'That boy is going to be the death of me", Carlos thought furiously as he quickly made his way to the Don's office after granting Axel a leave for a few days.

He was quite thankful that there were no camera's in that corridor, nor was anyone else present around to hear the boy's words. He shuddered to think about what could have happened if anyone else had overheard Axel enquiring about the Romero-Sullivan princess and reported back to any other elite members.

The boy would have been gagged and handcuffed before he could even realise what was happening to him.

Carlos had to admit to himself that he was quite worried. He had seen the open curiosity in Axel's eyes as he had so casually asked about Amara, and If Carlos had understood anything about how the boy's mind worked he knew that his curiosity about her could prove to be dangerous for him, no matter how innocent his questions were......... especially in the present climate.

Carlos sighed heavily. He hoped that Axel would forget about what he had heard outside the basement for now.

And If he didn't, well, the Don would make what he did to Roberto look like a child's play and that possibility hurt Carlos more than he would care to admit.

When he reached the top floor where the office was located he stopped outside the door for a few seconds, composing himself and ridding his face of any emotions he knocked on the office door and entered after being granted the permission to do so.

He walked inside to see Antonio and Paulo standing straight, not making any sound as the boss went through some files. They exchanged curt nods in greeting as Carlos took his position besides them.

"Paulo, I want you to arrange a meeting with the consigliere of the Salviati family and make sure to explain the rules of our organisation to him so that he can convey the message back to their men. Make sure they understand everything, any kind of ignorance will not go unpunished", he ordered in his usual cold and authoritative tone.

"Yes Boss, I'll arrange one as soon as possible", Paulo replied back respectfully.

"You may leave then."

Paulo bowed low once and then walked outside the door, closing it behind him with a click.

"Wait for a moment you two....." Valerio ordered Carlos and Antonio when he noticed the time on the wall clock, he stood from his seat behind the desk, removing his mobile out of his coat pocket and moved towards the large glass window on the other side of the room.

"Hello sweetheart....",they heard him speak affectionately.

Carlos and Antonio exchanged knowing looks, aware of the fact that there was only one person for whom he would use such a gentle and loving voice.

"Liam?",Valerio asked bewildered.

"Why do you have your sister's phone with you? Where is she?"

A silence of two minutes from their boss' end followed as he heard whatever was being said before he asked in a chilling voice, "Upset? Why is she upset? Who has upset her?"

Carlos exchanged a wide eyed look with Antonio.

'Why don't people learn from other's mistakes?', he thought internally, not feeling sorry for the person who was going to feel his boss's wrath.

"Tell me who is responsible for upsetting her Liam. Do not think about lying to me on this. I'll get the reports anyway. She is upset enough that she did not even answer my calI, she knew I'll understand that something is wrong by her voice.Just give me a name, I don't even care how insignificant the reason is ", he ordered harshly.

"Why are you hesitating so much? Tell me...... Is it something you have done that has upset her? You have, haven't you? " he asked sharply.

'Not likely'..... Carlos thought.

"Me? What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind? " Valerio asked his voice colder than the frozen lands of the Arctic.

Beside him, Carlos heard Antonio gasp at the last sentence. Carlos warned him with a look to not react any further.

Still on the call, he turned and his gaze landed on his two subordinates, "You both can leave, we'll continue with the work tomorrow",he ordered.

"Yes Boss", they bowed low, preparing to beat a hasty retreat from the room.

But before Carlos could leave he heard Valerio's last words to Liam Sullivan which made even him break out in cold sweat despite the fact that they were not directed at him.

"Liam, next time I don't want to hear that she is upset for any reason. If I find her one hair out of place.... even one smudge on her skin.....trace of even a single tear in her beautiful eyes when I arrive to collect her, I will bury your bones so deeply within the earth that your own parents will forget that you had ever drawn breath. Am I understood? Good. Now get her to call me back ".

The last thing that Carlos saw before the door closed behind him were Valerio's eyes burning with a sinister promise of utter pain if his words were not heeded.

A promise that Carlos knew he would fulfil against all odds.

*****

A few hours later Carlos sat in his room going through the information that had been sent to him by his contacts in the FBI.

As he continued to check the other documents, his mobile screen suddenly lit up. He punched in the password to see what had happened only to freeze in shock. Disbelief and shock coursed through his mind at a rapid rate.

"H-how!?", he stuttered in disbelief.

He quickly made his way over the table where his laptop was placed and switching it on in a hurry he tried accessing the organisations confidential files through his personal code but he couldn't get pass the security system.

The system had locked down on itself which could mean only one thing.

"Someone tried to infiltrate the system", he muttered in disbelief.

