["Honestly, I don't know why you're looking for me so hard. You know you only found me because I let you, right?" "I'll ask the questions around here! Why did you break into Ana's apartment?!" I glared sharply, hatefully at the repulsive informant. He seemed much too calm and uncaring of the severity of the situation; his stupid hands were buried in his stupid pockets. He knew I was here to arrest him, and he didn't look remotely distressed by this.
"Really now, you're just wasting time. Shouldn't you focus your hype-attention on what's her name? Anastasia? Shouldn't you be with her instead of sniffing me out?" "Answer the question!" I shouted, quickly losing my questions. He eyed me casually- yet with the tiniest bit of sharpness- before relaxing his shoulders even more.
"You have no clue who she is, do you?" This took me aback slightly. "Of course I know her!" She's my longest friend now; someone who is so dear, precious to me… The image of Ana from behind at an angle popped in and out of my head. I know her… I know. My jaw clenched and my heart dropped at Black's soft, sinister chuckle. "Then you know that she's a princess of an extensive, powerful, and wealthy mob family?"
"What?"]
I woke up the next morning to not just another red rose on my pillow but one with a card tied to it; it was attached in a bow with a black ribbon. It read: 'Remember to wait until you are home.' What the heck?! Who brought this? It clearly wasn't a nun, or a very weird nun if it was. And what did it mean "wait until I was home"? Wait for what? I don't remember ever….. That's when my eyes moved to my still damp coat from last night; the letter was still in my pocket. That man, Giordano… It couldn't have been from him, could it? No! No way, he doesn't know me; we've never met before….. but then… he did know my name, and that I didn't live here; well maybe my accent gave that away but still. My gaze returned down to the rose in my hand.
He was… the first man outside my family to ever kiss me, even if it was on the forehead. Ew! The thought almost made me chuck the rose at the wall. Kisses in the underworld aren't romantic; they're supposed to be signs of loyalty and fidelity. He'd only kiss me if he knew that and was pledging his allegiance to me. But that's definitely not the case with him; he was just some creep who happened to find me in the cathedral yesterday…. who also happened to wear a cloak. Still… I wonder what could possibly be in the envelope he gave me. My thumb ran over the black ribbon.
I sure hope I'm right and he's not part of the underworld… and didn't leave the rose. Black ribbons were bad signs down there; they were symbolic of black-list assassins. I'd never met one… I think- I hope. I'd know if I had, right? I'm sure the color is just a coincidence…. "I knew from the moment I saw you- you are no target of mine." Purely a coincidence.
Christian came to pick me up at the convent that morning. We went to the airport together; his flight was first. He originally wanted us to fly back together, and while I wanted that too I knew Daddy would have a fit if he found out. He booked an earlier ticket and I kept my original one. Before Christian headed to security, he pulled out a little, pretty box. I watched with wide eyes as he pulled out this lovely, little white gold bracelet. Smiling warmly, he pulled up my wrist and put it on right above Paul's police bracelet. "I'm fine with you wearing his bracelet, so long as you wear my colors too."
With a wide, elated grin, I profusely thanked him. It was just a simple white bracelet with a diamond here and there; nothing too fancy- certainly nothing no one would notice on me. We stared at each other smiling for a moment. Then, right there in the middle of the Florence airport we shared our first hug- just a hug. Oh god… I can't even begin to think of the right words to describe how it felt to be in his arms. I could have stayed there forever; who needs food or water? All I need his strong arms around me- I'd never ask for anything more if I had that. And I think Christian felt the same; his embrace gradually tightened around me as we held one another. Eventually we had to pull apart- that being one of the hardest things I'd ever done. He kissed my hand before heading to security. We waved until the other was out of sight. When he was gone, I brought the hand he kissed to my chest, wrapping my other hand around it tenderly. I didn't know men like him existed…. No, he was no man- I'm pretty sure he was an angel…. My eyes began to lower sadly. And angels don't marry mob princesses.
I flew home alone. To my surprise- border-line shock- there was no one at the airport to greet me or pick me up. This was unheard of; I'd never been left by myself like this before when getting off a plane. I chalked it up to an emergency of some sort; that was the only thing I could think of. So I grabbed a train home, rolling my suitcase down the street to the manor.
