His Corrupt Mafia Queen

Chapter 7: War

Raina

I was reluctant to believe it, the inhumane story behind Sebastian Ace. My lips were slightly parted with shock, my body was shaken with chills, and falling from my eyes were tears. The disbelief fueled them along with devastation. Carmine sat in front of me, barely holding herself together as she revealed the long lost story of Scarlette and Rosalia, Sebastian’s deceased sister and mother. It was the first time I saw her cry, her hands trembled and her voice would break every now and then.

"Oh my God.." A faint whisper of horror left my lips, Carmine inhaled sharply and stood up from the couch, clearing her face of any tears. It took a few moments for her to recollect herself, in that time she paced around the living room controlling her breathing. In the time I spent with Sebastian, it never occurred to me that he could be a nefarious psychopath. All the memories we created together were tainted by a dark malevolent cloud. It disgusted me how I was able to get into bed with a man like that. Sebastian was nothing but a villain hidden in plain sight. I knew he had done bad things but he painted himself as the victim, making himself susceptible to sympathy and remorse.

"He has to be stopped, and he will be, but under my terms, this is a personal matter.." Carmine said, turning towards me, feeling her pain and frustrations, my hands balled up into fists. I didn't know what to say, no amount of words could comfort the amount of pain she had to experience at the hands of Sebastian. Unfortunately, before I could let out a single word, the bell belonging to the elevator rang. Carmine and I looked at each other, puzzled. We weren't expecting any visitors. The doors opened and to our surprise Isabel came dashing in with a worried expression on her face. I shot up from the couch, and Carmine and I approached her immediately.

"Sabrina has gone rogue, with Francisco, and a few other agents!" Isabel was completely out of breath. Carmine and I exchanged looks of concern, but in Carmine's eyes I saw her fiery rage coming to the surface.

"They are going to kill Sebastiano at the wedding. Me, Aaron, and a few others tried to stop them but they used their weapons on us.." Isabel told us. I put a hand on her back, trying to ease her trembling body. Carmine was doing everything to keep her composure, but her clenched fists told me that she was close to exploding.

"How long ago did they leave?" Carmine asked. She looked at Isabel, who began to lean against me. I could tell from her exhaustion that she put up a good fight.

"Over two hours ago, they took our cellphones and hauled us into an apartment before locking us in" Carmine wasn't pleased at the sudden news. Knowing our team was trained to work in a tight timeframe. Two hours may seem like nothing, but we were trained to work with every single second we had. Sabrina and Francisco had a decent lead ahead of us.

The three of us didn’t waste any more time. We stepped into the elevator, and Carmine demanded Isabel to tell her every single detail. I had surrendered to my own mind and questioned Francisco’s actions. Why would he go rogue with Sabrina? Was his hatred that deep for the Ace family that he disobeyed Carmine? Why wouldn’t he tell me? A million questions ran through my mind, but I pushed it all back for another time. Now I need to focus.

“The majority of them left with Sabrina, we don’t have the numbers Carmine..” Isabel said in a fear-ridden voice. The elevator doors brought us down to the lobby where the remaining agents stood scattered, having no idea what to do. Once, we stepped out of the elevator. Carmine took the lead, evaluating the situation at hand. Aaron was the first one to come dashing towards us. I was glad that he wasn’t part of the resistance with Francisco.

Looking around, Isabel was right, we didn’t have the numbers. From what I counted, there were only ten of us. I wondered how Sabrina was able to convince the other members, or had this plan been in the works for a while now?

We huddled around Carmine, who was making herself aware of the numbers we had on our side. She took in a deep breath, nodding her head slowly. Although furious at the problem at hand, she quickly came to terms with it. There was no time to let our emotions blind our rational thinking. I wish everyone else had the same mindset. Everyone began to bombard her with questions, worry, I even heard blame being thrown at her. Carmine's eyes darted around the room trying to answer everyone’s questions all at once, but in the end, she was human just like the rest of us, and she could only take so much.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Carmine let out a powerful roar and within seconds the lobby was silent. Everyone swallowed every single bit of their words and muted themselves. In an instant, Carmine reminded everyone who was in charge. Carmine sighed deeply and waited a few seconds before speaking once more.

“Okay, this situation isn’t ideal. We’ve been betrayed, and right now we are small in numbers. But we can’t dwell on that right now. Francisco and Sabrina, along with the others, have to be stopped. Gather what you need, I’m going to make arrangements. Tomorrow afternoon we leave for Italy” Everyone that surrounded her nodded in unison and went their separate ways, but before I could take my leave, Carmine stopped me along with Isabel and Aaron. She looked around the vicinity, making sure the lobby was clear before resettling her attention on the three of us.

“You guys are leaving tonight..” Carmine said in an urgent whisper. I could see the panic piercing in her eyes. Carmine, who for the first time since receiving the news of the betrayal, looked stressed. She combed her fingers through her curly mane and took several breaths.

“The last thing we need is for our enemies to know there is division within our ranks-” Carmine started. Aaron, Isabel, and I looked at each other, we all shared the same confusion.

“The less noise we make the better, I will not benefit from sending out an entire team into the lion's den. The three of you will go now, quietly and discreetly, handle business and bring them back without waking up the lion or his family..” There were small hints of fear in her voice, and specs of it littered in her eyes. Although she was vague, we knew exactly what she was talking about.

“The Ace family, they can’t know we’re in Italy” Aaron said, the confusion we once shared dissipated and comprehension took its place.

“If that’s the case. Do you think it’s smart to send Raina? She is wanted in Italy. The Ace family wants her head on a spike for what she did. It’s a suicide mission for her” Isabel voiced her concern for my safety, which I took note of. A faint smile spread across my lips as I looked at Isabel.

“I’m well aware of the risks, but right now, I only trust the three of you. I know you’ll look after each other..” I couldn’t lie to myself, the thought of going back to Italy mortified me, but having Aaron and Isabel put my mind at ease.

“What if the others don’t want to come back with us?” Isabel asked slowly, it was as if she already knew the answer but needed to hear it straight from Carmine. Carmine relaxed her uneasy breathing and held her chin up high, she turned away, clearing her throat.

“If the others don’t want to cooperate, you kill them..” Carmine said with her back facing us. She meant Francisco and the people we’ve all become close with. Isabel, Aaron, and I looked at each other completely gutted. It was the last thing we wanted to do. Killing one of our own was against the rules, but we were all under Carmine’s authority and we had no choice but to abide.

“The three of you get dressed, I want you out of here as soon as possible” Carmine stated, and with that, she left the three of us in the lobby, at a complete loss for words. Even if we did have words, what could we say to each other? We’ve been caught up in a life where we don’t make choices of our own. The three of us stood there for just a few moments, taking in each other’s presence before going out to war.