This was bad, very bad. The security system which protected some of the most important information of their organization and it's members was one of the safest to be designed, it could prevent any unknown cyber attacks. It was afterall one of Valerio Valentini's own creation.

For it to break and lock down on itself meant that the person responsible couldn't have gained anything major in the small frame of time that he or she had access to the files ,which was a true relief.

According to the information that he was receiving, the culprit had recently gained access to the files. Not wasting another second he got to work, trying to track the location of the person responsible.

One of the pros of being a spy was that he knew almost all the underhand techniques of tracking someone. By tomorrow morning he would have the culprit on his knees in front of the Boss.

"Got it", he exclaimed triumphantly after a few minutes.

"Downtown, Milan", he read the location. Zooming in more to get the accurate address, for the second time in the past hour he was shocked out of his skin.

"Wh-What? But this is Axel's address. So it means he did it?!" , Carlos muttered in bafflement which was slowly growing into rage .

"That traitor", Carlos snarled.

Shutting the laptop screen with more force than necessary, he quickly stood up and moved to retrieve his gun from his bedside table with clear intention of shooting every bullet through the traitor's head.

He just knew that Axel was somehow involved in it. He was a genius when it came to anything related to technical aspects of their work.

But before he could leave, a memory flashed before his eyes, a promise that he had made long ago. A feeling of uncertainty washed over him. On one hand he was bound to follow the code of their organization and bring any traitor before the Don ,on the other was a promise he had made long ago to his dying friend.

Feeling weighed down by the choice he quickly decided on a plan. Grabbing his mobile from the desk he dialled Axel's number. When the call was answered he didn't wait for the boy to speak before shouting,

"WHAT IN THE BLAZES ARE YOU DOING ,YOU STUPID BOY ?! HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY ME AND SLIP PASS THE SYSTEM TO ACCESS ANY IMPORTANT FILES? GET BACK TO THE HEADQUARTERS RIGHT NOW!"

And then he cut the call.

Carlos would wait for Axel to show up. If he didn't show up then it would automatically mean that his loyalty wasn't with the Valentini family any longer. If he did show up the he would get a chance to explain his side and If Carlos was not satisfied with his story then Axel would be brought before the Don as a traitor.

"I'm sorry my friend", Carlos muttered sadly to himself, hoping that he wouldn't have to be the one responsible for getting his friend's son killed.

Thirty minutes had passed since the phone call and yet there was no sign of Axel. Just when Carlos was about to go hunting for the boy himself he heard a knock on the door.

He opened the door to find an utterly terrified looking Axel standing outside.

"Get in", he commanded sharply and moved aside to let him enter.

As soon as he closed the door and turned back Axel practically pounced on him taking his hands in his as he pleaded, " I'm so sorry Carlos, I didn't mean to disobey your orders, I swear."

"Let go of me you fool", he shouted.

Axel let go of his hand, taking a step back sheepishly.

Taking a deep breath to control his temper Carlos addressed him, "So you are not denying that it was you who hacked the system? "

"Yes, it was me. But I was just very curious about that girl, you know. I thought that I'll quickly look up who she is and no one would ever come to know about it."

Carlos had stopped listening to him after he had accepted the blame, he was now planning on how to get the truth out of him but he did a double take when Axel's words registered in his brain.

"What are you talking about?",he asked baffled.

"I'm sorry, really. I honestly don't know what compelled me to do it, it was almost like I couldn't think about anything else other than getting to know who that girl was ", he continued saying.

"Which girl?", Carlos asked, now dreading the answer.

"Amara", Axel replied in a hushed tone.

Carlos was at a loss of words. He opened his mouth to say something, anything really, but it seemed he had lost the control over his vocal chords.

"I'm really sorry " Axel said shamefully as he took in the gaping expression of his mentor.

"You hacked into one of the safest system's to satiate your curiosity about someone who you were explicitly told not to enquire about? "

Axel winced at his sharp tone.

"Do you have any clue about what you have done? This is even worse than trying to find out secret information about the Valentini empire", Carlos said anxiously.

"Yes, I understand now. I know that she is related to the Romero and the Sullivan crime families, that means that she is someone powerful and important, an elite member. I shouldn't have pried in their business", Axel replied.

Carlos laughed without any mirth.

"Oh, she is much, much more important than that", he muttered which received a confused look from Axel.

"You have no idea of the punishment that you will receive if the news of your deed reaches the ears of any other higher members"

He thought quickly on how to do damage control and arrived at a decision hoping that it wouldn't backfire.

"It was because of your mistake that the system has locked down on itself as a safety precaution, now you will be the one undo it. Here, use my laptop and get to work fast. You don't have much time left", Carlos said directing Axel towards his laptop.

