Chapter Eleven

Alesso

I sat in the car waiting impatiently for Alice to finish and it took every ounce of strength I had not to break down the fucking door and drag my woman away from Cian and hide her away.

I knew deep down my worries were unfounded because I knew Cian well. He had been working with my family longer than I can remember and while I know he is brutal and takes no prisoners not even when it comes to family, I also know that he would never hurt his child.

His daughter Siobhan could have done whatever she wanted. She could have disrespected him or embarrassed him and while he would have been angry with her he would have killed anyone who witnessed her behaviour rather than ever laying a finger on her.

Anyone for Cian was fair game when it came to those who could lose their lives at his hands but never his child.

I checked my watch for the millionth time and growled hitting the steering wheel in frustration when I realised, she had only been in the house less than twenty minutes. I had debated a little about if I should call Christian and tell him what I had learned but I wasn't sure if that would be breaking Alice's confidence and right now, she needed as many people in her life that she could trust and feel safe with. So, I decided against it.

My knuckles were turning white with my tight grip on the steering wheel, and my patience was fast running out until the front door swung open and a desperate-looking Cian waved for me to come in.

I didn't hesitate as I jumped out of the car and ran toward the house not even bothering to close the car door. "Where the fuck is she?" Cian grabbed my arm stopping me in my tracks and it took so much control not to knock him on his ass.

"Listen, boy. She is my daughter and you are…" I didn't bother waiting for him to finish because if he thought he was coming into her life and ordering me about I didn't give a fuck who he was I wasn't going to take it.

"No, Cian! You listen! That woman in there is my world. She will be my wife, one day, and the mother of my children. You have been in her life for five fucking minutes and judging by the fact that you are asking me to come in tells me your little meeting isn't going so well for you. I am going to need you to back off when it comes to my relationship with Alice and I will respect your building relationship as her father but do not try to come between Alice and I because I promise you, just as you will no doubt die for her and so will I and if it comes to that believe me when I say, I will take you with me."

I pulled my arm from his grasp and stormed through the house shouting Alice's name when I heard her small, scared voice coming from the front room. The second I saw her pale scared face I ran to her dropping to my knees in front of her and taking her face in my hands.

"Piccolo, what happened? Are you, okay?"

"He killed his sister, Alesso. The woman in the alley was his sister." I could hear the horror in her voice and when I figured out what she was talking about I sighed with relief.

I had been just a child when Cian had killed his sister but growing up we researched each family within the mafia world because let's face it, the more you know about anyone that had the potential to become an enemy the better.

My father had been incredibly thorough when it came to creating each file on every person in the mafia world and Cian was no exception, and while I knew that Alice was horrified about the fact that Cian killed his sister, I knew that Cian had every right to end her and no choice but to follow through with it.

I gave Alice a small smile and rose from the ground, sitting beside her and wrapping my arms around her trying to calm her trembling body and racing heart. "Piccolo, I know that what Cian did has likely scared and horrified you but did you let him explain what happened?"

Alice pulled out of my embrace and pushed me away and I didn't fight her because I knew that she was fragile right now and I needed to give her whatever she needed. "How can you say that? She was his fucking sister. Would you ever kill any of your siblings?"

I sighed because what I was about to say was going to make her scared of me but she didn't know Cian's reasons and it wasn't my place to tell that story. "If they had done what Cian's sister did then, yes. I wouldn't hesitate to kill them." Alice moved as far away from me as she could get which hurt my heart because I didn't want her to fear me.

"My mum was right. We need to leave. You are dangerous all of you and I'm not safe with any of you." Alice jumped up and ran to the door but was stopped by Cian who practically filled the door frame.

"Alice, please let me explain. I promise when you hear what she did you will understand. I would never kill anyone without good reason and I need you to know there isn't a reason in the world that would ever make me hurt you."

Alice stepped back holding her hands out when Cian tried to move closer to her. "Stop! You can't expect me to believe you. She was your sister. What possible reason would you have to kill your sister?"

"She killed my parents and my twin sisters." Cian dropped his shoulders and made his way to the mini bar in the corner and poured three large drinks then handed one to me and Alice before taking a seat on the sofa opposite the one I was sitting on, and I was so relieved when Alice didn't run and took a seat beside me.

