CHAPTER EIGHT: Threats.

ALESSANDRO'S POV: 

"Pull up the security footage." I demand harshly, as my mood continues to spiral downwards. 

"Wiped clean. They got to it first." Aldo says as he types away on his phone. 

"This is bullshit!" I say as I slam my fist against the body of the SUV in front of me. My eyes return to the burnt building that used to be my warehouse.

An insider must have informed them that a new shipment just came in, because there is no way they would have known to hit this particular warehouse. 

I grind my teeth together as my eyes rove over the dead bodies of two of my men. They all knew what they signed up for, but it doesn't hurt less. 

"We were able to capture two of their men." Vince, one of my men who was in the warehouse when the whole thing went down, says to me in a tentative tone. 

I glare at the burnt shipments. Hundreds of thousands of dollars gone. Just like that. Because some fools weren't taught when to back down. 

"Kill them." I order in a harsh tone as I stalk towards my car. 

"Don't you want to find out who's behind all this?" Aldo asks in a perplexed tone as he gives me a quizzical stare. 

"We all know it's the Irish. They have had it out for us for decades now." I say through a clenched jaw. 

"It isn't safe to make such assumptions. And the Irish may be daring, but they definitely had to have had help to pull off an attack this big." Aldo says with a grimace on his face. 

"Are you trying to say they've formed an alliance with a bigger player?" I ask with furrowed brows. 

"Or they may be working with someone in our organisation." Aldo says as he stares at the men trying to clean up the whole mess. 

"Lead me to them." I respond with a sharp nod of my head. This is not the time and the place to discuss a possible spy or traitor in our family. 

Aldo leads me to a section of the warehouse that seems untouched by the whole fire. The place is a bit secluded and cut off from the main building. 

I'm greeted with the angry screams of the two men who are currently tied up in the dark room. 

Archie, our family's enforcer, is currently wielding a 5 mm knife which is dripping with blood. He greets me with a slight nod of his head. 

"You fucking cunt! You coward who can't keep his wife under check!" One of the men screams at me as blood drips from an open wound on his forehead. 

I pull out my gun, training it on his knee and pulling the trigger, blowing his kneecap off. "You are going to tell me who sent you. I don't have time for games." I say in a deathly calm tone. 

"You might as well kill me, because I'm not saying shit." The man says while simultaneously groaning in pain. 

I repeat the same action to his other knee, until his legs are both bent in awkward angles. "We can do this all day long." I say as I step closer towards him. 

My gaze lingers on his more quiet companion who now on second look seems to be dead. 

"I'm not telling you shit." The man says in a whisper, with a face contorted in pain. 

I look to Archie, giving him the go ahead to continue with his task. He digs the knife into the man's left shoulder, twisting the knife so deep, the man's screams ricochet off the dark walls. 

"Were you sent by the Irish?" I ask once more, in a straightforward tone. 

"Fuck you!" The man says with renewed vigour through gritted teeth. 

I nod once more to Archie who snatches his knife back. He walks back to the large table in the centre of the room, picking up a large sharp scissors. 

He uses it on the man, severing his fingers from his hands. The man screams in pure agony as tears roll down his cheeks. 

"You are going to die today, but it's up to you how long you want the torture to be prolonged." I say in a simple tone as I stare intently at the man. 

"Cian." The man mumbles in an unclear tone that has me frowning in confusion. "Cian Smith. He sent me." The man says once more in a weak tone. 

Sean Smith, the head of the Irish Mafia, had died a few months prior, and we had all believed that Cormac, his first son, would take over but as it turns out, there seems to be an internal power scuffle. 

But why would Cian, his second son, attack me? We aren't friends, but we also aren't enemies. We had an unspoken agreement to remain on our own ends. 

I nod towards Archie who proceeds towards the man. 

"You promised!" The man croaks out in a sad tone as he glares at me. 

"Why should I believe you? You could be lying to me. Cormac gives all the orders and no operation takes place without his confirmation, so what preemptive would Cian have to attack me?" I ask in a sceptical tone. 

"Cian has always wanted the crown. And he's decided to take it by force." The man responds in a desperate tone. 

"What would that have to do with me and my shipments?" I ask with a slight tilt of my head. 

"I don't know. I really don't know." The man breaks down crying. 

"Very well." I say to him, Even if he's lying, there's little I can do now. 

"Please man, I have a wife and kids." The man says as he bawls. 

"You should have thought about that before you went on Cian's payroll." Archie says as he shoots him in the head. 

"You want me to put some men on it?" Aldo asks from beside me. 

"No need." I say as I walk out of the room. 

"Then how do you intend on getting to the bottom of all this?" Aldo asks. 

"I'm going to invite them over for a meeting and we are going to talk it out." I say in response. 

"Surely you don't expect the meeting to go peacefully." Aldo says with a smirk. 

"Good. The chaos is well needed." I say with a resigned expression on my face. 

___________________________

AURELIA'S POV: 

I'm totally still as I lean against the wall. I'm too afraid to move even an inch away from the wall. I don't react to the sound coming from the opposite end of the room as I've gotten used to it. 

I jump to my feet as the door to the small room creaks open and a large figure steps into the room. I don't need anyone to tell me Alessandro had come to pay me a visit. 

"Are you finally ready to talk?" Alessandro asks in a cold tone as he settles down on a chair he had brought along with him into the room. 

"I have nothing to tell you." I say once more in a desperate tone. "I only met your wife because she was working with a charity organisation that offered to help me." 

"Help with what?" Alessandor asks in a flat tone. 

"You already said it yourself. For my father's illness." I respond in a resigned but angry tone as I remember that my father is probably alone right now. 

"You know someone is going to come looking for me right?" I ask in an angry tone. "My father probably already reported me missing. It's only a matter of time before someone finds you." I say, lying through the skin of my teeth. 

"Your father isn't interested in your existence or lack thereof." Alessandro says with a mean expression on his face. "Since you conveniently disappeared, when asked, he says you've gone back to your whoring lifestyle." 

"That's not true!" I say, more for myself than for him. Those words sound exactly like my father. "My friend Olivia is probably out there looking for me." I say in a solemn tone as I try to reassure myself. 

"I don't think so." Alessandro says as he takes out what seems to be a pad from behind him. 

He turns it on and hands it over to me. On the screen is Olivia, lying comfortably on the bed. At first, I see nothing wrong with the video footage until I see a man step out of the shadows with a knife in his hands. 

"Please, please, please, I'm begging you! Don't hurt her! She has nothing to do with all this!" I plead desperately as I fall to my knees, my hands clasped in front of me as though in prayer. 

"My men are being attacked daily and their lives are constantly in danger. Finding my wife is of utmost priority, but it's diverting my attention from where it actually needs to be. We are both in the same dilemma. Lead me to my wife and I will spare your friend." Alessandro says in a determined tone as he levels me a blank look. 

"Okay! She was constantly on her phone throughout our dinner. She barely spoke a few words to me, and she seemed excited about something, but I have no other information beyond that." I say as I wrack my brain for other useful information. 

"That is not enough." Alessandro says with a heavy sigh as he gets up from the chair and heads towards the door. 

"Kill her." He orders on the phone before the door is banged against my face.