Baffled, Axel took the seat and opened the laptop screen. "I'm not getting punished?", he asked.

"Seems to me that you're too eager to get tortured boy, complete the work fast, it's not going to be an easy feat " Carlos replied coming to stand behind him.

By the end of the second hour Axel was mentally exhausted. Almost all his attempts were going in vain.

"This is so complicated", he moaned in frustration.

Carlos, who was sitting on the couch behind him looked up from the file he was working on, "Off course it's complicated. This system was designed by the Boss himself ", he stated.

"How much were you able to read about the princess before I foiled your plan?", Carlos asked accusinglying "It goes without saying that you can't go around talking to anyone about it, and I mean it this time Axel, you can not repeat it. "

The use of the word princess to address the girl startled Axel from his work. He looked up to see a brief flash of anxiousness cross Carlos' face before he composed himself.

"It's not like I could read much. I just got her name from it",he grumbled.

"Only her name? Don't try to hide anything boy, I'm the only one here who can help you", Carlos warned him.

"I swear, I'm not lying", Axel said tiredly.

"It's not like you could've reached far anyway. The only people who can access these files are the ones who are personally choosen by the Boss. If anyone is foolish enough to try and break the security, it would lock down after a window of say sixty seconds denying anyone else access", Carlos explained.

Axel grimaced.

After another hour of his desperate attempts he got a break through.

"Finally!", he exclaimed happily.

"Are you done?", Carlos asked

"Yeah",he replied back

"Good. Listen to me now, no one should know about what happened tonight. I'll delete all traces of any activity that was registered in the system tonight. In return you will keep your mouth shut about it."

"Th-thank you", Axel stammered amazed by this show of leniency.

"Don't look so shocked. I'm doing this only because I'm at fault here too. It was my responsibility to explain all the major rules to you when you had joined the empire", he said.

"Sometimes I forget that you don't know anything about this crime world", Carlos continued, "As your commander I should've explained to you the rules properly, especially when it concerned her , I apologise for my short sighting. What I'm about to tell you is no secret Axel, it is just something that people like us are not allowed to talk about" ,he stated matter of factly.

"But why? Because she is someone important? Like an elite member?, he asked confusedly

"No, she is way above them too", he scoffed. "What do you know about the Romero-Sullivan feud?".

"There was one?, Axel asked scratching his chin in thought.

"For generations, and it turned bloody too a few times. Every kid In our world knows that", Carlos said.

"Until one day Don Vitiello, the Valentini family Don at that time received a call from the Romero Don himself to tell him the news of his alliance with the Sullivan family. I remember how curious the Don was after learning the reason behind the alliance."

"And what was the reason? ", Axel asked.

Carlos smiled softly making Axel gasp "Amara, a four year old child was the reason behind the end of an age old rivalry."

"What? How is that possible? If their enimity was as bitter as you make it sound then how did they become allies? How is she related to them anyway ?", Axel fired one question after another.

"It wasn't without any difficulty mind you, and as for how is she related to them, she is the granddaughter of both Sean Sullivan and Bernard Romero",Carlos explained.

"Oh wow, connected to two powerful families. She must have had a luxurious childhood",Axel mused.

Carlos smiled slightly at his awed tone.

"Off course she did. No child in my opinion has ever been cherished and loved as she was. She suddenly waltzed in the life of two feuding families and became the centre of their universe. The alliance was sealed because of her, both the families wanted to be a part of her life which wouldn't have been possible if they kept fighting amongst themselves",Carlos explained.

"She must be so spoilt and bratty", Axel mused.

"Don't be presumptuous",Carlos snapped irritably.

"Sorry",Axel muttered.

"It is because of this very reason that I'm telling you this story. She is loved and protected. Even a single harsh whisper about her isn't tolerated and it should not be, because she doesn't deserve it."

Axel cringed at his sharp tone.

"So as I was saying, the two families came together for her. It was tough for them to act normally initially though they hardly ever fought in front of her. She didn't know about the history that both her families shared and it was kept like that for her peace of mind. As a few years passed both the families became slightly more comfortable on personal level and no one ever brought up the topic of their rivalry anymore",Carlos continued.

"Until one day it came up suddenly. No one would have thought that such dire consequences would follow that event. It was a time when the world was reminded of the fact that why exactly were the Romero's and the Sullivan's considered to be two of the most ruthless and dangerous crime families",he said, staring off in space in reminiscence.

"What had happened ?", Axel asked wide eyed as he leaned forward to hear the story curiously.

Carlos sighed as he checked the time on his watch. It was going to be a long night

******