I watched Adriano behind narrowed eyes. I wanted to believe him, but I couldn't trust a single soul. Especially not after my father, Rosalinda, and every other motherfucker that crossed me. Of all people, I thought he'd understand my pain and need for revenge the most. He lost just as much as I had lost. He made promises to me that felt too real to be fake. I wanted to believe him. However, I couldn't.

My driver came to a sudden stop. I looked out of my window at the sight of wrecked cars, dead bodies, and most importantly, Leo's car that was flipped over. My jaw clenched as I hurriedly pushed open the door and got out. Broken glass covered almost every square inch of the street. It crunched underneath my shoes with each step that I took. As I neared the car, I spotted Leo halfway out of the car. There was a large pool of blood all around him with a gun resting lazily in his hand.

I squatted down, and placed two fingers just on the side of his neck. His heartbeat was so faint that I almost couldn't feel it. I shook him a bit, hoping to get some reaction out of him, but there was nothing. He was passed out cold, possibly dying.

I turned around to see Adriano stepping out of the car along with the driver.

"Call for back-up and demand that they come immediately," I told the driver. He immediately dug in his pocket for his phone and turned away to call for more of my soldiers.

"Adriano, help me get Leo up. I'll have the driver take him to Cristiano while we wait for the back-up to get here," I instructed.

Cristiano was one of the best doctors I knew. He used to work as a trauma surgeon at one of the best hospitals in the world until his retirement. Now, he works for me, accepting a large sum of money to help my men when necessary without asking any questions.

Adriano rushed to my side and helped me pick him up. His gun fell to the floor as we lifted his body off the ground. His blood almost touched every part of us, but we kept him up. Together, we walked toward the truck and laid him inside. My shoulders fell as I watched him, hoping that the next time I heard from him, he wouldn't be dead.

"Your men are not too far out. They should be here within three minutes," the driver said.

"Take him to Cristiano," I ordered, closing the back door. He nodded his head and got into the driver side. I only watched as he shut the door and hurriedly drove off.

My attention reverted to the car where I pushed my sleeves further up my arms. I walked over to Leo's vehicle and squatted down. Even though I knew the chances were slim to none, I was hoping Reyna would be in there. She wasn't. She was gone.

"Adriano, you better not fuck with me!" I yelled, getting up. Adriano appeared ready for this conversation. It was almost as if he knew it was going to happen.

"I'm not. I know I must look guilty, but trust me when I say I would never do any—" he began.

"No. Don't give me that sentimental bullshit! I never gave a fuck," I said, walking toward him.

"If I don't find Reyna, I will fucking kill you. I will kill every single motherfucker in this world until she and I are the only people left!" I yelled.

Adriano's jaw clenched. "I've been here since we were children—"

"I don't give a fuck! I learned that the people who've been here the longest are the ones who won't hesitate to do the most damage," I told him, thinking about every single person I've ever loved. From my mother to Rosalinda.

"I'm not working for Giovanni. Everything I told you has been the truth. However, now, I'm kind of thinking about joining him. Maybe he wouldn't point his finger at me every time shit gets tough," Adriano threatened. I narrowed my eyes, taking a step closer to him just as multiple cars pulled up.

My men hurriedly rushed out of the vehicles to take in the scene in front of us. They were meant to clean everything up to keep police from finding anything out. We didn't need them on our backs.

Speaking of police, I looked up to see a surveillance camera. The thought of Reyna quickly flooded my mind. The way she explained how surveillance footage was one of the main things she used to get information on the other crime families. If she was using it, Giovanni was probably doing the same. Grabbing my gun from my side, I lifted it up toward the camera and fired.

I needed to find Reyna. However, I was absent of her easier tactics of finding anything out about anyone by a run through all of the databases she stole. The only tactic I had left was my own.

With that thought, I ordered one of my men to drive me home.

***

"Good afternoon, sir! Where is Reyna?" Rosalinda asked as I stepped into my home.

"Hopefully dead," I lied, smiling brightly. Her eyes widened in surprise before she slowly turned back to cleaning.

"Hey, Rosalinda. I have a question," I said, walking toward her.

"What can I do for you, sir?" she asked.

I chuckled. "What can you do for me?" The smile just wouldn't leave my face as I walked over to the small woman. I placed my hand on her shoulder, taking in the way she flinched at my touch.

"There's quite a lot you can do for me," I said. The smell of bleach on her clothing almost gave me headache.

"Like what?" she asked, never turning to face me. Her shoulders were tense and her body was stiff. She knew I knew. She knew that it was only a matter of time before I killed her.

"Like telling me where Reyna is, of course." I laughed.

"I-I don't know where s-she is. How would I know?" she whimpered.