"Why would she do that?"

"Power!"

"What do you mean? What power?" Alice held her drink in her shaky hands as she waited for Cian to reply.

"My sister wanted to take over from my father but he had refused because she was out of control. She would fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. She was making enemies of people our family had worked with and alongside for years and if she had taken over it would have been the end of our family. So, he had made it very clear that not only would she not be taking over for him but she wouldn't be working within the family, at all."

Cian emptied his glass so I jumped up to grab the bottle filling his glass and my own then placing the bottle on the table in front of us. Cian gave me a small nod before he continued with his explanation for his actions.

"My sister as you can imagine was furious and she stormed out of my father's house. My mother and father lived in a large home with my five-year-old twin sisters. We always thought our home was the safest place on earth and from outsiders, it was but not from my sister." Cian took another drink and I knew that he was struggling to explain this and I couldn't blame him.

"I loved my little sisters. They were so sweet and mischievous. My parents were so shocked when they found out that my mother was pregnant. They hadn't expected it. Fuck! My mother thought she was going through early menopause." Cian chuckled to himself staring down at his glass.

"When they found out they were having twins I was so excited. I had always loved children so to have two miracle babies coming into our family I was over the moon. I remember going out and buying so many toys and gifts. I must have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds and I loved every second of it. I even had a room made up at my house for them for when they stayed over. Which I told my parents would be often.

My sisters wanted for nothing. I loved them so much. I made sure that I saw them every day. I would work from my parent's house every day so that I could be around them all the time. I loved how excited they got when I showed up always carrying gifts. They were always dressed like dolls with beautiful red ringlets and forest-green eyes that shone with love. They had only ever known love and happiness. We made sure to keep our lifestyle away from them and I would have died making sure that they were never affected by our lifestyle for their whole lives. I guess I lived up to that promise because they died knowing nothing about what we did."

Cian emptied his glass once more and poured another drink and I was shocked when Alice stood up and walked over to Cian and sat beside him placing her hand on his arm, shocking Cian, as well. "Do you want to stop?" Cian smiled lovingly at Alice and in that moment I felt like I was intruding on a private moment between father and daughter.

"No. I'm okay." Cian placed his hand on Alice's and looked back down at his glass. "My father and I had just finished a meeting and it was getting late so my mother asked me to stay for dinner which I didn't hesitate to do. It meant that not only could I spend more time with my sisters but they were so excited because they wanted me to put them to bed. Once the twins were tucked up safely in their beds, I kissed them both and left their rooms for the last time." I could see Cian's hands shaking a little and my heart broke for him.

"I made my way downstairs and my mother convinced me to spend the night which I did but I got a call just after midnight from one of my men saying there were some issues at one of my clubs. So, making sure that I was quiet I got dressed and left the house. I had no idea that would be the last night I would have spent with my parents and sisters."

Cian placed his glass down on the table and took Alice's hand but he still never looked up and I thought that maybe he was trying to hide his emotions which was something the men in our world did often.

"I remember being at my club and I got a call from house security saying that my sister had showed up. There was no reason that they wouldn't let her in the house so there was no cause for alarm until they heard shots being fired. They ran into the house and found my parents in their bedroom with a gunshot to each of their heads so they ran to my sister's room where they found the twin's bodies."

When I saw a tear hit Cian's hand I knew for sure now that was why he hadn't looked up.

"I have never driven as fast as I did that night and when I arrived, I desperately tried to get into my sister's rooms because I couldn't believe that they were dead. I just couldn't. When the security fought me and I had exhausted myself it was then that I noticed one of my security on the floor staring off into space with tears down his face." Cian let go of Alice's hand and fisted his own shaking with what looked like anger.

"It was then that I took the opportunity to push through my security and entered my sister's room and when I did I dropped to my knees horrified but the scene in front of me. My sister hadn't just killed the twins she had tortured them. She hadn't used a gun to take their lives. No doubt that would have been too quick for her. She had used a knife. There was blood all over the room. Their toys, their beds, the walls, and the floor. It was everywhere. Their hair was drenched in their blood and I remember thinking, how is this possible? They were so small and there was so much blood I just couldn't understand it."

