Capo Dei Capi (Secrets of the Famiglia Part 1) novel Chapter 37

"They'll want us to blame the Irish, or Bratva or better yet, the Cartel since they already on our fucking wish list," Gabriel growls.

"Or the Russos," I finish.

A phone rings. Sienna pulls it out from between her breast,

"As much as I would love to stay, I need to get my ass back to Liston. My Uncle is gonna have a few things to say when I get on home, might as well get it out and over." Sienna leaves us in the room as she answers her phone.

"What do we do about Alice in the interim?" Mero asks Aliyana. This is surprising since I know Gabriel is their leader. I remain silent, waiting.

"Nothing for now. Alice is a pain, but I won't kill my sister for making a few threats."

"I agree," Gabriel states. Michel's anger is not missed by Deno or myself.

"We get the proof we need to avenge Ren's death and bide our time. We can't bring the Government to our heals, but we can cut them down a few notches. Everyone in this room is a power in their own right. It is time the Government learns the error of their ways." Aliyana's words make me smirk. I say nothing as the young men she calls her friends simply fall in line.

Odd.

"The rest of you can leave. Aliyana, we need to talk before I get you home," Deno says, and though they look to each other in confusion, the boys leave.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" She asks as Mero slams the door to the warehouse close.

"All our evidence points to the Government , but there is more you should know," Deno confesses, walking closer to her and myself.

"My brother's killer had to have been someone he trusted if he sensed danger, he would have had his hand on his pistol. We had the area looked at by some trackers we know, there were no cars besides Michael Stones in the area that night. And he was there 2 hours before Ren arrived. The person who shot him did so at close range." Her confusion as to what I am telling her lasts a second.

"You sure?" She asks me.

"Yes, it has to have been one of you. The only reason you are standing here now is that you are the only one of your friends who could be accounted for, and that is because you were with me."

"And Gabriel. I spoke to him when I arrived at Azure," She says, so ready to defend.

"I'm not ruling him out, everybody is a suspect. If anybody can figure out which of your friends could have killed my brother, or be behind it, it will be you. I suggest you get cracking," Deno says, all business as Aliyana undoubtedly goes to war with her loyalty to her friends and the realization that one of those friends could be Ren's killer.

"Ren was friends with a lot of people, it could be anyone," She argues, glaring at me, her cheeks flushed with a tint of pink. Anger suits her well.

"Tell her," I say to Deno without taking my inquiring gaze off Capello's daughter.

"The video footage we managed to get shows the same ring all the boys wear on their index fingers."

"You asking me to betray my friends!" She yells, breaking our standoff, showing me her back as she walks a few steps to the warehouse wall.

"I'm asking you to avenge my brother," I correct her, ignoring Deno's glare as the harsh tone in my words leave my mouth.

"And what? Kill myself in the interim! It's a suicide," Her snarly remark is expected.

"If I wanted you dead, I'll do it myself." My voice slices through her anger like a whip would do to her skin.

"You forget who you are talking to Mezzosangue."

"Now, now, both of you calm down. We need you to just be aware, no. We aren't asking you to sacrifice your life. But, if one of them is working for the Government or acting out of their own free will, we need to know. These are trying times, Aliyana, in the State. My brother's death has made my family very angry. To go, unpunished will be an insult to the Catelli name, and I can't have that," Deno reasons. He fits his role well as the logical brother and future Capo.

However, defusing our argument is not going to get Aliyana to co-operate.

"I won't betray my friends, but I also won't let Ren's death go cold. I'll find out who it is, and then I will let the other ones know. We'll decide how to deal with a traitor."

She turns to Deno, a small piece of hair falls in her face. She bites her bottom lip, and I watch her with mild amusement.

"My father once told me that the obvious reason pointing to one's guilt is often the only reason that can determine one's innocence." Her eyes never waver from my brothers as she talks to him, and call me a fucking pussy, but I am jealous he has her eyes and lips directed on him.

"And mine says, friends are just a means to an end, sooner or later they betray you and bang, bang you dead," No truer words have been spoken today coming from my brother's lips.

"I'm sure he does. Your father wears his betrayal as a second skin." Aliyana is not wrong.

Deno nods, and we all stand here, in this fucking warehouse that has no purpose of existing but does.

"We should head to Azure, have something to eat, your father won't be home tonight. Ilaria and the twins are at her mother's house for the time." I break the silence and wait for Aliyana to walk in front of me before I tilt my head to my brother.

My eyes say it all.

Aliyana's hate for my father and her loyalty to hers is understandable. Until her sister returns home, this will always be a problem. No one knows where Azurella Capello is.

My brother named his Club Azure as a reminder of a name we don't speak about, but the one person we all remember. I promised Aliyana's father, no one will ever utter Azurella's name in Aliyana's presence. No one has. But even a Villain like myself, can't keep that promise. Sooner or later, Azurella will be found dead or alive.