"Oh, let me rephrase that..." I began just before slamming her down to the floor with my gun now in my hand as I aimed it at her. Her sobs were annoying the fuck out of me and if I didn't need information from her, I would have killed her right there. "where the fuck is Reyna?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, my Saint!" she cried. My jaw clenched at the sound of that name.

It was the same name my mother used to call me. She was the first person to ever call me Saint, and it was me who forced everyone else to call me it. Despite how angry I was with her, a large part of me that held the most precious memories of her, could never stop loving her. Being Saint was just a way to keep her alive—to keep her with me.

"If the next words out of your mouth aren't Reyna's location, then shut the fuck up," I said.

She settled on a whimper. Her silence was so loud and it wouldn't shut the fuck up. All I wanted was for her to speak in order to silence the commotion.

"Since I've known you from the time I was a newborn, I was going to cut you some slack. Now, you're really forcing my hand," I said, taking my gun off safety.

"You're going to kill me," she whispered. "I know you, Saint. You're going to kill me whether I tell you or not."

I squatted down and grabbed her by her hair, raising her up so we were face to face. I could see the color drained from her face, leaving her pale. As I stared at the women, all I could remember is thinking as a young boy how lucky I was to at least have someone. She was supposed to be my family, but she never truly was. She was a traitor just like everyone else.

I placed the gun just underneath her chin as she tried she shake from my grasp. Tears fell from her face while she tossed her head from side to side. Her sobs and whimpers were like music to my ears, and there was no other sound I wanted to hear on repeat.

"You do know me better than anyone. When I give someone my word, you know I will always keep it. If I truly meant anything to you as a young boy, you would tell me everything you know. As long as it's the truth, I will not kill you," I explained.

She only cried harder, but her eyes met mine. I wasn't sure what she was looking for—possibly the truth. However, she stopped trying to flee from my hold on her hair. Instead, she settled with a small nod.

"You have to understand. I was working for Viktor before I even met your family. At first, I was his maid. He was married to a woman by the name of Emilia Manchini. She was Italian and he was Russian. Her and I became good friends even though I worked for her. It wasn't until a few years later that she told me she couldn't have children. Emilia and Viktor offered me hundreds of thousands of dollars to have a child for them, but then I must flee. That child ended up becoming two—they were twins..."

My brows came together as I listened.

"After I had the children—one boy and one girl, it was only then that they explained what I didn't read on the contract. I could never speak or see the children. Not only that, but I wasn't given any money. They lied to me. They took my babies—and kicked me out on the street with a recommendation to work for the Venturi family. I was out of work, depressed, broke—I would've taken anything. So, your father hired me and I've been working for your family ever since," she explained.

"Explain how you got connected with the current Viktor," I demanded.

"The current Viktor is my son. I didn't know until his mother died from cancer and his father passed from old age that he found out the truth. The mother he thought was his, wasn't his mother at all. Both Viktor and my daughter reached out to me and that's when they learned I was working for you. At the time, Viktor was consumed with jealousy. He hated you. He believed you got everything you wanted just because you are Santino Venturi. My boy is so smart, but his hate for you is making him so stupid." Her voice cracked. "I told him to let this go, but he couldn't. It is why he became your friend, someone you trusted enough to make your caporegime. It was why he got his sister to marry Adriano in order for her to stay close to the both of us. It is why he is working so hard to make your life hell!"

"You're telling me that for years, all of you have been plotting against me just because your precious ass baby boy is jealous?" I laughed. It was a gut-clenching laugh. A laugh so damn hard, I wanted to slap my knee.

It was crazy how I was hunting Viktor down on a path of vengeance while he's been in my own backyard raging in jealousy. That was some real funny shit.

Once my laughter died down, I said, "give me the location now, darling."

She shut her eyes and forced one last tear down her cheek.

"I-I can't," she whispered.

"Give me the fucking location!" I yelled.

"You're going to kill him! I can't let you do that!" she cried.

As I looked at her, I could see the wall she suddenly put up. There would be no way I could get the location out of her. No matter the promise, no matter the torture. She has love for her son.

"Thank you for fooling me into believing that someone in this fucked up world actually cared about me. Even though it was probably all fake, you allowed me to believe enough to keep going," I said. She opened her eyes to gaze into my own.

Her mouth opened to say one last thing. "I'm sor—"

Bang!

I shot her again and again and again. I wasn't sure how many times, but I knew it was more times than I'd ever looked into eyes and saw love looking back.

—

I know this update took forever. I got really sick then I went to school and had to catch up on a week's worth of assignments I missed because I was sick. I still haven't really finished all the missing assignments but I'm in a good spot to continue updating again.

Sorry about that!

Question: what do you think about this chapter? what do you think is happening with Reyna right now?