The Dangerous Family Secrets

Chapter 15: Secret and Truths

Terrence's POV,

Stroking his right knee with his left hand, his mind wondered back to the conversation he had with Cindy and the altermatom he had given her,

" i can't just call off everything the trial is in two days everything is already in motion i can't just take back my statement" she cried

" well you best get on that stand and take it back because i don't care if the whole clandestine is expecting her death you can expect Ryan's if anything happens to her".

Would she do it he thought, would Cindy roll over for the sake of Ryan or would she call his bluff, he had ment very word for he would not hesitate to put a bullet in Ryan's head if Soraya goes down, even if it took a lifetime, from the corner of his left eye he could see Naomi sitting beside her father, she looked nothing like Baldoor, except for the eyes. And even from a distance he could tell she acted nothing like him too.

Naomi was loyal and trustworthy, a person who valued friendship. But her father, was a man who craved nothing but power and Terrence mentally kick him self for taking so long to see the real Swyffer.

There was something going on with Baldoor and Cindy, it was evident from her reaction back in Brazil, it was just a matter of time until he uncovered weather or not it's merely physical or a more treacherous endeavor or maybe both.

Neither venture was beneath Cindy, he thought, she could lay down with a snail if it meant gaining her desires, and it wouldn't matter to her if she arouse covered in slime or drenched in blood. One had to Admire her, take no prisoners attitude and for that reason alone Terrence was a bit doubtful that she would cave to his demands.

The order from Mr.De'luca for the opening statements brought him back to present happenings, and as Mr.Reveara dribble on in his condescending tone "i remember a time when clan members could speak with free will", he wanted to erase him and his whole family from existence, even for a mere second a part of him loathed the very child in Cindy's womb. He did not care for Antonio or who killed him, good riddance he thought one less Reveara making this world difficult.

Overtaken by his anger he bit down hard on his lower lip, gnashing his skin and tasting his blood, it was the blood of a Vadeem, aroused by his anger he look to his father for some similarity in emotion, but his fathers face wore a smile, one of imence pleasure and glee.

It was as if someone had slapped him in the face with a cold subtance, his anger quickley disappeared as easily as it came and level headed and reason set back in, he knew a smiling Trimone was an unpredictable Vadeem, and he was not sure it's a good thing for Soraya.

Could his father be siding with the Reveara's, no he could not be, he thought to himself, his father and the De'luca's have been life long friends, there must be another reason for his smiling in astonishment, after all he was called Trick Trimone.

Putting his attention back to the dias he noticed that Santos was stepping down, Mr. De'luca then called for the accused to come forward and the line within his trousers ace, he had not set eyes on her in full measure for sometime now and her fleeting message of love and hate made him yearn for reprieve.

Once she stood out in front for all to view, he could see how her green shirt hugged her top frame, and her matching skirt clung to her hips, her curly red hair was in a neat up do which exposed every inch of her neck and it was a sight he greatly accepted, feeling the pull of her mind, he link his blue eyes with her green and held every unspoken word she was not saying as she spoke.

Time passed slowly between them, with his eyes set firmly on her he saw her confidence grew as she spoke, there was conviction and truth in her words, so there was no way the others could not believe or be swayed by her words he thought.

Even Trimone must see the difference between both parties, Soraya was speaking with the whole clandestine in mind but Santos was purely of his family.

When the opening statements finished and Soraya step down, he pull his phone, from his top pocket and shoot a text to Travis and Naomi,

Seal affirmation is up next, prepare yourselves for Liam's false candor, i do not know what he is coming with but i know its not about some b.s. claim of just following alone with Annabelle.

It was easy for him to predict what Annabelle was going to say for she went up there and gave, the story of Soraya shutting down her disrespect to not accept a fair vote,or in her words threaten her, leading to Soraya shooting at her ass. Not many person in the clandestine knew of this because, things like these weren't rare, or something members weren't use to, so he could understand why most heirs never bothered to make mention of it to their parents.

