Debt to the Mafia Prince

Chapter 17

—MICHELE—

I rushed down the stairs to greet Nico and Mario at the front door. They have arrived with Alexandra’s little sister, Danielle. I wanted to make her feel as comfortable as I could considering how young she was. She must be petrified right now being taken away from her home town to be kept in a place she didn’t know. I wouldn’t have cared a month ago, but after seeing the effect it had on Amelia I was beginning understand how scary this can be. 

Nico walked in with a large pink suitcase. Followed closely behind him was a short girl wearing a blue school uniform. She had a short tartan skirt on with high black socks and a white pollo. Her long, curly, ginger hair bounced as she trotted in. She looked around flashing her light brown eyes and pale skin. She didn’t look frightened at all, in fact she looked... impressed. 

“This place is huge!” She exclaimed as she admired the high ceiling and the large portraits along the walls. I smirked at her adventurous expression and glanced over at Nico. 

“You didn’t have to force her then?” I chuckled, looking back at the young girl who was exploring the room. Nico scoffed and then turned to face her whilst standing beside me.

“Piece of cake” he commented. 

Soon enough, she realised I was standing in front of the staircase and headed over to greet me. 

“This is yours?” She asked wide eyed. I nodded and allowed her to take it all in. 

“Your room is upstairs to the left, first door on the right. Mario will help you with your things and show you to your room” I explained. She flashed me a smile of gratitude and took a moment to calm down. 

“So how long am I staying here? A day? A week?” She said naively. 

“As long as it takes to keep you safe” I replied and Nico nudged my arm. Danielles face dropped and a wave of worry washed over her.

“Safe? What do you mean? Why am I not safe at home?” She asked, clueless as to why she was here. I looked at Nico, wondering why he hadn’t told her yet.

“We can talk about that later” I dismissed but Danielle was set on finding out what was going on, she’s definitely Alex’s sister.  

“Am I in danger?”. 

I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by Alexandra who was walking down the stairs. She had on a dark pink tank top and baggy light grey jogging bottoms. Her hair was swept back into a high ponytail and she wasn’t wearing as much make up as she normally does. Her tone had a hint of nervousness as she spoke to her sister for the first time in her life. 

“Not anymore” she answered for me as she got to the bottom step.

“Who are you?” Danielle asked. 

Alex pressed her lips together and was clearly debating whether to introduce herself as her sister or just by her name. 

“I’m... Alexandra” she said forcing a smile. Danielle’s eyes narrowed as she inspected Alexandra from head to toe.

“Do I know you?” She asked innocently. 

“I... I’m your... your mum is my...” Alexandra stuttered, unable to pull a sentence together. She cleared her throat and attempted it one more time.

“Mags is my mum” she finally said. Danielle was a little confused for a moment and went silent as she processed what Alex was saying.

“Mags? You mean my mum... Maggie?” She asked coming to the realisation of what Alexandra was trying to say. She nodded in reply and Danielle was frozen still.

“You’re my sister” she confessed. 

The air became awkwardly tense as they exchanged looks to one another. Without saying another word, Danielle rushed passed her and ran up the stairs to escape to her room. Alexandra looked heartbroken at her sisters reaction and Nico put his arm around her. 

“Give her time Alex, she’ll come round” he reassured her. 

Alex looked at the ground with disappointment and walked off to the garden. I thought about going after her but I knew what she was like. She needed her space to go through her emotions. She wasn’t very good at talking about her feelings to anyone except from my mum. I gathered she was going to stand by her fountain and seek comfort. 

“Well that was exciting” Mario smiled as he took Danielle’s suitcase upstairs. You can always count on Mario to lighten the situation with a snide comment. 

I followed him up and headed into Ricco’s room to see how he was recovering. He has been unable to get out of bed since the charity dinner and I know he’s beginning to get restless, he was just like his brother. I walked in and saw him laying there with a bandage around his leg. The room stunk of sweat and the humidity only made it worse. I opened up his window to ventilate the room and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked up at me and smiled. 

“You’ve got a real thing about the smell of this room haven’t you? You did this yesterday” he reminded me. I laughed at him and shrugged my shoulders innocently. 

Ricco and I are almost as close as the bond I have with Nico. I considered him as a brother and we have always understood one another. Ricco is a lot calmer than I am but there are times where I’m the one who has to calm him down. 

“How are you doing?” I asked him.

“Getting there, I’m just fed up with sitting in this room” he chuckled. I flashed him an empathetic smile and then lowered my gaze. 

“How’s the hunt going?”.

I sighed deeply and forced a smile.

“Elena has given me information on where Ezio is hiding and Tony has told me about a secret tunnel leading into the house. Yesterday, Elena came by to exchange more intel on Ezio. She told me that he has a big event coming up next week for his birthday. He’s clueless that we have been looking for Amelia and will be distracted enough for us to sneak in” I explained. 

“That’s good though, isn’t it?” He asked, noticing my negative tone. 

“It’s great” I replied, trying to act like I was happy. 

Ricco saw right through my facade and grabbed my arm. I looked at his raised eye brow and shook my head.

“I’m worried about what he has done to her, what he’s told her” I confessed. 

“I’ve had to do things that I know would upset Amelia if she found out and I don’t know if he has manipulated her into hating me. He somehow manages to find things out that I have tried to keep private and if he knows about the things I’ve done he’ll use them against me. I’m also concerned about the damage he has caused her mentally and physically”. 

Ricco was silent as he listened to my confession. He knows what I’m like and how I don’t care about what anyone thinks of me. Although with Amelia; the thought of her hating me makes me anxious. She the one person I don’t want to hurt and I know that my actions over the past week would have done just that. 

“Micky, Amelia loves you. Everyone can see that and she’s not like any of the girls I have ever met. She’s really understanding and strong minded. No one, not even Ezio can make her feel differently about you” he tried to reassure me.

“I know, but I’m worried that I might have ruined things between us because of the role I’ve had to play just to get information” I explained. 

“If you’re honest with her when we get her back then she will understand. Just don’t lie to her and explain the things you’ve had to do and why you’ve had to do them” he advised. I smiled at him and patted his shoulder. 

“Thanks Ricco”.