I looked at Alice as she kept wiping the steady stream of tears from her face and my heart broke once more. I knew that Cian's sister had killed his parents and sister's but I never knew all the details.

"When we got the autopsy back we found out that one of the twins had been stabbed forty-seven times and the other had been stabbed sixty-two times. They said that a lot of the wounds were defensive wounds which means they had fought for their lives and yet my sister didn't care. She brutalized them and, in that moment, I had never felt hate like that."

"Was your sister still there?" Alice's voice was thick with the tears still falling from her eyes.

"No. It turned out, that after my sister had killed everyone, she used the tunnels only myself and my family knew about, to escape the house unseen. My father had them built as an extra precaution to make sure that if we needed to, we had a safe way out of the house. I spent months searching for her but she had been raised in a world where people knew how to hide and fly under the radar and she was really fucking good at it, but I was just as fucking good at finding people and thought it took me a few months I never gave up."

I saw a wicked smile spread across Cian's face and I knew he was reliving the moment he ended his sister's life.

What happened to my parents and sisters caused massive issues with myself and my wife because finding my sister became my obsession so we split for a while. That was when I met your mother." Cian gave Alice a small smile and then continued.

"We dated for a short time and I liked her. I was still as obsessed with finding my sister but your mother and I saw each other many evenings and those times gave me the rare occasions where I felt a little of the happiness I had felt before the murders. Your mother thought that whenever I cancelled or had to end our dates early it was because of work but it wasn't. It was because we had a lead and I had to follow it up myself."

Alice drank the last drop of her drink and before she could reach for the bottle Cian beat her to it and filled her glass for her and I didn't miss the small smile she gave Cian even though Cian hadn't noticed.

"I remember the night I was supposed to meet your mother. I was already at the restaurant because I owned it and had business to attend to when I got a call telling me that someone had found my sister. I didn't even hesitate to tell them to bring her to me because I was desperate for my revenge. I was desperate to remove that evil bitch off the face of the earth. I had wanted to do to her what she had done to my sisters. I wanted her to feel every stab that she inflicted on the twins but when I had her kneeling in front of me my anger overrode my need for revenge and I shot her. I regretted it afterward because I knew it was an easy death. If I could have brought her back to life, she would have suffered but I couldn't change what had been done I could only move on from it."

Cian was right, his sister got an easy fucking death because had I been in Cian's shoes that bitch would have begged for death long before I gave it to her.

"I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to meet your mother that night. I was consumed with what had just happened but when I hadn't heard from her, I called her but I could never get hold of her. I just thought she had lost interest and eventually, I gave up. It was then that my wife and I reconciled. I heard that your mother had moved away and I often thought about her. Hoping that wherever she was she was happy. Had I known about you I would have been there for you, but I never would have taken you from your mother. My wife and I fought to have our daughter. We were told that it was almost impossible for us to have a child but we did everything we could and spent hundreds of thousands to have her. I wish you could have met her. She was the sweetest young woman and she would have loved having a big sister."

"I wish I had met her. I'm so sorry for everything you have been through. I can't imagine the pain your sister caused." Cian looked up at Alice and gently used his thump to wipe the tears from her face.

"You have to understand, Alice, I would never hurt you. You're my daughter. Nor, would I hurt your mother. While I am not happy that I have missed being there as you grew up, I respect that your mother did what she thought was best to keep you safe, and when I think of it like that, I am thankful for your mother, but I want you in my life. I want to get to know you and be a part of all the milestones left to come. I have already missed so much; I refuse to miss anymore."

"I understand, and given what you have just told me I understand why you did what you did. Actually, I am glad you did what you did because your sister was evil. I'm sorry if me saying that bothers you but anyone that can hurt a child to me is evil and I'm glad she is dead."

I felt my eyes widen because this was the first time, I had heard anything like this come out of Alice's mouth. She was always so sweet, too sweet for this world but I could never let her walk away from me so to hear her talk like this while I know that she would never be as ruthless as Jessica and my sister or as accepting as Ana I knew that she would survive my world and that was enough for me.