Once Liam took his seat, he cast and eye at Terrence, they had beef, and rightfully so, Terrence was not about to let Liam and his snake of a bed mate, sink Soraya any further, losing his cuffs a bit, Terrence prepared him self for the vile that was about to leave Liams mouth.

The same guard that had walked up to Annabelle when she sat in the questioning box now approach Liam holding the original codes amd guide document. At first sight of the book, Terrence was fascinated by the ancient look of it. Something about it made him feel cursed, but in a good way.

" Do you Mr. Liam Pratt swear to speak with truth to the affirmation of your family seal, being lead by the codes and guides that is set before you, so Tantum Facinus Vitae" said Lorenzo

" I do, so Tantum Facinus Vitae" he replied

" do you have any ulteria motives for presenting your seal for the summon of the accuse?" asked Lorenzo

" No, neither I nor any member of the Pratt family holds any ulteria motive towards the accuse, we only choose to do the right thing, and that is exposing her betrayal to the clandestine" said Liam

" when you say we, do you speak for every member of your family or was it you alone who choose to seal the summons? asked Lorenzo

Terrence never broke his attention from what was going on, every word Liam spoke or every movement he made, Terrence had his eyes on him. but once Mr De' luca asked him about his and his familys stance on the summon Liam's eyes, flickers from Mr. De'luca to his family who were seated with the other members, it seem as if he was caught off guard and Terrence spotted this instantly.

Could it be that Liam's family did not support his move at all, thought Terrence, hit with an epiphany, It seemed as if an opportunity has just arouse for Terrence to exploit and he hope there was enough indifference between them that he could manipulate.

" well, i was the one who seal the summon without my family knowledge but i believe after i had explained my reason, my family understood my stance" said Liam with a shaky voice.

" are you saying you believe your family stance with you on this seal or are you saying they stand with you. Which is it Mr. Pratt?" said Lorenzo

" i'm saying they didn't at first but now i believe they do"

said Liam looking between Mr De'luca and his family once more

" let move on, what proof or reason do you have to believe that Soraya De'luca murdered Antonio Reveara" asked Lorenzo

" Soraya De'luca had threaten Antonio hours before and the family who had the last known link with the Red ribbon Assassin was the De' luca family with the death of Alandro De' luca, Thomas De'luca's older brother!!" said Liam beaming with pride

There was a great gasps from amoung the other members, it was as if an explosion had been set off in the Tribunal hall, Terrence could hear people starting to whisper quite loudly

I thought Alandro died of natural causes, said one member,

Did the De'luca have their own family member killed, how evil

He was already knew who this Alandro person was, he was a member of the De'luca family who had died or was probable killed, but what puzzle him was, how come it was a secret that Soraya's grandfather had a brother. Looking up at the Dias Mr. De'luca did not seem shaken by Liam's revelation he merely knock his mullet and called for order. And once silence become a thing once more he continued his questioning,

" so are you banking on the same reason as Miss Moassi, Mr Pratt or are you betting on a conspiracy involving the De' luca family?" asked Lorenzo

" yes I am banking with the reason miss Moassi is as well, but the Alandro theory not a conspiracy is too much of a coincidence to not pay it any attention, and in our world there is no coincidences" he replied

" thank you Mr. Pratt, you may step down now, the tribunal will take a fifteen minute break and when we get back both parties will put forth their arguments and or witnesses" as we say...........

TANTUM FACINUS VITAE!!!!............ Said every member in accord,

and with a knock of his mullet he step down from the dias and disappeared through the door he had entered earlier.

Edging to his feet without a second glance at his father, Terrence made a swift exit of the Tribunal Hall, and made his way to one of the many bar lounges within the building, where he found himself a seat at a table at the back. The lounge was dim in light, was design in an eighties speke esi form but without a stage, there were small tables with chairs place around them, two dark green couches on either side of the walls and a fully stock bar with a few stools around it and a shady looking bartender cleaning glasses with a rag.