The manor was super quiet. I opened the front door to find no one immediately around inside. "Hello?! I'm home! Daddy?! Jerome?!" Nothing. Now I was beyond confused; Daddy didn't come meet me at the airport and he wasn't at home either. I didn't see anyone up the staircase or in the main part of the hall either. A being only appeared when I turned the corner to the hallway with my bedroom on it. I blinked in surprise to see a familiar-looking guy walking my way from the other direction. I'd seen him somewhere before but couldn't quite put my finger on it. He spotted me, flinched in surprise, then flashed a brilliant smile in my direction.
"Hey, baby. Have a nice flight?" Baby? Who the hell was he?! He looked about my age or so. I stiffened up a tad when he took a step towards me. "W-who are you?" "Hmmmmm? Oh right! Dad hasn't officially introduced us yet. I'm Jason, Ritchy's son." "Jason?" Oh right, Jason! The jerk that texted me before I went to Florence. "You know it. How was Italy, babe?" Ugh, and I was already exhausted with him.
"Uh, f-fine? Where is everybody? Do you know where Daddy or Jerome are?" "Oh, they're off dealing with something in the Five-Way Catacomb. Some asshat named James called earlier? I don't know." Oh, well I guess that makes sense; Daddy wouldn't want me to worry about that. Explains why he hasn't called me. Still, it didn't explain why the manor was totally empty; Daddy would at least send someone to fetch me, even Mr. Bodyguard. Oh yeah, Mr. Bodyguard! And where's he?
"Um, where's everybody else?" "They're going to wipe out those Yellow Scarves once and for all. This whole thing with Black has gotten out of control and the Dollars have decided to finish it- with Steele's permission, course," Jason shrugged; he didn't really seem to care about any of it. I gawked at him for a moment until I decided to drop it. So Daddy's out dealing with someone named James and the Dollars are at war with the Yellow Scarves- time for me to check out. Of course, Jason had to be a creep and grinned down at me cockily.
"Looks like we have some time now. Wanna hang out, girl?" "I just got off a cross-Atlantic flight and need to do laundry and unpack. Could we… do something later?" Like never? Never would be nice. He chuckled lightly. "Sure thing, beautiful. Just give a call when you're ready; I'll be listening." Oh… oh my god. Grabbing the metaphorical bull by the horns, I took the opportunity to get the heck outta there. I didn't stop walking until I was safely in my room. I shut the door- which unfortunately didn't have a lock- dropped my suitcase and went to throw myself back onto my bed. While facing the ceiling, I suddenly remembered the envelope in coat pocket; it was dry now. Curiosity began to fill me as I reached for it; the envelope itself was unmarked.
Inside was a folded white paper. I pulled it out, opening it up to read- my eyes steadily grew as I did. My hand literally started to tremble, shaking the handwritten letter. It read:
Anastasis
You don't have much time, so I'll be brief. Eric Lincoln tried to hire me for a hit; he sent one Jack Hyde to Florence to meet me (Hyde left before you returned). Lincoln wants to kill your dad and abduct you. Originally Hyde was going to off Steele but things got complicated when you saw him. A Yellow Scarf saw Hyde leave the Dollar manor and informed his boss. The Yellow Scarves hired Black to kill Hyde before he could tell Lincoln about you. He was also supposed to warn you about Hyde; I don't know if you know about Lincoln yet.
I can't tell you how I know all this- it's a trade secret. But I wanted you to know. I'm writing this on your first night here in Florence, and while I doubt I'll be able to give it to you in person, I will reach out to you in one way or another.
The paper fell from my hand, landing on the floor right beside my bed. I was sitting up now, staring deeply off into nowhere with the widest of eyes. Save me….? The Yellow Scarves were trying to keep me from being abducted? And someone tried to put a hit out on Daddy? Someone wanted to kill Daddy? Someone named Eric Lincoln?
Without a word, I stumbled off my bed dashing to the door. It burst open and I ran out, completely unaware to the surroundings around me. In that instance, I couldn't feel my body; all breathes fell numb to me. All my thoughts were on one thing- one thing alone. Save as many Yellow Scarves as possible and make sure Daddy knew about the potential hit on his life.
I spun around the corner, accidently running into Jason. My body took on a life of its own, halting itself right before I smacked into him. He looked down at me purely perplexed and alarmed. "A-Ana?" "W-where… Where are they fighting the Yellow Scarves? Where are the Dollars and Yellow Scarves?!" I could hear my own voice frantically raising on its own accord. This seemed to surprise him slightly. "Uh, in the old cement warehouse. Why?" I didn't reply, instead racing as fast I could down to the front door. "Baby? Ana? Ana!" No; no. I had to get there… I had to get there in time.
I had to stop the Dollars from sheading any blood on my account.