playing games. I can't believe he's dumb enough to think we wouldn't figure it out." Lucas added and I hummed in response, looking at the mansion fading into the view behind us as we drove home.

I can't believe he kept her hidden here, in Italy. Right under our noses.

"We're going to the hospital, you guys coming?" Jake asked Cole who shook his head.

"We went in the morning already. We've got a flight to catch in a few hours." Abby added and I nodded.

"my driver will take you to the airport." I told them.

"Thanks.. but won't that lady notice we're gone suddenly? What if she tells Giovanni?" Cole asked us.

"They won't know. The estate you claimed to have moved in had been taken care of by me. If anyone goes there and ass they'll say you are on a business trip around Italy with your wife." I told them and they relaxed a bit.

"Good. Any Nicholas?" Abby called to me and I looked at her. "Kill that bastard will you?" She said and I gave her a curt nod.

"Way ahead of you." I smirked thinking of putting a bullet through Giovanni's head.

*Fast forward one week later*

"Are the men keeping tabs on Sofia?" I asked Jake after he sat down next to me on the couch in the hospital. It had been three weeks now and we were waiting for her test results. To say I was a nervous wreck would be an understatement.

She hadn't woken up yet, nor were their any big improvements in her health. Just very small ones. Nonetheless, they were improvements.

"Yeah.. She's being more careful now.. But since we've confirmed she's the traitor we can keep a closer watch." Jake said as the doctor came to us.

We both shot out of our seats and looked at the doctor expectantly ho fixed his glasses and looked through the reports, shaking his head.

"Mr. King... I'm sorry to say there has been no improvement since last week." He told us and my heart dropped suddenly.

"What?" I asked him in disbelief.

"Her body is not healing very quickly... although her chance of survival increased drastically, I'm afraid all we can do now is wait for her to wake up. It's been three weeks already, so we're not sure if she'll make it, but you can hope." He said and walked away.

My knees felt weak all of a sudden and I dropped onto the couch, putting my head in my hands. Jake put hi hand on my shoulder in support while I felt the weight of the doctor's words crashing down on me.

"We're not sure if she'll make it."

"No... She can't just.. she can't just leave me like this." I whispered.

"It'll be alright Ace... The doctor said her chance of survival increased so there's hope... She's in there, I know it, and she's fighting vey hard to survive so we'll have to wait because this isn't an easy battle." He said and I nodded.

"Yeah... she'll be fine... she'll be alright." I said, convincing myself that everything would be okay, when in reality, it was far from that and deep down I knew it.

The only thing still keeping me attached to my sanity is the small glimmer of hope that she'll be alright, because I'm barely hanging on by a thread.

I just hope Jake's right.