A young boy of about nineteen, with short brown curly locks and a nose that seem to have been broken a few times walk up to his table,

" what may I offer you Sir?" he asked

" what is your name? Terrence asked the young lad out of shear curiosity and a smile

" my name is Devon, Sir" he said looking surprise at Terrence's question

" well Devon, my name is Terrence, and i'll be having a party of two who will soon be joining me, but i wish to ask you for a favour, one that you will be highly compensated for" said Terrence with a glint of trouble in his eyes.

Terrence kept a keen eye on him as he spoke, Devon swallowed what seem to be a heavy ball at his throat, as he look around anxiously as if he feared asking him what it is he needed him to do, but to Terrence's surprise the young lad said,

" how my I be of Survive Mr. Terrence" said Devon

In less than two minutes, Naomi and Travis walked into the lounge and made a beeline straight for his table in the back an sat down. Throwing her purse on the table Naomi whispered a few curses under her breath, that he could hardly understand.

"Care to tell us why your arguing with yourself Miss. Swyffer" said Terrence with a grin

" that hag and that, tst..... that, that raccon" Said Naomi with so much venom in her voice that surprise even Travis who hadn't said a word since he sat down

" i presume, Miss Moassi is the hag and Mr. Pratt the Raccon said Travis" joining in on the light joke

" you got that right, how dare they use a trade that marks clandestine anger and finality for years as a threat upon them" said Naomi in a much calmer voice

" Annabelle was merely trying to show some form of recklessness and follow through on Soraya part, thats why she use the shooting as her excuse, I believe the members will see it for what it is once Soraya takes the stand" said Terrence in a confident tone

" are you sure of this, for there were a few murmur throughout the members and even my father looked a bit convinced" said Travis as he looked at Naomi for back up

" well my dad, showed no sign of emotion so it was hard to tell where he is leaning to but i also picked up on the murmurs as well, Terrence we cannot ignore that fact" said Naomi

He and Travis had left out the bit about suspecting her father of the murder, when they told Naomi everything they found out, they had both thought it would be best not to throw Naomi onto her fathers deeds so soon, so when he hears that Mr.Swyffer was emotionless it came as no surprise to him.

" I am not ignoring anything, I am merely giving my attention to the things in this case that matters"

Giving a quick glance for eavesdroppers Terrence lowered his voice some more

" even though i expect Cindy to retract, i am still not leaving anything to chance, plan B is already in motion"

" do you mind sharing this plan B" whispered Naomi with an arch of her eyebrow

" well if you must know, i pursume you both notice the apprehension in Liam's voice when he was ask about his familys stance on his seal affirmation"

" i believe the whole clandestine saw him suffle for a answer" said Travis with a confirmation from Naomi by mean of a nod

" then I've made steps to exploit that rift, if we can get a dishonored seal then we can have a unqualified case" said Terrence

" what's a Dishonored seal?" Asked Naomi which made both Terrence and Travis look at her with uncertainty

" a dishonored seal comes about if one can prove that one of or both the seals has ulterior motives or baseless reasons for sealing a tribunal summon" said Travis in a calm voice to Naomi

" section 5 Courtly Tribunals, Code 2 the seal of three evoked, section E: dishonored seals, you should really read up more on the code and guides Naomi, you will never know when it will come in handy" said Terrence which made Travis pass him a unkind look

" very well then, but you still have not told us how you intend on exploiting that riff" said Naomi with a sour look on her face, she was now pissed at Terrence and rightfully so

" don't worry about that, it's all taken care of" he said checking his watch and given them a it's almost time to return look.

" so won't any one address the elephant in the room" said Travis

" you mean, Alandro, Mr Thomas brother who was supposedly killed by the red ribbon assassin" said Naomi as she looked a Terrence

" did you know about him or that Mr. Thomas had a brother?" She asked but mainly direction the question to Terrence

" No, Soraya never mention him" he answered keeping a straight face he was not ready to share the truth he knew about Ryan with Naomi and Travis before he even decided if he was going to tell Soraya

" neither to me" said Naomi who looked at Travis and could tell he was just as lost on this issue has they were.